As a result of a bevy of Denver ballot issues, the November election was consequential for the future of Denver although the election as it relates to Denver got relatively little attention. First and foremost, the strong mayor form of government first adopted in 1904 when Denver became the City and County of Denver is for all intents and purposes badly damaged. Michael Hancock has been easily elected three times as mayor of the Mile High City but appears to be nonetheless widely despised by his Denver constituents as the election demonstrated.
The powers taken from the mayor’s office and given to the City Council are not small or inconsequential as generally reported in the Denver press and they are just the beginning.
First, in Ballot Measure 2E, backed by Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer, the voters removed the mayor’s ability to hire people for a number of important positions including the chief of police, sheriff, fire chief, city attorney, public health director, parks director, aviation director and the planning and development manager. The mayor would still select and oversee those appointees. Incumbent appointees serving when a new mayor is sworn in would still be subject to approval. Hancock argued against the proposal saying it would make it much more difficult to recruit qualified people. Nobody seemed to care. Few were overly impressed by his hires in the first place. Before, people in those positions could simply ignore the City Council and the public in general and only had to do the mayor’s bidding. No more.
Next in Ballot Measure 2G the voters took away the mayor’s unfettered control over the city budget. The mayor’s office prepares the budget and if the City Council alters it in any manner, he can use his veto power and it takes a super majority (9 out 13) to override the veto. Only the mayor could initiate any changes during the year. Councilwoman Robin Kniech saw an opening and pushed a charter change allowing the Council to appropriate new or excess revenues and transfer unspent money throughout the city. It’s now a new ball game.
Hancock not only strenuously opposed 2E and 2G, he even trotted out the old war horse, former Mayor Wellington Webb (along with Webb’s wife Wilma), to lead the opposition to the changes but no avail, both passed relatively easily.
But the City Council was not done hacking away at Hancock. Councilwoman Debbie Ortega pushed Ballot Measure 2C which the voters approved giving the Council the right to hire their own professionals including attorneys without the need to rely on Administration officials who at least used to be solely dependent on the mayor. This may sound insignificant, but it is not. Fights like the one over Hancock sexually harassing female employees will no longer be one sided affairs with the mayor holding all the cards.
Denver citizens had become sick and tired of Hancock and his developer cronies totally ignoring transportation issues. For massive development projects the administration would not even do traffic studies on the effect of the development because it might come out negative. In 2019 the voters approved a charter change which turned the Department of Public Works into the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) effective January 1, 2020. Hancock in response, using his executive power created Multimodal, Pedestrian and Bicycle advisory committees which he of course appointed all of the members. Councilwoman Ortega decided that was a bad idea so she proposed another charter change Ballot Measure 2D whereby there would be a DOTI Advisory Committee comprised of 19 individuals of which the mayor would be able to appoint only six members while the City Council would have the ability to appoint the remaining 13. The voters also liked that idea although it is unclear what, if any, powers the advisory committee would have.
The final insult to the mayor was Ballot Measure 2J. In 1989 Denver adopted a pit bull ban. Earlier this year, the Council revoked the ban, but Hancock vetoed the measure and there were not enough votes to override the veto. Councilman Chris Herndon refused to concede defeat and had the Council refer the matter to the voters who backed Herndon and pit bulls over Hancock.
In the end the Council and the members who oppose Hancock won every measure and Hancock lost every last one. The general commentary has been that Hancock and the mayor’s office had its sails trimmed back, but no big deal. They say Hancock did not try very hard, but of course, he never tries very hard at anything. A weak mayor, Michael Hancock has effectively begun the destruction of Denver’s strong mayor form of government. Given its amazing victories, the City Council will be back in the next election to do some more sail trimming.
We agree with the City Council members who fight the mayor and the voters who gave Hancock a political spanking. When a character like Michael Hancock uses three terms as mayor and all the powers the City Charter gives him to reward and line the pockets of the high-density developers who controlled him, it was time to change the Charter. Hancock has almost three more years to continue to destroy a once beautiful city. Hopefully, he will spend that time to continue to chase women, but the high-density developers are not likely to rest until they have exploited every last dollar destroying a wonderful city that past mayors help build.
While county jails across the country were restricting inmate phone calls, video chats with family members, and in-person visits because of COVID-19, staff at the Denver County Jail found new ways to keep their inmates connected to their systems of support.
Remote Visits: Remote visit capabilities for inmates were expanded to seven days per week.
Relying on mobile hotspots for Wi-Fi, jail staff allowed inmates to use laptops and tablets to converse with their support system outside the jail, at times for free or at a reduced rate.
Funding for the program came from a $340,000 grant from the Caring for Colorado Foundation and Denver City Council, which approved the purchase of additional video and phone monitoring software from Securus Technology, LLC, less than one month after Mayor Hancock issued his public health emergency declaration in March.
Major Rick Guerrero, who oversees operations of the county jail, credits the decision to decrease the inmate population and the facilities’ sanitation protocols were the keys to successfully implementing this program.
“We are very sensitive to the needs of our community and those in our care, especially in uncertain times like during the pandemic,” he told the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle in an interview. “That’s why it was so important for us to build strong bridges and make sure inmates didn’t lose their ability to connect with the outside world.”
A report authored by the Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) in September found the pandemic caused detention facilities in several states to restrict inmate communication programs like free phone and video calls and family visits.
“The stress of the pandemic means that most families need more communication than normal,” the report reads. “People with friends or family behind bars need to stay up to date on their loved ones’ health and provide emotional support, especially given that chronic illnesses that make people vulnerable to the virus are more common behind bars.”
Fully Operational: The phone lines at Denver’s Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center remained in operation from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, even when the jail experienced its most serious COVID outbreaks over the summer.
Carrie Stanley, DSD’s program director, added another layer to this analysis, describing the responses as counterproductive and especially harmful to inmates with mental health or substance abuse issues facing strenuous reentry programs.
“People are worried about what was happening in the community, about how to connect with people over the internet versus going into their offices,” she told the Chronicle. “Successful reentry programs rely on keeping inmates in connection with positive support systems.”
Phone Calls
The report found county jails in states like Alaska, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, that had completely ended phone calls for their inmates.
Meanwhile the phone lines at Denver’s Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center remained in operation from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, even when the jail experienced its most serious COVID outbreaks over the summer.
Inmates placed in administrative segregation were allowed the same communication privileges as inmates in general population.
Guerrero says the lower inmate counts allowed county jail staff to closely ensure inmates practiced social distancing at the phones. Inmates and staff also split responsibility for cleaning the phones three to four times per day.
However, increased supervision was not the only cost borne by connecting inmates with their support systems. PPI’s report found that “one in three families with an incarcerated loved one go into debt paying for phone calls and visits, and half struggle to pay for basic housing and food needs.”
Securus charges a fee per minute usage to inmates who call their families via telephone or video service. The average cost of a 15-minute call in Colorado is $14.85, well above the national average cost of $5.74, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.
In Denver, phone calls cost $.08 per minute and $9 for a 30-minute video call.
“In-person” Visits
It’s been 15 years since inmates in Denver County Jail could hug their loved ones during visits. Instead, visitors come to the jail lobby to use a phone and video system that connects to the housing units.
Report: A report by the Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) found the pandemic caused detention facilities in several states to restrict inmate communication programs like free phone and video calls and family visits.
Under normal circumstances, these visits are 30 minutes long and are only allowed from Friday to Sunday between 12 and 8 p.m. Visits at the Downtown Detention Center are similarly restricted.
Once the pandemic hit in late March, DSD restricted visitor access to their lobby and increased inmate visitations to 7 days per week, thereby creating a need to expand their remote visit capabilities.
Securus provided DSD with coupons for free virtual visits so families without computers can still visit with inmates. Between April and June, DSD gave out 450 coupons, according to Stanley.
Securus also provided compassion credits to inmates with family members who were ill or who had passed for free video calls.
“The people in our care often don’t have access to their family members for most of the time they’re here,” Stanley said. “In terms of the pandemic, we saw an increase in inmate family members who got sick or passed.”
To help inmates grieve, DSD individualized its chaplain services. Before the pandemic, as many as 20 inmates could see the Chaplain at the same time. Now, DSD only allows eight in a room together and has suspended all volunteer religious providers.
Kites And Staff Communications
Inmates don’t just communicate with people outside detention facilities. In Denver, inmates use a color-coded kite system to communicate their needs with jail staff. Inmates submit a yellow kite to communicate a problem with staff and a green kite for health services requests, according to the inmate handbook.
Kites are sent to responsive departments depending on the request. For example, all kites concerning communications with the phones or video chat lines are directed to the Accounting Department.
Stanley said the jail maintained enough staff to process kite requests, and improved their efficiency in many cases.
“Our people were keenly aware of the need for communication. There’s really a lot of compassion on this team,” she said. “We know this pandemic has increased anxiety for many people in our care, so we had to increase our efforts.”
Stanley and her team also addressed inmate anxieties by increasing their rounds in the housing units from once a month to once per week. This allowed program staff to take a more personalized approach to their jobs, and gave inmates more chances to ask program staff about reentry programs, lining up a safe home, and other means of survival outside of jail.
“The pandemic has really taught us that people respond better if you focus on them as an individual rather than as a group or housing unit,” Stanley said.
The Chronicle is distributed in both Denver and Arapahoe counties. If you were alleged to have committed a crime it didn’t normally matter on which side of the county line it occurred, but today it can. Denver District Attorney Beth McCann is a longtime Democratic politician and she approached her job as D.A. with her political sensitivities very much intact. George Brauchler, the term-limited District Attorney for Arapahoe County, has been a Republican candidate for governor and attorney general and is considered a viable candidate for statewide office as a Republican in the future.
D.A. Beth McCann
McCann’s and Brauchler’s different views of what is a crime in Colorado has been on great display regarding political protests/ riots in both jurisdictions. In a May 28th protest at the State Capitol, demanding justice regarding the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, a group of protesters surrounded the car of Jennifer Watson, 37, who was on her way home. A protester jumped on her hood and smashed her windshield in two places which obstructed her view. She appears to turn and brush against the protester who was previously on her hood without real injury.
A petition on Change .org gathered 38,000 signatures demanding that D.A. McCann charge the driver with a crime. In response, two months after the incident Watson was charged by McCann with third degree assault for knowingly or recklessly causing bodily injury. She faces 6 to 24 months in jail on those charges. She was also charged with reckless driving. The person who jumped on the car, nor anyone connected to the May 28th events in Denver, was charged by McCann.
Over in Aurora on July 25th, protesters seeking justice in the death of Elijah McCain in the hands of that city’s police department, poured into the streets and sought to block traffic on Alameda Avenue and Interstate 225. A driver of a blue jeep sped through the protesters on I-225 while a protester apparently fired two shots at the vehicle, hitting two other protesters.
D.A. George Brauchler
Brauchler publicly declined to charge the driver stating that: “If this guy wants to run into people he had plenty of opportunity to do that [but didn’t].”
Brauchler did, however, file charges against four persons who organized the protest for rioting, and the attempt to commit first degree kidnapping. Dave Young the Democrat D.A. for the 17th Judicial District which includes that part of Aurora in Adams County also charged those four and two additional individuals.
In response to Brauchler’s actions, Aurora protester Rebecca Wolf declared: “It doesn’t surprise me, but it’s all nonsense. I’m pretty sure if it was my son driving, who is young and brown, he’d be behind bars already.”
We are not sure skin pigmentation is necessarily how D.A.s in Colorado charge in most cases, but the politics of the D.A. sure does make a difference. In the recent September 23rd Breonna Taylor protest, there was a driver going through the crowd that was blocking downtown and he was detained. His chances of getting charged are significantly greater in the City and County of Denver than they would have been in Arapahoe County.
May 28th protest at the State Capitol.
These days you can get the justice you want by voting for a D.A. candidate that reflects your values. If you identify with the protesters there are justice warrior D.A.s like Kim Foxx of Chicago, Kim Gardner of St. Louis, and Larry Krasner of Philadelphia. If law and order is your mantra there are viable candidates that fit that slot, except, of course, in Denver. Beth McCann knew the danger to her re-election this fall would be from the left and she shored up her support on the left with her charging decisions. Her only opposition is Libertarian William F. Robinson III which means she is a shoo-in.
However, it is a different story outside Denver. In the 18th Judicial District (Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln) George Brauchler is term-limited and Amy Padden (D) and John Keller (R) face off, while in the 1st Judicial District (Jefferson and Gilpin counties) Democratic candidate Alex King is reputedly strongly supported by George Soros affiliated groups over Republican Matt Durkin.
July 25th protest in Aurora.
At one time Arapahoe and Jefferson counties were deemed Republican strongholds, but no longer. The two races should be close. Pick your D.A. and get the justice system you want. In Denver, you get Beth McCann and her politically oriented justice, for better or worse.
Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca is a favorite of ours on the Denver City Council. It is not that we agree with all of the positions or actions of the self-identified Marxist, but she actually tries at times to make a difference in improving the lives of everyday Denverites. Over half of the City Council is owned and operated by high-density developers who, of course, also control Mayor Hancock.
CdeBaca is leading the fight to save Park Hill Golf Course as open space against Council members like Kendra Black, Chris Herndon and Stacie Gilmore who can’t wait to turn Denver into a fully paved urban jungle for the fun and profit of high-density developers.
Thanks to CdeBaca’s unwavering support, Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer’s proposal that the City Council must approve mayoral appointments will go to ballot this fall, a badly needed reform we strongly endorse.
CdeBaca has many other ideas and reforms and she is the exact opposite of the do-nothing City Council members during the first eight years of Hancock’s maladministration. One idea of CdeBaca is to replace the Denver Police Department with an unarmed “Peace Force” without the power to arrest. That idea went down by an 11 to 1 vote, most Council members giving their usual excuse that they had not had enough time to consider the same.
For decades the Denver City Council has approved paying out tens of millions to settle police excessive force lawsuits without ever considering what could be done to remedy the problem. As reporter Robert Davis points out in this issue [Deep Roots: Why It’s So Hard To Fire A Police Officer For Misconduct In Denver, starting on page 5], the problem goes way back in Denver’s history.
Getting rid of the police may sound nice to some, but the actual results would not be pretty. In Seattle’s so-called “Chop Zone” this summer there were no Seattle police, but that did not result in a “Summer of Love” as predicted by Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, but rather a melee with plenty of violence. We doubt that CdeBaca’s “Peace Force” will bring peace, but rather privatized violence which will drive the average citizen out of Denver.
But that does not mean we should do nothing. The reforms instituted by the State legislature this past summer are a good start, but are not enough to solve Denver’s police brutality problems. Some huge percentage of the brutality cases come from an amazingly small number of police officers in Denver. Everyone knows who they are, but no one can drive them out of the police force.
The solution is surprisingly simple. Change the City Charter and abolish the “Civil Service” system which only apples to the Denver police and fire departments. All other city employees come under the regular “Career Service” system. The Civil Service system was put into the City Charter in 1904 by then Mayor Robert Speer to protect all of the brutal and corrupt police and fire employees that he once was in charge of as police commissioner and fire commissioner. He depended upon them to become mayor. So he wanted to make sure they could not be fired.
Get rid of the 116-year old Civil Service system and put it under the Career Service system and abracadabra the entire extremely expensive Rube Goldberg contraption to protect corrupt and brutal cops goes away. Of course, firing a bad average Denver employee is not easy, but is comparatively simple compared to getting rid of a bad cop under the Civil Service system. The reform will save millions in lawsuit settlement costs.
Will any Council member dare to take on the relatively simple solution. Well certainly not the Mayor’s cronies on the City Council, but Council members like Candi CdeBaca and Amanda Sawyer just might have the guts to do so. Here’s hoping.
There were high hopes when 13-year Denver police veteran Paul Pazen was appointed the Chief of the Denver Police Department (DPD) following the retirement of the highly controversial Robert White. White’s seven-year reign was marked by controversy after controversy and he was largely detested by the police officers themselves. Mayor Hancock’s appointment of Pazen from within DPD was popular with the rank and file. A former Marine, Pazen has an attractive appearance and seems to have at least average intelligence. Until July of this year, he generally received plus marks from the press and the public at large.
Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen
He has now, however, proven himself to be dishonest and a coward to all concerned. Those attributes have brought shame on the DPD at just the wrong time, when police departments across the country are under attack.
Every year, for the last five years, attorney Randy Corporon and organizer Ron MacLachlan have held a “Back the Blue Rally” at Civic Center Park in mid-July, without incident. When Corporon obtained a permit for this July, Pazen told him he did not want a rally this year, asserting it could get his officers hurt. Corporon responded in shock, indicating this of all year’s his officers needed support and that citizens have a First Amendment right even if Pazen didn’t believe in the same.
The rally attended by approximately 250 people, including celebrity Michelle Malkin and House Minority Leader Patrick Neville, started off with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer, when a mob of approximately 750 ANTIFA and BLM supporters smashed into the event blaring horns and attacked the rally participants. Women. including Michelle Malkin, were punched and beaten with batons. MacLachlan was badly bloodied with bull horns and skateboards. Dozens of DPD officers did literally nothing while the carnage was occurring. A grand total of one arrest was made for “public fighting.” Only after all of the rally participants had left, and ANTIFA and BLM rioters went after the police themselves did the DPD use pepper spray.
It was one of the most shameful moments in the history of the DPD. It was obvious that the officers were ordered to stand down by Pazen who had marched earlier in the summer arm and arm with BLM.
But if the event which made national news wasn’t bad enough, Pazen’s performance on media to justify his actions bordered on criminal. He appeared on the Steffan Tubbs show on 710 KNUS and the Dan Caplis Show on 630 KHOW claiming his police had been valiant in defense of the citizens and moreover it was the fault of the rally organizers. He claimed under permit orders for an event in the City and County of Denver, you must supply your own barricades and security. He also claimed that the organizers had said they had 200 security personnel for the event which was obviously a lie by him. According to Pazen, if you are a group of citizens in the City and County of Denver and want to express your First Amendment rights you must provide your own street army to bloodily battle it out with those who want to squash your freedom of speech. According to Pazen, Denver is no different than Berlin in the 1920s where deadly street battles were a common occurrence.
It is not clear whether Pazen is indirectly supporting the BLM position that the police need to be abolished. If they won’t protect its citizens from attack, who needs them? Devious, dishonest and cowardly, Pazen is a bad political hack for the mayor. If the police in the City and County of Denver ever want any support from anyone, Police Chief Paul Pazen needs to be removed and the sooner the better.
Denver’s food scene has taken a hard hit, caused by the recent pandemic, with long standing restaurants such as Old Chicago, formerly located at 1280 S. Colorado Boulevard, permanently closing their doors. However, conversely the Mile High City is welcoming its newest food hall, Junction Food & Drink, just down the road at 2000 S. Colorado Boulevard. The new food hall is managed by National Food Hall Solutions, a Texas-based company founded in 2018 that owns and operates various food halls.
Interior seating at Junction Food and Drink, photo provided by Lincoln Property Company.
This addition comes as part of the enhancement project at the Colorado Center, which includes a Dave & Buster’s, an IMAX theater, and the Colorado Boulevard light-rail station. Colorado Center is a mixed-use, transit-oriented development located between Downtown Denver and the Denver Tech Center. It comprises four Class A office towers totaling approximately 713,000 square-feet with a rooftop event space and 11,569 square-feet of high-end retail.
The 12,220-square-foot food hall will feature 10 food stalls, the Denver-based Sonder Coffee & Tea stand, plus a 40-foot bar and seating for 400 people, which will include both indoor seating and a 4,000-square-foot outdoor patio. Aside from its unique collection of chef-driven food vendors, one of the food hall’s biggest perks is its abundance of parking. The nearby parking garage offers ample space for parking with unlimited parking on the weekends.
With focus on small businesses, Pat Garza, the President and CEO of National Food Hall Solutions, wanted to feature vendors focused on local, quality-driven, authentic foods. From California-style street tacos to Nashville-inspired fried chicken, there is something that will satisfy everyone’s taste buds.
Exterior of Junction Food and Drink, photo provided by Lincoln Property Company.
Vendors include the following:
Big Wave Taco Shop: Founded by Chef Troy Guard, Big Wave Taco Shop, part of the Denver-based TAG restaurant group, will feature California-style tacos with various salsas, chips and queso.
Bird on a Wire Southern Chick’n: Nashville-style chicken and Southern favorites from the Garner Brother’s family-owned restaurant. Choose from fried chicken sandwiches, southern smoked wings, chicken tenders, plus sides including fried pickles, coleslaw, waffle fries and more.
Ebisu Ramen and Sushi food stall at Junction Food and Drink, photo provided by Lincoln Property Company.
Ebisu Ramen and Sushi: Chef Soon Choi, a former head chef from Sushi Den, brings Ebisu Ramen and sushi with a menu of small plates, sushi rolls, sushi bowls and ramen.
Grind and Grill Burger: A family-owned elevated burger concept, Grind and Grill Burger offers a wide variety of burgers, fries and shakes.
Lazo Empanadas: Serving traditional Argentinian, farm-fresh empanadas, Lazo is a local favorite with four other locations in Denver.
Mr. Miner’s Meat & Cheese: With its first location at Golden’s Tributary Food Hall & Drinkery, Mr. Miner’s Meat & Cheese will open its second location at Junction Food & Drink. The menu will include meat and cheese charcuterie boards, salads, sandwiches and a variety of shareables.
Paciugo Gelato: Using the freshest fruits and all-natural ingredients, Paciugo Gelato serves up gelati and sorbets the traditional Italian way. Their menu will feature gelato, frappes, gelatee and pastries.
Pete’s-A-Pie of Denver: A chef-driven purveyor of pizza using fresh, all-natural ingredients, Pete’s-A-Pie of Denver will feature New Haven-style pizza by the slice and whole pie.
Shawarma Shack: A Mediterranean food experience where patrons get front row access to the mesmerizing slow cooked meats roasting on spits, Shawarma Shack will also offer vegetarian and vegan options.
Smok Barbeque: With a focus on classic barbecue from across the county, including special notes from Austin, Texas and Kansas City, Smok will feature BBQ sandwiches, a variety of smoked meats and tasty sides, plus brisket and pulled pork tacos.
In addition to the food stalls, the Junction Food & Drink bar will offer a line-up of local craft beers and wine, plus a full bar serving up refreshing summer drinks.
Junction food hall is set to open early August with all the proper standards in place for social distancing. Adhering to all guidelines, each table will be six feet apart, with additional tables outside for eating and drinking. They will also offer curbside pick-up for food to go.
For further information, visit their website at junctionfoodanddrink.com. Junction Food & Drink at Colorado Center is a project of the partnership between ASB Real Estate Investments and Lincoln Property Company.
