Town halls are opportunities for the public to ask questions and for public officials to update the work of their offices. Both were true at a town hall on May 10, hosted by Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis.

District 8 is home to 80,000 people in Park Hill, East Colfax, Central Park, Northfield, and part of Montbello.

At the meeting on the Mosaic Community Campus at Quebec St. and Montview Blvd., Lewis talked about her office’s accomplishments since the last town hall in February, including relocation assistance, community panels, the 2026 council budget, the Vibrant Denver GO Bond process, Park Hill Park, the Quebec Corridor task force, and All in Mile High.

“One of the things that was glaring is that we were kind of just responding to what was happening in the world, versus being more proactive about what we were hearing in the community,” Lewis said.

Lewis spoke of community panels on community cohesion, community investment, and physical and geographic connections that were formed to take on topics and inform the budget and bond project outcomes.

“One of the things that we’re really hoping to be able to do in District 8 is to connect our neighborhoods so that we can figure out where the alignment is [on issues], where we might be able to work on a single initiative, or maybe two initiatives, that span across each neighborhood,” Lewis added.

Initiatives take money, and Lewis reminded the crowd to share input for the city budget process which needs to be finalized by November 10. She wants people to participate now and let her office know what’s most important. The public is invited to the Denver City Council budget retreat on Friday, May 16, from 8:30am to 5pm at the Boettcher Mansion.

Lewis is also campaigning for support for the $800 million Vibrant GO Denver Bond.

Central Park resident Matt Blackburn questioned the proposed bond, asking why some of the money from a previous bond wasn’t used to improve the intersection of Central Park Blvd. and MLK Jr. Blvd. as it had been slated.

Lewis said it’s incumbent on the council member for the district to track the money and the projects which her office is now doing, she said.

“On the previous bonds, District 8 was robbed, for lack of a better word, to be completely honest with you. There were not even a lot of projects that were within the bond that had investment in the area,” Lewis said.  “The largest investment was a $72 million police training facility, and then the second largest investment was a shelter. And then the others were the smaller projects I think fell off the radar because you didn’t have someone who was consistently thinking about it.”

The Vibrant Denver GO Bond proposal has a long list of projects attached to it, including a new recreation center and library for the East Colfax neighborhood. When Lewis was asked if the project ideas were a done deal, the answer was ‘no,’ there’s still time to share priorities from residents.

Residents are also being asked to share their ideas for Park Hill Park, which is expected to open this summer in some form. There isn’t adequate lighting or infrastructure yet.

Park Hill resident Jacob Wooden addressed the benefit of the park but also spoke of the need to look at other needs, such as housing, grocery stores, and mixed-use spaces in the areas that are walkable.

The location of shelters in the Quebec St. area is a frequent topic at local public meetings and this one was no different. Lewis mentioned the shelter deals were done before she took office, which drew some criticism from people like LaMone Noles, who said she hadn’t heard that claim before and worries the area has become a “dumping ground” for city problems.

Another town hall participant questioned resources that she felt were spent on newcomers and not on longtime residents who need housing. That drew a response from Lewis.

“I don’t put communities of color, low-income communities against each other, like folks who are struggling are struggling,” Lewis said. “And so, whether you’re a newcomer, an immigrant, a refugee, or somebody who’s been in our community for a long time, [we all need] to be able to survive and join.”

A task force is being formed to address issues along the Quebec St. corridor and look for solutions. There’s a survey residents can fill out to relay what they feel is most important.