Campus & Community / Magazine Feature

Nevitt giving city council a new way to work

Chris Nevitt

Denver City Council President Chris Nevitt has re-organized the structure of the council. Nevitt's district includes much of DU.

Denver City Councilman Chris Nevitt, recently elected board president, is wasting no time reorganizing the council.

Gone is the smorgasbord of 11 committees the panel previously used to do its work, replaced by four standing groups and a special issues committee on medical marijuana.

Nevitt sees the new structure as a way to make sure council members focus on a broader range of issues and get their bickering over in committee, not on the council floor.

“By combining, we’ll be more comprehensive and more members will be chewing on each issue,” Nevitt said. “We can work quicker, too.”

The new standing committees are: Government Affairs and Finance; Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure; Business, Workforce and Sustainability; and Health, Safety, Education and Services. The marijuana committee is chaired by Charlie Brown and includes the entire council, meeting when convened by the chair. The new system goes into effect Aug. 1.

Nevitt, whose District 7 includes DU west of University Boulevard, announced the changes late last week, one of his first major acts since winning the council presidency unanimously on July 19. The president’s chief duties, in addition to presiding over meetings and assigning committees, are to represent council to the mayor and to keep the council united and effective. Nevitt says he’s eager for the task, which he will spearhead as a voting, ex-officio member of all four committees.

Nevitt was first elected to city council in 2007. His District 7 seat and those of the 12 other members, plus the mayor, clerk and recorder, and auditor, are scheduled to be contested in May 2011 at a citywide general election.

For more information, visit www.denvergov.org and click on “City Council.” 

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