A record number of minimum-wage workers at Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU) received $130,442 in back pay for lost wages after a Denver Labor investigation found the university unintentionally misclassified the employees.
MSU: A record number of minimum-wage workers at Metropolitan State University of Denver received $130,442 in back pay for lost wages after a Denver Labor investigation found the university unintentionally misclassified the employees.
849 employees received the restitution on October 30, 2020. Many of the employees impacted were students working part-time in admissions, student orientation, and student activities departments.
The restitution came out of MSU’s reserve fund, according to the university’s finance department, and covers lost wages dating back to the beginning of the year.
Denver Labor began its investigation in March after a MSU employee submitted a claim to its office. During the investigation, the agency obtained payroll records showing several MSU employees were paid the state minimum wage of $12 per hour instead of Denver’s bottom wage of $12.85.
“Initially, the university’s officials incorrectly believed they were exempt from the citywide minimum wage law because they were state of Colorado employees,” the investigation report reads. “However, the city ordinance clearly says all work performed within the geographical boundaries of the City and County of Denver is covered by the minimum wage requirements.”
Scheduled increases of the minimum wage will push it up to $14.77 per hour next year, and then to $15.87 in 2022. These “unfunded mandates,” as MSU’s Associate Vice President for Administration/CFO George Middlemist describes them, put a strain on the institution’s resources, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A combination of declining enrollment rates and state funding cuts caused MSU to lose $16 million in funding for the 2020-2021 school year. Middlemist said the institution already holds Colorado’s lowest per pupil funding rate, and the cuts make it harder for MSU to operate.
CFO: Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Associate Vice President for Administration/CFO George Middlemist believes the minimum wage increase will put a strain on the institution’s resources, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Middlemist said the amount of backpay added to each employee’s October 30 paycheck was modest but is “certainly an important amount for them as we all struggle during this crisis.”
“We went into this knowing we wanted to do right by our employees and our students,” Middlemist told the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle in an interview. “The amount we paid in backpay is small compared to future impacts, however. We anticipate a $2-to-$3 million impact in the coming years.”
Denver Labor said it worked with MSU “to find a way to pay workers the money they were owed according to the law, while striving for the least negative impact to the institution in these difficult economic times.”
“This is the single largest number of underpaid employees we’ve ever uncovered in a wage investigation,” City Auditor Timothy O’Brien said in a statement. “These 849 employees are also students and getting them these funds while they may be facing other economic hardships or student loans is a real win.”
In September, MSU’s board of trustees voted unanimously to increase tuition starting in the spring of 2021 to combat declining enrollment rates. Since 2011, MSU’s enrollment rate has remained relatively flat. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, enrollment dropped 6.2%, amounting to about $17 million in lost revenue, according to a report by the university’s student newspaper.
While the tuition is separate from the labor issue, according to Middlemist, the 3% increase for resident and nonresident students translates to an increase of $8 per credit hour for resident students and $25 for nonresidents. Overall tuition will increase $108 for resident students, while nonresident students will see an increase of $337.
MSU plans to redirect $680,000 of its tuition revenue to increase financial aid for students, the university said in a press release. It is also working to leverage CARES Act funding and develop a program to reduce student textbook and material costs.
“Trustees and University leaders struggled to balance the financial impact on students at this challenging time with the long-term financial health and sustainability of the University,” MSU President Janine Davidson said in a statement. “The decision was also not made quickly but is the result of months of research and discussion by the Budget Recommendation Committee, including representation from students.”
Denver Labor is a division of the City Auditor’s Office that “promotes lawful employment and wage compliance while providing exceptional labor, wage, and hourly enforcement,” according to its website.
As of October 2020, the division has recouped $831,000 in unpaid wages, eclipsing its previous high of $701,787 in 2016. Last year, the division recouped $678,559 in unpaid wages, and just $265,423 in 2018.
“The goal is to get money to workers according to the law, not to punish employers for an honest mistake,” O’Brien said. “Our office frequently works to find solutions that will bring employers into compliance without putting them out of business.”
Fight Over Unbuffered HOV Lanes Breaks Out At CDOT
by Charles C. Bonniwell
Heading For The Hills?: CDOT’s highly controversial head Shoshana Lew who is blamed by certain CDOT employees for the proliferation of non-buffered HOV lanes across the Front Range which they believe will cause dangerous car accidents in Colorado for many a decade. She is rumored to be desperately seeking a job in Washington, D.C., with the anticipated Biden administration.
Highly controversial Colorado Department Of Transportation (CDOT) Director Shoshana Lew is leading the agency into adopting unbarricaded/ non-buffered HOV lanes throughout the Front Range, including on I-25, C-470 and I-70. Lanes which — according to individuals who, for obvious reasons, do not wish to be identified for fear of losing their jobs within CDOT — are unsafe for drivers, and whose sole purpose is to provide money for the private companies that are helping to fund the projects. There will be close to 200 miles of highly dangerous roads in the Front Range under Lew’s planning. Originally CDOT created barricaded HOV lanes along U.S. Highway 36 and into and out of downtown Denver on I-25, which proved successful as safe passage for drivers and a good value for those who could afford them.
The purpose of the non-buffered HOV lanes are, according to CDOT, inter alia:
• Making safety improvements to reduce the number of crashes and fatalities.
• Decreasing travel time and increasing trip reliability (at least for those who can afford them).
• Employing congestion management to improve the travel experience.
But disgruntled CDOT employees argue non-buffered lanes accomplish none of the stated goals and, in fact, are being done to satisfy Lew’s increasingly desperate need for money. The state legislature has repeatedly refused to increase CDOT’s funding levels. In the fall of 2019, Colorado citizens turned down, by an 11 point margin, Proposition CC which would have allowed CDOT to use for its purposes the refunds taxpayers would have otherwise gotten under the Taxpayers Bill of Rights.
Extremely bitter about the election results, Lew and CDOT increasingly turned to private investors who would fund the road expansions in so-called Private Public Partnerships or P3s. The investors, all of whom come from outside Colorado, are primarily interested in ensuring a solid return on their investments. They do not view it as their task to worry about the safety of Colorado drivers or their traveling experience. Unfortunately, while CDOT is generally responsible for such concerns, Lew herself does not view private cars as a solution to Colorado’s transportation needs and thus has little interest in the safety and convenience of private car drivers.
Buffered HOV lanes came quickly off the bargaining table. Lew’s HOV lanes would be separated from general purpose lanes simply by a couple of white lines. There was no one at the table to represent the car driving public as noted by some longtime CDOT employees who recognized what was happening.
First and foremost, studies have repeatedly shown that non-buffered HOV lanes do not decrease crashes and fatalities as claimed by Lew and CDOT but, in fact, increase them. A seminal 1979 Federal Highway Administration study found that a lack of physical separation between HOV and general-purpose lanes creates operational and safety problems, causing illegal maneuvers and speed differential between HOV lanes and the adjoining general-purpose lanes.
A study in 2004 published by the Texas Transportation Institute found that non-barrier HOV lanes experienced 41-56% higher injury crash rates compared to barrier-separated lanes. The increased injury crash rates were “likely due to the speed differential between the HOV and the adjacent general purpose lane.”
Safe HOV Lanes: CDOT originally built barricaded HOV lanes on I-25 and Highway 36. The double lanes proved to be safe and highly convenient for those who could afford them.
Similar studies conducted have reached similar conclusions in Virginia, California, Florida, and Minnesota. Because CDOT will, in effect, be putting people’s lives in danger by recklessly adopting non-buffered lanes, some wonder why there hasn’t been at least a debate or public discussion at some level in Colorado government.
Long-term CDOT employees blame Lew whose closed secretive nature is legendary. They view her as an incompetent elitist who believes, like the character played by Jack Nicholson in the movie A Few Good Men, that the public “can’t handle the truth.” Thus, she mandated that the life and death decisions concerning non-buffered HOV lanes should be made outside the public purview by a few CDOT allies of Lew and the out-of-state investors.
Longtime CDOT employees also point out how bad an investment those drivers who use the non-buffered HOV lanes are getting. The non-buffered lanes become incredibly congested during rush hours as frustrated drivers pay little or no attention to the two white lines separating the HOV lane and the adjoining general-purpose lane. There is therefore little or no “decrease in travel time” or “increased travel reliability” or “congestion management to improve the travel experience” for users of non-buffered HOV lanes. As one transportation expert who did not wish to be identified stated: “Why would anyone pay to increase their risk of being hurt in a car crash in a dangerous and often highly congested non-buffered HOV lane.”
Unsafe HOV Lanes: Under Lew unbuffered HOV lanes have proliferated which are single lanes separated from the adjoining general purpose lanes by a couple of stripped lines. Certain CDOT employees say these HOV lanes are dangerous and will cause untold number of car accidents.
Another highly troubling aspect of Lew’s non-buffered HOV lanes is that they are usually only one lane for each direction. If a driver in the non-buffered HOV lane decides to go at or below the speed limit there is no legal way to get around that driver, causing increased incidents of road rage by drivers who paid to be in the HOV lane so they could get to where they wanted to go in a quicker manner.
Lew, CDOT and the out-of-state investors are relying on the doctrine of “sovereign immunity” against the inevitable lawsuits involving drivers getting killed in dangerous non-buffered HOV lanes. Moreover, Lew is reportedly desperate to jump ship and move back to Washington, D.C., where her highly politically connected family lives, and get a job somewhere in the anticipated Biden administration. The carnage she is creating on Colorado highways will, however, last for generations, according to CDOT employees.
“When I was a kid, I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord doesn’t work that way, so I stole one and asked him to forgive me.” — Emo Phillips
by Luke Schmaltz
Irony rolls up and down the streets of the Mile High City, as many unhoused inhabitants — unable or unwilling to pay the skyrocketing rent rates — somehow cruise about upon top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art, high-end triumphs of transportation.
Bicycles as well as their various parts and components are legal tender among some folks, and are traded, bartered, bought and sold with fervor — as each new morning presents a fresh batch of bikes to the curbside marketplace that were acquired the night before.
Theft: Someone riding one bike while carrying another may not have paid for either.
As Denver transplants from Silicon Valley and the Big Apple snuggle up and snooze in their posh Baker bungalows and overpriced Five Points rentals, enterprising prowlers from adjacent areas creep about and help themselves to the easy pickings of low-hanging, two-wheeled fruit.
Scenes Of The Crime
Backyards, side yards, garages, porches, storage rooms, carports and yes — the insides of residences — are not the only settings for theft. Bike racks on cars and in front of businesses as well as railings, parking meters, and street sign poles — any convenient construct upon which a bike can be locked — are pawed at daily as thieves apply various tactics for obtaining tires, chains, pedals, handlebars, seats and — many times — the whole dang thing.
An Accelerating Trend
Bicycle theft in Denver is on a record-setting pace in 2020. According to an article published by 5280.com, by October 5th there were over 3,200 reported thefts which almost eclipses the total amount of 3,283 reported in all of 2019. In late May of this year, Cycling Weekly reported their findings that insurers were seeing a near 50 percent rise in theft claims thus far, while industry professionals in the retail sector are scrambling to keep up with the buying demand. Many attribute the spike in bike sales to the pandemic lockdown, as boredom and the desire to get (or stay) fit drove people to cycling since gyms were closed down. This, in turn, feeds the theft rate as there are more bikes available, more homeless people needing transportation and most importantly — less consequence for petty crimes as law enforcement is being pressured to take a passive, inconsequential approach to low-level nonviolent crime.
Thieves: The day of discovering your bike was stolen will come like a thief in the night.
The Lowest Of The Low
Not all people see bike theft as a “no big deal” situation, as many urban professionals ride to and from work every day — using their bike as either primary or sole means of transportation. For instance, Denver cyclist Jef Kopp rides from the Highlands district to his job at Little Black Church in Larimer Square every day. Having suffered several thefts across his decades as a cyclist, he attests: “Bicycle theft is not only a serious problem for those who depend on their bikes for transportation, it’s an act of violence. Stealing a bike might mean the bike’s owner misses a shift at work and subsequently loses a job. Or it might mean the loss of something sacred to a person like me, who not only rides bikes in a utilitarian way, but also finds a deeper connection to nature and spirituality.”
Who Is Responsible?
Meanwhile, the bike frames, handlebars, chains, pedals and tires are stacking up by the dozens — concentrated in chop shop-like setups along Logan St., in Capitol Hill, Santa Fe Ave. and various other ad-hoc dwellings that bear the unmistakable characteristics of homeless encampments. Some Denver residents have resorted to visiting these places to find their stolen property, such as downtown Denver newcomer Carter Haun, who — as reported by thedenver channel.com — who recently used a Facebook group called “Denver Stolen Bikes” to locate his prized, customized bike. He found it at the campsite on Logan and 13th streets and paid the person in possession of it $160 to get it back. Meanwhile, the blame game is swirling about — as homeless and their advocates are blaming bike owners for not sufficiently locking up their property, bike owners are blaming the police for not enforcing the law against theft, and cops are blaming the media for making them all look like murderers and neutralizing their ability to do their jobs.
Bicycle Insurance: Theft prevention and insurance can make the risk of having your bike stolen worth the trouble.
Take Action
For now, it is up to bike owners to adopt a hypervigilant approach to protecting their property. In doing so, it is important to begin by understanding the various ways in which bike parts and entire bikes are stolen.
• Hands — flimsy locks and chains can simply be yanked apart by someone who is properly motivated.
• Hand tools — parts that are held onto the frame by hexagonal bolts can be quickly loosened with a pair of channel locks, pliers or a crescent wrench.
• Hacksaws — cheap and easy to use, these can cut through most cables and chains in a matter of minutes.
• Bolt cutters — not as cheap as a saw but many times faster to use, one snip and a padlock, chain or steel cable can be rendered useless.
• Pry bars — crude but effective, a few good yanks and your lock can be broken or the metal your bike is locked onto can be bent apart.
• Bottle jacks — requiring a bit more planning and finesse, this mechanism used to lift a car can be properly placed and extended to pry apart loosely arranged U-locks and chains.
• Portable grinders — a battery operated grinder, while noisy, can cut through steel in a matter of a couple of minutes.
Practice Prevention
Inventory: Bikes tend to pile up between tents in inner city encampments.
Meanwhile, as a bicycle owner who cherishes and values your property, there are a few steps you can take to decrease the chances of a thief making off with your bike and increase your chances of recovery if it is stolen.
• Avoid flimsy locks altogether including thin chains and cables. Instead, invest in a super sturdy brand of U-lock and use two at a time to secure the front tire and frame as well as the back tire and frame to a bike rack, railing or otherwise permanent installment.
• Get the right brand — the best U-locks and other non-chain, non-cable applications with stellar reputations for being unbreakable are made by Kryptonite, Abus and Foldylock — among others.
Tools: Various tools and methods are used to quickly liberate bikes from their locks.
• Buy insurance — depending on how much you paid for your bike, how much you use it and how much you love it — the premiums may be worth the peace of mind.
• Document — taking photos of yourself holding or sitting on your bike can help verify that you are the owner.
• Register — filing your bike’s serial number and other ownership-specific information with your local police precinct can also help recover the bike in the event it is stolen.
Ultimately, the only way to guarantee that your bike remains in your possession is to never let it out of your sight. As that is impossible for most — you can instead choose to go back to driving everywhere, lock the thing up like it’s made of pure gold, or simply go buy one for far below market price. All you have to do is pay a visit to one of Denver’s bustling “chop shops,” and you’ll be pedaling away on the cheap in no time.
Artist’s Rendition: The engineering firm of Harris Kocher Smith prepared this drawing of AvalonBay’s Governor’s Park at the old Racines restaurant site. Neighborhood activists note that even this glamorized version not a single tree or blade of grass is provided for the entire block.
The next apparent target for high density developers in Denver is Governor’s Park at 7th and Logan. The small park is overlooked by Colorado’s residence for its governor which was contributed for that purpose by the Boettcher Foundation in 1959. The mansion was built in 1908 and had been the residence of Gladys Cheesman and her family, and then financial titan Claude Boettcher. The park was once part of the mansion’s grounds.
The park has a small children’s’ playground although, at times, Mayor Hancock has let the park be overrun by homeless campers. The present threat to the park is not to build directly on the park, but to eliminate sunlight to the area and block views of the Rockies with a massive apartment complex west of the park on the old Racines restaurant land that was recently sold to the high-density developer AvalonBay, a massive publicly traded real estate trust founded in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1978. It owns 79,636 apartment units and had $2.3 billion in revenues last year. The complex will have 305 units as presently configured and have up to 13 stories.
Birds Of A Feather: Shannon Gifford, above, the mayor’s Deputy Projects Officer, has been nicknamed the “Queen of Projects” for, inter alia, not recognizing being a CDOT commissioner for District 1 while being under the control of Mayor Hancock as an employee of the Mayor’s office. Lawyer Tom Ragonetti, right, of the firm Otten and Johnson is known as one of the most effective lawyer lobbyists in Denver and is seen by some as an arch-enemy of Denver’s neighborhoods on behalf of high-density developers. The two appear to be in cahoots to squash any bureaucratic opposition to AvalonBay’s massive apartment complex which would seriously damage Governor’s Park and the surrounding neighborhood.
In response the residents of the area formed Citizens to Save Governor’s Park with representatives from the boards of the four largest condominium complexes in the area on the steering committee. The organization is headed up by longtime resident of the area Ryan Ross. Squaring off against a billionaire corporation and what is widely viewed as a corrupt Denver Community Planning and Development Department, the residents face another David versus Goliath struggle.
Neighborhood Advocate: Ryan Ross is heading opposition to AvalonBay’s massive apartment complex through the new neighborhood organization Citizens to Save Governor’s Park.
Ross stated to the Chronicle: “All we want is to have a project in scale and height that is in line with all the other projects in the area. If this is approved as proposed, it will be the beginning of the end of Governor’s Park as an area you would want to live in. Governor’s Park is worth fighting for.”
The massive project’s principal impediment has been attempting to obtain a variance for a curb cut for access for cars off Sherman Street from its parking area. An email obtained by the Chronicle shows how corrupt the process has become for Denver’s high-density apartment projects.
There are almost no massive apartment complexes without some direct street access to parking for the residents and guests. The developer wanted a variance for a curb cut to Sherman Street but the city’s Community Planning and Development Department was balking. Mayor Hancock has repeatedly assured citizens that his office does not interfere with development decisions, but it is, of course, a blatant lie as shown by this email chain.
Man Under The Gun: Eulois Clerkley, the Executive Director of Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is being bullied and squeezed by Gifford and Ragonetti to find a way to get AvalonBay’s Racine project approved notwithstanding serious traffic and other assorted problems.
AvalonBay had their variance for a curb cut on Sherman Street denied by Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI), and the appeal was denied in mid-August 2020. It was time for AvalonBay to make a call for “lawyers, guns and money.” The lawyers were the law firm of Otten and Johnson and, in particular, their infamous “fix it” man on Denver real estate projects Tom Ragonetti. He, his firm’s partners and clients have provided significant “money” for the mayor’s various election campaigns. For political “guns” they went directly to the mayor who put his “fix it” woman to solve any such problems, Shannon Gifford on it. Her title is Deputy Chief Projects Officer Mayor’s Office for the Greater Area. But don’t let the unassuming title fool you. In emails she calls herself simply “Deputy Manager,” apparently for the whole city.
Bird’s Eye View: The overview of the Racines block that AvalonBay wants to turn into a massive apartment complex.
The 62-year-old Gifford was brought in last November to take on the mayor’s sleaziest projects. She had a great background in the same as the Commissioner for District 1 (Denver) to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), which she was appointed to in 2013. Not apparently aware of the clear conflicts of interest in being both the state commissioner of CDOT and city employee representing the Mayor’s Office, she has not resigned her CDOT post according the CDOT website.
Regarding the Racines project, the hammer came down on August 5 in an email to DOTI’s Executive Director Eulois Cleckley. Yes, the same Mr. Cleckley that got into a highly public war with Councilwoman Susan Shepherd who claimed he insulted and demeaned council members by not being willing to answer questions regarding transportation issues, and only listened to what Mayor Hancock or his Chief of Staff Alan Salazar told him.
In the email Gifford is not subtle in what the mayor’s demands are. She declares she did not understand:
Governor’s Mansion: High density developers in Denver are looking for virtually any park or open space they can exploit. Developer AvalonBay hopes to build a 13 story, 305-unit apartment complex at the old Racines restaurant site which would prevent any afternoon light or mountain views for Governor’s Park located behind the landmark Governor’s Mansion.
“. . , the current general policy regarding curb cuts in connection with new developments.”
She demanded a new “written policy” on curb cuts. She then reveals who is really behind the email:
“More specially, I hear regularly from Tom Ragonetti, regarding his client Avalon Bay on the Racines site and the appeal for a variance to obtain a limited curb cuts from Sherman Street. . . . Tom Ragonetti, and his client feel a direct deal of urgency about it. As I said he reaches out regularly to me about it. . . . What are the options.”
Neighborhood Icon: Racines restaurant had been a neighborhood and city icon for breakfast, lunch and dinner since 1983. It is proposed that the block on which it was located become another high-density apartment complex by the multi-billion-dollar REIT AvalonBay.
Experts indicate it is an apparent gross ethics violation for the mayor and his office to interfere with what should be a quasi-judicial process of granting or denial of a variance. Neighborhood groups are looking into it with attorneys whether criminal statues were violated.
Ultimately, the appeal was denied so Ragonetti and AvalonBay now seek to get approval without a variance. They plan to pour all of the traffic through the alleyway onto Grant Street. It is doubtful that project could or should be approved which would potentially destroy Grant Street’s traffic viability. With Ragonetti interfering with the process, with the backing of Mayor Hancock, anything is possible.
You can contact Citizens to Save Governor’s Park through its website savegovernorspark.org.
Arts & Venues Shutters Renowned Facilities, Lays Off Staff; Drastic Cutbacks Loom For The Upkeep Of City Streets, Parks
by Glen Richardson
Even as businesses have reopened helping to jumpstart the Cherry Creek Valley economy, it has come too late for the City & County of Denver. An unprecedented crisis is brewing in city government as tax revenue has fallen off a cliff.
Red Alert: Cherry Creek Valley’s most renowned venues including Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre are shut down until Jan. 2, 2021. Reliable cash-generator leaves a gaping hole in budget for city’s Arts & Venues agency.
Sounding the alarm this month that Denver is facing a fiscal reckoning of apocalyptic proportions is Arts & Venues, the City & County of Denver agency responsible for operating the Cherry Creek Valley’s most renowned facilities.
Effective this month through Jan. 2, 2021, it is shutting down Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre, the Colorado Convention Center, the McNichols Civic Center Bldg., the Denver Coliseum plus the Denver Performing Arts Complex (DCPA) which includes the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, the Buell Theatre and Boettcher Concert Hall. The announcement includes full-time or partial furloughs of all 67 employees. The Coliseum and Convention Center will remain operational only for coronavirus related programs.
Cultural Crash
When the pandemic hit, the agency cut its expenses by 46% and moved capital improvement funds into the operating budget. “However, these prudent measures are not enough to sustain the agency if the fallout from the pandemic continues through 2021,” Executive Director Ginger White Brunetti declared in making the decision.
Sudden Silence: All of the venues in the Denver Performing Arts Complex (DCPA) downtown are shuttered including Boettcher Concert Hall. The home of the Colorado Symphony is the nation’s first symphony hall in the round.
In an August report, Arts & Venues said Denver’s creative industries lost $1.4 billion in sales revenue and 29,840 jobs between April 1 and July 31. Red Rocks, in particular, has turned from a reliable cash-generator to a gaping hole in not only Arts & Venue’s budget projections, but those of promoters such as AEG Presents Rocky Mountains, which books the majority of Red Rocks’ 150-plus annual concerts. Bottom line: It’s taken fewer than six months to wipe out one-third of the gains Denver’s cultural sector had made in the last decade.
“It’s hoped that by pausing things now, at a time we know our venues won’t be open, Arts & Venues can be in a financial position to reopen quickly once live entertainment returns,” explains Brian Kitts, Director of Marketing & Communications.
A $227 Million Deficit
There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it, Denver’s economic reckoning has arrived and city departments will have to take major steps to try and stay afloat through next year. The pandemic recession is eroding the city budget in many insidious ways: Lodgers tax revenue has plummeted 66.4%, sales tax revenue declined 12.3% while general fund revenue has slumped 10.6%.
Predicted to be down by $180 million in June, the city now faces at least a $227 million budget shortfall. The city has added eight mandatory unpaid furlough days for all city employees and requiring budget cuts across all city agencies, currently targeted at $185 million.
Beginning this month City Council will begin hosting hearings on budget proposals by city agencies. Council members can propose amendments to the budget. The mayor then must submit a final 2021 budget for adoption.
Topping Great Depression
The 2020 city budget included projections that the general fund would increase by 2% — the main budget area under the mayor’s control. That prognosis would have created the largest general fund in the city’s history. In reality it is already down 10.5%, driven by the sales tax and lodgers’ tax — both down significantly.
The lodgers’ tax has dropped by 66.4% so far this year and sales tax toward the General Fund has declined by 16.8%. Both of those figures are much steeper declines than the city saw during the Great Recession.
The crisis has arrived faster and the damage will be more severe than that of the 1930s Great Recession. The fact administrators and bureaucrats have become accustomed to a constant ramped-up expansion in the past few years will make it seem even worse. Nonetheless, impact from cuts will be felt far into the fiscal year ahead.
Street Work Curbed: Look for city’s street maintenance to become increasingly sluggish as Department of Transportation & Infrastructure is projected to take a 23.75% budget cut in 2021.
Streets, Parks Hit
The fiscal reckoning that shut down Arts & Venues, is set to hit Parks & Recreation and Transportation & Infrastructure departments the hardest as the 2021 budget is hammered out by city council. Mirroring the Great Recession, the budget of Parks & Rec. will take at least a 25.34% cut in 2021. With more than 6,200 acres of parkland, 29 recreation centers, 309 athletic fields plus other amenities it’s a horrendous hit. Moreover, the agency has already adopted $2 million in cost cutting measures.
Planting of flower beds has been cut by 50%. Likewise, litter pickup and trash removal in most parks has also been cut 50%. Mowing of parks and athletic fields has been slashed from weekly to two or three times per month as staff is available. Finally, use of the irrigation systems — raw water, reuse and potable water systems — is now based on water source cost, least to most.
Transportation & Infrastructure — the new department launched this year with a thousand projects in its capital budget — is projected to take a 23.75% 2021 budget cut. Both the agency’s maintenance and wastewater management group had $150 million budgets. Previously known as the Department of Public Works, the agency plans, designs and builds the city’s infrastructure, aka streets, bridges, overpasses and storm sewers. They also fill potholes, handle parking enforcement and plow streets after snowstorms.
Budget Showdown
The Hancock administration has significantly expanded the size of the city workforce since taking office in 2011. Dozens of new offices and initiatives have been added. Even with the latest shutdowns and layoffs, the mayor is proposing a $71.3 million new Housing Stability Department and also refuses to cut $11.4 million in new bike lane construction.
Nipped In The Bud: Planting of flower beds in city parks has been cut by 50% as Parks & Recreation prepares for a 25.34% budget cut in 2021. Mowing goes from weekly to 2-3 times a month.
Normally city council makes only minimal changes in the mayor’s proposed budget. Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca forewarns, however, that she’s prepared to fight the administration’s budget.
Beyond this year, the pandemic economy will continue to weigh heavily on the city’s outlook. The likelihood remains for elevated unemployment levels well into 2022. Visit Denver expects lodgers’ tax collections to remain below 2019 levels into 2022. Property taxes payable in 2022 are likely to be calculated off lower commercial valuations — business closures, retail-office vacancies — and lower residential assessed values.
As City Council prepares to vote on the Group Living Proposal in October, several neighborhood organizations and residents are sounding off against the plan, saying it doesn’t address the right issues and would negatively impact neighborhood characteristics.
Their calls are growing so loud that it’s causing some councilmembers’ support for the proposal to waiver.
Group Living Proposal
The Group Living Proposal was developed by CPD to address rising housing costs and the threat of displacement for Denver’s low-income residents. The plan seeks to overhaul several parts of Denver’s zoning code. Most notably, the number of unrelated people that can live together in a single-family dwelling would increase to eight from its current limit of four. It would also consolidate group living use restrictions into two categories — Residential Care and Congregate Living — and allow developers to build them in single-family neighborhoods.
Residential Care include homeless shelters, community corrections facilities, and sober living homes. Dormitories and tiny home villages are examples of Congregate Living facilities.
Following the bill’s hearing before the Land Use, Transportation, and Infrastructure Committee (LUIT) on September 1, Councilwomen Amanda Sawyer (District 5) and Kendra Black (District 4) penned an op-ed in The Denver Post calling for the plan to undergo a more strenuous review before it’s approved.
Op-Ed: Denver Councilwomen Amanda Sawyer, above, (District 5) and Kendra Black, below, (District 4) penned an op-ed in The Denver Post on September 1, 2020, calling for the group living plan to undergo a more strenuous review before it’s approved. Denver Councilmembers Kevin Flynn (District 2), Jolon Clark (District 7), and Paul Kashmann (District 3) co-signed the op-ed.
“We don’t dispute the need for change. However, rubber-stamping this proposal is not the best way to update the code to modern reality,” they wrote. “With CPD now kicking off a two-year project aimed at eliminating single family zoning, and neighborhood plan updates underway across the city, we have to look at group living in a broader context.”
Councilmembers Kevin Flynn (District 2), Jolon Clark (District 7), and Paul Kashmann (District 3) co-signed the op-ed.
In the op-ed, the councilmembers objected to the fact that the plan does not address the most problematic part of the city’s zoning code, Chapter 59. It was adopted in 1956 and has functioned as Denver’s second zoning code since 2010 when the city adopted its new code. Properties covered by Chapter 59 make up approximately 20 percent of Denver’s total zone districts, according to city estimates.
City auditor Timothy O’Brien issued a report in 2015 saying the coexistence of both zoning codes negatively impacts the “equal treatment of all citizens and long-term success of the city’s goals.” CPD agreed with O’Brien’s recommendation to undertake a cost-benefit analysis of switching to a single zoning code, but it was never implemented.
Neighborhood organizations and residents have been echoing these concerns since March, according to Jerry Doerskin, a Southmoor Park resident. Doerskin says the plan lacks practicality and should affect the entire city if it’s truly worth its salt.
“It’s grossly unfair to impose these kinds of zoning changes on four-fifths of Denver and leave the rest untouched,” he told the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle.
Doerskin says the practical application of the plan will ruin the characteristics of his neighborhood by severely taxing the city’s aging infrastructure.
In January, Colorado’s mayors united to call for more infrastructure funding after the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the state a C- on its 2020 infrastructure report card. ASCE found the state’s roads, drinking water supply, and energy grid face significant challenge because the state hasn’t adequately maintained its infrastructure, amounting to a $14 billion funding gap.
Over the past two years, state lawmakers have given $2.7 billion to cities and counties to help pave their roads. However, this creates a paradox for the state’s budget, as it is now being asked to support local road projects when it’s proven to be ineffective at adequately funding state projects.
Exemplar 2: Developers in Colorado and throughout the country are enthusiastically backing zoning for group living which will lower the cost of living units and greatly increase urban density.
Infrastucture was a driving force behind Doerskin and other members of a group he co-founded to oppose the Group Living Proposal called Safe and Sound Denver, submitting a petition with over 2000 signatures of Denver residents who oppose the proposal prior to the September 1 LUIT meeting.
“There is very little to support in this bill,” he said. “I know addressing homelessness and high living costs in Denver are valid concerns, but to totally increase density like this is unreasonable. I could support a moderate increase of unrelated people living together. But, if that’s not acceptable to Council, they should vote it down and take up the issues one at a time.”
High Hurdles
Even if Denver didn’t have an infrastructure issue, existing state laws present hurdles to development that lawmakers haven’t figured out how to cross.
Colorado outlawed inclusionary zoning practices in 1981, thus preventing cities and counties from implementing rent control policies and requiring developers to set aside a certain amount of units for low-income residents. In 2000, the Colorado Supreme Court reinforced the law in Telluride v. Thirty-Four Venture when it added home rule municipalities to its jurisdiction.
Denver-area Democrats have tried to pass legislation overturning the Telluride decision in 2020, but it never made it out of committee.
On top of these restrictions, Denver has a hard time incentivizing developers to build affordable units because the of the city’s construction permit fees. Developers may be asked to pay permit fees which are determined based on the value of their project and an extra fee to expedite the city’s review of their permit application. After that, developers have to pay an affordable housing fee of up to $1.65 per square foot.
Once the coronavirus pandemic hit and material prices began to skyrocket, the city faced even higher hurdles. The price of lumber has climbed $300 per thousand board-feet since mid-March and steel has increased 10 percent to almost 3700 Yuan.
A Private Enterprise
While Group Living Proposal supporters claim they are looking toward Denver’s future, some residents worry the city will be dragging along historical problems.
In 2017, CPD coordinated with the mayor’s office to create the Group Living Advisory Committee (GLAC), a 48-member congregation of community members, neighborhood organizations, private and public interests tasked to identify outdated areas of the city’s zoning code.
Members represent various industries ranging from corrections to homeless services and developers. Both At-large councilwomen, Robin Kneich and Deborah Ortega, represent City Council.
Neighborhood organizations make up just eight representatives on GLAC, leading some residents like Paige Burkeholder, to suspect that the project is meant to serve private interests and help term-limited politicians like Mayor Michael Hancock line up future campaign donations.
“Overall, this is such a massive overhaul to the zoning code with very little input and dialog from residents of neighborhoods,” Burkeholder told the Chronicle.
Two GLAC members Burkeholder focuses on are Geo Group and Core Civic, both of whom are private corrections companies. Between 2012 and 2017, both companies spent approximately $718,000 to lobby state lawmakers in Colorado, according to Follow The Money, a campaign finance research database.
Core Civic runs its state-level lobbying operations through Greenberg Taurig, a firm several councilmembers know well. Since 2003, Greenberg Taurig has donated at least $23,000 between Hancock and Ortega’s campaigns, according to each candidate’s financial disclosure forms. An overwhelming majority of the donations went to Mayor Hancock.
What About The Future?
Colorado has been experimenting with similar rules since July when Governor Polis suspended limitations on the number of people who can live together to help unhoused and displaced people into the state’s shelter system. Similarly, LUTI passed a temporary moratorium on group living developments in Chapter 59 communities and CPD issued a memo in September staff saying the agency considers enforcement of group living rules its lowest priority in September.
But, while these changes are neither permanent nor readily noticeable for many residents, some say the focus should continue to be on the future of the proposal and nailing down how it will impact homeowners across Denver.
“The only way to make this proposal work is to go back to the beginning and start over,” Burkeholder said. “We need to make sure every voice is heard, not just the one’s the city wants to hear.”
Exemplar: Drawing of Group Living in the Five Points area of New York circa 1840.
