by Mark Smiley | Oct 21, 2016 | Travel
Publicity Shy Health And Wellness Director Will Be Missed By All, In Particular The SilverSneakers Seniors
by Mark Smiley
Ellyn Wood, the Glendale Sports Center’s Health and Wellness Director is retiring after 35 years with the YMCA. Having just turned 65 years of age, Wood is hanging up her sneakers on November 30, 2016. Wood, who shies away from the spotlight and prefers to not have a lot of publicity surrounding her, has devoted most of her adult life to the YMCA and its sports programs.
Wood started with the Chatfield YMCA in 1981 as a part-time fitness instructor after exercising there since 1979. She exercised with Debbie Ford, who served the YMCA in many capacities including Executive Director of the Glendale Sports Center. Ford, who has been friends with Wood since the 7th grade, retired from the YMCA three years ago.
As the two described it, they exercised wearing leotards, leg warmers and leading group exercise classes which was the style in the late ’70s and early ’80s.
“As an executive at the Littleton Y and then later at the Glendale Sports Center it was a privilege and fun to work with Ellyn,” said Debbie Ford, YMCA of Metropolitan Denver, past Glendale Sports Center/ YMCA Executive Director. “Ell
yn has brought a lot of happiness to members, especially the SilverSneakers. Ellyn has been a very committed, dependable, and innovative employee, you can always count on Ellyn.”
Wood moved to full-time status in 1991 after teaching aerobics at the YMCA as well as some private clubs around town. In 1991, she helped open up the Highline (now Littleton) YMCA and served as Fitness Coordinator. She also ran a large teen sports program and even supervised the pool.
After being promoted to Health and Wellness Director, she was laid off in 2002 only to return two weeks later when the branch reorganized.
Then, a call came from Debbie Ford. Ford tried to convince Wo
od to join her at the newly formed Glendale YMCA. “I didn’t want to leave Littleton,” said Wood. “I felt comfortable there but Debbie wanted me to come [help open the Glendale location]. She talked me into it.”
From 2002 to 2008, Ford and Wood were two of the only full-time employees in the old building. Then, in July 2008, the City of Glendale opened a 35,000-square-foot recreation and sports center and asked the YMCA to manage it. Wood was in on the ground floor of every aspect of the new facility from scheduling and hiring to recruiting new members and running the SilverSneakers program.
And that is what Wood will miss the most. “…the people. I’ve known a l
ot of them [seniors] since we were over in the old building,” said Wood. “They are always reminiscing about times in the old building. Because it was just me, I paid a lot of attention to them. They were almost like a family. They loved it.”
Times have changed since leaving the old facility in 2008. Over the last eight years, membership has grown exponentially. “It has been nice to see how the membership has grown and how the classes have grown [since moving into Infinity Park] from when we first started over here,” said Wood.
“From teaching classes, to making sure all the members have coffee and repairing equipment Ellyn has done it all,” said Nicole Limoges, Executive Director, YMCA Sports Branch & Glendale Sports Center at Infinity Park. “She is the most energetic, caring staff person I have had the pleasure to work with and she will be g
reatly missed by the members and staff.”
Now, it is time to turn a new page in Wood’s life. She and her husband Woody plan to travel. They will visit Baja Peninsula in Mexico, over Thanksgiving and have plans to visit Africa, Greece, Croatia, New Zealand, and Australia.
No trip may be as exciting as visiting their daughter Courtney and two grandkids in California or their son Shane and his wife Stephanie in Italy.
Aside from travel and helping her husband at home with bookkeeping for his business, Wood hopes to enjoy the time off and will be looking to fill her days and be productive. After working for 35 years for one organization, Wood has earned the right to enjoy life on her own terms.
by Mark Smiley | Oct 21, 2016 | Editorials
The intrepid and resourceful everyday citizens from Humboldt Street Neighborhood Association and Curtis Park Neighbors (some of which are pictured below) were, of course, greatly disappointed when the Denver Board of Adjustment for Zoning turned down their appeal of the decision from the Denver Planning Department by a 4-1 margin. The project will help destroy their neighborhoods by permitting high density micro apartments without any parking.
The vote was 4 to 1 rather than unanimous because the Board did not want to appear to be what they are — lackeys for the mayor and the real estate developers who control him. It is known in the trade as the “gentleman’s dissenting vote.”
What’s next? Well, they can exercise their rights as Americans and Coloradans and appeal the decision to the Denver District Court for the State of Colorado. The only problem is, of course, that the average Denver citizen never wins in the Denver District Court when suing the City and County of Denver when it relates to the destruction of their neighborhoods. Never, ever.
Just to review a few of the more egregious recent cases:
- Friends of Denver Parks v. the City and County of Denver et al. In September of 2013 Denver District Court Judge Herbert L. Stern III dismissed each and every claim of the citizens concerning the sale for development of a portion Hentzell Park in Denver.
- Residents of West Highland v. The Denver City Council et al. In September of 2013 Denver District Court Judge Robert C. McGahey dismissed each and every claim of the citizens regarding the rezoning of property in the Highlands area of Denver.
- Sloans Lake Neighborhood Association v. Denver City Council et al. In March of 2016 Judge J. Eric Eliff dismissed each and every claim on the rezoning of the former St. Anthony’s Central Hospital site.
- Residents of Crestmoor Park v. Denver City Council et al. In May of 2016 Denver District Court Judge Shelly I. Gilman not only dismissed each and every claim of the citizens over the rezoning of the Mt. Gilead Church property but she appeared to mock and taunt the citizens for even bothering to bring claims in her courtroom and made it abundantly clear that she would never rule in their favor.
Then there was the infamous case of Ballpark Neighborhood Association, Inc. v. City and County of Denver et al in September of 2015. There Denver District Court Judge R. Michael Mullins actually ruled, in a six page opinion, in favor of the citizens declaring that the City and County of Denver and the Board of Adjustment for Zoning had “abused their discretion and exceeded their jurisdiction in agreeing to allow the Denver Rescue Mission to expand.
Never accused of being the “brightest crayon in the box” Judge Mullins apparently had not been informed that the citizens of Denver are never allowed to win such cases. Calls were apparently made and Mullins was given, directly or indirectly, a talking to. Several weeks later Judge Mullins reversed himself and ruled in favor of the City and County of Denver on all claims. Judge Mullins, in disgrace, announced his retirement several months later.
There is a time honored idiom in American politics — “You Can’t Fight City Hall.” The saying is not “You Can’t Sue City Hall” because you clearly can. It means, inter alia, simply that you won’t win your lawsuit. Why? Because the concept of an “independent judiciary” is a myth, or more accurately, something of a cruel hoax as it pertains the Denver District Courts.
It is not that Denver judges are bribed. Why bother? Bribery would be so gauche and totally unnecessary. The 23 Denver District Court judges are, in reality, state government employees in black robes who plan to retire as state government employees on state government pension plans. They roam the hallways and eat in the cafeteria at the City and County Building with other government employees whether they are elected officials or government bureaucrats in the form of city attorneys and district attorneys, etc. They go to the same American Bar Association and Colorado Bar Association meetings. They attend the same parties and events. They were able to become judges in part because of their political connections and they do not intend to upset the applecart.
It is an unwritten rule in Denver whereby the unelected judges agree they will not play in the elected officials’ sandbox so long as elected officials don’t interfere with their spoils. Everybody in state and municipal government gets their healthy serving of the taxpayer funded pie all in the name of old fashioned “public service.”
So is all lost for Denver’s brave and intrepid neighborhood groups like the Humboldt Street Neighborhood Association and Curtis Park Neighbors? The answer is surprisingly, no, at least for the future. Of course the Mayor, the City Council, the Denver Planning Department, the Board of Adjustment, Barry Hirschfeld and the Denver District Court system will have raped and partially destroyed their neighborhoods for fun and profit, but things can and will continue to get worse and worse unless citizens start fighting for the future of their city.
The election system in Denver is, in fact, not rigged unlike some large cities in the United States. There is no Daley machine or a modern day Tammany Hall in Denver. Regular citizens can and have won elections if they are willing to fight hard enough, as demonstrated by the victories of City Auditor O’Brien and Councilmen New, Kashmann and Espinoza. You can even beat incumbents like Councilwoman Susan K. Shepherd.
Do citizens need to wait until the next municipal election finally rolls around? Of course not. Progressives in the early 20th century knew the only way to hold elected officials actually accountable was for citizens to be able to recall them, and provided for such in the Colorado Constitution and the Denver City Charter. Progressives in the 21st century are somehow extremely squeamish about holding elected officials, and therefore the entire system, accountable by filing recall petitions. Fill one petition against one of the numerous real estate developer owned City Council persons and suddenly — win, lose or draw — the whole political landscape changes and the citizens of Denver can now in fact “fight Denver City Hall.”
The time is a-wasting. Let us begin the fight to take back the City and County of Denver from real estate developers like Pat Hamill and his crony capitalist enablers at the loathsome Colorado Concern organization. You owe it to your children and grandchildren.
— Editorial Board
by Mark Smiley | Oct 21, 2016 | Feature Story Middle Left
by Danny Foster, Esq.
[I want to be clear the opinions expressed in this article are my personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the view(s) of other people at FGMC. Good and reasonable people can and do have significantly divergent perspectives and opinions on social justice issues. However, what cannot be denied is that this is an important issue — and I believe it needs to be addressed. In my view, to remain silent is not an option and people who know me know I simply can’t keep silent. That said, we must engage in a respectful dialogue and keep working on these issues for the sake of our community and country].
Any Jewish man or woman who graduates law school is inevitably provided a framed picture with these important words emblazoned upon the parchment: Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue. Usually it is also written in Hebrew: Tzedeck, Tzedeck, Tirdorf. This passage comes from the book of Deuteronomy from the Old Testament. It is a reminder to baby lawyers, and even seasoned lawyers, that our highest calling in life is to pursue justice. Justice for the oppressed. Justice for the wronged. Justice for the needy. And I believe most lawyers and non-lawyers alike try and pursue justice. It’s the right way to live one’s life. However in today’s complex world it seems much more complicated, because so many people have different opinions of what “justice” actually means. And when people have opposing views on what justice means, then we obviously have different thoughts on how to pursue it. It’s similar to driving a car. If two people grab the wheel and try to steer they will inevitably drive it off the road. That doesn’t benefit anyone. And today, more than ever, it seems like we have lots of people trying to steer the car toward their own version of justice.
While I primarily practice in the field of personal injury law, pursuing justice for the injured, I have also had the privilege of representing law enforcement — usually members of the Denver Sheriff’s Department, but sometimes Denver Police as well. So as you read this article you may suspect where my inclinations lie. But I was also raised by a father who was heavily involved in the civil rights movement and even marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma. So my opinion is based on a mixture of life experiences. I have been very troubled by the events of the past few years where so many good, hard-working law enforcement officers have suffered at the hands of so many ill-informed citizens and reporters. I have also been troubled when any person, regardless of race, has been killed by police when the encounter should have been routine. Police officers have the most dangerous job in America and need to make split second decisions. Life or death decisions for themselves, their partners, the suspect, and the community. How many life or death encounters do you face on a daily basis?
There have been many police officers (in our state and across the country) who have been attacked, threatened, and sometimes killed because of the groundswell of anti-police rhetoric fueled by 24-hour media cycles and non-stop social media. At least six officers were murdered across this country during the three days I wrote this article. Law enforcement deaths in the line of duty are the highest in U.S. history. That is a horrifying fact. Many of these attacks specifically targeted police due in large part to a backlash against alleged police misconduct (i.e. Dallas). Have there been police officers who have done wrong? Of course. Should they be fired or prosecuted if they break the law? Of course. Have there been valid excessive use of force complaints made? Yes, and these cases must be investigated thoroughly and with as much transparency as possible.
As it turns out the majority of excessive force complaints are found to be unsubstantiated after investigation by independent Internal Affairs (“IA”) departments. The fact is, just because someone is unarmed does not mean they do not pose a lethal threat. I have sat through innumerable IA interviews and watched police officers be thoroughly investigated. At no point in my 18 years of representing law enforcement have I ever seen an IA investigator give a pass to an officer accused of excessive force. I have represented many law enforcement officers who have been suspended or terminated due to even minor allegations of excessive force. Some discipline was justified, some was not. But the point is that most of the time law enforcement does a good job of removing bad apples. Are they perfect? No. But the belief that cops get a free pass from other cops is a gross mischaracterization of the facts (in my opinion).
The belief that all, or even most, police are racist is also something we must dispel. I’ve always hated stereotyping people. Whenever we say “All (blanks) are (blank)” we create nothing but more divisiveness and bigotry. All police officers are racists. All African-American males are thugs. All Jewish people are cheap. I could go on and on. The reality is that most police officers are not racist, but some are. Most African-American males are not thugs, but some are. Most Jewish people are not cheap, but some are. When we take the easy way out and use stereotypes to attack others, we weaken our argument and make conversations impossible. Stereotyping creates animosity, distrust, and eventually violence. Why on earth would law enforcement want to sit down with a group of Black Lives Matter delegates if they both went into this discussion automatically assuming the other group was a bunch of lunatics?
The reality is that we need our police. Imagine our society without strong, efficient law enforcement. It’s truly frightening. Honest, seasoned police officers are leaving the profession in the highest numbers ever recorded. New cadet class sizes have plummeted. Who would want to join a profession where you are being screamed at, constantly surveyed by iPhones, second guessed by newspaper reporters, shot at, beaten up, sued, and very likely suspended or fired at some point in time due to some allegations of misconduct? Just recently, a Chicago police officer refused to use her firearm when she was being viciously beaten by a suspect high on PCP because she feared the media fallout — and she almost lost her life because of it. (See Washington Post Oct. 17, 2016: Ferguson Effect?). That should scare all law-abiding citizens, regardless of race.
We need to take a deep breath, stop looking at our Facebook feed every 10 seconds, start trying to engage each other and stop pointing fingers all the time. Each case should be decided on its own merits and we should stop reflexively taking sides. We all should wait for the evidence to come out before jumping to conclusions, investigate claims of racial bias diligently and correct injustice whenever it is found.
Danny is a managing partner of Foster, Graham, Milstein & Calisher (FGMC). His practice focuses on personal injury. The law firm of FGMC, located in Cherry Creek, is a full service law firm focusing on: criminal defense, personal injury, real estate, litigation, liquor licensing, construction law, tax/estate planning, bankruptcy and zoning. This article does not create an attorney-client relationship and is for informational use only (what do you expect from an attorney!)
by Mark Smiley | Oct 21, 2016 | Main Articles
Residents And Disability Activists Demand Change
by Megan Carthel
Twenty-four floors high in the sky, the 4550 Cherry Creek luxury apartments in Glendale, have stood tall, but for some residents, the building is falling short. The skyscraper apartment complex was built in 2002, as the first truly luxurious rental property in Glendale. Its massive outline dominates the skyline along Cherry Creek Drive and its height so chagrined Glendale residents that the city revised its Zoning Code to impose height limits.
Tall Prison
But now the 24-story building has at times become a virtual prison for some residents as its elevator system has become a nightmare. For those inside the elevators when they break down, it means waiting seemingly endless hours until the City of Glendale can come rescue them. For residents who are disabled with mobility challenges they are trapped in their apartments or simply cannot return to their apartment homes for hours on end.
Longtime residents say they can point to the day when all the problems began — January 12, 2011. On that day sprinkler lines on the 18th and 2nd floors broke, causing water to run down the elevator shafts, resulting in extensive damage.
The elevators have never been the same. Since that date there have been 13 calls to the Glendale Police and the Fire Department regarding people trapped in the elevators. From November 2014 to July of this year alone the City of Glendale has had to make seven rescues from the elevators at 4550.
Threatened Lawsuit
But it is not simply the residents trapped in the elevators themselves that are affected. Resident Jessica Peck has progressive vascular malformations and reflexive sympathetic dystrophy. In 2015, treatment led to extreme and sudden bone loss culminating in an amputation below the knee on her left leg. Peck said all four elevators were down when she came home one evening. Her two daughters, ages eight and 11, were in their unit, 11 flights up. Peck had to hop on one leg up 11 flights of stairs to reach her kids.
“I thought if I fall I’m dead,” Peck said. Only days later, Peck was in the hospital with inflammation of cartilage in the breast plate. In April of this year she was diagnosed with pulmonary embolisms.
“To me, as an attorney, as a disability activist, to be in a position where I am scared of retaliation and I am honestly hurt to my core. I have a thick skin, but living in this environment every day is being told that I don’t matter, that my children don’t matter, and they don’t care if I get injured,” Peck said.
Peck has retained one of Colorado’s most famous and feared litigators David Lane of Killmer, Lane & Newman, LLP who is investigating bringing suit under Federal statutes if the problems are not fixed.
“Under ADA they have to reasonably accommodate people with disabilities, meaning they have to provide access to people with disabilities — curb cuts are required by law, working elevators are required by law, handicapped access doors which can be opened by pushing a button have to be working by law, they have to have parking spots for disabled people by law, they do none of the above on a regular basis,” Lane said.
Lane and Peck would be filing suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act and Warranty of Habitability.
Elevator Background
Mike Pattison, Denver branch manager for Kone, the company that installed and maintains the elevators, said his crew members are contracted to perform preventative maintenance weekly on the elevators.
“Our guys are out there all the time,” Pattison said.
Pattison said the elevators in 4550 are four-geared traction passenger cars with a mipromST control system. He said hundreds were installed in 2002 and 2003, but are no longer being currently installed. Pattison said to upgrade the elevator system, it would cost between $175,000 to $250,000 per elevator.
Chuck Line, Glendale Deputy City Manager, said usually elevators shut down because a safety feature responded to an error.
“From a safety point of view, every time we go, all the safety mechanisms are functioning perfectly and everything, but there’s a big difference between safety of an elevator and operationally if it’s reliable or not. Because if it’s unreliable, it means its safety mechanism has kicked in, but it means maybe they’re not maintaining it to the degree that they should,” Line said.
Upset Residents
Tina Roussin has had to walk up 17 flights of stairs with groceries when all four elevators were down, a frequent event according to her. She was once stuck in an elevator early in the morning after taking her dog outside. The elevator she was in does not have a call phone or button, and she did not have her phone on her. Roussin said she began kicking and yelling in hopes someone would hear she was trapped. Eventually the elevator returned to the first floor. When Roussin brought her incident to management, she said she received a less than satisfactory answer.
“I was told you need to make sure you have your phone on you when you go on the elevator,” Roussin said.
Elevators are inspected twice a year. Randy Pabst, elevator inspector with Colorado Consulting Code, said a two-way communication system is required that can dial a 24-hour service such as the elevator maintenance contractor, 9-1-1 or an answering service for security company.
This is not Roussin’s only run-in with the elevators. Her dog’s leash got caught in the elevator doors and was suspended from the top of the elevator, hanging there until the leash broke while Roussin tried to free her dog, Chloe. Another resident who is afraid of retaliation from the complex in the form of rent price raises who wanted to keep her identity private, said the elevators are a major issue.
“This is supposed to be a luxury building, it’s not inexpensive to live here and we should have a reasonable expectation that we can go up and down 24 floors on at least one elevator all the time,” the resident said. “I lived in Manhattan for a long time and these are the kinds of issues that come up with slumlords in New York.”
The residents said in general they like living at 4550 and praise concierge and front office workers in general but many have a problem with the management company Monogram Apartment Collection. The owner of the building, according to the real estate records of Arapahoe County, is Behringer Harvard Cherry Creek out of Dallas, Texas, who acquired the building in 2010 for $52 million. The seller Sentinel lost $26 million on the sale from its purchase price of $78 million in 2005.
Resident Kandie Landers told the Chronicle, “When a building has 24 floors, having the elevators down as frequently as they do is inexcusable . . . . Other than the elevator issue, I have been extremely pleased with the community.” She notes, however, that “the management really needs to invest in getting the elevators fixed and/or replaced.”
Management Response
According to Peck and her attorney David Lane, the time for 4550 to voluntarily perform the needed work may be running out.
In an email statement sent to the Chronicle, the management company Monogram Apartment Collection stated, “At [4550] Cherry Creek, we’re committed to providing the highest quality service for our residents. When a resident has a concern, we maintain a culture of transparency by communicating how we are remedying the situation. Our residents shared feedback around the need to update our elevators, so we are in the process of replacing the mechanical systems in all four elevators. We anticipate starting work very soon and are doing everything we can to ensure that this long and complex process is as painless as possible.”
