One of the most animated races this primary season is House District 6 in East and Central Denver. Three candidates are vying for the nomination and the Democratic primary is set for June 30, 2020. Steven Woodrow currently holds the seat he was appointed to by the vacancy committee and has since February 4, 2020. His current term ends on January 13, 2021, and he is running for re-election.
The vacancy for the House seat occurred when the previous representative, Chris Hansen, received an appointment on January 16, 2020, to fill the unexpired term of Senator Lois Court, who resigned due to health problems. Woodrow won 45 of the 71 votes from the vacancy committee beating out six other candidates.
Now, Woodrow must win the vote of the registered voters in District 6 and many are calling this the race to watch. It appears the election may be close with three candidates vying for the nomination. The challengers to Woodrow are Dan Himelspach and Steven Paletz who are engaging in active campaigns.
Forty-two percent of the registered voters in the district that covers East and Central Denver are registered Democrats while 17 percent are registered Republicans. It is deemed likely that whoever wins the primary later this month will win the seat in the state House.
Himelspach is challenging Woodrow based on the flawed vacancy committee process. “Colorado has the highest number of bureaucrats appointed through the vacancy process than any other state in the country,” said Himelspach. “Although many people who were part of the vacancy committee are supporting our campaign, the process is not reflective of a strong democracy. That’s why I did not participate in the vacancy committee.” Himelspach has been endorsed by District 5 Denver City Councilmember, Amanda Sawyer as well as former City Councilmembers Ed Thomas and Cathy Donohue among others.
Dan Himelspach
Steven Paletz has a similar view as to why the vacancy committee is not a true representation. “The vacancy committee is not representative of the values of the voters of the district and does not include the voices of unaffiliated leaning democrats that make up a significant portion of the primary electorate in HD6,” said Paletz. “The vacancy committee was also not an issue focused vote, but what some committee members described as a ‘popularity contest.’” Paletz’s endorsements include State Senator Robert Rodriguez and State Representatives Kerry Tipper and Cathy Kipp among others.
Although Paletz recognizes that the vacancy committee does not represent the values of the voters, he sees this election as an extension of what he started last year. “I don’t see this campaign as a challenge to Mr. Woodrow,” said Paletz. “Rather, it is a continuation of the campaign that I announced in October of 2019, as I was the first person to formally declare candidacy in the Democratic primary for HD6. I believe HD6 voters deserve the opportunity to have a voice in who will represent them in the state legislature and should have the opportunity to choose a candidate that shares their values.”
Dan Himelspach also jumped into this race early collecting signatures to be on the ballot the first day they became available. “Our campaign has been focused on listening to the concerns of our neighbors and making our state government work for, ‘We the People’ again,” said Himelspach. “The fact that we were the first campaign in all of Colorado to collect the necessary signatures and be placed on the ballot by the Colorado Secretary of State — all without excepting a dime from Corporate PACs, is a testament to the grassroots support our campaign has.”
Himelspach, who has lived in Denver for four decades has a clear sense of what he would do if elected. “When elected, I am going to focus on fighting for our teachers and students by supporting strong public schools, protecting our environment, and supporting our LGBTQ neighbors and protecting a women’s right to choose,” said Himelspach. “Right now, our state is faced with tough decisions on how to properly open and support our small businesses and protect our workers and families — not just economically, but also in relation to our public health and safety. As someone who runs a small family-owned business with my daughter [selling innovative products to brain researchers all over the world] and who is a dispute resolution professional — mediating over 7,000 disputes, I am most qualified to navigate us through this pandemic.”
Steven Paletz
Paletz also outlines what he would do focusing on mental health and economic recovery. “If elected, I will lead with empathy on addressing our state’s mental health crisis, including addressing the highest increase of teen suicide in the nation and the nation’s highest teen depression rate,” said Paletz. “Having worked in both the business community and all three branches of government, I will also be a leader on our state’s economic recovery from COVID-19. This includes securing support for Colorado’s workers and small business communities throughout this recovery. Lastly, I will protect public education and look for creative ways to ensure our teacher shave the resources they need to effectively lead in a post COVID-19 classroom.”
Steven Woodrow
Steven Woodrow was contacted for comment but did not respond. His website states: “As State Representative, I advocate for social, racial, environmental and economic justice down at the Capitol. Standing up against predatory lenders, unfair credit practices, privacy violators and other powerful interests (including the NRA!) I have a detailed understanding of law and policy, the proven experience of how to make our case most effectively, and unwavering resolve. I’m simply not afraid to compete in the marketplace of ideas in the face of well-funded opposition.”
Woodrow, who is attempting to win re-election, lives in Wash Park with his wife and two sons. Woodrow has served for the past several years as Co-Captain of House District 6B for the Denver Democratic Party.
Go outside at 8 p.m. anywhere in Colorado and you’re guaranteed to hear hundreds, if not thousands, of members from a Colorado-based Facebook group howling to support anyone and everything during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Founders: Shelsea Ochoa and Brice Maiurro founded the howling at the moon movement in support of healthcare workers and first responders in late March. The group has become a way for people to connect during a time when quarantines and shelter-in-place orders have greatly disrupted our way of life.
Founded by partners Shelsea Ochoa and Brice Maiurro in late March, the group has become a way for people to connect during a time when quarantines and shelter-in-place orders have greatly disrupted our way of life.
“It really shows that we can still interact within our communities and have fun while obeying the shelter at home orders, and also release some pent up feelings in a healthy and cathartic way,” Anna Beazer, one of the group’s organizers, told Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle in an email statement.
Ochoa, a performer at Denver’s Museum of Nature and Science, and Maiurro, a poet and activist, got the inspiration to howl from a friend of theirs in Topanga, California, who told the duo that they howl at the sunset together. So, Ochoa and Maiurro decided to give it a try, too. They had no idea that what they considered a “fun social distancing activity” would resonate with people around the country — and the world.
The duo initially intended the group to include about a hundred of the couple’s friends and family. However, once word got out about the group, its membership swelled to over 8,000 members in the first day.
Now, members live in all 50 U.S. states and 46 countries around the world, including Tuvalu, Columbia, and Togo.
“There’s no wrong way to do it,” Ochoa told the Chronicle. “People can subscribe any kind of meaning they want to it.”
Many howl to support the medical professionals working late into the night. Others do it to support the homeless, or in remembrance of a lost loved one. No matter the reason, the group embraces any reason for howling as long as it’s healthy and positive, according to Beazer.
Like Clockwork: Colorado residents have been howling at the moon every night at 8 p.m. as a way to support healthcare workers and first responders.
“The group purposefully is open to interpretations and reasons for howling,” she said. “We didn’t expect the amount of posts and comments dedicating their howling to lost loved ones but we embrace members sharing their stories about them.”
And there is no shortage of stories shared about grief and joy in the group’s discussion. Others purposefully ask seemingly innocuous questions like “What is your favorite quarantine snack?” but receive a wealth of positivity from members in return and connect with others who want to share their similarities.
“I had an accident last year and eventually chose to amputate my leg after several failed surgeries and being basically bedridden for the past year,” Cori Kolhagen, a Colorado resident, posted in one of the discussions.
“I finally accepted my ankle was never going to get better and that this would be the best option for me to return to my active lifestyle. My surgery was on March 3 and I have started to learn how to walk again using a prosthetic. I howl because we can get through this together, as a family.”
Every night, rain or shine, howlers from California to North Carolina, and up to Maine participate. Some howls have been capped off by fireworks or singing similar to the songs Spaniards and Italians sang from their balconies in a show of appreciation for their country’s healthcare workers.
Governor Polis has encouraged Coloradans to participate, calling it a necessary way for people to socialize and connect during this time of isolation.
For Beazer, the group’s message is more primal. It’s about letting go of all the anxieties people have been holding onto since the quarantines began. .
“We get lots of comments from first-time howlers that tell us they didn’t know that simply howling would help them release some emotions from being quarantined and help them feel connected to others when they hear howls back,” she said.
The Denver Public School system is seemingly hell-bent on embedding a sense of irony into its students.
skills of children and the awareness of the world in which they live are systematically countering those efforts by exposing kids to potentially toxic levels of lead.
A Well-documented Threat
It is known throughout the developed world that lead can be harmful and even fatal to human beings — especially children. Yet, its presence remains in the water flowing into many schools (and homes) in Denver, across Colorado and throughout most urban sectors of the United States.
Old Buildings: Long standing buildings, like Denver’s East High School built in 1924, sit atop buried poison.
According to a recently published “key facts” page on the World Health Organization (WHO) website: “Young children are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning because they absorb 4–5 times as much ingested lead as adults from a given source.” The report goes on to describe a series of effects exposure to lead can have on kids, stating “… lead can affect children’s brain development resulting in reduced intelligence quotient (IQ), behavioral changes such as reduced attention span and increased antisocial behavior, and reduced educational attainment.” Further, the WHO states that lead exposure causes renal impairment, anemia, hypertension, immunotoxicity and damage to reproductive organs and that all effects — be they behavioral or neurological — are irreversible.
The Underlying Problem
The primary source of lead-tainted water that is being pumped into drinking fountains, sinks and kitchen areas in schools lies hidden. It does not come from the municipal source, rather, it is picked up in the service lines running from the main municipal water conduit and into a network of pipes made of — you guessed it — lead. Most buildings erected (approximately) between the late 1940s and the early 1980s are serviced by lead pipes. While proactive measures in places like Madison, Wisconsin, and Lansing, Michigan, have completely removed lead pipes from beneath homes and schools, the American Water Works Association estimates that six million lead service lines remain in use nationwide — affecting anywhere from 15 to 22 million people. Additionally, the presence of lead in school drinking water can come from pipe fittings, fixtures and the soldering in brass pipe joints.
Tainted Water: Retrofitted filters can temporarily block tainted water.
As far as Colorado is concerned and Denver in particular, many schools in current operation were built between the “lead window” cited above and contain some if not all of the lead-leaching components mentioned thereafter. The WHO and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) both contend that no level of lead in drinking water is safe for children. Similarly, Zeke Campbell, Denver Water Director of Water Quality and Treatment, states on the DPS Takes Proactive Approach to Lead Testing Video that: “There is no safe level of lead. The most important thing you can do is have a test done.” Visit the following website to view the video: https://facilities.dpsk12.org/ 2016/11/21/leadtesting2017/.
Meanwhile, the EPA claims that water containing any measure that is at or below 15 parts per billion (PPB) is safe for human consumption — even children. Recently, Denver Water conducted a comprehensive testing initiative of all drinking water fixtures across the entire Denver Public School system. Over 3,300 samples from 160 schools were tested which revealed that most facilities have traces of lead in the majority of their faucets, drinking fountains and kitchen fixtures — some revealing levels of lead near or past the 15 PPB minimum set by the EPA. Water fountains and bottle filling stations testing near 15 PPB were partitioned off and retrofitted with filters which, while offering a temporary solution, do not remove the fact that there are lead pipes beneath the school structure. Ironically (once again), the EPA is the government agency which must grant Denver Water permission to dig up, remove and replace the underground pipes — a project with a price tag in the hundreds of millions.
An Ambitious Plan
Recently, Colorado Public Radio and The Denver Post cited article have reported that Denver Water has presented a plan to the EPA for doing exactly that. Beginning sometime in 2020 (theoretically) the plan would “issue tens of thousands of water filters … make adjustments to water chemistry, increasing the pH value from 7.8 to 8.8 and replace all lead lines in all areas served by Denver Water.” While this initiative undoubtedly springs from good intentions, none of the above measures can commence without pending EPA approval.
Standards: The EPA sets the standards, yet hinders progress
A precursor to this solution was proposed last year by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment. The proposal has been criticized because it called for Denver Water adding orthophosphate to the entire municipal water supply. While this element is an algae growth-promoting nutrient, it can also be harmful in high doses. The measure is already in use in Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, D.C., and has reduced lead levels because orthophosphate clings to the inside of lead pipes — forming a sort of barrier between the water and the would-be leaching lead. However, it has been determined that it would cost a fortune to purchase, treat the water, then extract it from the effluent before adding it all over again — far more than simply replacing the lead pipes.
The plan was scrapped for the current strategy of testing fixtures and installing filters while Denver Water waits for the EPA to approve the pending proposal. Meanwhile, students and teachers hope the water filters are being changed at the appropriate intervals. Any student or teacher who does not bring pre-filtered water from home risks absorbing an unhealthy or even dangerous level of lead.
Denver’s South Pearl Street saw three
businesses exit the market between November and December 2019, becoming the
latest victims to the city’s rising minimum wage and property taxes.
Tavern: Slumping sales and high taxes forced The Tavern Platt Park to close its doors on December 31, 2019.
Hanson’s Grill & Tavern, a 21-year
neighborhood staple, shut its doors in December. The Platt Park Tavern closed
on New Year’s Eve after four years of business, and Palizo Italiano closed in
November after just two years.
While it’s reasonable for neighborhood
residents to be concerned about the health of their local shopping district,
Mark Gill, Vice President of the Pearl Street Merchants Association says the
closures remind him of a time in South Pearl’s recent past.
“Seven or eight years ago we had a similar
situation where three restaurants all closed at once,” Gill told the Glendale
Cherry Creek Chronicle in an interview. “People were worried then, but the
neighborhood bounced back just fine, in my opinion.”
As a 21-year veteran of the neighborhood,
including the last 14 years as a member of the Merchants Association and an
owner of two buildings in the neighborhood, Gill says the neighborhood has seen
a steady upward trend. However, that hasn’t kept him from seeing some of the
issues businesses in the area face.
“The nature of the neighborhood hasn’t
really changed much,” Gill said. “A majority of the businesses are mom-and-pop.
But, there’s no denying that rents and property values are going up.”
The Chronicle reached out to Hanson’s, the
Platt Park Tavern and Palizo Italiano for comment but didn’t receive a
response.
Outdated Gallagher Problems
The state’s population boom and continued
residential development that follows are causing problems for businesses all
over Denver because of the criteria set forth in the Gallagher Amendment, a
state constitutional amendment passed in 1982 that altered the way Colorado
assessed and collected property taxes.
Long Standing Grill & Tavern: Hanson’s stood at the corner of Louisiana and South Pearl for over two decades before closing shortly before the New Year 2020.
Before the amendment was passed, Colorado
collected its property taxes through a complex set of formulas that most
property tax professionals couldn’t fully comprehend. Afterward, Gallagher
effectively decreased the assessment rates whenever statewide residential
property values increased faster than business property values.
The problem? By maintaining this constant
ratio between residential and business property tax assessments, Gallagher has
essentially prevented Colorado from capitalizing on its expansive residential
growth, leaving businesses to pick up the revenue shortfalls.
The Platt Park Tavern provides a perfect
example of this problem. In 2019, the land and real estate tied to the business
was assessed at value of over $4.5 million. The Tavern ended up paying a little
more than $123,000 in property taxes, according to Denver County property tax
records. In 2018, the business paid just under $97,000 in property taxes.
Meanwhile, a 32,000 sq. ft. mansion in
Cherry Hills Village valued at $22 million paid just under $74,000 in property
taxes for the same year. The mansion’s property tax assessment has dropped
nearly 24 percent since 2016 as well.
For perspective, a residential property
with a tax assessment comparable to the Tavern’s paid roughly $37,000 in
property taxes, according to Zillow.
“Right now, we’re seeing far more residential
development than we were two or three decades ago,” Gill said. “In the end
businesses end up paying for a larger part of a shrinking pie.”
New Minimum Wage Problems
Outside of the property tax issue, small
businesses in Denver have to contend with a minimum wage that is slated to
reach nearly $16 per hour by 2022.
For restaurants, a business with
notoriously tight profit margins, even the slightest increase in labor costs
can be detrimental.
The Colorado Restaurant Association reports
that over 200 new restaurants opened in Denver in 2019. On top of that, the
explosive growth of Colorado’s population and its increased reliance on tourism
to bring new faces to the Centennial State has sent restaurant sales
skyrocketing to $13.9 billion annually.
But, between the lines, Denver’s restaurant
scene is becoming more homogenized with chain and franchise restaurants taking
up most of the retail space in Denver County. Local staples like the original
Snarf’s Sandwiches has had to move through multiple locations as it battles
against its labor costs and property tax assessments.
Even The Denver Post is not sold on the
idea that increasing the minimum wage is right for Colorado. In an article from
October 2019, the Post lamented the wage increase as “an exacerbation of the
cost of living issues in Denver.”
Currently, a restaurant worker making the
city’s $12 per hour minimum will need to work 103 hours per week to afford an
average one-bedroom apartment costing $1,652 per month without paying more than
30 percent of their income on rent.
Meanwhile, restaurant owners are concerned
that the new wage hikes won’t be enough to account for the industry labor
shortage.
“Everything we’ve been hearing from our
members, (they) have been saying, ‘How do we find more workers? We need more
people to be working in our establishments,’” Carolyn Livingston, the
spokeswoman for the Colorado Restaurant Association, told CBS 7.
About one-tenth of Colorado’s workforce
works in the restaurant industry. However, the state’s record-low unemployment
rate has elongated the replacement rate once an employee decides to leave.
Sign Of What’s To Come?
Still, there are signs that South Pearl
Street will pull through. One aspect Gill always points to is that there are
hardly any “For Sale” signs hung in the windows of Pearl Street businesses. In
fact, most are sold by word of mouth these days, Gill says.
The neighborhood is also planning on adding
arches at the Jewel, Iowa, and Louisiana entrances as the Merchants Association
awaits the next rotation of businesses. Gill hopes the aesthetic additions will
help spur growth in the area for years to come.
“South Pearl will rebound. These businesses closing at the same time was just a coincidence,” Gill said. “There will always be people coming and going, and people wanting to come in once the others have left.”
International Expert Warns ‘There Is No Safe Level Of Lead Exposure’
by Julie Hayden
The Hancock Administration’s aggressive
development projects don’t just endanger the City’s parks, open spaces and
quality of life in its neighborhoods. Some worry they also put the health of
the City’s most vulnerable residents — children and the elderly — at risk.
“Denver has a lead problem,” says community
activist Bridget Walsh. “Just like in other cities like Flint, Michigan, the
lead in Denver’s water in homes and schools, in our air and soil, has been
quietly poisoning our children and us for decades.” Walsh is co-founder of CATE
— Colorado Advocates for Toxin Education, a not-for-profit group of concerned
citizens focusing on promoting education about toxins in our air, water and
environment, and engaging in collaborative efforts to reduce the impact of
toxins on Colorado residents.
To help get the word out and educate the
community, CATE partnered with the Vasquez/I-70 Superfund Site Community
Advisory Group (CAG) and sponsored a series of events featuring Dr. Bruce
Lanphear. He is an internationally recognized expert on the destructive ,
cumulative impacts of even low levels of environmental contaminants and
pollutants on all of us.
Forget everything you thought you knew
about lead exposure and poisoning. Dr. Lanphear emphasizes, “There is no safe
level of lead exposure.” He says 20 years ago, doctors mistakenly believed that
low levels of toxins found in the blood were safe. But he says all of the
current research makes it clear that “low levels of toxins cause irreparable
harm and long-term effects.” He notes even the CDC, Centers for Disease
Control, now states there is no safe level of lead in children’s blood.
Lanphear explains lead has been linked to
physical and cognitive problems in children and impacts IQ. Lanphear cites
studies that show even tiny doses of toxins like lead cause irreversible damage
to children’s brains and bodies. It’s not just children who are harmed. Lead
exposure is also linked to heart disease. Lanphear points out the common
mythology is to blame everything on the individual and focus on lifestyle
choices like smoking, obesity and exercise. But the truth is, Lanphear says
science shows there is an undeniable connection between low level lead exposure
and premature death from cardiovascular disease. Yet, he says, we aren’t doing
enough to hold our institutions accountable for cleaning up lead and other
toxic pollutants.
Walsh points to a study released in 2018
that revealed almost all Denver Public Schools tested positive for lead in the
water. The District addressed the issue when the levels hit a high or
“actionable” level but Lanphear notes again, “No level of lead exposure can be
considered ‘safe.’”
CATE members additionally worry about lead
impacting tens of thousands of Denver residents whose homes still have old lead
water pipes.
The I-70 expansion is also stirring up the
lead issue. Lanphear addressed the Globeville community about that. The I-70
expansion includes a drainage project involving the I-70/Vasquez Superfund
site. Lead and other toxins have been found in the soil there. Neighbors and
others like Walsh fear the development will stir up lead, metals and other
contaminants. “Lead and other toxins like air pollution impact all of us,”
Walsh says, “especially residents who live in heavily industrialized sections
of Denver, close to highways and around big construction projects.”
CATE and CAG members hope Dr. Lanphear’s
message about the cumulative impacts of toxins on our children will encourage
policy makers to adopt what Lanphear calls population strategies that target
lead and other pollutants. “We and our children are being exposed to unhealthy
levels of lead and other toxins in our environment,” Walsh asserts. “It’s time
for Denver residents to arm themselves with the latest scientific facts and
demand that Mayor Michael Hancock and Governor Jared Polis not only recognize
this public health emergency but immediately allocate sufficient funds to define
the extent of the problems and clean it up.
No Safe Level Of Lead In A Child’s Body:
International expert Dr. Bruce Lanphear addresses Globeville residents about
the dangers of even low levels of lead exposure to children and others in the
community.
The abandoned site of the Warren Church may be remodeled into supportive housing units.
The St. Francis Center (2323 Curtis St.) is
embarking on a satellite project in the Cheesman Park neighborhood that stands
to benefit a handful of people — none of whom live in the area.
The Warren Church complex sits mostly empty
at 1640 E. 13th Ave. after it was closed in 2014 by its owners — the Mountain
Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church. Regardless, for the last 10
years, the St. Francis Center (SFC) has operated an employment center for the
homeless from one of the church’s auxiliary buildings. The SFC Employment
Services Office also offers a free storage service for clients who need a safe
place for their possessions while they are getting back on their feet.
The proposed project would remodel the
existing structures into a supportive housing facility for those using the SFC
employment service. Essentially, the complex would serve as a temporary
residence for people working toward permanent housing. Rental rates would be
based on the tenant’s individual income.
The controversy surrounding the project is
assuredly not due to the nobility of SFC’s intentions. It can be universally
agreed upon that helping the homeless is a good and necessary cause. Yet,
conflict has arisen due to a set of blaring fiscal incongruencies as well as an
array of social disparities and structural oversights. The inflated costs of
the project presents a ledger of alarmingly lopsided numbers. Further, the
tenant eligibility parameters raise legitimate safety concerns for neighbors
while the remodel would violate numerous Department of Housing (DOH)
regulations and zoning laws.
The St. Francis Center operates an employment service for the homeless from one of the old Warren Church buildings.
The facility is slated to be named the
Warren Apartments but has been dubbed “The Gilded Dormitories” by critics of
the project. Those in opposition — most of whom live, work and/or own property
in the area — have formed a citizen group called Neighbors of North Cheesman
Park. A founding member (requesting anonymity) who works in government finance
has compiled a set of compelling comparisons which illustrate a profound
misappropriation of taxpayer funds.
Do The Math
Recently, a copy of the St. Francis Center
proposal was obtained by a Neighbors of North Cheesman Park member through the
Colorado Open Records Act (CORA). The plans show a 6,090 square foot
residential design consisting of 42 one-tenant units, each 145 square feet in
dimension (10’ x 14’). The estimated construction price tag rings in at a
whopping eight million dollars — $8,101,191.00 to be exact, which boils down to
a cost of $192,886.00 to build each of the 42 (10’ x 14’) units. To give
perspective on this, comparable structures in the area such as the Colorado
School of Mines dormitories were built for $46M to house 400 people at a cost
of $122,500 per unit and the University of Colorado Denver dormitories were
built at a cost of $68M to house 550 people at a cost of $123,636.00. These
data demonstrate that the Warren Apartments will be built with an excess cost 55.7%
compared to local averages. Also, the 145 square-foot units will not include
kitchens or restrooms. Additional comparisons lend further befuddlement to the
exorbitant construction price tag, as it places the building costs at $7.34 per
square foot — a rate 269.2% higher than the Denver per-square-foot average
($1.99) and 420.3% higher than the Colorado average ($1.41). These grossly
uneven comparisons beg the question: why anyone would want to spend so much
money for such a limited facility when the same money could be used to help
many times the amount of projected beneficiaries.
Follow The Money
Gap funding for the Warren Apartments
project will come from the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, from
the Denver Office of Economic Development and the Colorado Division of Housing.
A report issued by the St. Francis Center in January 2018 named the above
entities as partners, investing $9.5 million, $500 thousand and $500 thousand,
respectively. When the final closing on the property commences (it has been
postponed several times), the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist
Church will receive $1.2 million, while BlueLine Development out of Billings,
Montana, will be awarded the $8M remodeling contract and SFC will take over
ownership and operations of the premises. Operating costs will flow to SFC from
taxpayer revenue coffers in the form of vouchers, warranted by the fact that
the facility will offer on-site services for residents.
Communication Issues
The Warren Apartments have been authorized
for construction for some time, yet those living and working in the district
were not informed through federally regulated means. The proposed build
involves exterior remodeling of an existing structure. According to Denver
Development Services, such an undertaking requires that “Building permits must
be posted onsite and be visible from the street.” No such posting exists, and
instead, stakeholders such as neighborhood property owner Chris Mast, are
hearing about the project through the grapevine. In his case, he was informed
via casual conversation with the Executive Director of Warren Village — an
adjacent non-profit facility for low-income single-parent families.
Safety Last
When Mast approached an employee of the SFC
employment office and asked about the Warren Apartments project, he was met
with hostility. He was told, more or less, that if he doesn’t like it he should
move. When he obtained a copy of the Saint Francis Center proposal, Mast
discovered that the facility would adhere to the Housing First guidelines set
forth by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. He found it concerning that
a facility within several blocks of a daycare center and a transitional housing
facility for single-parent families (both at Warren Village) is willing to
house individuals convicted of felony assault, as long as they have not
offended within the last year. The guidelines also state that there is no
policy regulating on-site alcohol and drug use. Plainly put, violent criminals
using toxic substances may be living next to families including recently
displaced women and their children.
Zoning Violations
Thus far, the Warren Apartments issue has
gone largely unopposed because it has been withheld from public knowledge. For
those in city government who are in the know, the project has garnered support
— especially among Denver City Council members who want to cultivate an image
of homeless advocacy. Yet, in addition to the aforementioned issues, the
remodel will violate zoning laws by establishing a “supportive housing”
facility adjacent to an existing structure designed for the same purpose
(Warren Village) and by operating a large residential property that is devoid
of designated parking. To a lesser degree, the proposed remodel will also
violate statutes regulating exterior alteration of historical structures.
There are many potential outcomes should
the project see completion. In a best case scenario, numerous people in need
are given a temporary place to live so that they can get back on their feet. In
a worst-case scenario, this section of Capitol Hill becomes further stressed by
a potential criminal element that endangers neighborhood children. Regardless,
a massive amount of taxpayer funds and charitable money will be spent on an
out-of-state contractor and awarded to religious organizations based in other
districts of Denver. Bottom line, like all other misspendings of tax dollars,
this project makes little sense.
The Neighbors of Cheesman Park have created a website with all of their financial findings which includes a comparative analysis. To access this information, visit www.stfrancis-cheesmanproject.com.
