“All human beings are my neighbors. We share the same planet.” — Ana Monnar
by Luke Schmaltz
By mid-March of this year, a new reality had descended upon Denver, as the COVID-19 lockdown forced residents to curtail social behavior, forgo daily objectives and divert vocational routines in never-before-seen ways. As thousands of “non-essential” workers were forced from their jobs and directed by government officials to stay at home, the Denver Department of Public Works continued to operate as usual. The ever-elusive “ticket ninjas” crept along their daily routes, issuing citations for meter violations, time-limit abuses and parking in prohibited areas on street sweeping day offenses.
Neighborly Gestures
After grapevine investigation, it was discovered that some of these anti-citation signs were the work of a local artist known as Rez, who explains, “ I decided to make the signs because I know personally that the street sweeping catches me off guard, especially in the spring. I figured I was not the only one, and if I could help out a few neighbors and essential hospital personnel, it was worth making a couple of signs.” Although obstructing street sweeping is a fine-able offense, the actual presence of these machines is an urban mystery. Rez continues, “I think I saw a street sweeper that last day [last year] it was supposed to clean our street.”
With extra time on their hands, some residents of the Baker district decided not to take the untimely, insensitive issuance of parking tickets sitting down. In a bold, First Amendment-inspired move, locals began taking matters into their own hands and warning neighbors, locally employed professionals and other passers-through to be mindful of the cruel, merciless scourge of Denver meter maids. By the time street sweeping day came around in the first week of April, several sidewalks featured homemade signs warning that the citation hammer was afoot and set to drop on anyone and everyone parked on the wrong side of the street.
Residents aim to warn neighbors about costly tickets with fines that can quickly triple.
The Pen Is Mighty
Small Infraction, Massive Price
The consequences for non-payment of a parking ticket can be severe. Essentially, the issuance of a ticket initiates a process that, if not complied with, can result in the city commandeering (impounding) your vehicle with no obligation to return it. Rather, it could be held for months accruing ever-increasing fees and fines, and finally sold at auction for a fraction of its value so that the paltry revenue can be absorbed into a corpulent government bureaucracy.
Rapid Escalation
The average parking ticket in Denver cites the vehicle owner anywhere from $25 to $50. If not paid within 20 days, the fine doubles — making the vehicle eligible to be fitted with a wheel clamp and/or towed away. After 60 days, a collection fee is added and credit bureaus are notified, and after 120 days a default judgment is entered against whomever the vehicle is registered to — stating that all fines and fees must be paid by legal mandate. Finally, after one year, the file is turned over to a law firm which then pursues
aggressive private collection. An article published by The Denver Post in September 2019 reported that annual parking fee revenues for the previous year were in excess of $27 million. Believe it or not, that was the lowest figures reported in almost a decade. With that sort of money sitting in the city’s coffers, all streets should be free of potholes, every stoplight should sparkle, and shine and every street sign should be polished to a squeaky-clean sheen.
Shame Of The City
While Denver is known for many great things such as the Broncos and a certain omelet of the same name, it is also known for the infamous Denver boot. The aforementioned “wheel clamp” is deployed to disable any vehicle linked to unpaid parking violations. This blatant violation of Fourth Amendment rights (unreasonable searches and seizures) has spread to municipalities across the nations, giving the Mile-High City an unfair name among unfortunate motorists nationwide. Parking fines and additional fees notwithstanding, having a boot on a car entitles the owner to pay yet another fee to have it removed.
Supply And Demand
While parking enforcement has its place in keeping bike lanes and jogging paths obstruction-free, the aggressive policy of writing tickets, doubling fines and confiscating private property seems altogether overkill — especially in the midst of a pandemic — thus the vigilant residential blowback. As mentioned above, the issuance of tickets across Denver has leveled out over the last couple of years. The reason being for this? The economy was so good that the Department of Public Works couldn’t find enough people to fill all the parking agent positions — shedding light on what must be a truly lousy job.
Eight months out of the year, parking tickets are issued once a month to cars parked in the way of “street sweeping.”
A Temporary Standstill
Now that one-third of the labor force has been couched, the city probably won’t have trouble filling those empty ticket agent positions. Yet, for every hypervigilant meter maid scuttling about ruining people’s afternoons, there will be several dozen unemployed residents like Rez with enough time on their hands to post homemade signs warning others about being ticketed. Thankfully, by mid-April in this strangest of years, the issuance of parking tickets seemed to have dwindled even further. Perhaps city officials finally gave in to their human instincts to have a bit of mercy for their fellow citizens in the midst of a crisis.
One thing is for sure, though — as soon as things level out and the pandemic subsides — the ticket patrol will be back in full force … but so will Rez.
Mayor Re-Elected: Mike Dunafon was re-elected as the Mayor of Glendale for a third term on April 7, 2020.
On April 7, 2020, Glendale held its municipal election. Glendale Mayor Michael Dunafon and four incumbent Councilmembers, Storm Gloor, Rachel Binkley, Ryan Tuchscherer and Lindsey Mintz were unopposed, and the only item was the approval of a City Charter change allowing the City Manager to live 10 miles from Glendale rather than five miles. The mayor and incumbent councilmembers did not apparently take their re-election for granted. Each one gathered hundreds of signatures to get on the ballot. With only the Charter change to consider and with the election in the middle of the pandemic there were only 16 citizens casting votes with the Charter change being approved 14 to 2.
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.
Dan Himelspach is running for a seat in Colorado House District 6, and he could have never predicted the circumstances he would be facing when he was one of the first to launch his campaign for the primary set for June 30, 2020. COVID-19 has impacted the plan to reach voters but that is not stopping Himelspach. “What we’ve tried not to do is whine and cry in our beer,” said Himelspach. “How can we still accomplish our goal? Those that do the best can adjust to it and live in the new world we are in.”
Creative Campaigning: Dan Himelspach is running for State House District 6 in Denver and has had to alter the way he gets his message out to voters. He hosted a Zoom Town Hall with officials from Rose Medical Center on April 1, 2020.
One of the things Himelspach did was organize a Town Hall via Zoom with Denver City Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer that invited the community to learn more about Rose Hospital during this pandemic. Joining Himelspach and Sawyer was Ryan Tobin, President & CEO at Rose Medical Center and Andrew Weinfeld, MD, Chief Medical Officer.
“Rose [Hospital] is such an important part of this community and I wanted them to toot their horn,” said Himelspach. “I want them [Rose Hospital] to succeed but I also want everyone in the district and neighborhood to know what they truly have to offer. They’re a phenomenal organization that’s been here for a long time. The community, to a large extent, grew up around them. They are one of the major anchors in this community.”
Himelspach is one of those community members who has been around a long time. He is a Denver-based Colorado business leader and practicing attorney with over 30 years of experience specializing in mediation and negotiation. Living in House District 6 for over 40 years, Himelspach has formed several successful businesses including a family-owned business that sells high tech products to brain researchers all over the world. Not a professional politician hoping to climb the political ladder, Himelspach is running for office in the spirit of servant leadership with a hope to bring his unique mixture of negotiation and business skills to Colorado’s legislature.
Himelspach hopes to be one of the elected leaders to help Denver get through the pandemic. “Leadership is going to make a difference,” said Himelspach. “Strong leadership will go a long way.” Dan also has respect for people and this country. “People really by and large want to do the right thing,” said Himelspach. “This country is a strong country and we have a lot of resources compared to other countries around the world. We’re going to be fine and the individual spirit is strong here but it’s going to be a struggle for two or three years I think.”
In the two years since Mayor Michael Hancock’s administration implemented Denver’s Vision Zero Action Plan, the city appears no closer to making its streets safe for pedestrians and multimodal transportation than when it began.
HIN: Reducing crashes on Colorado’s High Injury Network (HIN) of roads is a goal that seems unreachable given current traffic trends.
Even though nearly 70 percent of Denver residents still support Vision Zero, according to a survey conducted by the Denver Streets Partnership, the results of the program, critics claim, are hard to justify.
According to the 2019 Vision Zero Report, traffic-related fatalities increased by 15 percent from 2018 while serious bodily injury resulting from crashes also increased. In contrast, Denver cited several case studies purporting to show that Vision Zero has made a positive impact. Those include setting up automated speed and distracted driving enforcement at the intersection of 6th and Lincoln, adding 24-hour transit-only lanes on 15th and 17th streets downtown, and improving signage at the 20th street and I-25 interchange.
However, these case studies show that Denver is focusing on solving only one side of a double-edged problem. While Vision Zero aims to eliminate traffic deaths by 2030 by focusing on infrastructure improvements and behavioral causes affecting Denver’s traffic-related deaths and serious injuries, Denver is only focusing on the infrastructure.
As an example, the report says the presence of a photo radar van at 6th and Lincoln for five days reduced excessive speeding (10+ mph) by 21 percent. But, reducing the number of overall speeding tickets has not influenced the frequency of accidents occurring at that intersection. Denver still lists the intersection as a hotspot for fatal accidents on its Vision Zero Data & Trends website.
Denver’s case studies also do not address the fact that most accidents do not occur at intersections and are not caused by speeding. In fact, over 40 percent of Denver’s accidents occur because of distracted driving, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). The Vision Zero Data & Trends website also shows that most accidents occur in neighborhoods and on arterial streets.
Low-Hanging Fruit
The mixed messaging around Vision Zero has also caused some residents to believe the city is just going after low-hanging fruit to make it seem like it is doing more to protect pedestrians.
In May 2019, Mayor Hancock lamented that not enough was being done to protect Denver’s pedestrians during a memorial ceremony for those who lost their lives in traffic crashes.
“Every one of those lives lost is unacceptable and preventable,” Hancock said before listing the safety improvement projects the city is undertaking. Those include adding 19 miles of bicycle lanes and 12 new traffic signals.
One of the ceremony’s attendants, Michelle Roche, who lost her son after a reckless driver hit him in 2014, told Streets Blog Denver that the ceremony itself seemed like a propaganda campaign to make the city seem like it’s doing more to prevent traffic-related deaths.
“If you ask me, that little trickle of dollars that they’re putting towards the action plan … it’s like in marketing, we would call that greenwashing,” she said.
In its 2019 budget, Denver allocated just $2.6 million to implementing the recommendations of the Vision Zero Action Plan, accounting for less than 10 percent of funds allocated for transportation improvement projects. In 2020, Denver allocated just $1.65 million for the same cause.
Since the ceremony, Denver announced it will add up to 124 miles of bicycle lanes throughout the city and is upgrading 15 intersections across Colfax Avenue, one of Denver’s busiest streets. The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) announced the upgrades consist of adding “bollards and paint to shorten crossing distances for people on foot and to carve out places where pedestrians can stop in the middle of the street.”
But, residents living along Colfax aren’t impressed with the upgrades. The bollards will cost $120,000 alone, and there is no guarantee they will improve safety.
One resident who walks Colfax regularly told The Denver Channel that he worries about his safety because drivers on Colfax don’t watch out for pedestrians.
“My neighbor got hit by a car down the street, I’ve yelled at several drivers because they’re not looking when I’m crossing over, they’re making turns without looking both ways,” he said.
Colfax is one of several streets listed on the High Injury Network (HIN) — the corridors in Denver with the highest number of fatal and injury crashes. HIN roads account for just five percent of the total roads in the city but have seen more than 40 percent of the crashes since 2013. Other HIN roads include Broadway, University and Evans.
Federal Intervention
Denver’s problems with Vision Zero haven’t gone unnoticed by people living outside the Centennial State.
In December 2019, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) sent officials to meet with CDOT, DOTI, and the Denver Police Department to discuss means of improving Denver’s Vision Zero plan.
Among the concerns raised by DOT officials during the meeting was increasing rates of fatalities among pedestrians and bicyclists and other vulnerable road users. DOT found this fatality rate increased by 23 percent from 2018.
DOT’s nationwide data also showed that 76 percent of pedestrian fatalities occurred overwhelmingly after dark, 38 percent occurred when many pedestrians had some alcohol in their systems, and 74 percent occurred when they were outside of intersections. Half of accidents involving bicyclist fatalities occurred after dark, while only 26 percent of such accidents occurred with some alcohol in their systems.
“We clearly have more work to do to ensure that Denver’s transportation safety needs are met,” said James Owens, acting administrator of DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). “I’m confident that with the help of our safety partners, we can make the Denver area one of the safest in America for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.”
In the past three years, NHTSA awarded Colorado $46 million to address its road safety concerns. Even so, nearly 600 people across the state were killed in traffic-related incidents in 2019, according to statistics from CDOT.
So far in 2020, 57 people have been killed in crashes.
Project Expansion
While Denver struggles to achieve its Vision Zero goals, the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) plans to expand the program to become more regionally focused. DRCOG claims this approach will help cities and communities in the metro area deal with increasing traffic deaths.
“Vision Zero switches safety from being solely the responsibility of roadway users to a shared responsibility of system designers and roadway users,” the agency said in its announcement of the plan. “It is inevitable that roadway users will make mistakes, so roads should be designed to ensure these mistakes do not result in severe injuries or fatalities.”
However, the principles of Vision Zero and the implementation seem to be out of line with each other. Last year, DRCOG reported 242 fatalities resulting from crashes across DRCOG’s service area which includes Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Clear Creek, Douglas, Gilpin and Jefferson counties. This total is more than one-third of traffic-related fatalities reported in the state.
Denver admits there is still work to be done and plans to focus on improving the HIN in 2020. But, residents are still waiting for the program to make an impact.
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.
