Greek Festival
High Rents, Home Costs Are Reframing City’s Housing Plight
Rents Soar, Wage-Home Affordability Gap Widens; Motels, Tiny Houses, Cars And Streets Are The Last Resort
by Glen Richardson
They’re the hip and the homeless and they’re both facing identical problems: finding an affordable place to live! Some live on the streets, others sleep in their car or on a friend’s couch — and then there are those who bounce between motels, living week to week, shelling out what little cash they have for seedy bedrooms. Blame it on the skyrocketing cost to rent an apartment or buy a home in Denver.
The current rental market is unforgiving, and thousands of people find themselves on Denver’s streets. Others are on the brink of homelessness or being pushed out of the city. According to Yardi Matrix — the firm providing information on all Denver apartments 50 units or larger — the average rent for an apartment in Denver is $1,366, a 4% increase compared to last year. Studio apartments in Denver rent for $1,196 a month, while one-bedroom apartments ask on average $1,254 a month; the two-bedroom average is $1,542.
For those who can afford a home this year’s selling season is heating up an already hot market. According to the Metro Association of Realtors February’s 3,878 active listings were an all-time low for any m
onth on record, and only the third time active listings have dropped below 4,000. The average home price in February was $402.516. By April the average had climbed to $439,161, up 3.41% from March and up 10.53% year over year, a new record high! Big worry now: “The price of housing is on a higher trajectory than wages, and the affordability gap in the middle is getting wider,” warns Steve Danyliw, Chairman of DMAR Market Trends and a Denver real estate agent.
Rent, Buying Options
The average size for a Denver apart
ment is 846 sq. ft., but varies by type. A studio averages 507 sq. ft., while a one-bedroom apartment offers a more generous square footage of 707 sq. ft. Two-bedrooms have an average size of 1,012 sq. ft.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Denver are Virginia Village, where the average rent goes for $1,183/month and East Colfax, where it averages $1,200/mo. The citywide average asking price is $1,366/mo. Among the most expensive rental neighborhoods are the Highlands at $1,748, Congress Park at $1,750 and LoDo at $1,773. Those newly built luxury Cherry Creek high-rise apartments start at $1,472 and go as high as $5,925.
Year-to-date average sold prices of homes in metro Denver through April have increased by 6.05% compared to last year, 9.53% from 2015 to 2016, and 12.99% from 2014 to 2015. In Wash Park where construction is starting on 29 new one and two bedroom condos priced from $325,000 to $685,000, a dozen are already under contract and the homes won’t be ready for move-ins until May 2018. The 500-1,300 sq. ft. units have one reserved parking space and buyers can grab a second spot for $25,000. In 1969, median home prices throughout the Denver area were less than twice median family incomes. Prices first became unaffordable in the metropolitan area in the 2000s.
Families In Motels
Shelters are full, transitional housing is limited, and so is affordable permanent housing. Adding to the struggles for homele
ss people is a strong sentiment against them by the City. Municipal ordinances and the Denver Planning Board punish homeless people by banishing them from public places. In 2005, Denver set out to end homelessness within 10 years. That deadline passed in 2015 and thousands can still be found in sleeping bags along Cherry Creek or on cramped emergency shelter cots during bad weather. Others sleep in the backseat of cars parked in neighborhoods from Hilltop to LoDo.
Families exist by the hundreds in Denver motels each night. Two nonprofits have
transformed old motels into livable homeless spaces. They are along Colfax Ave. and on Broadway. Denver Human Services (DHS) partners with motels, providing families with vouchers for shelter. Many of those vouchers are issued for use at the Family Motel, Volunteers of America’s 45-room motel located at 4855 W. Colfax Ave. In the 1990s, VOA purchased the motel from private
owners, and engaged a homebuilder to convert the Aristocrat into an emergency shelter. In 2001 it opened with 40 rooms designated specifically for DHS.
VOA owns and operates the motel, and DHS pays for most of the rooms and provides free supportive services including three square meals daily along with housekeeping and on-site laundry. It serves about 620 people a week, mostly families staying for one to three days — though Denver residents can stay up to two weeks, and some veterans stay up to two years.
Time-Limited Housing
Joshua Station is a motel converted to transitional-housing where families stay for 15 months of programming. It provides time-limited housing, and asks tenants to participate in services during their stay and pay a non-market rate rent — no more than 30% of the family’s income, which could be $
50 or $400. “We try to mimic what renting is like in real life, but to a degree that works for our families,” explains Executive Director Amy Jackson.
In 15 years of operation, both the number of families and the program duration has grown, now serving 30 families simultaneously, each of which stay in the program around 26 months. Mile High Ministries purchased the old motel near I-25 and West 8th Ave. because existing rooms were easily transformed into 30 rooms with private bathrooms.
Since the need for transitional housing is substantial in Denver, Joshua Station has a rolling admission process. When rooms become available, the organization holds an orientation. Families interested in the program can apply, and subsequently sign up for an interview. The Joshua Station staff determines whether the family is a good fit.
Tiny House Villages
Denver gave the green light in March to construct a village of tiny homes for the homeless in the River North neighborhood. At long last the c
ity gave a zoning permit to the Beloved Community Village, a project of the Colorado Village Collaborative. It is being built on a vacant lot at 3733 Walnut St. and organizers hope to have the homes built and people moved in this month. However the city only issued the permit for six months. “Obviously, that’s a problem, so we are working to create permanent zoning,” admits Terese Howard, an organizer with Denver Homeless Out Loud.
“The way it is approved, we will hav
e to be moving every six months,” says Howard. The tiny homes can be placed on flatbed trailers and moved every six months to areas the coalition can get accepted. Nevertheless, it is Denver’s first approved housing village and construction is underway. Organizers hope to have three villages up by next winter and 10 by 2020.
The small number of tiny homes won’t put much of a dent in Denver’s homelessness problem, but organizers say Beloved Community Village provides another option for those who aren’t well suited to traditional shelters. Opponents claim it will be an eyesore and could attract crime.
Church Lot Houses
“After careful consideration, and a time of prayerful reflection, the families at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church have also decided to proceed with a Tiny House Village.” They are seeking approval from Denver for eight homes. The project will be located on a section of the Church’s north parking lot at 2015 Glenarm Pl.
The Village will consist of eight tiny, insulated homes 8 x 12 ft. each. They will have a community kitchen, a lavatory area with private showers and two toilets. Villagers would pay an affordable fee for utilities. The site will have an 8-ft. perimeter fence and secure entrance-exit, manned 24/7. The Delores Project will maintain a budget including staff for security. Colorado Construction Institute will provide the labor to build the houses and material will be donated. The Delores Project will supply management oversight — including screening and selecting residents — paid for through grants.
St. Andrew’s is an Anglo-catholic church built during 1907-1909. The building is considered one of Denver’s most beautiful Gothic style churches. When completed the village is expected to shelter 8-11 women and transgender adults. Homes will be placed on asphalt with the perimeter extending into the church rose garden and take up some staff parking.
Phony P.I./FBI Agent Johnson Goes National
U.S. Government Desperate To Hide Identity At Bundy Standoff Trials
by Charles C. Bonniwell
Glendale’s very own phony private investigator Charles Johnson has now made national news regarding a fake documentary he directed on the Cliven Bundy family in Nevada. His national exposure includes PBS’ Frontline documentary television series and stories in the investigative online magazine The Intercept to the apparent great consternation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States government generally.
Johnson Comes To Glendale
Johnson arrived in Glendale in March 2016, claiming to be a private consultant for an unidentified “female journalist” tracking down anyone who was quoted in the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle critical of Mohammad Ali Kheirkhahi, the principal owner of Authentic Persian & Oriental Rugs, or his proposed massive condo development on Colorado Boulevard. Johnson also tried to gain entrance into Glendale City Clerk Sherry Frame’s Denver apartment late on a Saturday afternoon. (See “Phony P.I. Arrested: Citizens Critical of Wealthy Rug Merchants Harassed,” Chronicle front page April 2016 issue.)
Various persons who were stalked and harassed by Johnson filed complaints with the Glendale and Lakewood police departments and when he returned to Glendale several weeks later he was arrested by the Glendale Police for failing to register in Colorado as a private investigator as required by Colorado law. However, prior to going to trial in Arapahoe County on the misdemeanor charge the FBI demanded that Arapahoe County D.A. George Brauchler dismiss all charges “for reasons that cannot be disclosed.”
FBI Letter
Brauchler however indicated that he required a letter on FBI letterhead by the Special Agent in Charge of the Denver office before he would act. He then took the letter, attached it to his request for dismissal to the court, which made the letter publicly available to the outrage of the FBI. The Chronicle published the full letter as part of our June 2016 front page story “Phony P.I. — FBI Mole or Worse? All Charges Dismissed Per FBI.”
In March 2017 the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies issued a “Cease and Desist Order” against Johnson from acting as a private investigator in Colorado without obtaining a license, which the FBI was unable to block. (See “FBI Agent Provocateur Charles Issued ‘Cease and Desist Order’ From Colorado Agency,” Chronicle front page February 2017 issue.)
But it was always unclear who exactly was Charles Johnson. Was he an FBI informant, a rogue agent or something else? We now know. The man arrested by the Glendale police and pictured on the front page of the Chronicle is, in fact, an official Special Agent of the FBI whose real name is not Charles Johnson.
Johnson In Nevada
Agent Johnson went to Nevada after the standoff over the cattle of Cliven Bundy which had been seized by the BLM concerning a multiyear grazing fee dispute. A group of armed citizens had taken the cattle back from the BLM who feared a Ruby Ridge-like firefight and had backed down. But the government was now intensely committed to bringing criminal charges against Cliven Bundy, his two sons and 14 other people who were part of the standoff.
Johnson arrived in Nevada claiming he was a documentary film producer and he wanted to produce a film to be called “America Reloaded” that would be sympathetic to the Cliven Bundy family and followers. But he was, in fact, an undercover FBI Special Agent hoping to obtain incriminating statements to be used in any upcoming criminal trial. He gave out a card that was exactly the same, with one exception, as he used in Glendale with the same address in Nashville and phone number but instead of “Detective Consultant” it stated he was a director with “Longbow Productions.”
Ultimately Johnson and his camera crew obtained over 100 hours of interviews, portions of which were shown at the trial of six relatively insignificant Bundy standoff participants. The federal court ordered, over the objections of the federal prosecutors, that the minor participants be tried first followed by Cliven Bundy and his family and then a third trial of middle level participants.
Cloak Of Secrecy
Johnson was brought in under the cloak of secrecy to testify about his fake documentary. It was admitted that Johnson was, in fact, an undercover FBI agent, that Charles Johnson was not his real name, and the government would not provide his real name. He entered the courthouse through a special entrance barred from the press and the public. To hide his visage from the public all cell phones were banned from the courtroom. The federal judge prohibited any questions of Johnson about his other activities.
All of this amazing court secrecy seemed almost comical as all anyone had to do was Google the name Charles Johnson and FBI and Johnson’s arrest photo appears from the stories run in the Chronicle and on Fox 31 television in Denver. That was exactly what Trevor Aaronson, investigative reporter for The Intercept, did for his story “How An Undercover FBI Agent Ended In Jail After Pretending To Be A Journalist.” He also requested copies of the tapes, recordings and documents regarding the arrest of Johnson for his story from the City of Glendale.
The Glendale story 
was a subsidiary story to one Ryan Deveraux and Trevor Aaronson wrote in The Intercept titled “The Bizarre Story Behind the FBI’s Fake Documentary About the Bundy Family.” Embedded in the online story at The Intercept are portions of the fake documentary with Johnson as the director and interviewer trying to get the Bundy family and others to criminally implicate themselves as well as telephone calls with Johnson and Bundy family members.
PBS
PBS’s Frontline has a documentary series titled “American Patriot: Inside the Armed Uprising Against the Federal Government” in which they did a segment on May 16 titled “FBI agents posed as filmmakers infiltrate the Bundy family” in which they reveal Johnson’s fake documentary. Interestingly Frontline, in playing the videos of Bundy and followers as well as Johnson’s phone calls, distorted Johnson’s voice to hide his identity perhaps not realizing that Johnson was already an infamous figure and that the same video and phone calls were on The Intercept’s site without distortion.
Poor Track Record
The FBI’s history of pretending to be film makers and journalists is highly dubious and controversial. In the FBI’s scandalous persecution of alleged Atlanta Olympic bomber Richard Jewell, the FBI tried to get the innocent Richard Jewell to waive his constitutional rights by informing him they were simply doing a training film about bomb detection. The FBI then leaked his name to the press. It was later determined that the deadly bomb was, in fact, planted by Eric Rudolph, an anti-abortion activist. Jewell, found innocent, later sued the FBI and got a large monetary settlement.
The FBI pretending journalists became so tainted that in June 2016, four months after Johnson’s foray into Glendale, then Director of the FBI James Comey announced the FBI would rarely use that ruse and only after consultation with the deputy attorney general.
First Bundy Trial In Nevada
The first Bundy Nevada trial which ended April 24, 2017, did not go well for the government. None of the six defendants were found guilty of the main two conspiracy charges that were the core of the government’s case. Two of the defendants were found guilty of other charges including Gregory Burleson who was found guilty of eight charges, inter alia, threatening and assaulting a federal officer, interstate travel in aid of extortion, and brandishing a weapon.
The website for Frontline states that the Johnson fake documentary footage was used to help convict Burleson. Frontline did not reveal that Burleson was, until just prior to the Bundy standoff, a paid informant for the FBI in Arizona.
Federal Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial for the four defendants not convicted of any charges and set the retrial to June 26, 2017. Charles Johnson is expected to once again testify under strict secrecy even though he has now become a highly visible public figure.
It is expected that the government may try to take a different approach at the retrial as defense attorneys stated that the jurors split 10 to 2 for acquittal for two defendants and a majority for acquittal on the other two defendants.
Giglio — Impaired Witness
The FBI and/or the federal prosecutors may be facing ethics charges relating to Charles Johnson. Under the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court case of Giglio v. United States when a federal employee is to testify the relevant agency must disclose any information that reflects negatively on its employee’s credibility to the prosecutors and the prosecutors in turn must disclose such information to the defense attorneys. The fact that Johnson was arrested in Glendale, that he clearly lied to the Glendale police and is under a Cease and Desist Order from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies would all appear to be mandatory Giglio disclosures.
According to The Intercept no Giglio disclosures were made to the defense attorneys regarding Johnson. While Federal district courts have a general reputation of looking the other way concerning FBI and prosecutorial misconduct Federal appellate courts are often not so lenient.
It is expected that Glendale’s own phony P.I. Charles Johnson will be prominently in the national news for the duration of the three Bundy trials in Nevada notwithstanding all of the secrecy efforts by the U.S. government.
But what was a super-secret FBI undercover agent doing in Glendale in the first place? Why would the FBI want to harass a city clerk on a Saturday afternoon as well as local citizens who just didn’t want a massive condo project on Colorado Boulevard? It is difficult to fathom a legitimate purpose and, of course, the FBI refuses to justify to the public its activities. The complete lack of transparency, even at the local level, may be one of the reasons why public opinion polls show ever decreasing approval ratings for what was once viewed as the nation’s preeminent law enforcement agency.
Westerra Credit Union Fosters Overall Wellness Through Partnerships
by Kurt Woock
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
COMMERCE CITY, CO – JUNE 25: U10 Try Rugby Jamboree at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 25, 2016. (Photo by Seth McConnell)
Health is not simply the absence of physical ailments. To be healthy means to be in a state of wellness, and it is not limited to physical well-being. Like physical wellness, financial health is a state in which everyone strives to be. The similarities run deep. Financial well-being is the result of a variety of factors, one of which is the sum of each person’s lifestyle decisions. Good financial health is often the result of years of work and patience. Poor financial health can’t be fixed overnight: It requires long-term commitment. The importance of personal financial wellness has led Westerra Credit Union to make financial outreach and education a cornerstone of its day-to-day operations throughout the Denver community. So, Westerra Credit Union’s partnership with the Glendale Raptors Rugby Academy was a natural pairing.
The Glendale Raptors Rugby Academy and Westerra share a commitment to the children in the community. It’s in their DNA. The GRRA provides a place where kids as young as 5 can develop physical fitness, as well as develop qualities such as teamwork, communication, and hard work. Westerra Credit Union began when eight school teachers in Denver public schools decided to pool their savings and start a credit union in order to provide loans to fellow educators. (Today, nine area branches service members and more than $1.4 billion.)
Dana Russell, manager for PR and Marketing at Westerra Credit Union, said that the sponsorship met their mission of being an education and community based credit union, “Infinity Park and the Raptors are a huge piece of the community. It’s really something that kids can look forward to and be part of. It’s a way we can invest back in the community.” She said that in addition to the programs run out of Infinity Park, the Rugby in the Schools program, which sends out Raptors coaches to teach rugby basics at physical education classes throughout the Denver area, emphasize the commitment to bringing the benefits of rugby to everyone. West
erra also goes into area classrooms in order to bring essential financial information to students.
The basics of personal finance are not difficult concepts to understand, and the concepts do not change much over time: Once you know them, you know it for life. Nevertheless, a recent Gallup Poll showed that only a third of Americans use a budget to track monthly income and expenses, and about the same number have a long-term financial plan. To raise the level of financial literacy and action, Westerra makes it a point to teach these skills to students before they earn their first paycheck.
When Russell goes into a classroom, she makes the power of compound interest clear with a simple story: Person A invests $2,000 each year, beginning at age 22, and then stops contributing completely at age 30. Assuming an annual return of 9 percent, he or she will have roughly $580,000 at age 65. If Person B waits until they are 30 to begin investing, it will take 35 years of $2,000 annual contributions to reach only $470,000.
Russell then goes on to demonstrate how most high school students really can start saving and investing for their future. First, it means taking stock of what you’re able to earn, and what goals you have. By laying out future expenses ahead of time, you’re able to build a budget. Russell said that a budget is a reflection of what you value and the decisions you make. Sometimes it involves a tradeoff: a nice car in exchange for a smaller apartment, or an apartment downtown and the decision to bike and use public transit. Westerra has online resources for students and parents to use to begin budgeting, tracking bank accounts, using a debit card responsibly, and more.
Back in the classroom, Russell explains how a credit score is similar to a report card: It’s a statement about your prior work. You can improve a poor score through diligence, and you can lose a good score by being careless. It’s a simple but long-term job to maintain a good credit score, and Russell’s classroom presentations are just an introduction. Parents play a crucial role in a child’s ongoing financial education. Russell said that parents are often hesitant to share details about family finances, particularly stumbles they might have had. It seems too personal, or like it demands a veil of privacy. But these are ideal times to share. If you’re going on a vacation, explain the various costs and how planning ahead makes splurges like a vacation possible. Parents should consider involving their children in the decision-making process of various trade-off scenarios (i.e. should we go out to dinner as a family and play games at home, or should we eat dinner at home and then go out to the movies?).
Russell said a fun exercise for parents is asking kids how much they think things cost and then revealing the true cost. Having these conversations can lay the foundation for decisions down the road, such as paying for a college education. Russell added that building a healthy mindset toward money is less about how much money a person has, and more about an understanding of what a person is responsible for and how choices they make affect their lives. Those are skills whose benefits extend far beyond money management.
Raising healthy kids takes a village. Westerra and the Raptors are making sure that the village is ready for that challenge by offering programs that encourage healthy lifestyles.
Elway’s Staying In Cherry Creek
Signing 5-year Extension with Shopping Center
By Charles C. Bonniwell
Tim Schmidt the managing partner of Elway’s Restaurant has indicated to the Chronicle that the restaurant has decided to sign a five-year extension for its space on the western portion of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center on top of the two years left on its present lease. Elway’s has been in the Shopping Center for 13 years.
Schmidt stated that: “In our opinion the Cherry Creek Shopping Center is the best shopping center in Colorado if not the entire rocky Mountain region. We like to associate ourselves with the best brands as we believe we also have one of the best brands in Colorado.” In addition to the Cherry Creek location there are Elway’s Restaurants in downtown Denver, Vail and at Denver International Airport.
Schmidt acknowledged that the restaurant had previously been exploring whether to expand to the empty Cool River Café location in Greenwood Village as reported in the April issue of the Chronicle, but not in lieu of the Cherry Creek space.
Schmidt acknowledged that the Shopping Center is going through a period of transition and the Shopping Center may redevelopment the western portion of the project with Bed Bath & Beyond leaving this fall. Elway’s would adjust it space to fit any redevelopment. The parking fees charged at the mall are less of a concern to Elway’s as it validates for parking.
Schmidt has had extensive discussions with his partner football great John Elway and the Shopping Center’s manager Nick LeMasters about the real estate risk concerning the Cherry Creek area with all the recent and expected development. He however, remains extremely optimistic about the Cherry Creek and the Cherry Creek Shopping Center. He notes that the thousands of expected new apartment dwellers, condominium owners and hotel patrons will be wanting to dine somewhere and he expects Elway’s will garner its share of that new market demographic.
