A CHANGE OF ART Creative souls face challenges amid pandemic P10
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May 28, 2020
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As Denver reopens, city braces for fall surge Finance officials wading into uncharted waters BY DAVID SACHS DENVERITE
has worked as custodial staff at Denver’s Republic Plaza skyscraper, at 370 17th St., for 25 years. “We’re on the front lines, cleaning all the buildings,” she said. “We want to demonstrate a message to our cities that the janitors are here, but we need additional protections.” About 2,500 Colorado janitors are members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 105, which organized the car rally, said David Fernandez, a spokesperson for the SEIU. According to the SEIU website, Local 105 represents more than 8,000 people who are employed in health
During a May 19 presentation to Denver City Council, city budget director Stephanie Karayannis Adams succinctly described a problem the city faces: “What we’re facing in 2020 is very similar to what we faced during the recession — except for one caveat, and that is that we were not having to spend money to address a public health crisis.” Adams’s office actually predicts a budget shortfall much worse than that of the Great Recession, with an expected revenue dive of 10.5% in 2020 compared to 6.5% in 2009, city documents show. Taxes paid by hotels, consumers, employers and workers fell drastically between March and May, as did parking revenue, leaving an estimated shortfall of $226 million by year’s end. And a lot of Denverites are out of jobs. Meanwhile, the city has spent $32 million and counting on its response to COVID-19 — a respiratory disease that scientists say might see a second surge this fall. City financial officials are saying that, too, and preparing for the worst. “We have not specifically modeled a resurgence this fall, but we recognize that that’s a possibility,” Adams said.
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A man wears a mask as he drives his car in the downtown Denver area during a car rally on May 19.
PHOTOS BY CHRISTY STEADMAN
Janitors rally in Denver, talk of COVID struggles ‘We’re on the front lines, cleaning all the buildings’ BY CHRISTY STEADMAN CSTEADMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Many cars filled the downtown Denver area on May 19 in a car rally to press for improved wages and other benefits for janitors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Janitors from across metro Denver participated in a car rally in downtown Denver on May 19, saying they wanted to call attention to the plight of essential workers who are keeping buildings clean and sanitized during the coronavirus crisis. The work that janitors do is important all the time, but became especially crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Eva Martinez, who
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A man accused by police of vandalizing a health agency over COVID-19 shutdown orders once confessed to a murder, then recanted. P4
VOICES: PAGE 8 | LIFE: PAGE 10 VOLUME 93 | ISSUE 29