Denver Council approves $40,000 settlement payment in Parsons case; councilmember stresses tracking of taxpayer payouts

Denver City Council on Monday approved Council Resolution 25-0943, authorizing payment of $40,000 from the city’s liabilities claims account to resolve the civil case captioned Elizabeth Parsons v. Felipe Cervantes and the City and County of Denver.

Councilmember Lewis took the floor to emphasize transparency in city settlements and outlined how her office is tracking settlement payments across departments. “With the approval of 25-0943 tonight, the city will approve a total of $40,000 to settle a case brought against the Denver Police Department, bringing the total for taxpayer dollars in city settlements to $5,191,500,” Lewis said on the council floor while explaining why she and her office track settlement spending and noting the funding is drawn from a liabilities claims pool replenished from the general budget as necessary.

Councilmember Paradis (recorded in the transcript as Paradis/Parody) added a routine statement aimed at former claimants and their counsel that once litigation is fully closed, council members may speak with claimants to better understand their perspective; Paradis said she appreciates the opportunity to hear claimants’ accounts after litigation concludes.

The clerk announced the roll-call result as recorded in the transcript; the measure passed as read. The transcript excerpt does not include the underlying complaint details, court docket number or confidential settlement exhibits. The resolution specifies the payment vendor as Elizabeth Parsons and Bach and Schachner LLC and identifies the source account as the city’s liabilities claims appropriation.

Next steps: the payment will be processed per city financial procedures and recorded in the city’s settlement register; councilmembers noted continued monitoring of total settlement costs as part of budget oversight.