JUDGE BLOCKS IEC

by Mark Smiley | Jan 28, 2019 | Main Articles

Rug Merchants Latest Gambit Against Glendale Fails
by Glen Richardson

The owners of Authentic Persian & Oriental Rugs on Colorado Boulevard (Mohammad Ali Kheirkhahi and his relatives through M.A.K. Investment Group LLC) suffered their latest defeat in their war against the City of Glendale, its residents and officials, in Denver District Court. M.A.K. wants to build a massive high-rise at the corner of Colorado Boulevard and East Virginia dubbed the “Iranian Death Star” by residents. Glendale residents have opposed it and the City Council has indicated that it will not scrap its Master Plan and Zoning Code to allow it.

In order to force the City and its residents to bend to its will, M.A.K. had brought a half dozen lawsuits in federal and state courts orchestrated by Russell Kemp of the Denver law firm of Ireland, Stapleton, Pryor & Pascoe, which have cost the rug merchants and the city millions of dollars in legal fees. The rug merchants hired a top public relations firm and held marches and protests with threats issued against the Mayor and City Council of Glendale. They also, it is alleged, got the FBI to unsuccessfully attempt to bribe various City officials. An undercover FBI agent, Charles Johnson, was arrested in Glendale after harassing Glendale officials and citizens who had spoken out against the M.A.K. project.

All of the lawsuits have been dismissed and the public relations efforts ended badly. But the latest gambit by the rug merchants was to file a myriad ethics charges against Glendale Mayor Mike Dunafon and other officials. The charges were dismissed as frivolous in hearings in the City of Glendale, but another attorney at the Ireland Stapleton law firm, Bernie Buescher, had a novel concept of filing them with the state Independent Ethics Commission (IEC) to which he had close ties.

The hearings on the M.A.K. claims before the IEC have taken years to adjudicate. When the IEC finally declared it had jurisdiction over the matters, suit was brought in Denver District Court before Judge Edward D. Bronfin asking that a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) be issued preventing the IEC from proceeding.

Judge Bronfin took the unusual step of skipping the TRO process and went directly to issuing a permanent injunction against the IEC declaring: “any decision made by the IEC [regarding Mayor Dunafon] is deemed null and void and is vacated. Any and all pending and further IEC investigations as about the the complaints against Mayor Dunafon are permanently enjoined.”

The ruling was closely watched and celebrated by various municipalities throughout Colorado. The IEC is viewed by many as an out of control entity which is attempting to expand its power in all directions. Much of the criticism is directed at Matt Smith who lives in Grand Junction, and William Leone who resides in New York City, who periodically shift off the IEC chairman role. Smith and Leone have asserted that the IEC is not subject to term limits or most of the state ethical rules. Smith has been on the IEC since its inception in 2007 and Leone since 2013. The two dominate the proceedings and try to cajole or, if necessary, bully the three other commissioners resulting in regular turnover at the other three spots.

Smith and Leone also have regularly claimed that IEC is not subject to the Colorado Open Records Act which is being challenged in a separate lawsuit before Judge Bronfin. Most of the IEC work is held in executive sessions away from the public. If the recordings of those sessions are made public some believe they will be highly embarrassing to Smith and Leone, or worse.

The exact question before Judge Bronfin was could IEC assert jurisdiction over ethics complaints involving home rule cities that had their own ethical standards of conduct like Glendale, Denver, Colorado Springs, and many other Colorado cities. Amendment 41 to the State Constitution, which brought the IEC into existence, expressly states that Amendment 41 does “not apply to home municipalities that have adopted charters and codes” relating to ethics. Smith and Leone have long claimed that the expressed plain language should not apply if the IEC does not believe that any charter or code is not the same or more stringent in virtually all aspects to Amendment 41. Judge Bronfin ruled the language in the Amendment was “clear” and moreover the intent of the drafters was the same and the IEC did not have jurisdiction.

Embarrassed by the ruling Smith and Leone convinced one more commissioner in a 3 to 2 vote to appeal the court ruling up to the Colorado Court of Appeals. In the Colorado legislature Leone has alienated many state legislators by personally yelling and screaming at them concerning past legislative attempts to rein in the IEC. It is expected that new legislative attempts will be made this year at the State Capitol especially since the new governor, Jared Polis, was the progenitor of Amendment 41 and may believe that Smith and Leone have not conducted themselves in an ethical manner or in a manner intended by the language of Amendment 41.

Extreme Pro Developer Council Members Kendra Black And Mary Beth Susman Will Face Opponents In Spring City Election

by Mark Smiley | Dec 17, 2018 | Main Articles

by Glen Richardson

Two members of Denver City Council deemed by some to be in the back pocket of the developers are overturning quiet residential neighborhoods in favor of unpopular high-density projects and are going to be challenged this upcoming municipal election to be held May 7, 2019. Councilmember Mary Beth Susman of District 5 and Councilmember Kendra Black of District 4 will be opposed by challengers Amanda Sawyer and Colleen Zaharadnicek respectively.

Black and Susman were part of the large council majority that approved another massive high-density development, this time at the former CDOT property near Colorado Boulevard and Arkansas. Black and Susman were viewed to have mocked and belittled residents of Virginia Vale who opposed the massive development and effectively taunted residents to try to do something about developers’ absolute control of the City Council.

Following the four-hour hearing many residents attending the event were once again outraged by the actions of Black, Susman and the other councilmembers. “Virginia Village is the latest victim in Denver City Council’s efforts to force development and density into every Denver neighborhood,” said Denver resident Florence Sebern. “Existing guidelines were either ignored or misapplied; the registered neighborhood organization was co-opted; and the much-touted ‘affordable housing’ will be subsidized via DURA and CHFA. No wonder developers love them.”

But it appears that Sawyer and Zaharadnicek are going to take up the incumbent’s challenge for residents to do something about the actions of the existing council by putting their names up for election.Developers and their lobbyists are expected to heavily fund the re-election campaigns of Black and Susman while Sawyer and Zaharadnicek will depend onaverage citizens going door to door to their neighbors to get out the vote against the well-heeled incumbents.

Sawyer who is challenging Susman is a longtime resident of District 5 which includes Hilltop and Crestmoor Park with her mother and brother living in the area. A mother of three girls she is a licensed Colorado attorney with an MBA and is an entrepreneur. Her campaign will concentrate on neighborhood safety, property values and the economic future of the city.

Zaharadnicek, a University Hills resident who is opposing Black, is a real estate developer who grew up in Denver and spent time abroad in Prague, and returned to Denver in 2013 to a town she did not recognize. “The boom blew my mind. I kind of wasn’t really expecting it. . . . I saw a lot more visible homeless people. I had a lot of friends that complained about the market — they still can’t rent and they still can’t buy.”

Black and Susman have incensed some residents by pushing heroin injection sites for local neighborhoods. A local businessperson who did not want to be identified for this story noted: “It is one thing to destroy neighborhoods by overcrowding and density and another to be useful idiots for the Sinaloa cartel. Yes they would cause heroin to become essentially legal in Denver and how many lives they would destroy is untold. It is not compassionate to subsidize heroin use by providing needles, syringes, Naloxone and attendants. We need City Council members who care about our kids and not making life easier and more profitable for Honduran drug dealers. These two elected officials are a disgrace and a danger to any community.”

Another issue which may become a hot button topic during the spring campaign is the refusal of Black, Susman and the rest of the Council to hold Mayor Michael Hancock responsible for his sexual harassment of Denver Police Detective Leslie Branch-Wise and the use of taxpayer funds as hush money to try to buy the silence of the police detective.

While beating incumbent City Council members has never been easy in Denver the victory of Rafael Espinoza over incumbent Susan Shepherd in District 1 in the last city election shows that in can be done.

The election date for Denver is May 7. If no candidate for an elected office obtains 50% of the vote, a runoff of the top two candidates will be held on June 4.

Citizens Outraged: Some voters in District 4 and 5 are outraged at Black and Susman for voting to place heroin sites in their neighborhoods, as well as their helping developers destroy Denver neighborhoods with high-density developments and attendant traffic jams.

Holly Street Super Block: The Denver City Council has given approval for a 12-acre portion of the former CDOT headquarters property along Arkansas Street. The developer and the city declined to say how they would address the massive traffic jams the development will cause in the Virginia Village neighborhood and along Colorado Boulevard.

Super Search Finalist Susana Cordova At Center Of DPS Controversy: Which Way Will She Go?

by Mark Smiley | Dec 17, 2018 | Main Articles

by Ruthy Wexler

The November 29 announcement that Susana Cordova had been chosen as the sole finalist for Denver Public Schools (DPS) Superintendent came as good news to some but an unpleasant shock to others. Ever since former DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg said on July 17 that he would step down, rumors persisted that DPS insiders had already handpicked Deputy Superintendent Cordova as his successor. But days after Boasberg’s announcement, Denver’s Board of Education (BOE) made one of their own: they would conduct an utterly transparent, community-informed, nationwide “Super Search” to find, as BOE President Anne Rowe said, “the best possible individual to lead DPS forward.”For four and one-half months, over 4,500 citizens — families, students,educators, even DPS’s staunchest critics — attended community forums to say what they wanted in a new superintendent. Then the BOE called a last-minute meeting to say they had a finalist: Susana Cordova.

Critics got their mojo back and denounced DPS for wasting taxpayer money with the elaborate (nine Town Halls, 100 small forums, two consulting firms) and expensive ($161,375) Super Search. But Rowe proudly pointed to the high level of community involvement and, brandishing the 86-page Community Report, she defended the coincidental nature of the board’s choice: “Cordova possesses every attribute the community said it wanted.”

Was Susana Cordova truly the best person to lead DPS forward? Or had the Super Search been, as many claimed, a “super sham?”

Continue Or Confront?

Part of the answer, some said, lay in the mess Boasberg left behind as he flew off to Singapore for his new job. Besides scandals at several high schools, a more difficult-to-address mess lay in the educational policies Boasberg had cemented into the city’s school system, policies that a new superintendent would either continue — or confront.

Many parents and educators agree with East High Principal John Youngquist’s statement that “DPS needs to address failure.”

For 15 years, DPS has hewed to only one education theory: the data-driven “reform” model. Boasberg did not just follow his friend and predecessor Michael Bennet’s reform ideas. Aided by an unusually long tenure (10 years) and cooperative (or convinced) boards, Boasberg brooked no opposition as he installed reform notions like high stakes testing, evaluating teachers on student test scores and closing neighborhood schools.

In recent years, however, evidence has flowed in that reform educational notions make bold promises but bear little fruit. The Gates Foundation admits “We haven’t seen the large impact we had hoped for.” Closer to home, in April 2018, the National Association of Education Progress (NAEP) released data showing DPS’s “achievement gap” between low-income students and those from more affluent backgrounds as unusually large. Another study showed that gap to be third largest in the nation. Even pro-reform groups like A+ Colorado admit “Denver has “some of the largest [achievement] gaps between different groups of students.” Since 70% of DPS students are black or Hispanic, a majority low-income, many parents have grasped the significance of the achievement gap. 

Increasing numbers of Denver parents and teachers haveformed and joined community groups to “take back” their public schools. Manyworked to elect school board candidates who felt similarly. This last election,two such candidates, Dr. Carrie Olson and Jennifer Bacon, won seats — and on November 29, voted “no” on the resolution to approve Cordova as sole finalist.(There were three finalists, but two dropped out.)

After the resolution passed, 5-2, Cordova said, “I learned a lot from Tom, but I am not him … I’m a much more collaborative leader.” Some believed Cordova was signaling her intention, once appointed, to listen more closely to the community than Boasberg ever did.

The BOE is due to appoint someone — almost certainly Cordova — on December 17. Until then, Cordova anticipates showing — at community meetings around the city — ”what I believe and who I am.”

Who Are You?

Referencing the list of attributes the community said it wanted, one DPS principal said, “They want an educator above everything. Susana has spent her entire career as a teacher, principal, administrator. Check. They want someone committed to Denver … who sends their kids to DPS schools. Check, check, check …”

Board Vice President Barbara O’Brien said Cordova fulfills other community requests “coming from the Latino community and being bilingual.”

On December 5, at North High, in Cordova’s first appearance since being named finalist, a colleague described Cordova as “warm, caring and sensitive,” then opened the floor for questions.

“What will you do about the achievement gap?” a parent asked.

“Being Latina … the achievement gap is very personal to me,” Cordova began. “I know what that gap means to families … jobs …” She then proceeded to deliver upbeat generalities; e.g., “With support, our schools can improve”; “We need to value our teachers more”; which caused an observer to mutter, “Platitudes will get her nowhere. She needs a specific plan!”

Only when asked twice if “school closings are still on the table, “ did Cordova go specific. “I think [closing a school] has to be one of the tools in our toolbox,” she finally said.

Why Not Cordova?

“The strategies [Cordova] championed as deputy superintendent are now being held up as examples of why the reform movement is not working,” says teacher Anna Noble.

“If these policies aren’t working, why would we want someone who believes in them to be superintendent?” says former BOE member Jeannie Kaplan.

“I went to the [December 5] meeting with an open mind,” says Jane Diamond, activist and DPS parent. “I believe that Susana is a bright and sincere person. What I didn’t hear was passion, innovation, energy, anything new or inspiring.”

“New direction is needed,” insists DPS parent Maggie Miller.

Activist Brandon Pryor recently brought attention to Cordova’s involvement in the “AmeriCorps scandal.” The AmeriCorps program, overseen by Cordova and two others, was terminated in June 2018, when a state agency discovered DPS hadn’t complied with requirements and must pay the program back. “This will set taxpayers back millions,” said Pryor, who said the real scandal was Cordova’s complicity “with a program that allowed unlicensed individuals to teach in DPS classrooms.”

Conflict Of Interest?

Cordova is married to Eric Duran, Managing Director in the Denver office of D.A. Davidson, a firm that has participated in bonds where Denver tax dollars go to a charter school. Contradicting O’Brien’s insistence that “there is no conflict of interest … Eric’s firm has not done business with DPS charters for 10 years,” public records show only a few years back, Duran’s firm did an $8.3 million-dollar deal with a DPS Charter School known as Highline.

Duran’s firm has pledged “not to conduct business with DPS.” But some point to Cordova’s already profiting from charter school bond deals as sufficient conflict of interest.

A Little Help From Her Friends

Months before the Super Search meetings began, parents and community leaders were urged through phone calls from a DPS insider to be “part of the campaign to support Susana Cordova.” One parent said the caller “insisted ‘Susana was her own person.’ So I asked, ‘Then why does she support Boasberg’s policies?’ and they said, ‘Oh, she can’t say no to her boss!’”

“It could be Susana has been in DPS too long,” mused Kaplan, whose vast store of knowledge about DPS and fairmindedness are respected on all sides. “But maybe … she’s biding her time, waiting till she’s confirmed to break out of the mold.”

Endgame

In a November 28 post on her blog Kaplan for Kids, Kaplan gave a blistering assessment of DPS’s history and suggested that DPS, rather than learning from failure, seeks to hide that failure by appointing Cordova.

In a more recent conversation, Kaplan said she wished Cordova well. “I want her to succeed! And I think she could, if she sees this as a great opportunity. But in order to succeed, she has to reach out to the other side.

“A perfect way to do that,” Kaplan said, “would be to name Antwan Jefferson — he does amazing work — as deputy superintendent. That would bring a whole other part of the community into this discussion.” “She could, if she really wanted to, be a bridge-builder! And that would be so amazing for DPS.” Others say that Cordova should pick a deputy superintendent that aligns with her as well as the majority of the BOE opinions.

One School Turned The Corner And Soared: Can Other Schools Learn And Follow?

by Mark Smiley | Nov 19, 2018 | Main Articles

Team Meeting: In the library, Principal Sheldon Reynolds, Meg Emrick, Sarah Ronoh and a representative from DPS’s Imaginarium plan how they will measure and observe the process called Distributive Learning, where students own their learning process. As a perfect example of Distributive Leadership, Reynolds says little, giving Emrick and Ronoh space to guide the discussion.

by Ruthy Wexler

When in December 2017, Principal Sheldon Reynolds heard that Greenlee Elementary, the school he’d been reviving for just 18 months, might be closed — over test scores that hadn’t climbed fast enough — he was not happy. How Reynolds turned this scenario around — reinventing the school according to Denver Public School’s (DPS) requirements, then transforming it according it to his original vision so successfully that families outside the neighborhood now choose it — is a balancing act worth studying. How did he succeed where so many have failed? And what is the recipe, so others can follow?

It Ain’t Me, Babe

Asking Reynolds those questions will not get a straight answer.

Praised for the happily humming classrooms at what is now Center for Talent Development at Greenlee (CTD), Reynolds says, “It’s not me. It’s the teachers doing that.”

Asked the secret of putting a failing school on the road to success, Reynolds says, “When I came, there was a ton of talent already here. We just identified those talents.”

This was Reynolds’ original vision: seeing an underperforming school as filled with “gifts and talents.” What’s new is what he’s done with that vision.

Introspection

“When DPS slated Greenlee for closure, I thought it was the worst thing ever,” Reynolds recalls. “But it ended up being the best thing. Because it made us come up with our model.”

Reynolds did “a lot of soul searching” before he wrote a plan that would get him back in charge of Greenlee. He’d given it his best shot. What was missing? Brainstorming with staff, the model that finally was

Learn from the Best: Sarah Ronoh is both a parent and staff member at CTD. “We’re all in a constant state of learning,” says Ronoh, whose job it is to study the “best practices” teachers come up with and share what works. A teacher, Ronoh wanted to go into administration and asked Reynolds for a job, so she would work with him and learn leadership “from the best.”

one that fleshed out the “gifted and talented” vision with lots of structure.

“The idea,” says Reynolds now, “is only as good as how you implement that idea.”

Use Every Resource

Once CTD was a go, Reynolds reached out to departments inside DPS — like Tiered Support, which agreed to grant money; Gifted and Talented and the Imaginarium. Soon, a partnership was formed.

“Those departments all got together,” recalls Sarah Ronoh, a Greenlee parent who became CDT’s Innovation and Implementation Partner, “and said [to Reynolds], ‘Hey! We’re super curious about what you are doing. We want to study it!”

Ronoh now works with those departments to observe the changes staff puts in place and measure the results.

Freedom And Trust

Meg Emrick, who’d been teaching at Greenlee for five years when Reynolds arrived, already thought the kids had “terrific talents. Sheldon gave us the freedom to figure out how to make those talents come alive.

“We were encouraged to take risks. To think outside the box. Sheldon trusted us. That freedom and trust made us feel valued and needed,” concludes Emrick, who went from classroom teacher to Senior Team Lead to her present position as Dean of Instruction — a “perfect example,” says Reynolds, of “tapping staff talent and watching them grow.”

Research

A little while back, Reynolds told every teacher, “The first 15 m

Enthusiastic: While on lunch duty, Principal Sheldon Reynolds helps a boy put air into his ball. It’s a telling image. The phenomenon of how Reynolds manages to enroll an entire school in his vision, get students and staff to work harder and more enthusiastically than ever before — all the while empowering others and claiming less power for himself — is the heart of CTD’s success.

inutes of every day, I want you to teach your students how to use tools here in the school.”

“That’s all he said,” notes Ronoh, who for “weeks and weeks, went to each classroom and wrote down what each teacher did with this assignment. Then Sheldon and I got together, looked at what got that idea of tools across — then shared it out to staff.”

Reynolds points to three banners: Use Tools Strategically. Construct Informed Arguments. Connect Learning. “These are the habits we want for our kids. We are learning about learning. We’ve just scratched the surface.

“Now we are taking time to measure how well [new ideas] work.

“Design research … another shift for me. Before, I would roll an idea out to the whole staff. Now, I have a couple of things cookin’ in the lab, people working on them. When we finally roll ‘em out, I’ve already had user feedback.”

Leadership

“Sheldon doesn’t stand up there and tell us what to do,” Ronoh observes. “He says his vision. Then he distributes leadership. He completely trusts me to do what I do, completely trusts Meg …”

That works so well that “Sheldon can leave the building, for a day, a week, however long he needs, and things will still be up and running.”

What makes him that kind of leader?

“He has somehow,” Ronoh says, “gotten to this place where he knows empowering people, having faith in them, brings out the best.”

“How did you get to that place?” a visitor asks Reynolds.

After he lists a bunch of influences, Reynolds says, “Basically, it boils down to, most situations are what they are. The only things you can control is how you react. Which is why I push … my teachers and students to recognize they have agency in almost every situation.”

Success

The 2017-2018 test scores showed that this school — classified by DPS as “red” (failing) for years before Reynolds came — turned “green” (meets expectations) on their academic gaps indicator and are “green” in almost every growth indicator.

Reynolds points to all the help he’s received. As an Innovation School, CTD is free to experiment. Tiered Support gives extra money.

“The vision is starting to become the reality,” he admits. “It’s a good place to work now.”

They are studying how CTD got to this outcome, Ronoh says, “so hopefully, they can duplicate it somewhere else.”

“Research. Distributive Leadership. We have to figure out all the components. But what we really need to do is clone Sheldon.”

Troubling Time For Train Trips As RTD’s Rapid Transit Is Far From Fast

by Mark Smiley | Nov 19, 2018 | Main Articles

Travel Times Are Longer Than The Same Trip By Bus; Usually Uber, Lyft, Bike, Scooter And An App Are Faster

by Glen Richardson

Train To Plane Pain: The 22.8-mile spur from downtown to DIA was expected to speed regional airport travel. Plagued by software problems, however, flaggers keep returning to crossings along the A Line between Union Station and DIA.

Tracking Trouble: As train problems increased RTD has resorted to flying drones to keep light rail systems in reliable motion. The aerial machines monitor the conditions of rail tracks and alignments.

“Less traffic congestion and more commuting options will improve the region’s quality of life and make Denver that much more attractive to residents and businesses,” declared then RTD Chief Cal Marsella at Rapid Transit’s 2006 launch.

Denver’s light rails trains, however, keep getting off track or making switchbacks — train lingo for reversing directions.

In the dozen years since Denver sent its neighborhoods down the transit tracks, the endless headlines haven’t been affable. Consider just a few from the last 10 months:

• Disruptions Delay Airport Travel – Feb.;
• Two Men Rob, Fatally Shoot Man At RTD Rail Station – March;
• The A Line Stuck For Hours Friday – April;
• Riders On Several Denver Light Rail Routes Run Into Long Delays – Aug.;
• RTD To Close 4 Downtown Light Rail Lines For 10 Days – Sept.; and
• Pedestrian Hit By Train In The Baker Neighborhood Has Died – Oct.

Rail Squeal

The speed myth is that rail transit is rapid transit. When the time needed for station access, transfer, waiting, and delays are taken into account, local riders insinuate that by and large, “rail travel times are longer than the time required for the same trip by bus.”

Moreover, business travelers are discovering the same thing: “Overall, not a bad ride,” declared Phil, a New York businessman. But he’s quick to add, “If you are not in a rush and know where you are going. Yet, I coughed up the cash for a taxi to bring me back to my hotel as it was way quicker and more convenient since I had a flight to catch.”

In addition to the speed concern, light rail ridership is increasingly being tied to competing alternatives. “If you have a car, a bike or a scooter on an app in your hand, and it’s right there, why not use that?” asks Jeff, who admits to being an area yuppie. His point: “You don’t have the indignity of being stuck at an RTD Park-N-Ride or on the side of the road for a bus that never comes.”

Riders Slump, Rates Jump

RTD’s rail service in Denver includes eight light rail lines plus two commuter rail lines. Light rail serves downtown Denver from the west (W Line), southwest (C and D Lines, along US 85), and southeast (E, F, and H Lines, along the I-25 corridor). Most light rail lines operate every 15 minutes or less throughout the day, including evenings and weekends. Light rail lines serve either Union Station or 16th & California-Stout Stations at either end of downtown Denver.

Transit ridership fell in 31 of 35 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. last year, including less than expected in Denver. As ridership slumps, rates will jump in Denver. With fewer riders than expected, RTD is raising the rates charged passengers effective January 1. A one-way ride from DIA on the A Line jumps from $9 to $10.50. Local fares increase to $3, up 40-cents and regional fares go up 75-cents to $5.25.

Denver averaged 67,500 weekday boardings last year, ranking the city seventh behind both Portland and San Diego. As a contrast reference, San Francisco’s Embarcadero averages 162,500-weekday boardings.

Commuter Rail Venture

The A and B Lines along with the G Line when it eventually opens, are RTD’s first foray in commuter rail. The trains are much heavier and go faster than the agency’s light rail — up to 79 mph. The lines are being built and operated by a private consortium known as Denver Transit Operators. The Transit Operators and their subcontractors are all under contract to RTD.

RTD has trumpeted the A and B Lines for being the first commuter rail lines in the country to integrate a PTC system (Positive Train Control) into its construction. The system, however, has had a shaky start, including with the PTC-controlled wireless crossing gates that have constantly led to flaggers being stationed at grade crossings. Insinuations have been made that the malfunctioning PTC system may be due to a bad design of the A Line itself.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) requires a minimum warning time of 20 seconds before a train enters the crossing. The A Line timing is often a great deal beyond the requirement. This is the foremost reason why the planned RTD G Line is delayed.

Delays, Lawsuit

Metro leaders in Denver’s north and western suburbs have constantly complained because of the delays associated with the rail lines promised in the 2005 FasTracks vote. RTD initially set an opening of this year (2018) when construction began on the North line four years ago. The 13-mile line will carry passengers between Northglenn and downtown’s Union Station.

RTD now estimates its future northern suburb commuter rail line won’t open until the spring of 2020, a delay of approximately six months beyond the estimate made last year of late 2019. Northglenn’s Mayor Carol Dodge isn’t surprised by the most recent delay. “We figured it was going to be 2020, because they really haven’t kept their promises on many of the openings.”

Delays and other problems with Denver’s A Line have resulted in a September lawsuit against RTD by Denver Transit Partners. The suit accuses RTD of “breach of contract, violation of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing” and seeks “declaratory relief against the district’s refusal to accept changes in law and unforeseeable circumstances,” according to Waukesha, Wis.-based Trains Magazine. The magazine article quotes The Denver Post as saying the group of private companies are suing RTD for “tens of millions of dollars.”

Management Matters

Critics suggest many of RTD’s problems are a result of “train operations and management.” They related Denver’s problem to the procedures and related equipment enabling a coherent operation of the different structural subsystem, both during normal and degraded operation. In particular they refer to train driving, traffic planning and management.

In March CPR News reported incidents of speeding, blown red signals and even derailments in the maintenance yard. Interviews by CPR’s Nathaniel Minor with former and current engineers cited “a constant push to remain on time, tired operators and low wages that contribute to high employee turnover and, subsequently inexperienced engineers.”

The broadcast came shortly after RTD named Michael Ford its new chief operating officer in February. In the new position created by the agency, Ford is to “work with train operators, mechanics, and support staff to ensure the agency’s operations are reliable, safe and clean.”

Beauty & The Beast: Denver’s Union Station is an architectural marvel. All RTD needs to do now is solve its operational issues and get trains operating on time without delays.

Did A Glendale Sandwich Kill Elvis Presley?

by Mark Smiley | Oct 24, 2018 | Main Articles

by Mark Smiley

Elvis In The Building: Elvis Presley, seen here eating a “Fools Gold” sandwich at the Colorado Mine Company in Glendale, once boarded his private jet from Memphis and flew 1,000 miles to have a midnight snack in Glendale.

The “King of Rock and Roll” Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977, at his home in Graceland purportedly sitting on a porcelain throne in his bathroom. The cause of his death at age 42 was cardiac arrhythmia, i.e. a heart attack. Some of his admirers have blamed his death on the “Fools Gold” sandwich from the Colorado Mine Company in Glendale, Colorado, while others have blamed it on the potpourri of drugs that flowed through his system at the time. But fans claim the “Fools Gold” sandwich was, in fact, deadlier for the heart than almost any drug.

The sandwich consisted of an entire loaf of sourdough bread with massive amounts of peanut butter and blueberry jam along with crisp bacon. The sandwich was an alternative, fun staple at the Colorado Mine Company which was an upscale steak, lobster and prime rib restaurant in the heart of Glendale. On East Virginia Avenue, p

Good Old Days: The Colorado Mine Company was a hot spot along Virginia Avenue in Glendale in the 1970s and 1980s.

rofessional athletes, rock stars and other celebrities hung out at the establishment when they came to Denver during Glendale’s entertainment heyday in the 1970s and early 1980s.

The Colorado Mine Company was owned by Buck and Cindy Scott. The Lift Nightclub was across the street and Mr. Lucky’s was next door, which was purportedly owned by the Detroit mob. Adjoining the Colorado Mine Company was Glendale’s Municipal Wastewater Plant. The restaurant had large bay windows which looked out upon a scenic pond that, in fact, was a wastewater pool but, in the moonlight, appeared highly romantic.

The Colorado Mine Company under Buck and Cindy’s aegis began in 1971 with  16-year-old chef Nick Andurlakis, the progenitor of the “Fools Gold” sandwich at the food helm. “We took off pretty good. We were doing 2,000 dinners per night,” said Andurlakis. The restaurant in its heyday served the 2,000 meals nightly at 400 tables.

The restaurant closed with the demise of the oil boom in 1982. Among the celebrities who hung out there were Clint Eastwood and his wife, Davey Jones the lead singer for the Monkees, as well as actor Telly Savalas. But there was no greater star at the time than Elvis Presley, who visited the restaurant on eight different occasions.

Although Elvis is gone, Andurlakis is not and, in fact, owns and operates Nick’s Café at 777-1/2 Simms Street in Golden. Elvis memorabilia adorns the walls of his café with a story behind each picture. Every year on Elvis’s birthday, January 8, many of the King’s fans flock to the café to partake in the “Fool’s Gold” Sandwich.

Elvis loved the sandwich so much that on February 1, 1976, he took his private jet to Denver in order to have a midnight snack. Elvis arrived in Denver and was greeted at 1:40 a.m. by Buck and Cindy Scott of the Colorado Mine Company carrying 22 fresh Fool’s Gold Loaves. He was then escorted to the restaurant by a platoon of Denver police officers led by Jerry Kennedy, then Chief of Police of the City and County of Denver.

Elvis ate three 8,000 calorie sandwiches and gave two to his daughter L

Still Serving: The “Fools Gold” sandwich is still available at Nick’s Café in Golden. He is pictured here holding the original Colorado Mine Company menu and the original platter he served the sandwich on to Elvis. Nick Andurlakis has operated his café for 32 years. It is open 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day.

isa Marie. Andurlakis still has the platter on which he delivered the five sandwiches.

Andurlakis remembers Elvis fondly. One time, Elvis noticed that Nick was looking at and admiring his necklace. Elvis took it off and put it on his neck telling him it was now his and no amount of protestations from Andurlakis would deter him. Andurlakis has never taken the necklace off from the time it was given to him by Elvis except for an operation when he was given no choice in the matter.

The cost of the sandwich at the Mine Company was $37.95, but on the menu it was stated, “This price is negotiable. (Inflation is killin’ us!).” Andurlakis states that Buck and Cindy would tell the waitresses that anything over $20, they were to keep for themselves. Since the waitresses were often extremely attractive and the normal male consumer may have been drinking prodigiously they often got more than the list price of $37.95.

Elvis impersonators love to stop by Nick’s Café and partake in the sandwich. Cody Ray Slaughter, an award-winning Elvis Tribute star, who has appeared on such shows as the Late Show with David Letterman, was recently in town appearing at the Lakewood Cultural Center. He reports that you cannot perform for several hours after consuming a “Fools Gold” sandwich as the peanut butter stays with you for hours.

In light of Glendale looking forward to bringing back its entertainment district along Virginia Avenue, to be titled Glendale 180, members of the Greater Glendale Chamber of Commerce are hoping to lure Andurlakis back to Glendale for a special event. Sometime during this occasion, the mayor might present him a key to the city. No better way, it is thought, to bring Glendale’s past and present together.