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Voters Mandate Trees On Top Of Buildings
While Denver Mayor Continues To Eliminate Parks And Open Space
by Glen Richardson
Fortunately for Denver residents who enjoy living plants and trees, the voters on November 7, 2017, approved by a 54% to 46% margin Ordinance 300 – Denver Green Roof Initiative. The voter-initiated ballot question was the brainchild of Denver resident Brandon Rietheimer and a group of environmental activists. The initiative mandates new buildings larger than 25,000 square feet dedicate some of their roof space to trees, plants, solar panels or a mix. Existing buildings are not included unless they either expand to above 25,000 square feet or need a new roof.
Some Denver residents in the future may have to rely on their rooftops to see or touch trees and plants as Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is proceeding at a breakneck pace to eliminate trees, parks and open space within the City and County of Denver. “It is a new asphalt jungle,” stated Allen Clark, the owner of Clark’s Downing Street Auto Body, to The Denver Post. “We’re looking at areas where you can barely walk between the buildings. They don’t even bother to put grass in front of them anymore.”
Denver once was a leading city in amount of open space per resident. Today according to the Trust for Public Land it is down to 9.3 acres per thousand residents which is significantly below the national median of 13.1 in the 100 most populated cities and less than a third of adjoining Aurora.
The browning of Denver continues on unabated under Mayor Hancock. It was announced that Park Hill Golf Course will no longer be. Instead the land will be parceled out to developers either by the Clayton Trust or Denver. The Clayton Trust was administrated by the City and County of Denver originally but city officials were caught selling its land to friends at below market prices. It is now run by an independent board ostensibly for the benefit of pre-kindergarten kids and early childhood education. Some critics opine that it appears to them that one of the primary financial beneficiaries of the Clayton Trust these days could be President and CEO Charlotte M. Brantley and her extensive “executive team” with their salaries and benefits.
The City and County of Denver wants the almost 200 acres to be sold on the installment basis and critics charge they would then sell it to high density developers that just might be friends and backers of Mayor Hancock and his 
administration.
It is unclear why the Board of the Clayton Trust could not simply sell the land to their own friends and acquaintances at below market prices as almost is a tradition with the Clayton Trust. The Clayton Trust was set up after the death of George Washington Clayton in 1899 to help orphan boys between ages 6 and 10 but has been a tempting target of municipal and corporate corruption ever since.
It is not known what will be done with the 20 to 30 million dollars the land will bring to whomever sells it but that will be among other things that keep the ample salaries and benefits of Ms. Brantley and her cohorts flush for a very long time to come.
At the same time, the partial destruction of City Park Golf Course proceeds ahead for an expansive drainage hole. District Court 
Judge Arthur Goldberg ruled that “the loss of a mature (tree) canopy is materially detrimental to the habitat and the neighborhood,” that the project could imperil the course’s historic status, and that he hated to see it closed for construction. Nonetheless, he ruled in favor of the City and County of Denver over its citizens once again. The City and County of Denver has never lost a lawsuit
brought by citizens over parks and open space destruction during the entire Hancock Administration.
The City is so confident that the court system will always find in its favor, the City Council approved the commencement of the destruction of 261 trees on City Park Golf Course even before the court had even ruled.
At the same time, the Colorado Supreme Court refused to hear the citizens’ appeal on the destruction of a portion of Hentzell Park which had been traded for an office building in downtown Denver. In addition, this past summer, the City Council approved the destruction of Ruby Hill Park for a permanent concert venue and the closing of adjacent Overland Park Golf Course for a portion of each summer for a temporary concert facility.
As stated by Overland Park neighborhood resident James Cook, “I am glad the Green Roof Initiative passed as it will allow kids and families in Denver to remember what a beautiful city Denver once was before the high-density developers bought the mayor and the city council and commenced their destruction of parks and open space in the name of profit and progress.”
Three Cheers For Green Roof Initiative Victory
Perhaps the greatest upset of the November 7 election in Colorado was the approval by Denver voters of the citizen referred Initiative 300, better known as “Green Roof Initiative,” by a clear 54% to 46% margin. Denver resident Brandon Rietheimer and a group of environmental activists prevailed against the odds. They started this summer gaining signatures and submitted over 4,700 this past August to make the ballot.
The initiative mandates new buildings larger than 25,000 square feet must dedicate some of their roof space to trees, plants, solar panels or a mix. Existing buildings are not included unless they either expand to above 25,000 square feet or they need a new roof.
The initiative was opposed by all the forces and money that control the Mayor’s Office and the rest of the city. Rietheimer and his hardy band were outspent according to the financial disclosure records by an incredible 12 to 1 margin with the proponents raising only $20,000. Conversely the “no” side had over a quarter million dollars in their pockets to bend the voting public to their side.
The “no” contributors were a Who’s Who of those who wish to destroy Denver for their own purpose led by developer Pat Hamill’s Colorado Concern organization which has dozens of Denver fat cats whose only real “concern” is lining their own pockets at the expense of the public.
Will green roofs work? Will the Denver Botanic Gardens build an elaborate garden and display on top of its parking garage to the delight of thousands of visitors ever
y year? It goes without saying that the same will reduce noise and pollution in the city which is never a bad idea.
The Mayor’s greedy friends argued that it would increase the cost of developments in the city and, of course, it will. Similarly, any open space requirements or parking requirements also raise the cost of the potential developments until they are waived by the city’s corrupt Community Planning and Development Department. The mayor’s friends believe that the only real purpose of parks and open space is to be monetized for commercial enterprises which, of course, they did to Ruby Hill Park and Overland Park Golf Course.
They also love to see parks used for massive drainage holes to save land for development on the I-70 project. Wouldn’t want the Mayor’s friends’ land to be used for such a purpose.
If you hate the idea of greenery on top of roofs don’t despair — it’s not going to actually happen. Mayor Hancock after passage of the Initiative stated, “We have always made a good-faith effort to implement the initiatives — once the people have spoken, that’s our job.”
He is, of course, lying.
Initiative 300 provides that it can be amended after six months with two-thirds vote of the City Council. Pat Hamill and his friends own more than two-thirds of the City Council and it will be slowly amended until the Initiative becomes virtually meaningless.
Moreover, any implementation would have to go through the Department of Community Planning and Development. Its Executive Director is the corpulent Brad Buchanan. He proved with his interpretation of no parking required for micro units that he will perversely interpret virtually any provision of law for benefit of high density developers. Rietheimer and his band of rebels will find that Buchanan will determine Ordinance 300 to mean exactly the opposite of what they intended. Buchanan is Denver’s very own Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland where any word in Ordinance 300 means “just what I [Brad Buchanan] choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” Mr. Rietheimer unfortunately is going to get to learn how things really work in today’s City and County of Denver.
But citizens for the first time ever during the Hancock Administration have shown that they can defeat all the King’s horses and all the King’s men even when outspent 12 to 1. For the first time, Pat Hamill’s regime has suffered a loss. Let us pray that this is just the beginning and not a one-time aberration.
— Editorial Board
Gunfight At The Gun
A Night Of Terror And Bravery At Shotgun Willie’s
by Mark Smiley and Charles Bonniwell
The evening of Saturday, October 21, 2017, started like most others at Shotgun Willie’s. Guests inside the club enjoyed the entertainment and music and it was a calm crowd. What ensued in the early morning hours of Sunday, October 22, 2017, were fights, gunfire, and acts of heroism.
Shotgun Willie’s stays opens late on Saturday nights and shortly before closing, approximately 20 young gang members dressed in red of the primarily African American gang the “Bloods” menacingly congregated in front of the club. Four gang members entered the club refused to pay the cover charge and were denied entry, while another gang member stole the tip jar from the front desk. Club employees went outside to recover the jar and they were set upon by the rest of the gang members.
What the Bloods had not anticipated was 6’3” 440-pound former high school nose guard J. “Tiny” Denard who was one of the managers on duty at Shotgun’s that night. Tiny can bench press 580 pounds and once ran a 4.7 second 40-yard dash in high school. Hearing five of his fellow employees being beaten by 20 gang members, he c
harged out the front door and smashed into the fray along with two former military members who work at Shotgun Willie’s. Soon gang members were being tossed into the air and slammed into the ground. Although the gang members greatly outnumbered the Shotgun employees, Tiny was the equalizer.
The intimidators were now being intimidated by an enraged Tiny. Fearing they could not match the wrath of Tiny, a gang member pulled a 9-millimeter pistol and fired five shots directly at him, three of which struck — two in his arm and one in his thigh. But nothing seemed to faze him as he chased the terrified shooter around the building. The rest of the gang members fled in their cars.
The entire incident took only about 12 minutes, approximately the same time as the legendary “Gunfight at the OK Corral” in Tombstone, Arizona. The Glendale Police quickly arrived on the scene. Only after the brawl and shooting were over did Tiny realize he had been hit with three bullets as he noticed blood oozing out of his thigh and he collapsed unto the ground.
A regular customer had taken his shirt off and applied a tourniquet. Once Tiny was safely inside the building, an employee applied a proper tourniquet that he had in his car to Tiny’s arm. With many Shotgun Willie’s employees being former members of the military, they are prepared for almost anything.
Staff members had to think quickly. Some pulled innocent bystanders into T-Bar, a bar attached to Shotgun Willie’s, to keep them safe. Other staffers didn’t let anyone else into the club. The 9-1-1 call came from Monica Robles, a front door host. “I didn’t even realize it was Tiny that was hit until I went to call 9-1-1,” said Robles. Robles is close with her co-workers. “I love the team, they’re my family, always have been and even more so now.”
“It was hard for me because I had to watch all my boys out there get hurt and I couldn’t be out there to help them because I was watching the money and it was hard for me,” said
Robles. “In the same respect, if I was out there, they would have gotten hurt worse because they would have been trying to protect me.” Tiny admits he is a protector by nature. “I’m a leader and protector. I’ve always been that.”
Tiny, who spent five days at Denver Health, is now on the road to recovery. He has tremendous support from his mom, two sisters, and eight-year-old daughter. The outpouring of support outside of his immediate family included 237 text messages and 173 missed calls. The highly respected manager has retu
rned to Shotgun Willie’s to thank people and give them peace of mind that everything is going to be okay.
“If I wasn’t there, it could have turned into a bad situation,” said Tiny. “The guy with the gun, after watching the video, it was obvious he was looking for something. He wanted trouble. I’m grateful I was there. Nobody wants to get shot. I would rat
her me get hit with those three bullets, and everybody else be safe and alive and well and me just have to do a little bit of healing, than somebody else get hit or lose their life.”
Now, Shotgun Willie’s focuses on the future and instilling a sense of normalcy back to this 35-year old Glendale business. “We very seldom have any real violence at the club,” said owner Debbie Matthews. “This is unfamiliar territory so I am impressed with how the staff has pulled together. We have had former managers and other employees step in where needed to keep the club running and I am proud of each and every one of them.”
That pride runs deep with Tiny as well. “For everyone to keep their composure like that, you can’t find that,” said Tiny. “That’s my team. It was pretty c
ool to see how everyone came together. These aren’t just people I work with, these are people I have a relationship with. They are my second family.”
No suspects have been arrested to date and the Glendale Police are currently investigating. Any information can be shared with the Glendale Police Department by calling 303-759-1511.