by Glen Richardson
Perhaps the biggest fight in the upcoming Denver municipal election is in the 4th Council District where Councilwoman Peggy Lehman is term limited. While there are five candidates for the council seat, it appears to be coming down between two women, Halisi Vinson and Kendra Black, who represent dramatically different interests. To date the other candidates have not raised sufficient funds to get a strong political message out.
The 4th District is the southeast portion of the city from East IIiff Avenue on the north down to Belleview Avenue, and includes the neighborhoods of Wellshire, University Hills, Goldsmith, Hampden, Hampden South, Kennedy and Southmoor Park. (See map on Page 19.)
Black is viewed by Webb supporters as a candidate being wholly under the control of real estate developers and initiators of the destruction of the Hentzell Park natural area in the District that raised an uproar by citizens.
Halisi Vinson on the other hand is being backed by park advocates including former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. The former mayor sent a blistering e-mail to interested parties throughout the 4th District and elsewhere declaring in the opening sentence: “First they took our park and now they want to buy a council seat.” (See the full letter on Page 3.)
He goes on to note, “What residents of District 4 need to be aware of is that Halisi’s opponent is taking thousands for her campaign from those who took the park. They even rejected your signatures calling for a public vote on taking the park land, which has been officially called a park since 1955.”
The e-mail has set off a firestorm of debate not only in the 4th District but across the city.
Black was the co-chair of the highly controversial 15 member oversight committee appointed to oversee the funds of the $466 million bond issue approved by voters in November 2012. Critics accused Black and her fellow committee members as being little more than “a rubber stamp for the district’s spending plans” according to the website Chalkbeat Colorado.
Among Black’s numerous endorsers and money contributors are Lisa Dannemiller, the disgraced Denver Park Manager who orchestrated the destruction of the Hentzell Park Natural Area for Mayor Michael Hancock. She oversaw the removal of longtime park advocates from the Park Advisory Board who opposed the mayor’s plans.
Another higher controversial contributor is Marcus Pachner. A lobbyist and political fixture, Pachner was paid by the International Risk Group to help smooth over the selling of 80 acres of Lowry Vista open space to the developer for $10 for massive mixed use development that outraged citizens in the 5th District. The appearance of Pachner on the money donation list of Black has drawn the ire of park advocates in the 5th District.
Additional endorsers include wealthy attorney Steve Farber whose law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP is widely despised by good government advocates but represents many of Colorado’s most powerful real estate developers, and CRL Associates another influential Denver lobbying firm for developers.
Webb admirer and park advocate Trish Abbott said, “Ms. Black’s endorsers include a rogue’s gallery of some of the greediest individuals in all of Denver. If she gets in office she will let them destroy the district so it will be unrecognizable in four years.” Webb noted in his e-mail, “ïf they get away with this, the rich and powerful will try to take other parks and buy our council seats.”
Another park advocate Richard Witholder urged District voters to go to Black’s website and review the Issues section where she refers to herself in the third person as in “We are fiscally responsible.” The fact she uses the royal “We” tells you everything you need to know about her.
She went on to note, “With Kendra Black you can say goodbye to any parks and open space in the District that the developers can grab along with massive high rises in local residential neighborhoods. Just look what they have done to Cherry Creek North, Lowry and Crestmoor. These fat cats and neighborhood busters are not giving her all this money for nothing.”
Other Vinson supporters note that Black appears to have little or no business experience other than her assertion of “witnessing my husband’s 25 years in small business.”
Webb in turn noted that Vinson is a fierce advocate for parks who has an MBA and 30 years of corporate and venture capital experience. Vinson states, “I will be dedicated to making sure that we maintain what we love about Denver, like our open spaces and parks, in the midst of change.” She is a member of the Hampden Heights Civic Association. She is married to Ric Crawley a former firefighter and city employee.
A review of the Candidate Financial Dis-closure Statements for “Halisi Vinson for Denver” show the largest contributors to her campaign to date are Christopher Dinkel, a Denver immigration lawyer, for $940; The Holt Group, a Denver law firm, for $1,000 as well as Mary Holt for $1,000 and Ty Holt for $500. Keith Kegley a Los Angeles IT entrepreneur for $1,000; Arthur Suazo a principal in Hudson Pacific, a commercial real estate firm in Los Angeles, for $1,000; and Crews of California, an airport gift shop in Las Vegas, for $1,000.
Black graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, as did Vinson’s son.
The supporters of Black, including Jeff Allen the COO of the Greater Glendale Chamber of Commerce, argue that Black has broad support and “she represents many diverse interests and she wants to represent all Denverites to make the city a better place to live in and work.”
Another supporter of Black, former Denver City Councilman Ed Thomas, noted that “real estate developers are important stakeholders in Denver and they deserve advocates like Kendra Black on the City Council to represent theirs as well as other business interests.”
A third supporter who did not want to be identified by name went on to declare, “What right does Wellington Webb have to tell us in the 4th District how to vote? Black has lived in this district most of her life and Webb has never lived within the District’s boundaries ever. He just wants to control everything.”
Both Black and Vinson have sought the endorsement of the AFL-CIO labor union which has not endorsed any candidate in the 4th District to date.
Given the wealth and influence of supporters of Kendra Black observers view her as the odds-on favorite for the council seat, but Vinson appears to be gaining a surprising amount of grassroots support according to activists in the 4th District who see a possible upset in the making.
The first round of the Denver municipal election is scheduled for May 5 and if no candidate gets a majority of the votes a runoff between the top two candidates will be held on June 2.