The chances of the Denver City Council overriding the mayor’s veto of the proposal to ban homeless camp sweeps in frigid temperatures are slim-to-none, according to council members who originally voted “no” to it.

The council plans to try the override action on Monday. 

The council last week voted, 7-6, in favor of banning homeless camp sweeps when temperatures fall below 32 degrees. Mayor Mike Johnston rejected the proposal, arguing it is too sweeping and it would limit the city’s ability to keep homeless people safe during frigid conditions. 

Overriding Johnston’s decision will require nine councilmembers — a high hurdle, given that proposed ordinance passed on a very narrow margin. 

Six councilmembers rejected the measure — Chris Hinds, Diana Romero-Campbell, Flor Alvidrez, Amanda Sawyer, Darrell Watson and Kevin Flynn. Some, in fact, urged the governor to veto the measure. 

District 2 Councilmember Flynn “urged the mayor to veto it,” he said. “I don’t see why anyone who voted no on the bill in the first place would vote to override the veto.”

“The bill would have kept people on the streets longer,” Flynn said. “I believe it would have resulted in even more deaths on our streets.”

The council also did not override the last two vetoes made by former Mayor Michael Hancock.

Johnston and some councilmembers argue the measure violates the city’s camping ban and undermines the administration’s campaign to get homeless people indoors.

Watson said he will remain a ‘no’ vote.

“The ordinance as written will reduce our ability to transition more folks out of encampments to indoors,” Watson said. “We need to double down on the lessons learned from the Housing 1,000 initiative.”

“I did not support it because I truly believe that it is inhumane to allow people to remain outside in freezing temperatures,” Sawyer also said. “This is an extremely complicated issue and the legal landscape to remove homeless encampments in Denver is also extremely complicated.”

Johnston has adopted several strategies in his campaign to get 1,000 people out of the city’s streets, notably shutting down homeless encampments and offering residents temporary housing. That campaign moved 1,135 homeless into shelters by the end of last year at a cost of $45 million.

The mayor’s veto last Friday didn’t come as a surprise.

A mayor’s spokesperson earlier said Johnston’s “first priority” is keeping Denverites “safe and healthy,” and cold temperatures “pose a serious danger to people living outdoors, and this proposal will limit the actions the city can take to keep people safe.”

The proposal, he said, is “unworkable because it does not allow for moving tents when there are public health and safety exceptions or when they are blocking public right of way.”

The proposal’s supports haven’t given up the fight, according to District 8 Councilmember Shontel Lewis.

“I’m hopeful,” she said. “I’m hopeful that we are directly responding to the concerns that were presented to us from individual council members, as well as the mayor and administration.”

Lewis said councilmembers, particularly those who support the ordinance, are considering amendments with language that adheres to Johnston’s housing goals.

Actually, the bill cannot be amended or changed, and the only options for the council are to override the veto, refer the ordinance to a City Council committee for further review, or postpone the vote to a specific date.