by Mark Smiley | May 27, 2014 | Editorials
Notwithstanding the general popularity of the Cherry Creek area, the reasons some people give for not wanting to visit Cherry Creek North include the lack of off-street parking and, more recently, traffic jams. Luckily a Cherry Creek Zoning Technical Task Force was put together to look at the problems in the area. The Task Force is composed of residents, city planning officials, a Cherry Creek North Neighborhood Association representative, landowners, business owners, developers and, of course, City Councilwoman Jeanne Robb, whose district includes Cherry Creek North. After months and months of study what did the Task Force come with?
Yep, you guessed it. Parking problems can be solved by providing even less parking while approving even higher buildings than the six behemoths that are already being built. Brilliant!
Currently zoning mandates 3.3 parking places per 1,000 square feet of commercial area which has created severe parking problems in Cherry Creek North in the first place. Adjoining Glendale in line with recommendations from the Urban Land Institute mandates four parking places per thousand feet which Deputy City Manager Chuck Line calls “anemic” at times, noting that major retailers in Glendale often require five to six parking spaces per thousand feet of commercial space. The Cherry Creek Mall has 5,000 parking spaces or five parking spaces per thousand feet of commercial space as major retailers demand adequate parking before they will consider leasing in a commercial mall.
So what does the Task Force suggest? Cut the 3.3 to 2.5. Even better the Task Force also recommends cutting the parking in half for residential units from two per unit down to just one. Where in the world are all these people going to park? The business district has a grand total of 555 on-street metered parking spaces. The single family home areas of Cherry Creek North will soon be flooded with overflow parking from the commercial area regardless of whatever signs are posted or how many parking tickets are handed out.
At the Cherry Creek Chamber of Commerce luncheon held on May 8, the keynote speaker Ajay Menon, Dean of the CSU Business School, noted that in urban areas one-third of the traffic backups are created by motorists looking for parking places. With the Task Force’s recommendations in place a shopper finding parking in Cherry Creek North will be like the Kingston Trio song “M.T.A.” where the commuter “couldn’t get off” and “never returned.”
Of course, the pro developer members of the Task Force were giddy. Even Wayne New, the representative from the Cherry Creek North Neighborhood Association, is quoted as declaring, “We studied parking backwards and forwards and the (proposed) parking ratios fit very well.” If these parking ratios fit “very well” perhaps eliminating any and all parking spaces would work even better.
Wayne New is a veteran of many wars with developers in Cherry Creek North and we have, in the past, praised his efforts, but perhaps they have finally beaten him into submission. He recently announced his candidacy for City Council to replace the term limited Jeanne Robb. The whole point of his candidacy for many was that he would not sell himself out to developers as has Ms. Robb.
But this sad, if not pathetic, effort of the Task Force does away with any reason to vote for him. His opponent Roger Sherman is a CRL lobbyist and that firm represents its fair share of Denver real estate developers. Of course, once elected, he will sell the residents out in favor of real estate developers, but he doesn’t pretend otherwise. He is already bought and paid for and he doesn’t try to kid you about it.
One wonders when the Task Force’s recommendations are adopted what will there be left to destroy in Cherry Creek North? Councilwoman Robb helped developers to build a road destroying the only open space in Cherry Creek North, Fillmore Plaza.
The Task Force is also recommending that developers get even extra density and height if they are kind enough to provide open spaces like plazas, accessible to the public at street level. Gee, sounds a lot like Fillmore Plaza. We are sure the developers are savvy enough to figure out what has gone on in the past. They will get the extra density and height and then later come back and get the duly elected representative to roll over and allow the developer to destroy it.
The recommendations face public hearings and must go before, and be approved by, the Denver Planning Commission and the Denver City Council. You know, the public hearings where the commissioners and councilmembers utterly ignore anything the public has to say while surfing the Internet on their cell phones. In the case of the City Council, as recently confessed by former City Councilwoman Marcia Johnson, the process is a matter of simply paying “due deference” to the elected representative where the land is located (Ms. Robb) and voting whatever way she tells them. This rigged process even has a nice name, “courtesy zoning.”
Now that she has helped to destroy the Cherry Creek North neighborhood, Councilwoman Robb still has almost a year left in her position representing the 10th District. What to do with her time?
There is, in fact, plenty of time for her to do a Hentzell Park on Cheesman Park or other open spaces in her District. Just declare them “urban blight” as Mayor Hancock did with Hentzell Park. We are sure Assistant City Attorney David Broadwell can direct her on how to get the open space areas done away with notwithstanding what would appear to be very difficult legal constraints. He has done it before and he can do it again. Just ask the folks living over in the Hampden Heights area.
— Editorial Board
by Mark Smiley | May 27, 2014 | Main Articles
May 19 Denver District Court Trial Vacated
by Charles C. Bonniwell
For over two years Denver park advocates who formed the entity Friends of Denver Parks have attempted to assert the rights of citizens of Denver as guaranteed by the Denver City Charter and the Colorado State Constitution to vote on matters critical to them and in particular on whether Mayor Michael Hancock could simply trade away 11 acres of open space land for development at Hentzell Park for a rundown office building in downtown Denver.
The city, led by Assistant City Attorney David Broadwell, has blocked all efforts for citizens to have that say. First he claimed that Denver City Charter Sec. 2.4.5., that requires “approval of a majority of registered voters” for the sale or lease of any park or any portion of any park, does not apply since it had not officially been designated a park not withstanding all appearances to the contrary, and even prior statements by the Mayor of Denver in 1979 that the property was “dedicated park land.”
When parks advocates sufficiently gathered signatures under their right of referendum and initiative as seemingly guaranteed by of the City Charter Sec. 8.3.1 and the State Constitution, Broadwell instructed the City Clerk and Recorder Debra Johnson to reject the petitions. He claimed that the swap was an administrative not a legislative action and that vitiated any right of the citizens on the matter.
Municipal law experts noted that the City Clerk and Recorder position was deliberately made by the City Charter as a separately elected officer so not to be under the control of the Mayor of Denver directly or indirectly through the City Attorney. Nonetheless, Johnson took the instructions from Broadwell and rejected the petitions.
The Friends of Denver Parks then sought to have a jury trial on whether the Hentzell Park land was a park prior to 1955 or a dedicated park after that date. Broadwell fought the plaintiffs having the right to argue before a jury of ordinary citizens and demanded a summary judgment from the Denver District Court. If the Friends of Denver could have ever gotten before a jury it appeared to have a strong case, including the proffered testimony of former Denver City Councilwoman Susan Barnes-Gelt who stated that the official City Map designated the land in question as a park.
But all to no avail. On May 2, 2014, District Court Judge Herbert L. Stern III vacated the May 19 trial and awarded Broadwell and the city a Summary Judgment. Friends of Denver Parks attorney John Case has indicated he will appeal the decision but Broadwell’s record in excluding citizens from having a say in the actions of their government appears impressive.
The Real City Attorney
Few Denver citizens have ever heard of David Broadwell but many city watchers consider him for many matters the de facto Denver City Attorney and one of the most powerful people in Denver city government, even though he works very much behind the scenes.
The ostensible City Attorney is 34-year-old Scott Martinez who was appointed to the top spot in January. He is considered by many to be very much a legal lightweight. He was originally appointed by Hancock as deputy city attorney in 2011, and according to The Denver Post he got the job after the Colorado Latino Forum gave the mayor a very hard time about his lack of Latino appointments. A student at a second rate law school, University of San Diego, he apparently graduated without honors or distinction.
His prior appointment even as a deputy city attorney was greeted in some quarters with less than high praise. Then Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives Frank McNulty declared at the time: “Mayor Hancock should hope that Scott Martinez brings a higher level of professionalism as a member of the city attorney’s office than he displayed as a Democratic hack in the reapportionment process.”
The City Attorney’s office has over 90 attorneys, with the bulk of the staff serving under a myriad of appointed City Attorneys who come and go on a fairly regular basis and not always under the best of circumstances. Then Mayor John Hickenlooper’s City Attorney appointee Larry Manzanares committed suicide while in office after being caught stealing a government laptop and allegedly placing child pornography on it.
While many attorneys in Denver have a very low opinion of Scott Martinez, both personally and professionally, the opposite is true of Broadwell. A graduate of a highly regarded law school, University of North Carolina, he also holds a Master’s Degree in Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina and he has worked exclusively for municipal governments since 1980 including being the lead attorney of the Colorado Municipal League. He has lectured and written articles relating to municipal law and has received various awards for his work.
At the City Attorney’s office, Broadwell, keeps a very low profile including not even being listed as part of the so-called Senior Management Team of 11 lawyers. One Denver City Councilmember who did not want to be quoted for attribution stated, “When David Broadwell gives you a legal opinion you pay attention. When Scott Martinez opines people simply roll their eyes and hope he checked first with Broadwell or someone else who actually knows what they are talking about.”
Ignoble Ends
If there is a criticism of Broadwell, it is that he utilizes his considerable talents and skills for ignoble ends. He has been the lead attorney in ensuring that Denver’s civil forfeiture laws whereby the city seizes the property and assets of sometimes innocent citizens never gets to the courts for review. “Asset Forfeiture Reform Long Overdue,” David Kopel, Independence Institute.
Parks advocate Mary David noted, “Broadwell has managed to manipulate the system so the everyday citizens have no role in important decisions that affect them regarding parks in Denver. That allows Mayor Hancock to get away with his various sleazy development deals. Does he think that the hundreds if not thousands of people that have been involved in the Hentzell Park fiasco think better of their government or the court system after this?”
Another parks advocate Susan Johnson added, “We have had our eyes open about how corrupt our government and legal system really is. At the start of the 20th century when the Denver city government and the courts were controlled by crooked cops and saloon owners the right of the people to vote on key matters was fought for and won. Mayor Hancock, his disgraceful developer buddies and Broadwell have begun to destroy those rights. Maybe David Broadwell ought to look in the mirror some time and see what he has become with all of his many skills. Maybe if he stood for something he wouldn’t be stuck for his legal career in the middle of bureaucratic jungles having to ostensibly report to sad sack city attorneys almost half his age like Scott Martinez.”
by Mark Smiley | Apr 29, 2014 | Featured Stories & Advertisers
by Mark Smiley | Apr 29, 2014 | Feature Story Bottom Left
Secret Fishing Holes
Unlike the avid outdoorsman who is reluctant to give up his secret fishing spot where he’s discovered the fish are abundant and there are no other fishermen around to snag his prize or scare other potential fish away from his hook, I am happy to offer you guys my surefire sweet spots where women are aplenty and their guard is down. If you’re worn out from the bar/ club scene and you’re just spinning your wheels online dating, then I suggest you read on.
I’ll be the first to admit the world of dating is more confusing than ever. In a world of technology and social media you would think having access to an abundance of people would broaden your options and you would surely find someone to date with a mutual attraction, commonalities and similar outlook on life. The climate of dating and dating etiquette has changed dramatically just over a few decades so if it’s been a while since you’ve put yourself out there because you were married or in an LTR, going the online dating or bar/club route will surely eat you alive. Those roads for a new age dating rookie will leave you less confident and your pocketbook will be much lighter with nothing to show for.
Here are my top five secret fishing holes that will get you back out there without draining every ounce of energy from your body while you’re doing them.
1. Dog Park. I know, I know, you’re thinking that’s an obvious one, or you’re thinking, I don’t even have a dog. Here’s the kicker, it’s all in the approach. Here’s what you do … tag along with friends who are a couple and have a cute dog (preferably a puppy). The third wheel approach works well because a single woman walking her dog is more likely to stop and chat with a group of three than she is with a lone guy and his dog. She expects the lone guy and his dog to hit on her, but she has her guard down when she sees a couple and their friend going for a leisurely stroll. At that point she is open to chatting and your friends should talk you up by planting seeds in her head solidifying what a sweet, fun guy you are. At that point maybe she’s open to continuing her walk with you while your married friends continue on without you.
2. Go to every kids’ birthday party you are invited to. Why you ask? I am happy to explain. No guys ever want to go to a kids’ birthday party so the only people that are left to attend are women. Going to a kids’ birthday party gives you an advantage two-fold. First the obvious, you’re the only guy there! Second, you are showing you love and are great with kids leaving the moms in awe and they will practically throw themselves at you.
3. Volunteer your time. Think of how much time you’ve spent on wasted dates. Now what if you only used 25 percent of that wasted time volunteering? This is an awesome way to meet quality women who admire you for your giving side which in turn makes them much more approachable, providing you an atmosphere that allows you to mingle with single prospects without them feeling the pressure of a date or being directly hit on.
4. Weddings. Again, you say here is another obvious one. But tell me this, when was the last time you went to a wedding solo? Going solo is the key. For one, there is no mistake you are single but most importantly every woman who goes to a wedding when they are single can only think about one thing — why she is single and how badly she wishes it was her day. There is something about weddings that brings the want-to-be bride out in every woman.
5. Finally, charity events! I know you are starting to see a theme here and if you aren’t, you should. A charity event is another great way for meeting women, especially if you both truly believe in the same cause. This is an instant way of striking up a conversation that is easy and unassuming. The best way to approach a woman is to drop the lines, introduce yourself to her and talk to her like a human being while giving her the respect she deserves. Give it a try and you just might be surprised.
I have to give credit to Martin Alvarez who was a recent guest on my radio show, the Modern Dater for suggesting #5. If you missed that show or any others you can always catch prior shows podcasts on www.themoderndater.com. Happy fishing!
— Sheik
by Mark Smiley | Apr 29, 2014 | Blasting with Boyles
The Monfort Brothers Won’t Let Street Vendors Wet Their Beaks
If You Can’t Fix It With A Hammer Or Duct Tape, It’s An Electrical Problem
Opening day. Your Colorado Rockies. The music. The topless girls on the buildings across from Coors Field. Walt Weiss as the skipper. Your Colorado Rockies, the major league baseball franchise based in Denver, Colorado, takes the field.
But this year the game is being played outside. There are a group of men and women who have started brats and gourmet hotdogs and sausage businesses with carts. They have sites all around Coors Field. Now it’s important for you to remember and put you in the “way back” machine to when your Colorado Rockies were born.
In 1989 when professional baseball’s National League announced it would expand by two teams for the 1993 season, Colorado powerbrokers and legislators, bankers and bond daddies went yard. Those of us who have kicked around awhile remember 1980 when Marvin Davis almost brought Charlie Finley’s Oakland A’s to Denver. Somehow the deal fell apart but my understanding is Mr. Finley still has representation in the Mile High City. That of course crushed the dreams of local baseball enthusiasts. But in the middle of all of that, then Governor Roy “Deep Kiss” Romer, walked forward with a couple of real decent, clean handed, honorable men. Romer and National League President Roy White presented to the public John Antonucci and Michael “Mickey” Monus July 5, 1991. These boys were in the spotlight for about a year when the wheels came off. I know you all remember Phar-Mor, the financial scandal that sent Mickey to jail and Antonucci headed to the mattresses.
The next man in the batting order was Jerry McMorris, who, lest you forget, re-hired Antonucci. And by opening day that year, 1993, Johnny boy was gone again. Most recently I saw an interview where Mickey said he was responsible for major league baseball in Denver. I’m sure we’re all very proud of that moment.
So one of the things we all learned in the building of Coors Field is that the taxpayers were clearly on board. You paid for that sidewalk and you paid for that infield. So, as we say, the taxpayer, the everyday guy has a little skin in the game.
The naming of Coors Field to the Coors family and naming rights is another bright shining lie but that’s for another fun column. Street vendors with carts were told after paying licensing fees to lease the area of Lodo that for 20 years the city of Denver had made a mistake letting them be there. Each mayor from Wellington Webb to Michael Hancock, safety managers, council members, public health officials, police officers, DAs, sundry law enforcement and health and safety bureaucrats have walked in the main gate seeing the food cart entrepreneurs without realizing they were law breakers.
And with the crack of a bat and the opening of the fun party deck you can no longer buy water and inexpensive brats and a pretzel from vendors with carts.
Now The Denver Post has written some absolutely absurd columns but it’s hard to top the column that appeared saying that those vendors had to be moved out so the fans could have a clear path to the ballpark. By the way, isn’t it interesting The Denver Post is a minority owner in your Colorado Rockies.
Having worked my fair share of baseball opening days for radio I can tell that it is the media companies with their broadcasting vans, endless cables and other mass communication equipment that are the ones that present a real hindrance and danger to the public walking to the game and not a few push cart vendors selling hotdogs and brats.
The Rockies have their roots with some people suspected of being involved in organized crime. So does it really shock you that on or about the anniversary of the Ludlow Massacre that a bunch of hard working young guys and gals would be beaten down and forced out of business because the Rockies and their management group wanted that little bit of money?
So as you can see, they couldn’t fix it with duct tape or their political hammer, so the Rockies, with all the help from the mainstream media in the city, declared these small businessmen an “electrical problem.”
Play ball!!
— Peter
Notwithstanding the general popularity of the Cherry Creek area, the reasons some people give for not wanting to visit Cherry Creek North include the lack of off-street parking and, more recently, traffic jams. Luckily a Cherry Creek Zoning Technical Task Force was put together to look at the problems in the area. The Task Force is composed of residents, city planning officials, a Cherry Creek North Neighborhood Association representative, landowners, business owners, developers and, of course, City Councilwoman Jeanne Robb, whose district includes Cherry Creek North. After months and months of study what did the Task Force come with?
