Denver Direct: 2014
Friday, December 26, 2014
Thursday, December 25, 2014
WALKABOUT - CITY PARK - Dec. 23. 2014
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| Looks like the entrance to an abandoned junk yard |
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| Around the corner looking east toward Duck Lake |
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Civic organizations that exist that you can participate/communicate with regarding City Park West
(From Ean Tafoya on FB)
Happy Holidays Everyone,
I have been following the conversations regarding CPFAN and I wanted to take a moment and list a few other civic organizations that exist that you can participate/communicate with regarding our lovely neighborhood rather then starting another group. I suggest visiting them all included CPFAN before you decide which one you would like to dedicate your time too. You can also voice park opinions monthly at the Denver Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. There is open public comment at the beginning of each meeting on the second Thursday of each month at 5:30.
CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS
City Park West Neighborhood Organization- I understand that Elizabeth Pearlman is still interested in gathering people to make CPWNO a reality again. I can say that after working to get it off the ground in the past with Liz and neighbors that I it is take a lot of work from committed neighbors to get all the outreach and organizational pieces together. i.e. regular meeting spaces, website, email distribution of content, plus agenda building. I highly encourage people to work towards this with Liz.
If you like to participate on smaller committees or projects with organization that are more established and cover the same boundaries I would suggest:
Uptown on the Hill, Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods (CHUN), or the City Park Alliance.
Uptown on the Hill has a board and several committees that are working on annual block parties, park beautification, and other community projects. Uptown also tracks zoning and other issues that the City informs RNO's about. Frank Silady Locantore is the President of the Board and I am sure he would love to talk to potential members about City Park and Uptown.
CHUN - is one of Denver's first Neighborhood groups. It covers a large area including CPW, South City Park, Congress Park, Chessmen Park, Cherry Creek and Capitol Hill. It two follows city issues and zoning, liquour, park issues, in addition to running the People's Fair and other civic issues. I am currently a member of this board and would lover to talk to people about our organization chunddenver.org
City Park Alliance - was formed in 1999 with a vision of restoring City Park. The bring together community, corporate and government resources to support park improvement projects. City Park Alliance gathers and engages the community, and mobilizes partners and resources for capital improvements, programs and events, and advocates for and communicates with all stakeholders on issues affecting City Park.
The City Park Alliance is run by a volunteer board of directors. Representatives from Denver Parks and Recreation, the Denver Zoo, and the Museum of Nature and Science sit on this board as well as several community members with a particular interest and commitment to City Park. Contact them directly at cityparkalliance@gmail.com
I am available to answer questions on the thread regarding my suggestions.
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Between 17th Ave and 16th Ave, the alley between High St & Race St.
(From Nextdoor - City Park West)
Hello everyone. I have been in touch with Albus Brooks, our town councilman. We are planning to discuss the problems with drug dealers, gangs, and other problems that are not being addressed by the Property Managers of the Low Income Housing, Section 8, etc.
While the vast majority of those residents are good people and need this assistance, we are trying to get the owners/property managers to do a better job with regard to the bad tenants that are making our neighborhood littered and unsafe. We see a LOT of drug use in the alley that connects 2 of these Low Income Apartment Bldgs.,
If anyone out there is having problems with tenants in the Section 8/ Low Income Housing, please contact me. We have had quite a bit of trouble with violent drug dealers in the apartments on E 17th Ave. (while shooting at rival gang members driving by on 17th Ave, on a Friday evening, 4 bullets went into our building, 2 went thru the front door of our neighbors and were lodged in their wall). We worked closely with the police and were able to get them evicted last April. We also just helped the Property Manager get rid of another tenant that is part of this same gang.
Lets work together to keep City Park West safe and beautiful.
Chris Kahlmeyer
UPDATE 12/23/2014
Chris Kahlmeyer, City Park West
Hello everyone,
I just received an email confirming an appointment with our City Councilman, Albus Brooks on December 31st.
If you are having trouble with the tenants in the Low Income Housing, please send me as much information as you can, I want to share as much information as possible with Mr. Brooks when we meet.
In a 1 block radius from my house alone, I estimate close to 300 Low Income Housing units, compared to only about 15 -20 townhouse/apartments/duplexes in the same area.
We want to work with our Councilman and the Property Managers to keep the crime and criminals out of the Low Income Housing in our neighborhood.
Please share any information regarding issues with the Low Income Housing in City Park West.
Thanks so much!
Chris
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Photo Radar and Photo Red light program, by Dennis Gallagher, Denver Auditor
On Monday night, the Denver City Council passed a six-month extension on the contract for the Photo Radar and Photo Red light program. The intention is, apparently, to use the six months to prepare a new contract that likely will expand the program.During Council remarks on the extension, I heard a lot of talk about promoting public safety. I never heard any talk about proving that these two programs actually improve public safety.
In 2011, we conducted an audit of the Photo Radar and Photo Red Light Program. The audit found that the Denver Police Department had not shown the public safety impact of either program.
It is critically important that both programs be supported with solid Denver-based data, so we do not maintain public policy on the basis of wishes and hope and anecdotal evidence that may not accurately represent Denver driver behavior. To that end, we recommended that it was important to conduct objective analysis and study of both programs to determine their actual impact on improving public safety.
Among the recommendations we made in our original audit, three dealt with study or analysis of the safety impact of the Photo Radar Program and three dealt with study or analysis of the safety impact of the Photo Red Light Program.
Our follow-up work through 2014 indicates that those studies have never taken place. The Denver Police Department still cannot demonstrate that either program has had a tangible impact on improving public safety.
If they are not having a tangible impact on improving public safety then perhaps other options for that improvement need to be investigated and implemented that might be better at improving public safety.
We also noted that these two programs are generating over $7 Million combined annually. Because these programs were sold as public safety enhancements but are widely viewed as a ‘cash grab’ by the public, it undermines public trust to maintain photo enforcement programs that are profitable but whose safety impact has not been conclusively shown.
We are all concerned with reducing accidents; protecting the safety of our children in around our public streets; and ensuring that pedestrians are not at risk when they step off the curb and into the street. However we need to ensure that any program we undertake, does indeed do that. As I have said, without verifiable and objective data we cannot confirm these programs do that.
It is interesting to note that it is very likely that the Police Department will want to expand each program. Among our recommendations we stated that the Manager of Safety should not expand either the photo radar of photo stoplight programs until the program’s safety benefits are adequately demonstrated through objective analysis. The department agreed with the recommendations but did not do either study. They stated that they would not expand either program.
Dennis
Testimony of Bridget Walsh, to City Council , December 15 in re Denver Zoological Foundation Permit Application
(Did you know that the Zoo is planning on burning animal waste to produce energy, on site?)
I am Bridget Walsh, a member of CPFAN.
I would like to read excerpt from experts about the risks of the gasification process: From Wikipedia on the subject of biomass gasification:
Environmental advocates have called gasification "incineration in disguise" and argue that the technology is still dangerous to air quality and public health. "Since 2003 numerous proposals for waste treatment facilities hoping to use... gasification technologies failed to receive final approval to operate when the claims of project proponents did not withstand public and governmental scrutiny of key claims," according to the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.[14] One facility which operated from 2009-2011 in Ottawa had 29 "emissions incidents" and 13 "spills" over those three years. It was also only able to operate roughly 25% of the time.[15]
The second is from a European Commission Report , 2009:
Guideline for Safe and Eco-friendly Biomass Gasification
The technology of biomass gasification differs from other energy conversion technologies based on renewable energy sources because it inherently involves the production, treatment and utilization of flammable and toxic gas mixtures, plant media and utilities. Therefore, an adequate risk assessment is strongly recommended and is often a legal requirement for placing the plant into the market and running it. A risk assessment is aimed at protecting the workers and the plant itself.
Manufacturers/operators have to keep in mind that accidents and ill health can ruin lives and can affect the business too if output is lost, machinery is damaged, insurance costs increase or there is the possibility of prosecution [Ref 16].A risk assessment consists of a careful examination of what could cause harm to the people and environment in the plant, and the adoption of reasonable control measures. The manufacturers/operators have to produce a complete and well documented assessment of the risk relative to:
• Human and animal health hazards such as dangers from toxic gases
• Safety issues such as explosion hazards and fire hazards, and
• Environment hazards from plant emissions and loss of containment ! relating to toxic substances.
Well, Denver voters may never have the opportunity to judge the risk assessment plan at the Zoo’s industrial waste plant, because much like highly profitable oil and gas companies who refuse to give First Responders information about the trade secret contents of the fracking solutions that they inject into the earth , the Zoo has wrapped up much of the data needed for robust citizen and government agency review of their proposals as trade secrets or “Confidential Business Information.”
I suggest that citizen health and safety is much more important than the future profits of the Denver Zoological Foundation, who along with DPR run the Zoo with an iron hand that is symbolized by the ugly, Gulag-style Gate 15, the back door to the Zoo, but an ugly, deep wound on historic City Park.
I implore you to put this project on hold until there is a legitimate Citizens Advisory Committee set up to evaluate for the first time the Zoos gasification proposal in the light of day. The risks seem very serious and potentially deadly for park users and neighborhood residents. Thank you.
Monday, December 15, 2014
To Members of City Council from Tom Morris
The Denver City Charter identifies the branch of government responsible for the city’s land use as City Council. In 2010 you assigned that responsibility to the Manager of Parks and Recreation. Several controversies have arisen over that policy.
NEIGHBORHOOD LEADER VICTIMIZED
Cynthia works full time, goes to college, and is a single mother of two children. Yet she is well-known for making time to always be helping others.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
NOT 1 MORE ACRE! LATEST DOD MACHINATIONS
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Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Monday, December 8, 2014
NOT YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, NOT YOUR PARK
Opinion by Gerald Trumbule
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| ARTS methadone dispensary at 6:15 this morning. The parking lot lights are either turned off or burned out. Not safe. |
People often refer to the area they live in as "my neighborhood", and similarly they feel that the nearby park is "my park". But recent events prove that this is often not the case.
The introduction of a methadone dispensary directly across the alley from my property, without a hearing or notice of any kind, has me and my neighbors upset. We've had meetings with our City Councilman, Albus "This one is a done deal" Brooks , meetings with the staff that runs the clinic (ARTS), and a meeting with the owner of the property who rented to ARTS, Victor Kolouch of Kolouch Properties. None of this had any effect on the occupancy of this property by an organization (non-profit) which brings over 100 methadone addicts to this address, 1620 Gaylord St., six days a week, starting a 5:30 am, to take their "hit", get back in their cars, sometimes with their kids, and drive away.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
MORE MARIJUANA MUCH - 12-1-2014
Airport pot amnesty boxes get used, but not for weed
http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/12/01/airport-marijuana-amnesty-boxes-rarely-used-weed-disposal/24339/
Arvada Doctor Faces Prison Over Medical Pot Registry Cards
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/12/01/arvada-doctor-faces-prison-over-medical-pot-registry-cards/
Breath test for pot in the works
http://kgmi.com/news/007700-breath-test-for-pot-in-the-works/
'High Maintenance' gives weed delivery man's view of NYC
http://m.nydailynews.com/entertainment/high-maintenance-article-1.2027034
How one congressman could stop DC decriminalization
http://www.boulderweekly.com/article-13713-how-one-congressman-could-stop-dc-decriminalization.html
Legal Pot In The U.S. May Be Undercutting Mexican Marijuana
http://m.wunc.org/?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F#mobile/46077
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
THE FUTURE OF GLOBEVILLE by Tom Anthony
The future of Globeville: an 80 acre trucking distribution facility, the trucks from which will beat the streets of Denver to death while Adams County reaps the taxes. Only in Globeville would such a thing be seen as an improvement. Oh, maybe Eads.
Meanwhile, the children of Globeville will continue to attend Garden Place Elementary, a 4 story, 1904 structure in the armpit of I-70 and I-25, two blocks from the Burlington Freight Yards. A nice enough building, but shouldn't it be transitioned to a use that isn't full of developing lungs of "disposable children?"
What a reflection on the wonderful "non-profit community" that this plan passes unanimously: the trucks are the future and not the children. Meanwhile "glee-mania" runs rampant over the billion dollar stock show expansion plan. The cow groomers get new digs but the children of Globeville will continue to be sent to spend their days studying in a fog of chemicals, a stone's throw from 100 ea 30,000 gallon chemical cars. As to a new school for all the anticipated new residents to be drawn in by the North Metro commuter rail station? Oh, those people won't have children!
Meanwhile the City has yanked my Use Permit after I've lived here 16 years, due to my having some outside storage in the back of my art studio (raw materials for future finished products) across the street from 10 acres of outside storage on the stock show property. Onwards and upwards, eh? Can hardly wait to see what's next. More "hush money" in the pipeline, I'm sure.
The carrots, the sticks, and the "walkable, sustainable communities." OH MY.
See more here.
Monday, December 1, 2014
ANOTHER BLOW TO CITY PARK, DENVER
Apparently saturating the lawns and filling the lakes of our parks with toxic chemicals from Superfund Site Lowry Landfill is not enough. Now the Zoo wants to burn animal waste on site to produce power. Ed.note: Oh well, no matter, I gave up some time ago.
Letter to City Council regarding Zoo's new Waste Disposal System.
This letter is provided for your information. It has not been adopted by the CPFAN Board of Directors but many of the directors have signed it as individuals.
December 1, 2014
Denver City Council
Dear Council Members:
We, the undersigned individuals, residents of City Park neighborhoods, write to express our concerns regarding the Denver Zoo’s animal waste reprocessing plant, and our dismay at its location inside City Park. We are responding to the announcement of your Infrastructure and Culture Committee meeting on Wednesday, December 3, at which you plan to discuss this issue.
You may wonder why we bother to write to you now. After all, the plant’s construction was completed two years ago, the Zoo has received kudos and awards for their forward-thinking and energy-conscious design, Walmart has donated $1.2M worth of micro-turbine generators. What’s left to say? What’s not to like?
While we commend the Zoo's determination to cut energy costs by burning animal waste products, the location of this plant appears to us to indicate a complete lack of regard by the Denver Zoo and the City Administration (Denver Parks & Recreation) for the formerly pastoral park that houses the Zoo and for the people who use it to unwind from the pressures of city living or to get a small taste of being at peace in a verdant landscape. Had the Zoo placed their industrial facility within the interior of the Zoo or along their 23rd Avenue border, which has nothing but fences, gates, and parking, then its impact would have been contained to the Zoo.
To our knowledge none of the RNOs and neighborhood groups who received notice of this project were told the gigantic machine to convert fuel to energy, along with its buildings and gate, would be fronting City Park Road, just yards away and very visible from:
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
ORWELLIAN HISTORY by Phil Goodstein - December 2014 Naysayer
Columbine High School was in the news during the 1994–95 school year. Al Wilder, a veteran teacher, sought to give students a view outside of the system’s artificial and banal boundaries. He so showed his debate class 1900, a powerful movie by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci. It focused about life, growing up, fascism, resistance, friendship, and love. Included was a graphic scene about bought sex.
The result was horror and heresy. The students were receptive to the film. That was the problem. Their elders, led by Jefferson County’s premier lunatics, the school board, screamed with outrage. They made it plain that school was not a place to encourage eager youngsters to explore the world and question everything around them; on the contrary, it was to turn them into mindless zombies who readily accept the worst of the status quo. The Jefferson Public Schools consequently fired Wilder. Virtually nothing was said about his fate and the horrific world administrators gave students when the Columbine High School Massacre erupted at the academy in April 1999.
DEMOCRATS VERSUS THE ENVIRONMENT by Phil Goodstein - December 2014 Naysayer
Washington has again acted to protect Colorado from state officials backed by environmentalists. In particular, the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, drawing on the Endangered Species Act which passed under the Richard Nixon administration with the support of the Republican president, has declared the Gunnison sage grouse an endangered species. This decree to protect a local animal and its natural habitat has particularly provoked the ire of Governor John Hickenlooper. Sounding just like a states’ right Democrat, he has yelled that Washington is interfering with Colorado’s ability to destroy the climate and obliterate its wildlife. He echoes the laments of Roy Romer and Federico Peña 25 years ago when the Environmental Protection Agency ruled Two Forks Dam was an ecologically devastating project that violated the most basic laws guarding the integrity of the earth. In the process, George Bush I came across as a sterling environmentalist compared to those Democratic officeholders backed by the likes of the Sierra Club.
DENVER PRESCHOOL TAX by Phil Goodstein - December 2014 Naysayer
The Denver preschool tax once more narrowly gained voter authorization. Since its adoption in 2006, it has been used to fund a coalition of self-styled improvers and babysitters who have embraced preschools as both salvation and a business.
From the beginning, advocates of the preschool tax have not addressed the most fundamental of issues. If preschool is a positive good for society, why should it be in private hands? In particular, why should parents wanting their toddlers in preschool have to pay for enrolling them? Why should not preschools be part of a universal public school system? For that matter, why, instead of drawing on the reactionary sales tax, should they not be financed with the rest of the public school system? By once more avoiding these issues and perpetuating their empire, the champions of the preschool tax show themselves to be the Naysayer of the Month.
(The Naysayers will meet at Javier’s, northwest corner of W. 38th Avenue and Tennyson Street, Saturday, December 6, 4:30 PM.)
Thursday, November 20, 2014
COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT HAS UPDATED ITS WEBSITE
Community Planning and Development has updated its website to better communicate important information pertaining to plans and rezonings. These changes were made in response to community feedback.
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Alexandra Foster | Communications program manager
Community Planning & Development | City and County of Denver720.865.2969 Phone | alexandra.foster@denvergov.org DenverGov.org/CPD | @DenverCPD | Take our Survey |
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Next South City Park Neighborhood Association Meeting includes City Park Playground Proposal
When: Wednesday, November 19th
Time: 7-9pm
Where: Bluebird Theater (3317 E. Colfax)
Meeting Agenda
1) SCPNA Officers Election – 30-45 minute Q&A with members posing questions to our various candidates.
2) City Park Playground Proposal – We will consider a proposal to re-engage city agencies about replacing the Dustin Redd playground. Instead of regional destination scaled playground like what was proposed with the City Loop, this proposal asks for something that is just the scale of the existing playground and picnic area. To see the entire proposal, please visit www.scpna.org where it will posted.
3) Neighborhood updates on recent notifications about liquor license applications, potential property redevelopments, and other news from the newsletter. Some discussion to follow on these items.
4) Open conversation where members can discuss neighborhood issues for the remainder of the meeting.
5) Lost Lake after-meeting party where members will receive free admission to see The Soil and The Sun.
__________________________________________________________
We would like to re-engage Denver Parks and Recreation regarding replacing the Dustin Redd playground at City Park with a 1 to 2 acre community-scaled playground and not a regional destination scaled playground as proposed previously. The new playground should be ADA compliant, constructed with modern materials designed to survive with minimal maintenance for a number of years, as well as be engaging and exciting for the next generation of children that will play on it.
Our goals are:
* Budget for the design of the project in 2016
* Design the project in 2017
* Budget for construction of the project in 2018.
* Construct the project in 2018. Further, we would like on-going maintenance of the new playground to be included in the City Park budget.
Since this will be a community-scaled playground, the neighborhoods adjacent to City Park agree to actively participate in the design and creation of the new playground. We commit to electing or assigning representatives from each of the undersigned groups to work with the Denver Parks and Recreation.
The original creation of the Dustin Redd playground is an example of a vibrant community coming together to create an amazing playground which is used by thousands of families today. Our hope is to engage the same vibrant community to recreate a more modern playground. It is only fitting that this playground would continue to be called the Dustin Redd playground.
Together, we can create a new playground.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
All of Southeastern Colorado to be a Massive Electronic Warfare Testing and Training Center
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Friday, November 14, 2014
REPORT FROM METHADONE ALLEY (16TH and GAYLORD) Nov. 13, 2014
by Gerald Trumbule
As reported previously, my parking lot (4 spaces) is directly across the alley from the new Addiction Services drug dispensary located at 1620 Gaylord. We're told that about 150 addicts are serviced here daily. They haven't got the parking lot figured out yet, but they are working on it. Meanwhile, my lot seems to be a favorite (even though it's posted on all sides).
In this batch of photos from earlier in the month, screen grabs from video, my lot is at the bottom of the picture. Management at the dispensary said they were not able to identify their clients by their cars.
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This next group is from Wednesday and Thursday
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| Prize winner for the day |
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO OPENS DRUG DISPENSARY IN "DRUG-FREE SCHOOL ZONE"
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| Clients wait in line for methadone at 1620 Gaylord St. |
It is not as if this property is unknown to the East High School students. For years they have used this parking lot as a place to smoke pot. Just last week approximately 30 students showed up for a fight. It looked like a "flash mob" to me. I called 911 but before I could even finish answering the operator's questions, the mob dispersed.
The neighbors want this drug dispensary closed. The tenant (ARTS) has a 4-year lease with the owner (Kolouch Properties).
Update 11/12/14: Apparently snow drives addicts crazy. Had 5 people try to park on my lot this morning. One person, standing on my lot, told me he did not have to move because he wasn't a car. His partner, in a wheel-chair, came out of the dispensary and called me a "real asshole".
I'll be publishing a list of names and phone numbers for you to call if you are concerned about this drug dispensary in the East High "drug-free zone".
Monday, November 10, 2014
YOU WANT THIS? SHOW UP.
Ten Ways the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Would Hurt Working Families in the U.S.
Edited by:
Dave Felice, CWA Local 7777 (Denver) and National Writers Union Local 1981
Editor's note.
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