by Mark Smiley | Aug 30, 2017 | Feature Story Bottom Left
by Ruthy Wexler
Every neighborhood wants one — and now Mayfair has got one: a bar like Cheers. For those too young to remember, Cheers was a TV sitcom about a bar whose salient quality got expressed in the show’s theme song: Where everybody knows your name. That idea — a friendly neighborhood haven — was what Mia Peterson and Michael Bruntz had in mind when they bought the Aqua Lounge on Krameria and 14th a little more than a year ago.
A Vision For Mozart’s
The first thing Bruntz and Peterson did was restore the bar to its original name: Mozart’s. Then they looked around. “Whatever was good, we kept,” Bruntz recalls, “like the hardwood floors, the old walk-in coolers, the grand piano. Then we redid the surfaces, painted the walls, bought new furniture.”
In addition, the partners sought to replace the old bar’s persona. The Aqua Lounge was an LBGTQ bar; the new partners wanted to welcome everyone: gay, straight, young and old. They changed the front window by installing a garage door — which, rolled up expands the space invitingly.
“That stated our vision,” Bruntz explains. “We were opening Mozart’s up to the whole neighborhood.”
They had the old neon sign restored back to Mozart’s Lounge and held their Grand Opening in November 2016. Now — almost a year later — the partners believe Mozart’s is becoming everything they imagined.
“I realized we’d achieved our dream on New Year’s Eve,” Bruntz recalls. “People came in to drink and dance and celebrate. A lot of them walked over. Then someone came up to me and said, ‘I was looking for a bar where we could dance tonight … and I remembered seeing this was open again …’”
Mia’s moment of recognition arrived when a friend from Brooklyn visited this past spring and exclaimed, “You’ve literally built a Cheers!”
Someday We’re Going To Own This Place
When Bruntz and Peterson met at work more than 15 years ago, they had no idea they’d end up as business partners. They were just good friends who happened to live in the same neighborhood, Mayfair, and enjoyed hanging out at the then-Mozart’s Lounge. During one of those visits, they realized they shared a vision: to create a community gathering place. “Someday,” they vowed, “we’re going to own this place.”
They tried to buy it several times but the purchase didn’t go through until 2016 — at which point the two fell headlong into a huge learning curve. “That next year was the longest and quickest ever,” laughs Peterson. “I enjoyed applying some of the business practices I learned in the corporate world to our little mom and pop. I’ve always embraced the entrepreneurial spirit.”
Bruntz had to step out of his comfort zone to buy the bar. “Up until this I was doing what I was supposed to, thinking about retirement, my IRA, all that. And running a bar isn’t known as a big security move. But I’d turned 50. I wanted to do something really meaningful to me.”
Family And Fun
On a Wednesday evening in July at Mozart’s, Bruntz appears happily in his element, sharing a laugh with a Vietnam vet who stops by most every night, giving a hug to Laura Sanford, another regular, whose friends have thrown her a birthday party at her favorite bar.
Watching Laura return to her confetti-laden table, Bruntz beams. “I love the people part. I love my customers.”
Asked why she loves Mozart’s, Laura didn’t hesitate. “It’s family.”
“The owners,” she confides, “
are absolute sweethearts.”
Explaining their business philosophy, Peterson explains, “We think community is what’s important. So we emphasize local — beers from local breweries, musicians from around here. We also have a great bar staff, which makes everything easier.”
Live music — an eclectic mix of jazz, funk, classical and old-school rock — happens on weekends. On weeknights, Mozart’s offers lighthearted fun — Music Video Bingo on Wednesday; Karaoke on Thursday and darts twice a week. Connecting goes on all the time.
“A neighborhood couple just celebrated their 20th anniversary here,” Peterson smiles. “That’s what we like to see.”
Socializing Then And Now
The original Mozart’s started out as a place to connect: Mozart’s Hall opened on Larimer Street in the late 1800s as a bar and social center for German immigrants (some of the original equipment made the move from downtown). In the ’50s, the bar relocated to its current spot at 1417 Krameria, changing owners a few times in the process.
And now Bruntz and Peterson are at the helm. They look forward to a busy football season, celebrating with free Broncos touchdown shots, starting an Open Mic night, hosting private events and holiday parties, building out the modest menu (currently standard pub fare) — and continuing to make sure the neighborhood has a fun, safe and friendly place to hang out.
“It’s extremely rewarding to see new faces from all walks of life,” says Bruntz, “and from all parts of the city, come and enjoy the bar.”
He adds, “When we did this, Mia and I decided to not look at risks but at rewards. I have truly found my passion. I love realizing the potential of this place. Seeing what could be and making it that way.”
by Mark Smiley | Aug 30, 2017 | Travel
by Julie Hayden
“I try to live normal, whatever normal is,” Christine Howard says matter of factly. That simple statement underscores the courage Howard packs into living every day with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. “I’m not a survivor, anymore. It’s gonna beat me. It’s an illness that’s going to kill me. I can’t say I’m okay with that but it’s a reality with me.” But Christine is not going down without a fight — for other breast cancer patients.
“I am very passionate about Sense of Security,” she exclaims. Howard devotes endless energy and time to the Denver-based charity. It gives direct support to breast cancer patients in treatment with $500 a month for six months to help pay for necessities like food, housing and transportation.
Over the past 15 years, Sense of Security has provided nearly $2 million to more than 1,300 Colorado breast cancer patients.
Howard is one of them, receiving the aid when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago. “I felt a golf ball in my chest.” Howard started cancer treatment, working hard to keep her job. “I had decent health insurance but the bills were mounting up. No one budgets for cancer,” Howard explains. “I was under so much stress, I was just trying to keep my head above water.”
Then someone told her about Sense of Security.
“Sense of Security came in at the right time so I could get caught up,” Howard says. Executive Director Tim Taravella says Sense of Security was founded in 2000 by two women after they saw what a friend with cancer went through. “Our mission is to help the middle class,” Taravella explains. “Below certain income levels there are state and federal programs that can help. But
there is no safety net for the middle class.”
Taravella says most Sense of Security grantees are in Stage 1 or 2 cancers and will successfully go through treatment to live full, vibrant lives. But he says the time they are undergoing treatment can be what he calls “financially toxic.” “Cancer is a ruinous disease financially,” Taravella says. “People are looking down the barrel of financial ruin because of cancer. Anyone who needs cancer treatment will face huge expenses and experience financial decline. Sense of Security’s mission is to stop that decline before they hit bottom. We do what we can to help them get through everything better, financially.”
Howard says Sense of Security provides something more. “It helps financially and that helps emotionally and by relieving the stress it also help patients recover faster.
It gives you that relief, “she adds, “It’s one thing that you don’t have to worry about and that trickles down and helps with overall relief and stress reduction.”
Taravella says Sense of Security is unique in that it is completely community supported. “We don’t get a dime from the gover
nment.” The organization’s major fundraiser is coming up September 16, 2017, at Four Mile Historic Park in Glendale from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Taravella describes the “Distinctly Colorado” event as a “un gala.” “Wear your jeans and boots, learn to fly fish, hit some balls at the golf simulator or take two-step dance lessons.” They raised $75,000 last year and hope to hit $100,000 this year. He says, “This fundraiser is crucial to help Sense of Security continue to help Colorado breast cancer patients.
Howard will be there and urges people, “If you want to help, give to Sense of Security.” She adds, “Just be good to each other. If everybody tried to be a little kinder to people every day, it would make such a big difference in the long run.”
For more information or to get tickets to the Distinctly Colorado event go to senseofsecurity.org.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 30, 2017 | General Featured
by Julie Hayden
It’s a peaceful neighborhood tucked just around the corner from Exposition and Quebec. The yards are carefully tended; flowers bloom and shady trees line the street in front of beautifully maintained homes.
But one house in this quiet neighborhood stands out like a sore thumb. “It’s an eyesore,” complains neighbor Deborah Costin. “The place is a mess. The grass is dead and full of weeds. A tree in the front yard is dead. The exterior paint is peeling and there is trash.”
Normally neighbors would take their complaints to Denver 
City inspectors. But that doesn’t do any good in this case because the rundown property at 716 South Poplar in Denver, is owned by the City and County of Denver.
Public property records show the three bedroom, two and half bath home with 2,268 square feet was built in 1964. In August 1998, the owners sold it to the City and County of Denver for $209,900. According to public records, a few months later, in October 1998 the City gave it to the Denver Urban Renewal A
uthority, the property was rezoned and a year later DURA turned it over to Redi Corporation, which contracted with Mental Health Center of Denver (MHCD) to operate it as a group home for mentally ill residents.
According to news reports and official City documents, the home was one of several Denver “scurried” to purchase to comply with a court order following a settlement in a lawsuit filed regarding mental health housing.
The City of Denver hurriedly rezoned the residential property to allow a group home, over the strenuous objections from the neighborhood association and individual neighbors.
But in spite of the frequent paramedic, fire and police sirens responding to 9-1-1 calls from the address the neighbors say they came to accept the group home in their midst and the property was kept in good condit
ion.
That all changed when MHCD closed the group home and on March 25, 2016, the property was turned back over to the care and ownership of the City and County of Denver.
Costin says, “It’s been a year and a half of the house sitting there empty and steadily deteriorating. “She has pictures showing the yard sprouting only weeds with the grass long since dead. Other pictures show aging paperwork stuck in the door from the State of Colorado demanding information about a required inspection. There appears to be a hole in the eaves under the roof, the paint is peeling, roofing materials left as trash sit alongside the house.
“Who knows what is going on in the back as part of the fence fell down,” Costin adds.
The neighbors also have concerns about the inside of the house. They say last winter two neighbors walking their dogs noticed water pouring out the front door, down the sidewalk and into the street. They called 9-1-1 and the fire department responded and shut off the water. But nothing else was done for weeks and neighbors speculate there could be a serious mold problem.
Costin also questions whether the City of Denver is being a good steward of taxpayers’ dollars when it comes to this property. Sold in 1998 for the $209,900, Zillow and other real estate sites estimate the home is worth more than double that today, putting it around $560,000. And while public t
ax assessment records show neighboring families are paying thousands of dollars in property taxes the City and County of Denver pays absolutely no taxes on 716 S. Poplar.
Costin says, “Whatever upkeep is being done, utilities or insurance that are being paid is at taxpayer expense and the property value is rapidly plummeting given the deterioration of the house and yard.”
Costin and other neighbors ask, why doesn’t the City of Denver simply sell the property and let a new homeowner who will actually take care of the home enjoy it. “Why not put the property on the market so it could return to being a single-family residence in keeping with the neighborhood?”
Denver City Councilmember, Paul Kashmann
Denver City Councilman Paul Kashmann, whose District Six includes the South Poplar street neighborhood, says the City of Denver has no plans to sell the property. He explains Denver is in negotiations with a non-profit service provider to turn the house into a group home for homeless women to help them get back on their feet. He says the organization is in the process of applying for grants to fund the program and take over the property.
Kashmann says he understands the neighbors’ frustration with the deteriorating condition of the property, “Without question if I were a neighbor I would not be pleased,” Kashmann says. He adds he will see what he can do to push the City to take better care of the property in the meantime.
Denver City spokeswoman Courtney Law says the City has programs to provide regular maintenance of properties it owns and after being contacted by the Chronicle she passed neighborhood concerns to the maintenance people and says they will respond.
Neighbors remain skeptical and are not happy about the prospect of another group home at the property. Costin says, “Is that the best use for that house? No. It was a bad idea in 1998 and it’s a bad idea now.”
by Mark Smiley | Aug 30, 2017 | Main Articles
The Department Directed By Brad Buchanan Is A fiasco And Failure Auditor’s Report States
Hancock Attacks City Auditor Tim O’Brien Claiming He ‘Misrepresented Audit Findings’
by Glen Richardson
City Auditor Timothy O’Brien hit a massive nerve in the Hancock Administration when he elected to do a routine audit of the Community Planning and Development’s Building Permit process. It was the 17th audit of Denver city operations by the City Auditor this year alone but the backlash from the Mayor’s office was extraordinary.
In his press release the City Auditor stated, “Long wait times and disorganized filing systems are delaying the issuance of building permits as intensive development continues in Denver.”
The Mayor’s office then sent a scathing letter attacking O’Brien declaring “your office issued a press release that politicized, dramatized and in some cases misrepresented the audit findings.”
The Mayor then declared, “The result of pushing out this promotion with no recognition of the improvements and innovations implemented and underway is that the employees are needlessly undermined.”
Reason For Mayor’s Reaction
The extreme reaction of a usually somnolent Denver Mayor Michael Hancock can only be understood say insiders by understanding that the Planning Department is run by the highly controversial Executive Director Brad Buchanan. He is accused by neighborhood leaders of selling out the citizens 
and neighborhoods of Denver in favor of high density developers and having a history of alleged ethical improprieties.
They cite the deliberate refusal to consider the impact of parking and
traffic concerns in the approval process in order to create greater profitability for developers. Buchanan’s quixotic interpretation of a minor change in the City’s planning code regarding small lots set off a micro unit development explosion. In a highly unusual slap at Buchanan, the City Council earlier this year rejected his proposed pro developer compromise and adopted one proposed by community groups.
Buchanan’s Incompetence
The City Auditor’s claim that Buchanan is simply incompetent in undertaking the mundane tasks of his Planning Department set Buchanan “off the deep end” according to sources within the Planning Department. Tensions are rising with the scale of new developments as cranky contractors and irritated do-it-yourselfers wait in line for hours to get permit approval to hammer, hang drywall, do masonry, carpentry and installation.
Brad Buchanan lives on a 1,500 acre ranch on Kiowa Creek an hour fro
m Denver and his purported lack of a strong work ethic and long commu
tes are said to hinder the Planning Department’s ability to keep pace with needed improvements.
The audit found lines to file construction permits with the department began hours before the office opens, and people have had to spend hours waiting to get help. Long wait times and disorganized filing systems are delaying the issuance of building permits as intensive development continues throughout the city. “A booming population means booming construction, and with that, a high demand for construction permits,” CPA O’Brien concludes.
Six-Month Backlog
Auditors found no defined organizational system and increased time wasted by staff searching for needed documents. Approved plans for archiving are backlogged by at least six months. Moreover, they found that although customer feedbac
k is provided and tracked, there is little or no management process for addressing the issues from customers. Furthermore, “Best practices, standardized by federal executive orders, have not been implemented.”
An audit of Planning’s Development Services division revealed inefficiencies in the permit intake process resulted in an average wait time of more than 1.5 hours for submission of a commercial or residential building permit. When compared to reported wait times in Aurora, Colorado Springs and San Diego, the division exceeds the average of 30 to 45 minutes.
The development services division also lacks a defined periodic review process of building permit fees, which are intended to partially or fully cover operational costs. Additionally, the division staff reported the City typically charges less for permits than surrounding municipalities. “This may shift some cost to the taxpayers,” the audit warns.
Rejects Technical Help
How has the City Planning Department staff responded so f
ar to the issues identified by the City Auditor’s Office to resolve key issues?
The Department responsible for implementing visionary city planning and ensuring safe, responsible and sustainable building throughout Denver has gone into its customary slowdown syndrome. It has agreed to address the long lines by training staff, but not until the end of next year (2018).
The department also says it will begin putting together a system to update its paper filing system through organization and the use of digital storage. The department also says it will try to develop a management process to act in response to the issues being reported from customer feedback. Officials also suggest they will review the fee process the audit indicates is possibly shifting department expenditures to Denver taxpayers.
Ironically Buchanan and the Planning Department refused to work collaboratively with Technology Services, the central information technology department for the City and County of Denver. That was the final recommendation made by the City Auditor. The recommendation would have ensured that former division employee access to the internal system Accela had been revoked. Although there apparently is a secondary internal failsafe to prevent former employees from logging into the system, it is still the agency’s responsibility to notify TS of terminated employees to revoke permissions.
Mayor’s Quandary
Critics indicate that Mayor Hancock has little understanding of how Denver’s various departments actually function. The normal reaction of a Mayor in Denver to an adverse audit report from the City Auditor would be to sit down with the head of a particular department and see how improvements could be made to address the concerns raised in the audit.
But Michael Hancock is not an ordinary Mayor. He was elected primarily due to the support of Pat Hamill and other developers who have funded and run his campaigns. They put Brad Buchanan into his position of Executive Director and depend upon him and his Planning Department for most, if not all, of the real estate schemes that they want implemented.
Thus any criticism of Buchanan and his Department, no matter how mundane, from a trusted source such as the City Auditor’s office must be meet with fierce and absolute resistance. Mayor Hancock certainly signed the letter to O’Brien but few in the city government believe he wrote it or even understood much of its content. According to some the Mayor’s letter has been a public relations disaster as it has brought unwanted attention to Buchanan and his Planning Department at a time when they want to avoid public scrutiny to the greatest extent possible.
