Planning Head Brad Buchanan Destroying Denver’s Neighborhoods

by Mark Smiley | Oct 24, 2014 | Editorials

An old proverb declares that “It’s a foolish bird that fouls its own nest.” Brad Buchanan, the beefy, bloated, ethically challenged, new executive director of Denver’s Department of Community Planning and Development is no one’s fool. Prior to taking on the top job in planning Denver’s future growth he moved out of the city, over an hour away to a 1,500 acre ranch on the Eastern Plains beside Kiowa Creek so he would not have to personally suffer from what he and the city government are doing to Denver’s neighborhoods one at a time.

Larry Ambrose, president of the Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation which is the umbrella group for all of Denver’s neighborhood associations, summed the situation up well when he told The Denver Post, “It’s very easy for Brad to come into the city and shove this density down our throats and then drive back home to his ranch.”

Considered by some an uninspiring and somewhat hackneyed architect he eventually became highly politically connected. He was the chairman of the Downtown Denver Partnership but hit real pay dirt when he was appointed to the Denver Planning Commission by then Mayor Hickenlooper. He eventually was made chairman of that entity. The 11 member board advises the mayor and Denver City Council on land use matters including making recommendations on rezoning requests.

There was no direct remuneration for the positions he held but he made the appointments highly profitable for himself. He became the man developers hired when they had a questionable project that had to get past the Planning Board. He was hired for the highly controversial Red Peak development at the Denver Highlands that many in the neighborhood considered the buildings too high and the density excessive for the historic area. The citizens unsuccessfully sued to stop the project.

He was also hired for the redevelopment at the St. Anthony’s Hospital site on West Colfax where his design included downtown density and heights in a single-family residential area. Ethical questions were raised by his actions including a formal complaint filed by former Denver City Council President Cathy Donahue who objected to his making presentations to the Planning Commission shortly after leaving as chairman, but to no avail. In Denver, ethics appears to offer little or no constraints to politically connected individuals like Brad Buchanan.

Mayor Michael Hancock declared that Buchanan was his “dream pick” which is very bad news for Denver’s neighborhoods. Buchanan has preached the need for ever more density in the form of high rise apartments and condos in every neighborhood across Denver. At the same time he opposes open space requirements that exist in the present code and intends to bring forward controversial amendments which will drastically limit open space requirements in large developments despite vociferous objections by neighborhood groups.

Upon being appointed executive director in March, Buchanan threw a bone to the neighborhood associations saying they will be notified of a rezoning application after it has been submitted a second time as opposed to after it has been formally vetted and approved. But neighborhood groups understand that the concession was one without any real meaning as they will have no possibility of any real input unless they are notified when the Planning Department first receives a request to rezone.

Neighborhood groups moreover realize the deck is stacked against them no matter when they are notified. As it stands the Denver Planning Department is little more than a minor speed bump today for well connected developers. The Planning Board is packed with pro-developer advocates appointed by Mayor Hancock who learned his lesson when a majority of the Denver Parks Board stood up to him over the Hentzell Park giveaway. He made sure anyone who opposed him was replaced by individuals who will do what they are told.

At one time being appointed to a volunteer board in Denver government was a mark of true honor and distinction. Under Hancock it has become something of a badge of shame as appointees are viewed for the most part as pliable hacks that will do the Mayor’s bidding without question or independent judgment.

Buchanan has expressed his admiration for cities that have incorporated “incredible density” such as Singapore. He has also repeatedly toted “walkability” by which he means citizens in new developments with minimal required parking will be forced to walk in the shadows of towering apartment and office buildings. The walking will be in an urban setting devoid of trees or grass or anything else that once served as open space. Under Buchanan paved streets are in some cases argued to be what serves as open space in the new Denver.

He has personally helped in the design of some of the worst projects and ugliest developments in Denver from the Highlands to Sloan’s Lake. His appointment means no neighborhood is safe from a high density makeover as the denizens of Cherry Creek, Observatory Park and the Country Club areas have discovered, to their chagrin.

Buchanan wants to place the majority of the residents of Denver into dense vertical structures with families living in 1,000 square feet or less of living space while he and his wife and two children enjoy the luxury of 1,500 acres of land in Strasburg, at his Flying B Bar Ranch. As the pig Napoleon declared in George Orwell’s Animal Farm: “All animals are equal; but some are more equal than others.”

Brad Buchanan most definitely sees himself as being one of the “more equal” animals. His appointment was a disgrace — what he is doing to the formerly livable neighborhoods should be a crime. Instead, it is deemed “progress” in Michael Hancock’s Denver.

— Editorial Board

Passing The Torch At Step 13

by Mark Smiley | Sep 29, 2014 | Editorials

Bob Coté the founder of the alcohol and drug rehabilitation center Step 13 was truly one of a kind as was the charity he founded. A former boxer from the mean streets of Detroit he knew what it was to be an alcoholic and homeless in Denver. He had been a white collar salesman who was able to hide his addiction for a while before spiraling down into alcohol dependence and hopelessness. He was at heart a “street fighting” man who took no gruff from anyone no matter how important or mean they were.

Having saved himself from addiction and despair he walked the alleys and byways of pre-yuppieized downtown Denver carrying a baseball bat searching for souls to save from the hell he personally knew all too well.

Even the name of the charity he founded “Step 13” was as idiosyncratic as its founder. It is almost universally initially assumed that it refers to a proposed next step after the 12 step program of Alcohol Anonymous, but instead it is homage to the original 13 colonies of America and Jesus and his 12 disciples. He quickly found out that modern American governmental agencies (federal, state and local) wanted absolutely nothing to do with any charity whose name was picked to honor patriotism and Christianity. They would do whatever they could to destroy a man who was quickly succeeding in making a real difference in lives of homeless drug and alcohol addicted men in Denver.

He said he knew what these men needed, as he had needed it so badly in his time of despair — “A hand up, not a hand out.” He wanted for those he helped what all men wanted (including himself) — dignity and self respect. He believed that only came from work and self reliance. He could never figure out why people like John Hickenlooper for all his purported concern about these men never got it. In his mind all that the Hickenloopers of the world offered these men was dependence and suffering or as he called “suicide by the installment plan.”

He viewed most of the members of the Denver City Council as “jackals” and “hyenas” who poured money into programs like the “Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness” (now known as “The Road Home”) which in his mind were simply bureaucratic sinecures for those who have never actually helped another human being in their entire lives. He viewed the Coalition for the Homeless as little more than the “Coalition to Exploit the Homeless” where the top personnel pay themselves handsome six figure salaries on the backs of the homeless.

That his charity Step 13 succeeded without ever taking any money from the government was amazing to him. He saw himself as a type of rough-hewed Forest Gump. More by accident than design he found businessmen like Bill Daniels and Cortlandt Dietler who were will willing to support and fund his vision while he worked tirelessly to make Step 13 a self-sufficient enterprise.

When he died last September replacing him seemed impossible. But the individuals who are on the Board of Directors had seen with their own eyes how Step 13 had literally saved men from their own destruction and that for such an organization to die while the harmful and invidious government funded programs lived on to exploit and destroy the lives of the humans they purported to help was too much to bear.

After months of fruitless efforts they found a man who seemed to be just the type of person they were looking for — Peter Droege. He was not in any sense a younger Bob Coté — that mold had been broken and thrown away when Coté came into the world.

Moreover, Peter Droege is most definitely not a “street fighting” man but rather the son of two artists who went to Central City to escape the real world and open up a gift shop to display and sell artistic items. He attended the University of Wyoming and then headed out to California to be a journalist in Los Angeles. He returned to Colorado to work on various local publications. He joined the Daniels Fund, the billion dollar legacy of cable pioneer and Step 13 supporter Bill Daniels, where he rose to Vice President of Communications before coming over to Step 13 as its executive director.

Droege has had his own battles with “demon rum” and knows what addiction can do to you. He met Coté in 2001 and helped co-chair the 25th Anniversary of Step 13 held at Infinity Park just prior to Coté’s death.

Bob Coté made it abundantly clear to you whether he liked you or not. His magnetic personality attracted many people, but he also repelled more than his share of individuals sometimes unnecessarily. He just couldn’t help himself when he found himself in the presence of someone he believed to be a self important phony whether or not the person could have been of great aid to his enterprise.

Peter Droege on the other hand is a uniter. Quickly after meeting him, he makes you feel that you have known him your entire life and the two of you are the closest of friends. His infectious, positive enthusiasm makes you feel that just about anything can be accomplished.

He has already made important alliances including one with Goodwill Denver. He has adopted as his own the mantra “Get a job, get a better job, get a career.” He believes to his core, like Coté before him, that finding jobs and careers for the men who Step 13 assists is the key to making them whole again. Goodwill Denver’s Career Connection Centers are one-stop shops for career developments that work perfectly with Step 13’s mission.

He has also been successful in getting more and more people to contribute cars, boats, motorcycles etc. to Step 13 for them to repair, fix and resell while making sure the donor gets the highest allowable tax deduction for his or her donation.

The unique Step 13 organization appears in good hands with Droege, although when you refuse all governmental funds you are constantly going to be challenged in obtaining necessary funding.

If you want to give to a charity to make yourself feel good there are lots of organizations out there with which you can accomplish your goal. If you want give to an organization that really does make a life-changing difference in the lives of others, Step 13 has proved to be just such a charity, first under Bob Coté and now under Peter Droege.

— Editorial Board