{"id":526,"date":"2026-03-08T13:24:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T13:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuntsintrucks.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/08\/drinking-out-on-the-taxpayers-dime-voters-should-shut-down-caring-for-denver-editorial\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T13:24:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T13:24:45","slug":"drinking-out-on-the-taxpayers-dime-voters-should-shut-down-caring-for-denver-editorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuntsintrucks.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/08\/drinking-out-on-the-taxpayers-dime-voters-should-shut-down-caring-for-denver-editorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Drinking out on the taxpayer\u2019s dime? Voters should shut down Caring for Denver (Editorial)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eating out four times a week on taxpayer money, or as the case may be, drinking out, is not acceptable behavior for stewards of a foundation dedicated to Denver\u2019s mental health.<\/p>\n

The City of Denver auditor released a report<\/a> that found employees at Caring for Denver \u2013 a foundation voters created in 2018 \u2013 had spent $28,000 on meals and drinks over three years and $3,000 on expensive alcohol including high-end $20 cocktails.<\/p>\n

Denver voters should start the difficult process to sunset the .25% sales tax we authorized for mental health care for the homeless and suicide.<\/p>\n

Oversight of the foundation has been difficult. The group has a dedicated revenue stream of tax dollars but operates outside the regulation or oversight of the City of Denver. It was always going to be a recipe for disaster.<\/p>\n

And this is not the first negative audit or report.<\/p>\n

Caring for Denver, we are sure, has accomplished good during the past eight years, doling out grants to nonprofits already working to care for Denver\u2019s mental health. But because the foundation is simply a pass-through of taxpayer dollars to entities that are actually doing the hard work of caring for Denverites, we think it will be simple to unwind.<\/p>\n

When your only job is to make sure money goes to others who are doing hard work, fiscal accountability and being good stewards of taxpayer dollars is the only job qualification. This audit, in addition to other reports, indicates that the employees at Caring for Denver have failed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese expenses show a disregard for fiscal accountability,\u201d Denver Auditor Tim O\u2019Brien said\u00a0in a news release. \u201cI question whether it is best practice for taxpayers to foot the bill for alcohol and meals in the amount and frequency we discovered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lorez Meinhold, executive director of the foundation, defended the spending by saying a large part of her and her staff\u2019s jobs were to \u201cmeet grantees where they are and what they\u2019re comfortable with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meinhold herself spent $3,130 on alcohol over the three-year period audited. That included 70 drinks that cost more than $20 each at the glitzy cocktail lounge Death & Co. So we are supposed to believe that many of the nonprofit leaders who Meinhold was trying to encourage to apply for grants all suggested one of Denver\u2019s more expensive bars as the place they should meet to discuss mental health grant applications.<\/p>\n

Does Meinhold think we are stupid?<\/p>\n