In Denver, these days you get a choice between the “Corporatists” like Mayor Hancock and former mayors Federico Peña and Wellington Webb, and the “Radicals” like Candi CdeBaca and the majority of the newest Denver School Board. There is, these days, no other viable alternative. Neither group is all bad or all good but together they are helping to destroy the city. Back in his first run for Denver mayor, Federico Peña’s slogan was “Imagine a Great City.” Today the slogan appears to be “Imagine a Really Crappy City.”
The Corporatists under Mayor Hancock have made their contribution to a crappy city by destroying as many open spaces and parks as humanly possible. Denver has gone from one of the leading cities in percentage of open space and parks per resident to one of the worst in the United States. The Corporatists, of course, wish to exploit any city asset built up over generations to make money for themselves and their friends, like high-density developers and lobbyists/lawyers. To the credit of the Radicals, they are not on board with this grotesque program and are the ones fighting the mayor and his friends to preserve what is left.
The Radicals on the Denver Board of Education, on the other hand, are doing there best to destroy quality education in the City and County of Denver, aided and abetted by Denver’s teachers’ union. The teachers’ union in Chicago has declared that in-school learning is “rooted in sexism, racism and misogyny,” and many of Denver’s unionized teachers would certainly agree.
The Radicals on the Denver Board of Education are led by none other than Tay Anderson who won an at-large seat in 2019. He is not a big believer in education, having barely gotten out of Manual High School himself in 2017. He demands that if you talk to him that you address him as “Director” Anderson. More recently he has been nicknamed “The Round Mound of Flop Downs.” Mr. Anderson does not appear to have any means of support. The Board job is without compensation. His Board bio shows no present employment. But there are other ways to make money.
Back in July, he was at the homeless encampment by the State Capitol when he said he was pushed by the police, although video appears only to show him flopping down. He claims he went to a hospital, but the hospital was never identified. He set up a Go Fund Me Page for “medical expenses” without ever identifying what those expenses were. Nonetheless he took in over $13,000. He also hired a lawyer and presumably got a payday from the city.
But money never lasts long. In December, he did another flop down at an unidentified Target, this time claiming severe chest pains caused his collapse. He had previously tapped Target, claiming that he and his brother had been racially profiled at another unidentified Target, and received a swift apology from corporate headquarters and who knows what else. Why you want to continue to shop at a store that you claim racially profiled and harassed you is a little strange, but we are sure Mr. Anderson has his reasons. It has not been disclosed whether he has hired legal counsel for his latest flop down.
What Mr. Anderson and his fellow Radicals want to end is children having any choice on where they go to school, an idea on which the Denver teachers’ union heartily agrees.
The word “competition” is an anathema to them. The schoolteachers’ union opposes charter and magnate schools, and the Radicals ran on limiting, or even getting rid of, educational opportunities for kids in the City and County of Denver. The Corporatists, including Mayor Hancock, had strongly supported school choice with money coming in for school board races by developers and others. This support for school choice was not out of any eleemosynary belief in education, but they realized with only lousy, non-competitive schools in Denver, less people would be willing to move to Denver and fill up all those high-density condos and apartments. But the corporate support largely dried up in 2019 leaving only the money from the schoolteachers’ union for the 2019 election which resulted in the Radicals winning.
The Radicals relatively quickly drove out widely praised school superintendent Susana Cordova who is a child of Mexican American immigrant parents and the first college graduate in the family. She went to Denver schools and began teaching in them starting in 1989. She is leaving Denver for a much less prestigious and lower paying job in the Dallas Texas Independent School District. She stated she is leaving Denver because Dallas “reminds her a lot of the Denver I grew up in.”
Obviously, today’s Denver does not remind her of the Denver she grew up in. Moreover, she also does not believe the present “Imagine a Crappy City” contest between the Corporatists and the Radicals will improve matters any. Will there ever be a movement for something other than the Corporatists and the Radicals? Ms. Cordova does not believe anything will develop anytime soon and unfortunately neither do we.
In an attempt to understand the frightening aspects of political correctness we have to get above room temperature IQ. You have to move up to 10,000 feet and then look straight down. This movement gets scarier and scarier as the frightening politically correct continues to remove the best of western civilization. As unbelievable as it may sound the British Library has axed George Orwell, Lord Byron and Ted Hughes. What are their politically correct crimes? Hard to believe but links to slavery. How do they do that? Listen to these quantum leaps of faith.
For Orwell, his great-grandfather owned slaves in the Caribbean. (It is exactly the same as Kamala Harris, and isn’t it interesting no one wants to ban President-To-Be Harris?) The biographers say Orwell, Eric Arthur Blair, the son of a sub-deputy opium agent in British India; at his birth the great-grandfather’s fortune was long gone. Nevertheless….
Ted Hughes, the poet born in 1930, was added because his ancestor Nicholas Ferrar, born in 1592, was involved with the first British colony in North America. You can see what that did to native people.
Next, Lord Byron. Similar to Orwell his works are being destroyed because of a slave owning great-grandfather, as well as a slave owning uncle by marriage. Oscar Wilde may be coming on the list. This is woke ideology. This is part of the British Black Lives Matter movement that claims racism is a creation of white people and any connection to racism you’ll immediately have crossed the politically correct line.
I’m frightened as you should be as well. But turning our attention away from the UK how about this list of books currently banned by school boards in different parts of our country. They begin with The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn. We’ve been over this before.
I was surprised to learn the number two literary classic that’s been banned is Call Of The Wild, written by Jack London. Do they forget that London ran twice as the socialist party candidate for mayor of Oakland? Missed that one didn’t you guys.
Another one of my all-time favorite books, Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck’s 1939 Pulitzer prize-winning novel, was banned by the library board in East St. Louis, as objectionable language was not fit for anyone’s daughter to read.
Here’s one for you, James Joyce’s Ulysses. As if anyone could ever understand it. By the way, the Nazis burned Hemingway’s 1929 novel, A Farewell To Arms too, in 1933. One of the highlights of my illustrious career was getting to meet Kurt Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse Five was clicked.
Here’s another, wrestling fans, The Catcher In The Rye. Because of blasphemy and sexual references. I loved that book.
How about Walt Whitman’s Leaves Of Grass? Can’t be because he’s gay, of course not. And one of my true favorites, the Harry Potter series. JK Rowling’s series. Gee, she’s made some interesting remarks lately, hasn’t she?
I don’t mean to be tongue-in-cheek, I mean to be sounding the alarm. Think of how many wonderful hours you spent reading these books. And the biggest slap in the face is Orwell, who wrote extensively about banning books, himself now banned.
“Repeat after me: real estate provides the highest returns, the greatest values and the least risk.” — Armstrong Williams, entrepreneur
by Luke Schmaltz
As of February 25, 2020 — according to Forbes and WalletHub — Colorado had one of the lowest residential property tax rates in the nation — just 7.15% — third to only Hawaii and Alabama.
As of November 3, 2020 — according to some fiscal experts — that glowing statistic may gradually begin to fade.
An Uneven Keel
Consistent with the year’s underlying theme of division and disparity, the commercial tax rate sits at an inverse position at 29% — making the terrain for independent, small businesses especially rough, and increasingly so as Covid-19 looms on. Before the election and the ensuing repeal of the Gallagher Amendment, anyone keen on owning a home, as well as commercial property in Denver, was privy to staggeringly different tax bills — even if their residential property was right next door to that of their business.
In an election that was overwhelmingly characterized by close races and slim margins, Amendment B (repealing Gallagher) passed in a landslide vote of 57.4% to 42.6%. This means that the low property tax rates Colorado homeowners have enjoyed for decades will, according to opponents of the measure, begin to increase the tax burden homeowners are forced to bear — especially those in the urban middle-class sector.
Wide Appeal
For the uninformed, property taxes are collected in order to pay for local government services that benefit the immediate district. These include schools, fire departments, infrastructure, water, libraries, recreation and county road maintenance.
Tax Increase?: With Gallagher repealed, some say taxes will go up while others say they will not.
As all property owners quickly discover — residential and commercial alike — taxes are determined by complex formulas, dreaded by many and resented by all for their unrelenting consistency. In this election cycle, the convoluted nature of taxes seemed to have influenced the diverse interest in Amendment B vs. the Gallagher Amendment — perhaps the only refreshing thing about the issue in general.
Amendment B garnered a patchwork of varied bipartisan support, both for and against the measure. Proponents included former U.S. Senator Hank Brown (R), current Republican state senators Bob Rankin of Carbondale, and Don Coram of Montrose, current House Representative Daneya Esgar (D) and former Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Beusher (D). Naturally, the measure was opposed by the author of the Gallagher Amendment, former Senator and career public servant Dennis Gallagher (D) along with the right-leaning head of Colorado Rising Action, Michael Fields, as well as with former House Speaker Dickey Hullinghorst (D).
An Outdated Formula?
For nearly four decades, Colorado residential property owners have enjoyed consistent tax cuts supplied by the Gallagher Amendment which, until November 3, had rates locked in at 7.15%. The disparity here is stark, however, as commercial property owners were “stuck with the bill” as it were and foisted with tax rates consistently ringing in around 29%. Under Gallagher, residential taxes could only allot for 45% of the total tax base, with nonresidential properties such as retail businesses, factories and farmland making up the remaining 55%. As rising residential property values skyrocketed, the inherent complexity of the tax formula resulted in an unbalanced scale — with the heavy end tipping toward commercial property holders.
While this lopsided provision was great for homeowners in high-growth areas along the front range, owners in rural areas suffered — as their property values were not accruing at nearly the rate of their urban counterparts. Simply put, with Gallagher in place, the more the value of a property increased, the less percentage of tax the owner had to pay. With this protection removed by Amendment B, critics of the measure are predicting that residential property taxes will rise drastically. Meanwhile, supporters of the measure contend that removal of the Gallagher Amendment will leave current rates frozen in place — for now.
Too Much Too Soon?
The recently-televised Colorado Decides: Amendment B debate hosted by PBS 12 featured outspoken public figures weighing in on both sides. Representative Esgar (D) championed the effect a repeal would have on small businesses: “ … right now 20% of the taxpayer base (commercial property owners) are paying 55% of the tax [revenue]. These are small businesses … right now they are being hit the hardest … they want to know, right now, why they are paying four times what [the] residential property tax rate is …” Esgar explained further that leaving the Gallagher Amendment in place would result in commercial property taxes ballooning to up to five times that of the residential rates.
Meanwhile, in opposition to Amendment B, Michael Fields (Colorado Rising Action) explained that a statewide repeal is far too drastic, and rather, measures should be taken to amend the tax code in certain districts who are suffering from loss of revenue. In the aforementioned televised debate, Fields contents that: “ … a solution needs to be more regionally based or county based … I think that makes a lot more sense because there are areas of our state that are either less commercial property or their (residential) values aren’t going up as much …overall, this is a regional problem and there should be a regional solution.
Upwardly Mobile
As fate would have it, the Gallagher Amendment is no more. Without another policy in place, according to TABOR, residential property taxes will rise as the property values increase. So, as Denver renters have recently seen in vivid detail, this could mean yet another rent hike as landlords pass the overall cost of owning property onto their tenants.
The Gallagher Amendment was a major ballot issue in 1982 and again in 2020. It was designed to evenly spread the tax burden between residential and commercial properties.
While proponents of Amendment B downplay the severity of repealing the Gallagher Amendment, others like Fields are quick to point out the costly implications. An October 26, 2020, article published on coloradopolitics.com contends that a repeal leaves no protections in place for property owners. This means that — as required by TABOR — property taxes would increase to the tune of $203+ million and keep climbing — a fact that lawmakers like Daneya Esgar seem to have forgotten to disclose whilst selling this new piece of legislation to an uneducated and most likely distracted public.
Others contend that tax rates that are applied according to the rapid rise of property values, while being inconvenient for owners, can spell ample funds for public services — especially in rural and economically challenged areas. At any rate, the varied implications of how things may play out are a fitting reflection of the complex nature of property tax formulas. To find out what the repeal truly means (just like everything else this year) folks are going to have to just wait and see.
“I can’t remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride Something touched me deep inside The day the music died”
— Don McLean, American Pie
by Luke Schmaltz
As with any art form, there are dabblers, there are enthusiasts and there are absolute fanatics. For years, Denver has encouraged all manner of minstrels from prodigies and virtuosos to working players and weekend warriors. These dynamics play into the fickle nature of music, as trends turn over at hypersonic speeds — prompting fans to abandon a movement just as quickly as they adopted it before even considering its merit. Similarly, some musicians are quick to call it quits when a new fad, craze or in this case — a pandemic — comes along that does not resonate with their aspirations. Some, on the other hand, refuse to hang it up at any cost.
Way Back When
Before mid-March of 2020, Denver’s diversity made for an exciting ensemble — an aural offering of such variety that just about any night of the week you could find some kind of a sonic display going on, whether it was rock and roll, country, hip-hop, blues, electronica or even the ear-splitting cacophony of a dive bar karaoke night. All this has changed now, as Denver venues have, for the most part, been forced to shut down their operations. Mainstays such as the Gothic, Bluebird, Ogden and Marquee theatres are shuttered along with big venues like Red Rocks, the Fillmore Auditorium, Denver Coliseum, Mission Ballroom, Levitt Pavilion and more. And then there are the little guys — the lifeblood of local musicians and C-circuit touring bands. Places like Lions Lair, Hi-Dive and Larimer Lounge are hanging on by a thread while Live at Jack’s, Armida’s, 3 Kings Tavern and Skylark Lounge have closed permanently.
Lockdown Fallout: Shuttered theatres and out-of-work employees and musicians.
A Fragile Construct
Many a working musician has contended with smug, demeaning and dismissive venue owners and booking managers who think musicians need them and not the other way around. Conversely, many a club manager has dealt with the insufferable whining of fledgling musicians who think they have the world coming to them on a platter just because they can play 12-bar blues. In reality, it’s a symbiotic relationship, with only the hardiest (or luckiest) of either archetype standing a chance of making it out the other side, identity intact. From a musician standpoint, the hobbyists and weekend warriors will sit this one out while the diehard, lifelong players, composers and engineers will grind on — adapting in stubborn overtures of Darwinian survival.
Stalwart Strategies
The Hibernator
Learning Something New: Aaron Howell wants you to learn something new during the pandemic.
Aaron Howell is the captivating singer and frontman for Denver-based hard rock favorites MF Ruckus. An international touring act that has long-graduated from dive bars and house parties, they are the type of mid-to-large-draw touring band forced into hiatus due to mass closure of theatre-sized venues. Not one to easily, if ever, admit defeat — Howell has chosen to see the pandemic through an esoteric lens. “Some of the greatest learnings in human history have happened during times of plague,” he explains. “It’s one of the default settings that we, as musicians, are built to run.”
“There’s an old Russian saying,” Howell continues, “If you chase two rabbits you catch none.” Rather than lose sight of his goals, he has chosen to intensify his focus. Putting his money where his mouth is, Howell has begun expanding his horizons by taking online music courses to enhance his guitar skills. “Now that the world has shut down, the tethers holding us to any excuse to not try new things have frayed away. Although Howell is not all rainbows and sunshine, he does maintain the glint of a steel-tinted silver lining: “I think about quitting every day. But what keeps me going, is that my obsessive completionism won’t let me leave anything unfinished.”
The Prodigy
Tim Merz — aka Timmy Flips — is the dynamic, triple threat creative force behind hybrid punk/metal outfit Red Stinger. Before the shutdown, when he wasn’t arranging complex lyrical hip-hop overtures or riff-heavy rock and roll tunes, he was working as owner/operator/head instructor of Booth Dance Studios — teaching ballroom dance and other disciplines of movement to a large, diverse, demanding student body. Unlike most folks, Merz did not regard the shutdown with dread, as his own physical exhaustion was on course to slow him down one way or another. “When I heard there was a possibility we’d be put on lockdown, it saved my life, really. I had an overwhelming sense of relief because my life got to pause, and I finally got to breathe.”
Triple Threat: Tim Merz aka Timmy Flips aka Twinkle Toes; a lockdown triple threat.
While counterintuitive to most, Merz’s perception of the situation was as unorthodox as his self-appointed artistic trifecta of punk rock, hip-hop and ballroom dance. He wasted no time shifting focus as an overextended teacher to a hyper-productive musician. “Once I accepted the shutdown was imminent, the faucet opened up and I decided to just do me … for the first time ever I was like — what a gift, what a blessing — it was exactly what I needed. Since mid-March, Merz has written a two-person dance piece and a full cast stage dance show, recorded a hip-hop album and written a four-part Red Stinger musical series titled The Stinger Scriptures — soon to be released in four separate recordings.
The Adaptor
Bart McCrorey: Engineering mastermind and musical wizard didn’t skip a “lockdown” beat.
Bart McCrorey is the proprietor and sonic wizard behind the Crash Pad studio as well as a slew of bands including Messiahvore, Throttlebomb, Valio Mierda and The Pitch Invasion to name a few. He has produced and engineered records for tens of dozens if not hundreds of Denver bands over the past 20 years. The shutdown put a serious damper on studio recordings at first, but he was quickly able to switch to working virtually — having musicians send him raw tracks recorded remotely that he could then enhance, add accompaniments to, mix and master to his clients’ content.
Two of McCrorey’s bands have also been among the select acts to participate in Safe and Sound — a music series put on by the Oriental Theater — one of the few large venues to remain in operation during the pandemic. No small feat, as every event must be monitored scrupulously for adherence to social distancing guidelines and capped at 25% occupancy. On the fun side, McCrorey used everyone’s favorite social media garbage chute, Facebook, to introduce an interactive page that threatened to turn the tide from despondent and divisive to upbeat and educational. Riff Book was launched in the early days of the lockdown and quickly grew to nearly 1,000 members sharing guitar licks, songs and solos rather than polarizing rhetoric and sob stories.
The Troubadour
Tony Luke: Discovered abundance amid the scarcity of live music.
Tony Luke unplugged his guitar for only as long as the Colorado governance mandated and not a measure more. The renowned bluesman is locally revered as one of the best in the business — from his generation (X) for sure. Avoiding the popular downtown clubs and trendy hipster bars, Luke prefers the mom and pop dives of the Denver outskirts, which are somewhat removed from the intense scrutiny of most establishments near the city’s popular epicenter. After being forced to take nearly three months off (April through June) Luke began playing his local circuit of small venues tucked away in suburban strip malls and semi-rural thoroughfares. Contrary to Aaron Howell’s aforementioned MF Ruckus, Luke’s band is just the right size of small but mighty. “Bands that are bigger fish present a problem for venues right now and no one wants to book them,” he attests. “But I’m a roadhouse band, so I play for existing audiences and turn them into fans by the end of the night.”
Luke was pleasantly surprised that bar patrons were overly exuberant and yes, even thankful for live music in unprecedented ways. “I have found success in the pandemic because people are starved for music,” he explains. “My tip jars have tripled from 80 dollars or so to sometimes 300 and 400 bucks a night.” He chooses to view the circumstances through a romantic lens of sorts, stating “I am seeing this time as a sort of renaissance of the old-time juke-joint type of blues nights. You know, when there were no other shows going on and no big concerts — just a couple guys on a small stage in a little bar and people really, really appreciated the music.”
