Denver Council adopts tribal convening and Indigenous Peoples' Day proclamations, honors community leaders and places multiple bills on final consideration

Denver City Council on Monday, Sept. 22 adopted multiple proclamations recognizing tribal and Indigenous events, honored longtime community leader Joyce Neufeld, and placed a slate of bills on final consideration. The items were approved in a consent/block vote at the end of the meeting.

The council unanimously adopted proclamation 25-14-O-2 supporting Denver's third annual fall tribal convening scheduled Sept. 24—026, 2025, with day one at the Denver Botanic Gardens' Mitchell Hall, day two at the Denver Indian Center and day three at the CSU Spur Hydro Building. The council resolution text and speakers noted the convening will cover climate resiliency, indigenous stewardship and traditional ecological knowledge; listed daily hours as 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and named the Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency (CASR) and Community Planning and Development Landmark as partners.

Val Herrera, speaking for CASR, accepted the proclamation and thanked council: "On behalf of the CASR office, I want to thank city council for your support and advocacy for tribal communities of Denver and for our environmental systems. This week, CASR will host Denver's third annual fall tribal convening focused on climate resiliency and indigenous stewardship." The proclamation was moved and seconded and passed on the roll call.

The council also adopted proclamation 25-14-O-3 recognizing Indigenous Peoples' Day as a paid city holiday to be commemorated on Oct. 13, 2025, and referred in the text to a council bill the body had passed previously: "On 03/24/2025, the Denver City Council unanimously passed CB 25-0261, officially designating the October of each year as Indigenous Peoples' Day in Denver, Colorado," the proclamation states. Council member Gilmore described the move from a commemorative observance to a paid city holiday as "a day off for city employees" and emphasized the importance of moving from commemoration to tangible recognition.

Representatives from the Denver American Indian Commission joined the acceptance at the podium. Cecilia Bullbear, identified in the meeting as a commission member, said: "It's an honor to be here, and I'm really thankful that Indigenous Day is really important for us." Teddy McCullough, also identified as a commission member, thanked the council and invited the public to the Oct. 13 City Park event.

The council recognized Joyce Neufeld with proclamation 25-1,400 for her years of service to Community Ministry. Council member Flynn summarized Neufeld—9s tenure, noting she joined the board in 2001 and later became executive director. Neufeld accepted and said she expects food insecurity will remain an issue: "At Community Ministry, we say we can feed a family of 5 for $5 for 5 days," she told the council and encouraged continued support for food pantries and upcoming ballot measures she said would assist children and families.

Bills read for introduction during the meeting included multiple zoning and development items across committees. The clerk read a list of bills to be introduced; none were called out for separate final vote, and those bills were ordered published. The council additionally…