Westwood organizers tried to get out the vote. After a lower-turnout election, the work is just beginning.

Colorado’s electoral votes went to Vice President Kamala Harris, but Donald Trump won both the Electoral College and popular vote, making him the 47th president.

“Communities like ours where there is a heavy immigrant population, heavy Latino population, communities of color in general, we will be the most negatively impacted by the federal election's outcome,” del Hierro said.

During his campaign, Trump said he’d carry out the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history” if re-elected. 

The legality of Trump’s proposed methods — such as invoking the Alien Enemies Act, which is only used during wartime, or deploying the National Guard — is questionable. 

But for a community with a large immigrant population and many mixed-status families, these campaign promises are concerning, whether they are entirely feasible or not.

“We have a lot of folks who have gone through rounds where a family member was detained or deported already and they know what that feels like,” Torres said. 

“I remember [last time Trump was in office], people weren't sending their kids to school. There were just a lot of really quick domino effects because people didn't know what it meant for them.”

Torres will be at the community town hall event on December 5, where people can learn more about how Trump’s immigration policies might impact them. 

In January, Re:Vision plans to start a series of “Know Your Rights” trainings to combat fear with knowledge by helping people understand their rights as citizens and immigrants.

“Denver is a sanctuary city, and so we want to make sure that folks feel supported, safe and have access to the information that they need,” del Hierro said.

Denver voters approved a ballot measure to raise the sales tax by 0.34%, which is a little more than an additional 3 cents on a $10 purchase, to provide funding for Denver Health. This sales tax increase is projected to give the state’s primary safety net health care provider about $70 million per year. 

At the ballot information event Re:Vision held before the election, del Hierro said people were especially interested in understanding this ballot measure. 

Torres said Denver Health has a notable presence in Denver’s westside, with three clinics in the area, including one within Westwood’s neighborhood boundaries. 

Denver Health’s primary care mobile unit stops in Westwood every Tuesday, and many families utilize Denver Health’s school-based clinics for their medical questions and needs. 

Last year, Denver Health provided more than $140 million in uncompensated care. Torres and del Hierro consider voters’ approval of Question 2Q a positive outcome for the community.

“Our community so heavily relies on Denver Health for their access to healthcare,” del Hierro said. “That is a win because our Denver Health won’t have to be faced with cutting services.”

The funding from this ballot measure supports five service areas: primary medical care, pediatric care, emergency and trauma care, mental health care and recovery support services. 

The sales tax increase will take effect on January 1, 2025.

Voters did not approve a ballot measure that would have increased the sales tax by 0.5% — adding five cents to the sales tax on a $10 purchase — to generate funding for affordable housing. 

This ballot measure, proposed by Mayor Mike Johnston, had less support from City Council members, who voted 9-4 on whether the question should be brought to voters. In comparison, Question 2Q, which also proposed increased sales taxes, passed 12-1 to be put on the ballot.

The measure lost in a close vote, with 50.6% of voters opposing it.

The ballot measure proposal listed several ways the funding could be used, such as rental assistance, building new affordable housing units and financial support for homeowners, but council members who opposed the measure said it wasn’t clear how these plans would be carried out.

Authors of the proposal said the wording was intentionally vague so the city could have flexibility in how it spends the money.

There are several affordable housing projects in Westwood, and del Hierro said this ballot measure was another one of interest at the pre-election ballot information party. 

Torres, who voted in favor of putting the question on the ballot, said Denver needs more affordable housing, though there is still support for providing that housing outside of this failed ballot measure.

“We didn't know what the spend was going to include, so I couldn't say for sure how it might have directly impacted the Westwood neighborhood, apart from potentially offering up more money for affordable units to be built there and potentially for home ownership,” Torres said. 

“But we still have some of those programs in place right now that will still be able to serve that neighborhood even without 2R passing.”

In a narrow margin, Denver voters approved a change in the city’s charter that would allow non-U.S. citizens to apply for positions as police officers and firefighters, provided they meet work and residency requirements and the hiring standards set by those departments for all applicants.

This decision means that people who have a valid U.S. work authorization, legal permanent residency or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status can now apply for these roles. 

Employers are not supposed to discriminate against applicants based on citizenship status or national origin if they have valid work authorization, per federal law. 

Prior to this ballot measure, the Denver Sheriff Department already allowed non-citizens to apply following a lawsuit in 2016 filed by the Department of Justice, which found the sheriff’s department didn’t let non-citizens apply and made it change its policy.

Torres co-sponsored this ballot measure, which passed with 50.7% of the vote.

“This is a huge opportunity for those community members to be able to be self-determinative and figure out what kind of fields they want to be working in for the rest of their lives,” Torres said.

Denver voters also passed a $975 million bond to provide funding for Denver Public Schools. This bond will be used for improvements in schools across the city, including adding air conditioning to 29 schools, six of them in southwest Denver.

Almost every school in the region is set to receive upgrades in safety and technology, like student Chromebooks and new devices for teachers. 

This ballot issue passed with 75% of the vote. Bonds use money from property taxes, and this bond will not increase property taxes. 

Funding from the bond will also be used for the construction of new schools, including an elementary school in the Gateway neighborhood in northeast Denver, near the airport.

At the same time, the Denver school board is considering closing seven schools — and partially closing three others — in areas with declining enrollment. Castro Elementary, one of Westwood’s elementary schools, is one campus up for closure.

If the board approves Superintendent Alex Marrero’s recommendation for closure, Castro Elementary will close at the end of this school year.

“Westwood's got a lot of very difficult realities that they're navigating right now with the potential closure of Castro Elementary,” Torres said.