by Mark Smiley | Feb 29, 2016 | Glendale City News
by John Arthur
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
Beginning in April 2016, the Glendale Raptors Youth Rugby programs will transition to the new, more comprehensive Glendale Raptors Rugby Academy. Offering a variety of formats suitable for youth interest at all participation levels, the new program will work not only to promote rugby as a challenging, enjoyable means of pursuing personal growth, but will also provide participants a pathway to becoming players at an elite level.
To highlight the transition, Coach of the Glendale Raptors High School team Robin Roberts spoke about one of the most promising young players in rugby, Gemma Ryu. A high school sophomore playing on the Raptors 7s team, Gemma is a standout not only for her on-field performance, but also for her dedication off the field, as well as her discipline as a multi-sport athlete. Coach Roberts describes Ryu as “very dedicated to learning and improving at all levels. She has a very real passion for the sport and wants to play at the highest level she can.” In the fall season of 2015, Gemma led the 7s team in tackles, tries scored, and in creating turnovers.
Gemma’s dedication has not escaped notice. She has been announced as part of the Girls High School All American pool for 2016. To further improve her skills, Gemma is also in the process of trying out for the Flatirons Rugby Academy Team. The elite, performance and development based squad employs rugby to build life experiences and opportunities, whether at the collegiate, national, international, or Olympic level. In the first round of tryouts Gemma was in the top three for the 20 and 40 meter runs, and scored second highest in the Yo-Yo Test, a test designed to determine the physical endurance of athletes. Though teams have yet to be announced, Coach Roberts reports she is on track to make the A-side squad. Additionally, Gemma is participating in a lifting program with the Glendale coach, improving her back squat and nearly doubling her personal best bench press in just four weeks of training.
Though the power of the Raptors youth programs should not be underestimated, the commitment of athletes like Ryu is beyond compare. Her rugby accomplishments are legion, but the Colorado Academy sophomore is also a member of the school’s swim and track teams, as well as an aspiring triathlete. Outside of sport, she is a member of the school choir and an accomplished pianist. Originally from Chicago, Ryu’s experiences with the landscapes of the Midwest and Colorado have encouraged her to attend a coastal university, though as a sophomore she admits she hasn’t spent much time looking at specific schools. One thing she knows for sure — she wants to attend a college with a great 7s program. Even as a young athlete, Gemma’s outlook on the hard work required to excel is decidedly mature: “One thing I’ve learned from playing for Glendale and being around WPL and PRP champions is that success is never accidental. Seeing how hard all of these players work and all of the time they commit, I know if I want success for my team, I’ll have to do the same.”
Ryu’s success as part of the Glendale Raptors program is phenomenal, but not an anomaly. Two recent graduates, Caitlin Rogers and Grace Chao, have realized considerable achievement in rugby after moving on from the program, highlighting the invaluable foundation the Glendale experience offers.
Rogers, a freshman at Colby University in Maine, is a multi-position player for the school’s Division II rugby team. “In our past season, I became a starting lock, and Colby took third in the NESCRC (New England Small College Rugby Conference). At the end of the season, I was elected Vice President of the Colby Women’s Rugby Football Club, and now we’re practicing for our spring season, which will incorporate both 7s and 15.”
Chao, a former top try scorer and captain of the Glendale squad, attends Harvard University, where she plays alongside another former Glendale High School rugby teammate Maya Learned. Reflecting on her first season of collegiate play and her experience with Coach Roberts and the Raptors, Chao said, “I know for sure I wouldn’t be the athlete I am today without Robin, and this season has helped me realize what an amazing opportunity I had with the program at Glendale.”
Asked to reflect on her experience with the Raptors program, and with the accomplished athletes it has produced, Coach Robin Roberts was full of praise. “These girls all inspire me to work harder and do better to be the best coach I can for them. All I hope is that I somehow make a difference, however slight, in their lives and rugby.” If the success of Gemma Ryu and the Raptors alumni that have preceded her are any indication of the proficiency of the youth rugby programs, the forthcoming Glendale Raptors Rugby Academy, and its participants, will flourish.
by Mark Smiley | Feb 29, 2016 | General Featured
Could Crash Home Values, Create Safety Concern
by Glen Richardson
Homeowners in Denver’s Cory Merrill neighborhood are all charged up about Verizon Wireless putting up a 50-foot cell phone tower on the Kirk of Bonnie Brae Church property at 1201 S. Steele St. Verizon and the church are in negotiations to put the tower above a preschool and less than 20 feet from residences.
United in numbers, fuming homeowners in this neighborhood of winding streets and mature trees say it would lower property values and decrease school funding. Even more worrisome they say is that the church does not have a large enough property site to ensure a properly engineered “fall zone” for the tower. A fall zone is the necessary distance a tower needs to be from residences, schools and other structures should the tower collapse. Minimally the distance is considered to be 110% of the height of the tower, or in the case of Kirk of Bonnie Brae a setback of 55 feet.
Area residences point out that if constructed the tower’s setback at Kirk wouldn’t be close. “It would sit within 10 feet of existing power lines and an alley, 20 feet from adjacent homes, the day care center and church. Everything and everyone living and working within a 55 foot distance from the tower will be at risk,” they warn. Furthermore, they articulate that in the event of an accident Steele St. and Arizona would be blocked, inhibiting first responders and impacting evacuation routes.
What’s At Stake?
Developed in the 1940s and ’50s, homes in Cory Merrill range from small but unique original houses, to multi-million dollar custom built dwellings. The neighborhood is east of University, North of I-25, West of Colorado Blvd. and South of Mississippi. Kirk of Bonnie Brae was founded
as a Congregational Church in 1947 and is affiliated with the United Church of Christ, a mainline Protestant denomination. The name Kirk is the Scottish word for Church, fitting for the neighborhood whose name also has Scottish origin (Bonnie Brae means beautiful hill).
Current real estate studies show that proximity to cell towers reduces the value of a home by 20.7% to 21%. Approximately 130 homes were sold in the Cory Merrill neighborhood within the last 12 months. Furthermore, real estate values have appreciated 4.1% since Feb. 2015. Prices for homes ranged from $286,900 (least expensive) to $1,633,000 (most expensive). Neighborhood leaders say they are concerned that, “The ability to build any real increase in value within the neighborhood would be irreparably harmed.”
Verizon says the area is in need of a new wireless tower site, “based on zoning areas and how it will affect the area network, and would enhance coverage in the neighborhood.” The tower would be a 50-foot canister pole that would look like a flagpole and house all wiring and antennas inside a 4 ft. x 4 ft. footprint. Verizon also admits it could do a “monopine” design (that would make it look like a tree) but suggests, “The light pole design would work better and better integrate into the neighborhood and environment.” Verizon also has an option to add other carriers to the tower if they are approached. Construction could start as early as March-April and would take approximately 90 days.
Residents Speak Up
Once again it’s business as usual in Denver, suggests resident George Mayl who lives on South Garfield St. “Tear down this to build bigger and bigger. Let’s place a 50 ft. monolith smack dab in the middle of a residential neighborhood,” he fumes. He notes the church site is right across the street from the John Paul II Center. Many — he thinks maybe all of the 2,250 residents in Cory Merrill — believe this is a bad idea and will be unsightly too boot. “I would tell Chronicle readers where Verizon can ‘stick’ their tower but then you couldn’t print it,” Mayl says of the plan. “Want reception? Place it in Mayor Hancock’s backyard and see the reception it
will receive,” he urges.
Marti Freeman, President of the Cory Merrill Neighborhood Association notes, “What is most interesting about this situation is that the Denver zoning code does not entirely protect residential areas, such as a neighborhood like Cory Merrill, from a 50 foot Tower Structure being placed less than 35 feet from residents property lines.” She wants residents to know that the Kirk of Bonnie Brae Church is zoned residential. Thus Freeman strongly suggests, “Engaging in this negotiation with Verizon is irresponsible and inconsiderate on behalf of the church.” Furthermore she believe the tower on their property in such proximity to neighbors’ homes and backyards, a preschool with a playground plus a major throughway “will create a nuisance for our neighborhood, potential danger, and be aesthetically unappealing potentially diminishing property values in this highly desirable and rapidly developing neighborhood.”
As a final point she tells the Chronicle, “Denver zoning laws should be updated to reflect and meet the needs for great telecommunications services in our residential areas, but not at the expense of our neighborhoods and citizens.” The City of Denver, of course, will review the Verizon request internally and administratively albeit that seldom means a good deal. Approval by the neighborhood association is not required.
Deaf Ear?
Resident Trish Kinkel is even more resolute and adamant: “I do not believe anyone should have the right to construct anything on their property that detrimentally affects the safety, quality of life, and property values of their neighbors.”
She believes the Kirk of Bonnie Brae has turned a deaf ear to their neighbors concerns and continues to negotiate with Verizon. “Come on, a 50 ft tower without an adequate engineered fall zone next to a day care center and existing homes and their own church? It’s all about the money for the church. They don’t care about us,” she concludes.
Area residents haven’t been told and the church isn’t saying what Verizon is offering the Kirk to lease the space. Speculation is that the figure is around $1,500 per month. A report by AirWave Cell Tower Consultants reveals that in 2015, “we saw cell sites paying between $100 per year to over $156,000 yearly.” According to the consulting firm, all lease rates regardless of carrier or cell tower developer are site specific and vary from location to location and are based on the demand for coverage and the availability of potential locations to lease ground space, tower space or rooftop space. What is the risk to property owners such as Kirk of Bonnie Brae? “With the possibility of cell phone technology changing (to satellite or other technology), the cell tower company could simply stops paying, they suggest.
by Mark Smiley | Feb 29, 2016 | Travel
by Megan Carthel
According to the United Nations, one in three women will be beaten or raped in their lifetime, and for the past four years many of those women in Colorado showed up at One Billion Rising, a rally against violence toward women.
One Billion Rising is the largest mass action to end and bring awareness to violence against women. The name comes from the statistic of one-in-three. With the world’s population, that totals one billion women who will be beaten or victims of rape. One Billion Rising is leading the initiative to not only make victims survivors, but for violence to no longer be a threat to women.
Each year has had a theme, and this year was centered around the idea of revolution. This year’s rally focused on marginalized women, a call for people to rise for others and international issues such as human trafficking. Here in Colorado, Caitlin Brozna-Smith and her company Bella Diva Dance organized the event. For her, the initiative is personal. Three years ago, just as One Billion Rising was getting started, one of her dancers was almost fatally shot by her ex-fiancé.
“We’re going to rally for our dancer, and we’re going to come together and stand up saying this is not okay,” Brozna-Smith said.
On Valentine’s Day this year, over 200
women, men, girls and boys of all ages gathered to hear stories of survivors of rape and domestic abuse. They danced and marched around Denver to raise awareness. Dancing, Brozna-Smith said, is way of expressing unashamed emotion and reclaiming a sense of confidence. Activists and participants across the world dance the same dance on the same day to bring awareness. Brozna-Smith and Bella Diva Dance put a global spin on it, pulling dancing techniques from Bollywood, belly dancing and dance techniques from around the world.
“People are using their bodies because that’s what was violated.”
Bella Diva Dance has been a participant in One Billion Rising ever since one of their own was a victim of domestic violence, but this is Brozna-Smith’s first year heading the rally.
“It’s been very moving in terms of how many people who you actually get to discover this is happening to, and I think it’s something that needs to be talked about more,” Brozna-Smith said.
Tangi Lancaster and her husband Stephan w
ere both victims of abuse and attended the One Billion Rising rally in Denver. As parents of boys, they feel a need to teach them about body awareness and the power of “no.”
“When they say no, no means no, and I think that starts at a very young age. And we need to engrain that,” Tangi said. “When they do get older and they are around other children who no doesn’t mean no, they can be an advocate, and that’s really why I like to bring them too. So that they know they have a voice, and that they know how to use it.”
For Stephan, he’s there to support his wife and the other billion women who’ve experienced abuse — their entire family wearing matching shirts.
“I know that having my wife at the end of the day having us all dancing together, supporting her, her making these shirts, us all wearing them and me proudly wearing it — I think that’s the part for me that makes me feel good,” Stephan said. “She knows that I’m there for her, and she knows that she’s protected for sure. I would never let anybody ever hurt her again.”
Brozna-Smith wants more men like Stephan to be involved. She said until more men get involved, domestic violence will continue to be a women’s issue. Katee Valverde attended the rally as a victim and survivor. Standing up against violence, toward either gender, is something she feels passionate about.
“I’m here because I’m one in three. I’ve been abused, victimized. I’ve been assaulted. And it’s time to not be quiet anymore,” Valverde said. “It’s too many victims. It doesn’t matter what gender. They’re victims.”
Domestic violence is a prevalent issue around the globe and in Colorado. According to the National Coalition against Domestic Violence, 16,700 people reported at least one domestic violence crime in 2014, and 25 Coloradans were killed by their current or former intimate partners. In a more staggering statistic, the NCADV found that 1,018 people were abducted by current or former intimate partners in 2014, and half of those were abducted by current or former dating partners.
by Mark Smiley | Feb 29, 2016 | Editorials
In the Denver Municipal Election last spring, seven new members were elected to the 13 member Denver City Council. New members Wayne New, Paul Kashmann and Rafael Espinoza were able to win with neighborhood activist support over candidates lavishly funded by real estate developers and lobbyists as well as support from Mayor Hancock. However, conversely Stacie Gilmore and Kendra Black won with strong support from these corrupting elements and are viewed as simply bought and paid for hacks who are never expected to cast a vote other than as instructed by the developers and the Mayor. However, the last two new members, Kevin Flynn and Jolon Clark, while they took developer and lobbyist money, they also had some neighborhood support and were not considered lost causes. Unfortunately none of the six returning council members are viewed favorably by reform groups.
The big question for many was whether New, Kashmann and Espinoza would simply sell out once in office. The preliminary indications after seven months is that they have not and in addition, Flynn and Clark are showing some actual independence from the Mayor’s office on some important votes.
The citizens have even managed to win on a vote about a development project in front of the City Council in large part because it took 10 votes to rezone a property and the proponent Emmaus Lutheran Church managed to get only eight votes. New, Kashmann, Espinoza and Clark all voted “No.” Of course Emmaus Lutheran Church is not a deep pocketed developer like Peter Kudla with an army of lobbyists. Moreover by the old system of so called “courtesy voting” the project would have lost 12 to 0 because the project was in West Highland neighborhood represented by Espinoza. But since the pro neighborhood members were elected the concept has been abandoned regarding their neighborhoods which are some of the most valuable to developers in the city.
It was not an easy vote for the conscientious Espinoza since it involved a church that wanted to transform property zoned for single family homes into a medical facility and not the normal massive apartment high-rise, but he stuck to his principles. Espinoza and Clark even voted against the Mayor’s taxpayer rip off $8.6 million affordable housing bonds that cause the city to lose money while enriching the mayor’s rich backers.
It is at least encouraging that the Denver City Council does have some ethical and honorable members who have to date at any rate not disappointed their backers. So there is still hope in the Queen City of the Plains for the neighborhoods and their honest inhabitants.
— Editorial Board
by Mark Smiley | Jan 29, 2016 | Editorials
As the Clinton email brouhaha has demonstrated, the discovery process in civil litigation often uncovers government secrets and documents which otherwise escape public scrutiny from virtually any other method. In Denver, residents have often been mystified and confused how real estate projects actually get approved by Denver City Council even when overwhelmingly opposed by residents.
In theory the process is supposed to work as follows. A project is submitted to the Denver Community and Development Department whose staff gives a thorough review to be sure it complies with all applicable zoning and planning requirements. The staff is headed by a scrupulously honest professional and experienced executive director who gives a sharp eye to any requests for rezoning, variances or waivers. The community then gets its chance at a public hearing. A wholly citizen 11 person Planning Board is supposed to advise the mayor and the City Council on land use matters including planning and zoning. After the citizen Planning Board gives its recommendations concerning the project it proceeds to the City Council. The individual council members are supposed to be impartial judges acting in a “quasi-judicial” capacity. What they know about the development project is supposed to be what is summed up in the publicly available reports of the Planning Board and what they are told the night of the hearing including the comments of the developer and the members of the community.
Nothing of what is outlined above actually happens in Denver. The “cone of silence” between the City Council members and developer of a project and opponents to that project only occurs once a project has actually been submitted to the Denver Community and Development Department. Thus developers first fill the campaign coffers of the applicable council member. The developer then sits down with the applicable council member and gets his/her approval and any changes the council member may want, all before the public even knows there is a project. Once the project is filed is often the first time residents have heard of the project. But their council member then refuses to meet with them saying it would be legally improper for him or her to discuss a submitted projected as they are required by law to be wholly impartial and prohibited by law from meeting with citizens ex parte.
Thus projects are submitted by savvy developers to the Denver Community Planning and Development Department only after the fix is already in. The Executive Director of the Denver Planning Department is Brad Buchanan, an architect turned developer of whom it is often said is wholly void of any ethics or personal propriety. The 11 member citizen Planning Board has been stacked by Mayor Hancock with pro-developer advocates who almost never pay any heed to anything the residents of affected neighborhoods have to say at their public meetings.
The night comes for the City Council to consider a crooked project and the citizens actually get to, in theory, address the City Council themselves. Unbeknownst to many citizens the Denver City C
ouncil over 30 years ago secretly adopted the so-called “courtesy zoning rule” whereby they will all (or almost all for sake of appearances) vote exactly the same as the council member whose district a project is in. This allows the savvy developer to save a great deal of money only having to convince/bribe a single council member while members of the public erroneously think they must have to convince a majority of the City Council.
Of course it takes months for a project to go from submission to the Planning Department to the night of City Council consideration. Economics and other facts change over time. The developer needs to get the council member whose district the project is in to do him additional favors and considerations during this time period concerning his project. But the “cone of silence” rule that keeps the public at bay from the council member legally applies equally to the developer and his lobbyists.
What does the savvy developer and the bought and paid for council member do? The citizens who brought the lawsuit captioned Whitelaw v. The Denver City Council 2015cv032427 in Denver District Court concerning the City Council’s approval of the Mount Gilead project at Crestmoor found out through legal discovery. The answer is, of course, they cheat.
The very high density apartment project was wildly unpopular and required a rezoning in apparent direct contradiction with the city’s master plan called Blueprint Denver. Close coordination between the developer and the key Councilwoman Mary Beth Susman was apparently deemed necessary no matter how illegal. The plaintiffs in discovery demanded all correspondence including e-mails between the council-woman and the developer or its lobbyists post the filing of the project with the Planning Department. The response — not a thing, nada.
The lawyers for the residents, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, however, wondered what was good for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton might be good enough for Councilwoman Susman, i.e. a private email account on which public business would be conducted free from public open records requests and scrutiny. With some incredible legal sleuthing the lawyers found out that Susman did in fact have a separate Gmail account on which city business was conducted. The Denver City Attorney’s Office already accused and shown to have been engaged in unethical conduct regarding the Denver Jail lawsuits decided not to risk their law licenses and this time produced the voluminous e-mail correspondence post project filing between the councilwoman and the developers’ lobbyists directly concerning the Mount Gilead project.
The lawsuit is in front of Denver District Court Judge Shelly I. Gilman. If she is half the jurist that Federal District Court Judge John Kane is, who oversaw the Denver Jail lawsuits, heads will roll. It is highly unlikely that Ms. Susman is the only city council member who has engaged in such apparent illegal conduct. It will be the job of Judge Gilman to follow the ancient Roman maxim of law “Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum” — “Let Justice Be Done Though the Heavens Fall.”
— Editorial Board
by Mark Smiley | Jan 29, 2016 | General Featured
by Mark Smiley
The Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle welcomed its newest member of their team of reporters, 22-year-old Glendale resident Megan Carthel. Carthel moved to Glendale last August from Texas, and has been reporting on local stories for the Chronicle since October. Her stories, including “Hal Weber Makes Kids’ Birthdays Special” and “Tiny Houses Pull Into The Valley,” have sparked a positive response from the community.
Carthel decided to move to Colorado because she needed a change. “I moved to the state after skiing in Colorado and I enjoyed my experience immensely,” said Carthel. “Denver reminded me of Austin, Texas.” She chose Glendale because it had affordable apartments to rent, was centrally located, and filled with younger people.
Carthel graduated from Texas State University-San Marcos with a B.A. in Electronic Media and a Political Science minor. As far as politics goes, she is more interested in the theory of politics. She believes that modern day politics is a PR stunt and theatrical.
Carthel has enjoyed numerous internships and other experience throughout her young career. Most of her experience was in Texas working as a sports marketing intern, news reporter, and even as a member of the Wings Team for Red Bull promotions.
Carthel was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas, and has many friends and family back home. Her passion for writing sparked early. She always wrote stories as a young girl. “I used to write these horrible stories as a child, but that’s where my passion for writing started,” said Carthel. “In college it developed into journalistic writing as I became more aware of the world around me.”
Now, she gets to write for a living. Carthel loves to work with and meet new people and never wants to stop learning. “Writing has always been a passion of mine,” said Carthel. “Doing this, I get to meet so many different kinds of people and see different parts of the community through their eyes. With journalism, and with writing, there’s always something new. A new story; a new angle; a new person to meet. It’s like a non-stop adventure, and I thin
k that’s very exciting.”
In addition to her duties as a reporter, Carthel has taken on full responsibility for the Chronicle’s social media sites including a brand new Facebook page. Visit the Chronicle’s new Facebook page at www.facebook.com /GCCChronicle.
In her spare time, Carthel enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, whom she met within two weeks of moving to Colorado, staying active, riding, running, reading, and sky diving. Carthel realizes she has an incredible opportunity working for the Chronicle. “I feel lucky that I get to do what I love and hopefully make a difference in the community.”
