by Mark Smiley | Apr 27, 2018 | Editorials
The most recent scandals of Mayor Michael Hancock involving his sexual harassment of Police Detective Leslie Branch-Wise and the payoffs to hide his actions with taxpayer funds, have raised the uncomfortable question of exactly what function does the 13-member City Council actually serve?
The City Council costs Denver taxpayers millions every year. The individual Council members annually make $91,197 with City Council President bringing in $102,197. They recently gave themselves a 10.3% raise to be phased in. In addition, they have a plethora of generous government perks and benefits. Each has his or her own paid assistant as well as a generous allowance for an office. But that is just the tip of the iceberg with an entire staff for the City Council as a whole, travel benefits and the list goes on and on.
What do we the citizens get for all that money? It appears to be virtually nothing. The City Council simply rubber-stamps almost every high-density development brought before them from the Community Planning and Development Department, notwithstanding the pleas and howls of residents from across the city.
Yes, we have a so-called “strong mayor” form of government in Denver but it is not technically yet a dictatorship, although a majority of the City Council seem to treat it as such. While claiming that the City Charter gives them little power, the Council a few years back gave up its role in overseeing the parks and open space in the City and County of Denver. As a result, the Mayor has destroyed or monetized park after park from City Park to Hentzell Park to Overland Park and on and on.
In theory, under the City Charter the City Council appropriates all money to run the city, passes or changes laws and investigates wrong doing by various city officials. In fact, it performs none of those functions. The mayor prepares the budget and doles out small favors to individual council members in return for passing the budget and then rubberstamps all expenditures thereafter. No meaningful legislation has been passed for years other than changing the zoning laws to make them ever friendlier to high density developers.
The joke of the investigative powers of the City Council were on full display regarding Detective Leslie Branch-Wise. Councilman Rafael Espinoza wrote a confidential letter demanding an investigation into the sexual harassment by the mayor, which was leaked to the press. The City Council first declined to investigate saying they didn’t want to re-victimize Ms. Wise-Branch. When Branch-Wise in fact demanded that they investigate and have open hearings they then stated that the City Attorney, who is controlled by the mayor, told them they can’t. Well that was easy.
In the last City Council election in 2015 we strongly endorsed Wayne New, Paul Kashmann and Rafael Espinoza. Each of them overcame long odds and all of the money of lobbyists and high-density developers and pulled upset victories. Each of them has regularly voted against the worst of the high-density developments and the destruction of open space and parks.
They are, of course, a minority of three in a 13-person council. But it is not sufficient to simply be the “vote of the people” but they needed to be the “voice of the people” and in that regard they have abysmally failed. Given their mild if not meek personalities they raise not one peep about the destruction of the city and the quality of life for its citizens. There is no public opposition in the public arena by any of them to any of the worst of the worst of the mayor’s and his administration’s actions.
Of course, while we have a strong mayor form of government, Mayor Hancock is anything but a “strong mayor” and in fact he is a total “empty suit” or more accurately an “empty workout outfit.”
Perhaps we should amend the City Charter and convert the government to one run by a High Commission. One person would be designated to it by the Brownstein Law Firm, one from the lobbying firm of CRL Associates, two from the crony capitalist executives comprising Colorado Concern with the High Commission rounded out with three high density developers. That way at least when Denver citizens petition the Denver government to address their grievances they are talking to people who could actually get something done. We would finally have that “open, honest and transparent” Denver government that Mayor Hancock spouts off about ad nauseum.
In the meantime, the 13 City Council members will continue to draw their soon to be six figure salaries while doing absolutely nothing other than ignoring the voices of citizens who still bother to go to City Council meetings having not yet heard that they are talking to little more than cardboard figures placed behind a large dais in the ornate Denver City Council Chambers. The High Commission form of government comprised of the real powers to be in Denver sounds reasonable in comparison and would be a lot less expensive for all involved.
— Editorial Board
by Mark Smiley | Mar 28, 2018 | General Featured
by Lisa Marlin
Patiently Waiting: Tugboat waits patiently on his leash while his owner Kyra Bebus visits with Sam Gannon, Denver Senior Park Ranger, at Cheesman Park. Tugboat is able to jump and play while safely on his leash, right.
“Rules are rules,” William McGihon of Denver said after he put a leash on his dog Liam when told to so by a park ranger on a warm March Sunday afternoon in Cheesman Park. “I am aware of the leash law, so I understood and was willing to cooperate obviously.”
The leash law forbids dogs to be off leash unless they are in a designated city dog park. The ordinance is posted on signs throughout the park system, but as outdoor temperatures rise, so does the number of people who ignore the ordinance, especially in Cheesman Park. In 2017, 20 percent of the 240 off-leash citations in Denver’s 228 parks were issued here.
“Cheesman Park has the highest number of off-leash dog issues, followed by Wash Park and City Park, probably because of its really big meadows and location,” said Denver Park Ranger Supervisor Jacob Wells. He also emphasized that leashes can’t be longer than six feet, so those retractable ones that allow owners to adjust the length beyond that are not okay.
It’s not just the parks that fall under the leash law. It goes for every public space throughout Denver’s jurisdiction that is not designated as a dog park. Last year, 576 off leash citations were issued outside of the park system, such as on neighborhood streets and sidewalks.
The citations carry a $100 fine for a first offense but that’s usually not the first course of action taken by animal control officers or park rangers. “We try to be more education-oriented than happy-handed,” Wells said, explaining that warnings are more frequently given and are dependent on the scenario. Someone playing frisbee with their dog when no one else is around might get a warning, but when the park is busy, the consequences are different. “A couple of years ago I came across a situation where someone was throwing a ball and their dog tripped someone else and broke their wrist,” said Wells.
Often when dog owners are confronted, they res
Leash Law: Denver Senior Park Ranger Sam Gannon reminds William McGihon that his dog Liam needs to be on a leash at Cheesman Park.
pond much like Liam’s owner did. “I just felt like he was under our supervision and control by voice command, so I thought that was probably an acceptable scenario,” McGihon said. Of course, he quickly learned it wasn’t when Sam Gannon, the senior park ranger patrolling Cheesman, stopped to chat with him.
“When I see violations, I tend to talk to people and remind them this is a park rule and we need you to follow it,” said Gannon. “And then we give them a reason, which is usually other people’s enjoyment of the park and safety. Once people get the reason behind the rule, we tend to get a lot more compliance.”
He explained that citations are used as a last resort to gain compliance with people who don’t heed a warning and decide they want to do it anyway, even with the $100 fine. A second offense jumps to a $250 fine and goes to $500 for a third.
With a citation avoided and Liam leashed, Gannon headed over to where 
he saw a medium-sized dog running freely about 50 yards away. But since Gannon is easy to spot in his distinctive wide-brimmed hat, gray shirt and green trousers, the dog was quickly leashed by its owner before he reached them. “When people see me and they visually comply, oftentimes I will not remind them of the rule. But a lot of times if they’re visually complying they know the rule anyway,” Gannon said.
This ended up being the case with the woman who leashed her dog before Gannon got there. Later, she shared that she is from north Boulder where leash laws are different. “I don’t know Denver’s leash laws though I assume there are some,” said Lindsey Riley who was at Cheesman with her dog Clyde as he strained on his leash to play with Tugboat who was there with his owner Kyra Bebus.
As the dogs sniffed, pawed and frolicked around each other, Bebus kept a close eye and tight hold on her pet. “I know Tugboat is harmless, but he is a one-year-old puppy that weighs 80 pounds and he can get a little excited playing and that can definitely be intimidating to people who aren’t used to that,” she said. That’s why she usually heads to dog parks in the Denver-area where Tugboat can run and jump with other dogs off leash to his heart’s content. Leaving Cheesman, she took Tugboat a short distance away to the recently opened Carla Madison Dog Park off Colfax.
Wells said this newest dog park should help alleviate some of the off-leash issues. Having more rangers patrolling should also have an impact. “We bring in most of our resources when we see more people using the parks, from about April to September, he said. “Our ranger group is growing and so with more of them in the field to spot issues, the situations go down.”
They may go down, but not away. As Gannon stood just beyond where he parked his patrol unit near the Pavilion at Cheesman Park, he browsed the surrounding lawns where people and their pets were coming and going. “There will be dogs off leash here all day,” he said. Some he’ll see as he patrols and others he’ll hear about from calls made to 3-1-1, Denver’s Help Center. He’ll talk to as many dog owners as he can and hopefully see them comply, but if a citation is what it takes, he’s ready to do that too. “It is truly an issue and we do take it seriously,” he said.
