ASK A VENDOR The idea for this issue’s Ask a Vendor question came when Carolyn Tyler, communications director with the Denver DA’s office, approached the VOICE to discuss how the City can work with unhoused indiviuals who are victims of or witnesses to a crime. From the responses, it is clear we have an opportunity to improve communication between law enforcement and those experiencing homelessness. Q How did you pass the time during the COVID-19 Shelter-in-Place order? A JACOB MARSH I spent it risking my life to keep my family safe and housed. JERRY ROSEN I spent it selling old issues of the Denver VOICE. I did really well. I also did some volunteer work. NATHANIAL TROTTER Working on my art. LARMARQUES SMITH I spent my time in quarantine with 4 others at a hotel. We ate, talked about many things, and made different and deeper connections. I love to sing, so we sang songs, laughed, and cried. Q Where did you stay during this time? A JACOB MARSH The White Rock Motel. JERRY ROSEN I stayed at a shelter in Boulder, as well as a few other places. NATHANIAL TROTTER Home, at my apartment. LEMARQUES SMITH At the Belcaro Hotel on Colorado Blvd. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ASK? We would like to engage more Denver VOICE vendors and readers. If you have a question or issue you would like vendors to discuss, please email community@denvervoice.org. 4 DENVER VOICE August 2020 HOUSING POLICY SUMMARY FROM 2020 LEGISLATIVE SESSION BY ROBERT DAVIS AS HAS BEEN THE CASE with so many situations, this year’s legislative session was anything but ordinary. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled the six-week recess it granted to lawmakers would count against their 120-day schedule. When lawmakers returned to Denver on May 26, they planned to cover a $3.3 billion shortfall in the state’s budget. Meanwhile, protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis were taking place throughout the state. These issues resulted in 26 percent fewer bills passing compared to 2019. Lawmakers passed 13 out of 19 bills addressing housing issues while managing to negotiate only a one-percent cut in state spending on Human Services. EVICTION PROTECTION DURING COVID In May, Governor Jared Polis issued executive order D 2020-012 limiting evictions, foreclosures, and public utility LOCAL NEWS 2020 PIT COUNT SHOWS INCREASE IN HOMELESSNESS BY ROBERT DAVIS ACCORDING TO THE 2020 POINT IN TIME COUNT, 4171 people reported being homeless in Denver — an increase of 228 people from 2019. Volunteers with Metro Denver Homeless Initiative contacted members of the community during the last 10 days of January and distributed donations like new socks and other in-kind goods to encourage participation. The count revealed a significant decrease in the number of families experiencing homelessness. However, there were increases in chronic homelessness, those living unsheltered, and unaccompanied youth. Less than half of the community reported living in the city’s shelters. Outreach teams were only able to record 30 percent of the data even though MDHI’s said “this year’s volunteers focused more on connecting with those staying outdoors than in the past.” The remaining data was taken from the Homelessness System (HMIS), Management Information a disconnections for people who could not legally travel to work under the state’s stay-at-home order. Similarly, federal lawmakers in Washington passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act which provided private and public funding to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic. The bill also protected renters in federally subsidized housing from eviction. According to the Denver County Court, the order cut filings of new eviction proceedings in the county by more than 80 percent. However, the order did not stop the proceedings filed before the order was issued, allowing thousands of cases to move forward. To help fund these measures, Gov. Polis signed two bills, federal database the Department of Housing and Urban Development uses to calculate emergency service grants funding for service providers. MDHI cautions readers against analyzing the count for trends because this is the first year it has used HMIS in its methodology. The report’s summary credited the unusually warm weather at the beginning of the year for the accuracy of its count of unsheltered and chronically homeless. Instead, the organization drew attention to the racial inequalities its volunteers reported. This year’s count revealed nearly 40 percent of Denver’s homeless population is non-white, with Black people representing 25 percent respectively. The representation of Black people increased by four percent in 2019, even though they make up about five percent of the city’s population. “The overrepresentation of people of color, specifically black and Native Americans, among those experiencing homelessness is critical to the response,” MDHI’s Executive Director Matt Meyer said in a press release. “Homelessness is an issue of race and must be approached through this lens.” ■ H.B. 1410 and H.B. 1412. These bills allocated $30 million from the CARES Act to the state’s general fund, $19.65 million to the Housing Development Grant Fund, $10 million to a cash fund which a nonprofit partner of the Colorado Energy Office uses to provide utility assistance to households, and another $350,000 to the Eviction Legal Defense Fund. HOUSING DISCRIMINATION Several bills addressing housing discrimination were passed as a growing number of Coloradans faced housing instability. H.B. 20-1332 prohibits landlords from discriminating against prospective tenants based solely on their source of income, including housing vouchers, student loan debt, or social security income. The law also prohibits landlords from advertising their properties with preferred sources of income. However, it does not apply to landlords who own three or fewer properties. Lawmakers also passed S.B. 20-244, known as the “Immigrant Tenant Protections Act,” which prohibits landlords from asking about or taking certain actions based on a tenant’s immigration or citizenship status. The bill applies to both prospective and current tenants and goes into effect in January 2021. However, lawmakers were not able to pass H.B. 20-1333, a bill that would have required homeowners’ associations in common interest communities (CIC) to do business more transparently. CICs include condominiums, apartments, and other housing types where residents are required to pay fees for common area maintenance. Rep. Brianna Titone (D-Jefferson) sponsored the bill and argued that CIC bylaws can restrict available housing options for people of color and members of the LGTBQ+ community. RENTERS PROTECTIONS Bills such as H.B. 20-1141 and S.B. 20-108 that aimed to reform Colorado’s landlord-tenant laws never made it out of committee. H.B. 1141 would have limited fees landlords can charge tenants and require rental contracts to contain a 14-days’ grace period tenants to pay their rent. S.B. 108 would have prohibited landlords from refusing housing to immigrants based on their legal status. The law went through the amendments process several times before the Business Affairs & Labor Committee postponed it indefinitely. However, lawmakers were able to pass H.B. 20-1201 which requires owners of mobile home parks to provide tenants an opportunity to purchase their home if the owner decides to sell the land or change its use. BASIC LIFE FUNCTIONS IN PUBLIC SPACES It’s been four years since Rep. Jovan Melton (D-Arapahoe) first introduced the homeless bill of rights legislation with former Rep. Joe Salazar (D-Adams). The bill would allow those experiencing homelessness to sleep in legally parked cars, eat in public, and reserve a reasonable right to privacy. Still, the legislature has yet to pass the bill. This year, Melton and Rep. Adrienne Benavidez (D-Adams) cosponsored legislation aimed at creating
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