The June municipal election runoff is over and the Denver voters in their inestimable wisdom have decided they want four more years of Mayor Michael Hancock and the crony capitalists that control him. Political newbie Jamie Giellis ran a spirited campaign and the mayor had to strongly rely on the race card to besmirch her for his victory. He was greatly aided in his race baiting by The Denver Post, Colorado Springs Gazette, Channel 9, Channel 7 and Channel 4. Giellis had no money to counter the endless ads and mainstream stories calling her a bigot.


Park Hill Golf Course

Somewhat contradictorily the voters threw out Hancock’s closest allies on the City Council, Albus Brooks and Mary Beth Susman, along with Wayne New. The mayor’s people also tried to save Brooks by sending out a flyer with Candi CdeBaca’s logo on it urging Latinos to vote, and that it is “Time for this monkey to go!” [African American]. The trouble with that tactic was that CdeBaca is both Hispanic and African American and the racist flyer was clearly the work of the Hancock/Brooks slander machine that worked so successfully to smear Giellis. This time it didn’t work. CdeBaca, for that and many other reasons, probably will not be a lackey for the Hancock administration.

There will be five new faces on the 13-member City Council and the question is whether the new council will have any more of a backbone than the old one to stand up to the high-density developers that run the mayor’s office. That question will be quickly answered as it has just been announced that the 200-acre Park Hill Golf Course will be sold to the worst of the worst high-density developers, Westside Investments LLC, a firm that is also planning the destruction of the Loretta Heights campus.

The seller of the property is the Clayton Trust which runs the Clayton Early Learning Center. The Clayton Trust was set up after the death of real estate mogul George Washington Clayton in 1899. He left his entire estate to help orphan boys between the ages of 6 and 10 but has been a tempting target of municipal and corporate corruption ever since. The Clayton Trust was originally administered by the City and County of Denver but was turned over to an independent board after city officials were caught selling various parcels of land to their friends at far below market value. No, Michael Hancock did not invent municipal corruption in the City and County of Denver, but his administration has only helped to bring it to new heights.

Candi CdeBaca

Of course, the trustees could not be trusted not to loot the Trust so in 1997 the city gave the trust $2 million to mandate the remaining land to be open space. The money and other funds of the Trust have been utilized to run the Clayton Early Learning Center on the grounds. There appears to be no reason to have the Center other than to enrich the rapacious women who run the Center, exploiting poor minorities with very young children who are grateful for whatever handouts and care the Early Learning Center can provide, and who are in no position to protest their contemptible treatment.

The new City Council will have to approve the sale, negate the open space constriction and approve high density development with a fraudulent claim of improving “affordable housing.” It will be interesting to watch how District 10’s newest councilman Chris Hinds responds. Hinds was able to overthrow incumbent Wayne New by pointing out how New failed to criticize the Hancock Administration and let development go on unabated in Cherry Creek North. Hinds was greatly aided in his victory by various unions and the far-left Working Families Party which got its start in New York City and was instrumental in getting Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez elected to Congress. Hinds pounded New for being the only city council person who was not a registered Democrat (New is registered as an independent.)

Less emphasized by Hinds was a position that he was a great proponent of high-density development with the standard caveat that he would be for it as long as it would assist “affordable housing.” It is assumed he would be the poster boy for the destruction of one of the largest open spaces in Denver so long as he could fraudulently claim it assisted “affordable housing.”

Chris Hinds

Candi CdeBaca was also greatly assisted in her victory by the Working Families Party and is a professed Marxist. It is a sign of the times that we endorsed CdeBaca. As a practical matter we are willing to take an honest Marxist like CdeBaca who actually cares about Denver over an absolute crooked crony capitalist like Albus Brooks. Our fear is that Hinds will combine his far-left politics with the sleazy, crooked, crony capitalism of Albus Brooks to become just one more Hancock lackey. His actions regarding the sale of the Park Hill Golf Course will indicate early on whether our fears are well placed or not.

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