by Mark Smiley | Mar 1, 2018 | Main Articles
by Julie Hayden
Family Ties: Steve Barlock, right, a GOP gubernatorial candidate is seeking to get on the ballot through the caucus system. He is pictured here with David Peterson, left, owner of the Bull & Bush. They both attended the Greater Glendale Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours at Salvage Restaurant last month. Barlock’s father Ed, an attorney, helped get the Bull & Bush off the ground in the late ’60s and early ’70s.
Colorado Republicans and Democrats are hosting their party caucuses in March 2018. And while the two parties do not see eye to eye on a lot these days they do agree on one thing. The precinct caucuses are a crucial part of the political process.
“When you attend your precinct caucus you can be a deciding vote of who gets on the ballot,” says Denver Republican Party Chairman Jake Viano. “This is where it all starts as to whose name is actually on the ballot. The people at the precinct caucuses are the ones who start the vetting process on all of the possible candidates.”
Mike Cerbo, Chairman of the Democratic Party of Denver, explains, “The precinct caucuses are grassroots democracy and that has a long tradition in this state.”
The caucuses are held the first Tuesday of March, this year that’s March 6, 2018. The precinct caucuses are held in neighborhood locations like schools, libraries or homes. People attend the caucuses to start the process of choosing candidates for the 2018 Democrat and Republican state primary ballots. Delegates are chosen at the precinct level to represent candidates at each party’s various assemblies.
2016 Democratic Caucus In Denver: Both political parties agree Colorado’s precinct caucus system is grassroots democracy at its best.
They will also help shape the party’s platform. “If you want to make the political party better, “Viano says, “Show up at the caucuses. This is where the platform starts. It’s your opportunity to have your voice heard on the candidates and the issues.” Political insiders say it’s also a good way to get to know your neighbors. “It’s a great way to meet like-minded people in your neighborhood,” Viano says.
In Colorado, candidates can get on the ballot by going through the caucus system or by gathering petitions. Some question the caucus system. Colorado’s Republican Party Chairman Jeff Hayes earlier this year sent a letter to county Republican officers in which he wrote: “Our caucus system is arcane and new people are often justifiably paranoid about missing key information or ‘insiders’ controlling access or process.” That drew immediate fire from others who say the precinct caucus system is the heart and soul of our democracy.
Many see neighborhood caucuses as the truest form of grassroots representation. Cerbo says, “Could the process be updated? Maybe. But the rules are tied up in statutory language and it could be hard to make a lot of changes.”
Party officers want to make sure people understand the ballot referendum passed by voters last year to have “open primaries” does not affect the precinct caucuses.
The June 26 Colorado Primary is open to unaffiliated voters this year. But to participate in the March precinct caucuses, you have to have been registered as a Republican or a Democrat since at least January 8, 2018, and at the address in the precinct since February 5, 2018.
Viano says he is pushing for record numbers of people showing up at the Denver Republican caucuses and hopes that enthusiasm continues through the November general election. He says, “We have to show up to help Republicans win statewide.”
Cerbo is also hoping for a strong turnout at the Democrat caucuses. “There is a lot of interest this year.”
Both chairmen advise get there early. The caucuses start at 7 p.m. and you can pre-register starting at 6:30 p.m. They wrap up at approximately 9 p.m.
To determine the location of your caucus and get further information visit www.colo radodems.org or www.cologop.org.
by Mark Smiley | Mar 1, 2018 | Main Articles
by Glen Richardson
Target: Mayor of Hallandale, Florida, Joy Cooper was viewed as an honest and competent mayor of the city since 2011. In 2012 the FBI targeted her and in 2018 filed three felony counts and one misdemeanor charge against her for taking what appears to be minor campaign contributions in 2012. It allowed her political opponent Keith London, apparently favored by the FBI, to take over the city. Many believe that the charges are politically motivated by the FBI and may be similar to the false corruption charges brought by the FBI against Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Hidden Clues: In a June 2016 guest editorial by Nasrin Kholghy (sister-in-law of Mohammad Ali Kheirkhahi) titled “Truth, Lies and Coverups” she included a rendering of what the proposed project might look like. Numerous readers wrote to the Chronicle, that if you look very closely at the figures in the graphic, above, almost all of the individuals are dressed in Islamic garb. It is not known whether the rug merchants intended that the project in Glendale be largely limited to one group of people and exclude others although no such intent has ever been publicly stated by them.
According to the U.S. Congressional Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence various top FBI officials, including James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, had definite preferences on who they wanted to be the President of the United States and allegedly took actions to implement their preference.
Apparently, at the local level, the FBI may also want to be able to select who gets to head up towns and municipalities regardless of who the voters may prefer. Under the Obama Administration the FBI and the Justice Department also got involved in hyper-local zoning decisions under the rubric of fighting Islamophobia as well as other social justice causes. The FBI recently had the Mayor of Hallandale Beach, Florida, removed in order to have her political opponent, favored by the FBI, Keith London become mayor. The FBI may have plotted to do the same in Glendale.
The Denver FBI under Jonathan Grusing, head of the Public Integrity Section appears to have wanted Glendale to approve the building of a massive apartment/condominium building on Colorado Boulevard that was adamantly opposed by Glendale citizens and Denver neighborhoods.
Persons who publicly opposed the Kheirkhahi/Grusing project were harassed and threatened by FBI undercover agent Charles Johnson, at the direction of Grusing, at their homes and places of work. If persons complained about Johnson’s strong-arm tactics to the local police in Glendale and Lakewood, Grusing sent in FBI Special Agent Kimberly Milka to further intimidate them, apparently for the purpose of getting them not to testify against Johnson in court. Possibly the Department basis for attack on everyday citizens exercising what they thought was their constitutional right to oppose a real estate development project, was that Kheirkhahi and his extended family are Islamists. The Obama Justice Department a
pparently deemed any such opposition to be a form of Islamophobia even though most of the people who opposed the project had no idea of what religious identity the owners of the land had.
Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, Agent Grusing allegedly developed a close personal relationship with Mohammad Ali who, along with family members, owned the Authentic Persian and Oriental Rugs shop along Colorado Boulevard and the associated 3.8 acres of developable land where the massive apartment/condominium project would be built. Kheirkhahi and his related family are all from Iran and have maintained close business relations with relatives and business associates in Iran as well as China and India. It is not known whether Kheirkhahi and/ or family members may also have been FBI informants concerning Iran or the Iranian American community in the United States.
Individual citizens who voiced opposition to the project were hunted down and harassed until Johnson’s arrest by the Glendale Police Department on March 17, 2016.
The FBI demanded Arapahoe County D.A. George Brauchler dismiss all charges against Johnson “for reasons that cannot be disclosed.” Brauchler suspected that something illicit was being undertaken by Grusing and the FBI and demanded that the request be in writing, signed by the Denver Special Agent in charge. He then made the letter a public document. Because of Brauchler’s courageous actions the FBI plot was exposed to the public and became national news due to national investigative reporters like Trevor Aaronson of the internationally respected website The Intercept headed by Glen Greenwald.
After the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle reported the opposition to Kheirkhahi’s project Fox 31 News discovered that the offices of the Chronicle were under 24-hour surveillance by undercover operatives presumably under the direction of the FBI.
Johnson had posed as a documentary filmmaker in the Cliven Bundy case in Nevada, and was expected to be a key witness in the Nevada trial until all charges were dismissed with prejudice in January by U.S. District Court Judge Gloria M. Navarro due to massive fraud and misconduct by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice. It is not known whether Grusing played any role in the fraud on the court in Nevada.
What was not known at the time was FBI Special Agent Grusing’s plan to remove Glendale elected officials as well as city department heads who opposed his friend Kheirkhahi’s project as the FBI had accomplished in Florida.
Joy Cooper was the mayor of Hallandale, Florida, a small city (population 37,113) on the east coast of Florida in Broward County north of Miami. It is the home of Gulfstream Park Racing and Casino. Ms. Cooper had a reputation as a conscientious and honest mayor in the town, but in 2012 the FBI decided to go after her.
Undercover FBI agents pretended to be wealthy developers and they approached a lawyer friend and supporter Alan Koslow and pretended to seek favor for a project in Hallandale Beach. She met with the undercover agents and the lawyer with the meetings recorded on audio or video. The agents met with Cooper and agents at City Hall and the FBI contends promised favorable treatment in return for two campaign contributions of $5,000 each, one before a primary and one after.
Contribution limits for that election were $500 per person. Attorney Koslow delivered checks from 10 individuals who each contributed $500 for Cooper’s re-election campaign.
What was surprising is the small amount of the purported bribe as campaign contributions. Moreover, bundling of contributions is done throughout the United States and is not illegal. The Mayor of Denver and Denver City Council members take in hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Denver developers, their lawyers and lobbyists and the developers receive extraordinary favorable treatment notwithstanding citizen outrage throughout the city. Taking on mayors of large towns like Denver by the FBI would create political firestorms and thus mayors of small towns are ones more often targeted by the FBI and which fit perfectly with Grusing’s plan.
Perhaps in Hallandale, there is on the tapes, the so-called quid pro quo statement whereby the mayor guarantees approval of the project in return for the relatively small contributions but many in the community are highly skeptical. They note infamous false corruption scandals undertaken by the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department in the case of U.S. Senator from Alaska Ted Stevens and former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell.
In Glendale, Deputy City Manager Chuck Line reported that persons posing as wealthy foreign developers appeared to repeatedly ask questions of him trying to solicit bribes. Eventually Line concluded that the individuals were undercover FBI agents or informants sent by Grusing seeking a political coup.
In a meeting in Glendale, FBI Agents Grusing and Johnson tried to solicit a Glendale businessman with close financial con
nections to Kheirkhahi to wear a wire and offer bribes to Glendale Mayor Mike Dunafon. The local businessman declined and reported the attempt to local officials. Mayor Dunafon had previously reported other individuals were involved in possible bribe attempts. The Glendale police would report the same to the FBI until they determined it was the FBI who were the ones setting up the bribe attempts.
Why was Special Agent Grusing trying to get officials in Glendale to take bribes? Hallandale Beach, Florida, appears to provide the answer. By charging Cooper, it resulted in Florida Governor Rick Scott removing her as mayor and promoting longtime rival Keith London to be elevated to the spot. If Dunafon would have been charged, then Mayor Pro-Tem Paula Bovo would have become mayor. While Ms. Bovo was ostensibly an ally of Mayor Dunafon, her husband was suspected to be working with the Kheirkhahi family and his car was allegedly spotted in front of their store. He may also have been in regular contact with the FBI.
With Dunafon out of the picture Kheirkhahi’s massive project might easily pass an FBI intimidated City Council. If the charges were found to be fraudulent and Dunafon reinstituted as mayor it would not matter as the prior City Council approval would stand.
The FBI refuses to comment on the allegations related to G
Small Town USA: Hallandale, Florida, is a small town (population 37,113) on the east coast of Florida north of Miami. It was previously best known as the home of Gulfstream Horse Racing Park and Casino until the FBI decided to undertake an undercover sting to replace Mayor Joy Cooper with her political opponent Keith London.
rusing and the Kheirkhahi project and it is assumed if forced to, the agency would claim it was just engaged in monitoring honest and good government. Moreover, it would assert that Grusing’s and Kheirkhahi’s relationship was purely professional in nature. But as the Whitey Bulger case of FBI malfeasance in Boston demonstrated, professional relationships often morph into much more. Since the FBI is accountable at the local level to no one it is likely the exact nature of its assault on the citizens and institutions of Glendale will never be fully revealed. The old Roman saying — Quis custodiet Ipsos custodes (Who watches the watchmen) — has never been so true as it applies to the FBI. The Roman Praetorian Guard was formed to protect Roman emperors but they soon took it upon themselves to remove and replace the emperors with persons selected by them.
Such corruption of the FBI under James Comey has been alleged to have occurred in Washington. If Glendale is any example the rot has infected the lower levels of the bureau also. As Grusing is believed to be a rising star in the FBI, average U.S. citizens may have much to fear in the coming years from their public servants at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
by Mark Smiley | Jan 29, 2018 | Main Articles
Denver Ranked Country’s Sixth Most Endangered City; Audit Finds City Isn’t Disaster Ready
by Glen Richardson
Sparking Fear: Winds and hot, dry weather spark fire danger that can change rapidly. The state’s largest — the Hayman Fire — killed five firefighters, destroyed 133 homes and burned 137,000 acres between Colorado Springs and Denver.
Tornado Alley: Denver has avoided a major tornado but in May 2008, just 59 miles north, the town of Windsor was declared a national disaster. The twister killed one and caused $125 million in damages.
Despite the horrific damage inflicted upon Houston, the Florida Keys and Puerto Rico by hurricanes last year, most Cherry Creek Valley residents think they’re relatively safe from Mother Nature compared to most major metro areas. Wrong: Five counties in Colorado — mostly along the urban corridor — are ranked as very high risks. Fact: Denver is the sixth most endangered major city in the country. Moreover, the likelihood for mass shootings, wildfires and terror attacks are equally likely here as anywhere.
To make matters worse the City of Denver is not prepared to continue non-emergency but mission-essential services in the event of a disaster. In a just released appraisal City Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien, CPA, found that insufficient guidance and training could mean a longer recovery period before city agencies restore vital services after a man-made or natural disaster.
Worst Case Scenario
“If the worst should happen, Denver needs to be ready to respond to keep city services going,” Auditor O’Brien warns. “If we faced an extreme weather event, pandemic, terrorist attack or another disaster, we’d need to know Denver could bounce back and continue serving its citizens.”
Non-emergency, mission-essential operations include a broad swath of services the city provides, ranging from assistance to vulnerable populations to services for citizens.
The audit looked at whether agencies had “continuity of operations” plans that would be effective in the event of an emergency. The pla
Wacky Weather: Drought combined with prolonged storms can create significant flooding as the Confluence Park photo and headline, above, from an old Rocky Mountain News [August 4, 1933] illustrate.
ns are created as a guid
e so each agency’s personnel know where to go and what to do in the case of an emergency. They are part of a greater “continuity of government” plan for Denver. Emergency services such as firefighters and police are not included in these plans. They are part of a separate emergency preparedness plan. Standards for effective continuity of operations plans are set by FEMA.
Front Line Flaws
After examining the operations of the Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security, as well as the Office of Human Resources, the audit concluded the city does not have proper planning in place to ensure mission-essential services are up and running after a disaster. For example, the city’s continuity of operations plan lacks critical and up-to-date information. Denver’s continuity of operations plans are incomplete or ineffective according to FEMA standards. These flaws could lead to time-sensitive performance and operation issues, causing increased costs and potential damage to city infrastru
cture, services and reputation.
Mission-essential functions include front-line, time-sensitive services. Many city agencies provide critical services for the health and well-being of some of Denver’s most vulnerable populations, including children who benefit from summer food and after-school meal programs. If a disaster took out everyday functions, everything from paperwork and permitting to other time-sensitive services could fail. This could also mean tax dollars would be wasted if city agencies were not able to do work in a timely manner.
The audit found 29 out of 69 agencies had not reviewed their plans in 2017. Of those 29, three agencies had not reviewed their emergency plan since 2001. Five agenc
ies did not have a continuity of operations plan at all. The audit also found there was no training for the agencies on how to write an effective plan.
Tone At Top
The Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security is supposed to collaborate with government agencies to help them prepare their continuity of operations plans, as directed by Executive Order 85. The order states all agencies should have these pla
ns. The Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security is supposed to provide sufficient guidance and training to ensure agencies have complete and effective plans. The agency is also intended to ensure the plans are kept updated.
While the executive order is not specific about when agencies should update their plans, the continuity of government plan and FEMA both recommend annual updates. “The Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security needs to set a tone at the top to encourage all agencies to make sure they are ready to keep working no matter what happens,” Auditor O’Brien suggests.
The office is primarily funded by federal grants. Recently more money has come from Denver’s general fund as federal funding decreases year after year. In total, the funding for the office continues to decrease. Specifically, the agency’s operating budget dropped from $5.1 million in 2015 to $3.8 million in 2017.
Prepare For Worst
The audit also found there might not be alternate facilities available for some agencies, which would leave employees without a designated place to continue working if they must leave their normal work spaces. The audit team also discovered Denver’s cloud-based continuity planning software contract lapsed for nearly three months. In that time, the files outlining plans to keep the government running could have been lost. Now, the cloud-based continuity of operations planning software is again under contract, but the auditor’s office recommends a review process to update the contract regularly and on time in the future.
Dark Theater Night: In July 2012 a gunman set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience killing 12, injuring 70 others.
The audit also identified problems with user access and password setting for the continuity of operations software. The agency agreed to all eight of Auditor O’Brien’s recommendations, including training, regular plan updates and testing for continuity of operations plans.
Auditor O’Brien found that through stronger and more robust continuity of operations plans, agencies throughout the city will be better prepared to continue their operations, provide services and protect city data in the event of a disaster or disruption. The agency has already made significant progress in addressing the audit’s recommendations. “Disasters can cost billions of dollars and devastate lives,” Auditor O’Brien said. “It is important for Denver to be ready for the worst when its residents could need city services the most.”
by Mark Smiley | Jan 29, 2018 | Main Articles
by Mark Smiley
Yelp, founded in 2004, is a multinational corporation based in San Francisco that develops, hosts and markets Yelp.com which publishes reviews about local businesses. This crowd sourced review website has an estimated value of over $2.3 billion. This giant company has tactics that some business owners in the Cherry Creek Valley find manipulative and overly aggressive. Their sales techniques and the way reviews are posted under individual businesses have been called into question.
Yelp purportedly pays large sums to be one of the first sites to come up on any Google search of your business and a bad review can be devastating to your business. Last year four persons in California were sued by businesses for negative reviews on Yelp. Denver’s Fox31 News reported that Footprint Floors asserted in court that a negative review in Yelp by a couple in Jefferson County caused the company to lose 167 projects and $625,000 in revenue over an eight-month period and they sued the couple.
Powerful Company
Critics assert that the potential for manipulation of negative and positive reviews is the key to the power, abuse and control that Yelp has.
“Yelp is the largest review company in the world, they’re a powerful company,” said Nick Peret, owner of Summa Media in Denver. “A powerful large company that is pretty much taking that power and to take advantage of the small businesses.”
Yelp relies on posted online reviews and opinions from consumers who have bought product or visited a business such as a restaurant, shop, or local service. The common term from someone who posts multiple reviews is “Yelper.” Yelp is the bulletin board and search engine to find reviews of nearby businesses.
Questionable Reviews Lead To Lawsuits
In general, companies from around the country claim that Yelp favors businesses that advertise with them by highlighting their search results and reviews. Some local business owners say Yelp account executives tried to persuade them to buy ads by offering to make negative reviews disappear. Yelp says it does nothing to manipulate reviews, aside from allowing advertisers to choose one review they would like to feature at the top of the page about their business.
Outspoken Critic: David Sandusky, owner of Idea Chíc in Glendale, indicates Yelp has a reputation among some business owners of manipulating reviews and suggesting businesses pay for advertising on their platform to have those reviews improve.
Advertising packages with Yelp range in price. Some offer free advertising valued at $300 and then a plan of $300 per month after that. Others require an initial investment of $1,200 with a monthly cost of $600. Whatever the cost is, small businesses claim the sales calls to encourage participation are relentless. “Putting it mildly, we are overly contacted by their sales team about advertising,” said David Sandusky, owner of Idea Chíc in Glendale. “The reputation they have had for a long time is manipulating reviews and challenging businesses to pay on the advertising after their promotion ends.”
This manipulation was at the center of a 2010 lawsuit filed by multiple companies and it took four years to reach a decision. The lawsuit essentially alleged that the heavily funded startup runs an “extortion scheme” and has “unscrupulous sales practices” in place to generate revenue, in which the company’s employees call businesses demanding monthly payments in the guise of advertising contracts, in exchange for removing or modifying negative reviews.
Judges tossed this lawsuit in 2014, writing that Yelp’s threats of “economic harm” were, “at most, hard bargaining.” In addition, more than 2,000 complaints about Yelp have also been filed with the Federal Trade Commission, which has scrutinized Yelp’s ad-sales tactics and “recommendation” software, used to highlight reviews deemed the most useful to consumers.
In 2015, the FTC decided to close its inquiry without taking any action. After the decision, Yelp posted this response on their blog: “The FTC looked into our recommendation software, what we say to businesses about it, what our salespeople say about our advertising programs, and how we ensure that our employees are not able to manipulate the ratings and reviews that we display on our platform. After nearly a year of scrutiny, the FTC decided to close its investigation without taking further action. This marked the second time that the FTC had looked at our advertising practices and ended its inquiry without further action.”
Local Businesses Speak Out
But how can this many business owners who have witnessed or been victimized by these tactics all be wrong? Is it simply the sophisticated software that filters out negative reviews for advertisers while at the same time, removes positive reviews for businesses who do not pay for advertising? These cases were first heard eight years ago and the conversation around Yelp’s approach with small businesses is still relevant today. “It’s too big of a mystery and there have been too many complaints to say there isn’t something going on,” said Peret.
One business owner refused to be named for fear of retaliation from Yelp and said: “I got a 5-star review from a gentleman I don’t even know and this person had only ‘Yelped’ twice in his life so they decided that he wasn’t a legitimate Yelper and they removed his 5-star review from my account. Had I paid them, they would have probably left it there. Somebody gave us 1- star that also only Yelped twice in his life and they didn’t take that one off.”
Reviews disappearing is not the only thing called into question. Where the reviews appear on a business’s page is also questioned. Yelp has control of what order the reviews posted appear. “It’s not chronological, it’s however Yelp decides how they’re going to put your reviews on there,” said Hopi Mondale, owner of Salvage Restaurant in Aurora. “And it’s very detrimental to the business because people do rely on social media and other apps to get their opinions on things.”
Sean Kaiser, franchise owner of The Egg and I at Leetsdale and Holly in Denver, took it a step further: “They [Yelp] never came out and said that your strong reviews will be at the top and your bad reviews will be at the bottom. But it was implied.” That was during
Yelp’s courting of The Egg and I to become an advertiser. “I’ve spoken to Yelp about advertising and what the costs were around that and we seriously looked at it and we decided it just wasn’t a good fit for us because of the demographic we appeal to,” said Kaiser.
Advertising With Yelp
Whether advertising with Yelp produces revenue for businesses is difficult to determine. A recent report by Harvard Business School found that restaurants which advertised in Yelp increased their Yelp page views by 25%. Getting directions, browsing the company’s website, and calling the restaurant increased by 18%, 9%, and 13% respectively. However, it was unclear whether it boosted revenues although online reviews increased by 5% which would seem to indicate success. Cherry Creek Valley businesses don’t agree. “I have never once heard one of my prospects or clients say yes, we are getting clients from Yelp advertising,” said Peret.
Peret continued, “My first experience with Yelp was working for a marketing company that worked with small businesses. I would talk to hundreds of small business owners. I would talk to all these people that Yelp would convince to advertise with them because of the nonstop phone calls and it never produced any results. Now you’re spending hundreds of dollars every month on advertising and it’s not producing any kind of return on investment.”
Other business owners echo this sentiment. “I’ve had people in my business development group that have done some advertising with Yelp and really felt like they weren’t getting their value out of the advertising they were putting into it,” said Kaiser. “I know a lot of business owners and I have never heard anything positive from anybody after the free promotion [$300 worth of free advertising], said Sandusky.
Yelp’s Technology Works Well
That is not to say that the technology and the reviews don’t work or help. “As a concept, I think having review sites is beneficial to any business,” said Kaiser.
“Typically, when people are looking at reviews, from the population, what they’re looking at is the same complaints over and over again. That’s when they get turned off to a business.”
The dashboard for a business utilizing the free account is also helpful. After setting up his free account for Idea Chíc, Sandusky saw their first customer walk through the door within days. He is happy with the analytics.
Yelp also stands by its product and defends itself, “The reason millions of people around the world use Yelp every day to find great local businesses is because they trust the content. That’s why we take so many steps to prevent gaming of our system and to protect consumers and business owners alike — and why we would never do anything to jeopardize that trust.”
The “gaming of our system” is what is being called into question. “I’ve heard so many times from so many local business owners that there’s a manipulated review,” said Sandusky. “The business owners that have told me these sorts of stories say that these [posted reviews] aren’t even from their customers so they can’t track where this is coming from which is a challenging situation.” In some instances, competitors post negative reviews which Yelp attempts to filter out.
Yelp has been under scrutiny for nearly a decade. An upcoming documentary film called Billion Dollar Bully about Yelp and its alleged business practices takes an investigative look into accusations that Yelp is “running a mob-like extortion racket against business owners who refuse, or can’t afford to pay-to-play.” The film is directed by Kaylie Milliken and produced by Prost Productions.
The 82-minute film was completed in December 2015 but has only been released to Kickstarter supporters and film industry professionals to determine the best path for distribution. When released, it is sure to stir the conversation even more.
Yelp has been accused of strong arm sales techniques, rigging the way reviews appear, and giving preferential treatment to those who advertise. Thus far, Yelp has done well in the court system. How they do in the court of opinion is another matter.
by Mark Smiley | Dec 17, 2017 | Main Articles
‘Train To The Plane’ Terrorizes Neighborhoods
by Mark Smiley
Hellish Nightmare: The A-Line Train To The Plane was to be RTD’s crowning achievement. Instead, it has become the A-Train from Hell for many citizens.
The A-Line train to Denver International Airport (DIA) was supposed to be an exemplary and shining light for RTD’s Light Rail System. However, Front Range citizens were sold a bill of goods in the 2004 election when they approved a tax increase. Voters envisioned a state-of-the-art rapid transit train going from Union Station to DIA. RTD even gave it its highest moniker, The A-Train. But for many citizens of Denver and surrounding communities, it has become the A-Train from Hell.
It has been causing injuries, driving residents from their homes with its loud horns, and has suffered innumerable malfunctions, causing major delays and having passengers miss flights on a regular basis. In fact, the train was struck by lightning twice in 2017 (May and June). The June, 2017 lightning strike forced 81 passengers to be evacuated and walk along a 50-foot-high bridge after a nearly two-hour delay. The entire 23-mile stretch of the A-Line was shut down for close to six hours. Many potential passengers that were relying on this mode of transportation had to find alternative options to the airport.
The reason RTD chose commuter rail over light rail is the ability to run longer stretches of track with fewer stations, travel at speeds up to 80 mph, and have the capacity to transport more passengers. But, the entire system has been a headache for everyone involved since it was launched.
The original plan called for quiet zones but because of countless problems with the crossing technology and switching and signaling, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) forced RTD to deploy human beings at each crossing known as the “flag men.” They are stationed at each of the 11 crossings along the A-Line to monitor each train that goes by and ensure automobiles and pedestrians do not cross the track.
RTD pays each flag man $13 per hour and by the time it is all said and done, the total cost of having them at these intersections may come close to $12 million. The flag men are necessary 24 hours per day because of timing glitches on the grade crossings. Part of the timing issue is that the gates are lowered earlier than needed and stay down up to 20 seconds longer than is federally mandated.
The aforementioned quiet zones allow trains to forgo sounding their horns at crossings as long as certain safety measures such as flashers, sturdier railroad gates, upgraded railroad circuitry and raised medians are in place to protect motorists. Up to this
Déjà vu: Many remember the computerized baggage-handling system at DIA and how it was a disaster causing mass chaos and massive delayed luggage retrieval.
point, the FRA has determined that the crossings do not meet these standards. Therefore, the horns must be blown. And, since it started, residents in neighborhoods, such as Park Hill, Clayton and Stapleton, have heard the horns blow almost 340,000 times.
“The Elyria-Swansea and Globeville neighborhoods of Denver have been treated like garbage for generations,” said former Denver City Councilman Ed Thomas. “They have been treated this way for two reasons. Elected officials believe that people that live in those neighborhoods do not matter and they themselves do not live there so they don’t have to live with their decisions.”
This issue has plagued the train since its inception in April 2016. Notwithstanding the fact, that after one year of these glitches which continue to cause delays and scheduling snafus, RTD claims they had solved the problem. Federal regulators signed off on and were satisfied that the timing issues were fixed, bu
Guest Complaints: Guests of the DoubleTree Hotel, which is situated one block from the train tracks, have complained of the loud horns that blare all evening. The hotel offers sound machines, ear plugs, and box fans to help drown out the deafening noise.
t the Colorado Public Utilities Commission did not agree and denied RTD’s certification the same week back in September 2017.
A hearing on this matter is set for March but might be heard as early as February 15, 2018, if there is no objection from the Union Pacific and BNSF railroads. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge Robert Garvey will hear the case and decide whether the gate crossings are operational and safe. If he rules in favor, the flag men can be removed.
These scheduled hearings, and the fact that the A-Line train that has been blasting through neighborhoods for nearly two years, offer little comfort for residents of Park Hill and surrounding neighborhoods.
The sound of loud train horns bellow through otherwise sleepy neighborhoods. The RTD A-Line Train to Denver International Airport blasts through neighborhoods with horn sounds at a federally mandated 96 decibels. That is comparable to a motorcycle revving up a few feet away. The reason for these horns is due to technological glitches that have tainted the “train to the plane.”
Trains cross these intersections nearly 5,000 times per month and blare the horns four times for a total of 20 seconds each time. The deafening horn has neighbors up in arms. “I can’t believe how loud those trains are and I live seven blocks away,” said Julie Buckner. “There is no break from the noise. It’s constant.” Buckner lives seven blocks away but some homes are just 1-1/2 blocks from the crossings.
The DoubleTree Hotel on the north side of Smith Road on Quebec Street is located just one block from the train tracks and guests of the hotel are surprised when they check in and are offered noise machines, ear plugs, and box fans. “I will never stay at this hotel again,” said Joan Kelleher from Flint, Michigan. “The sound of the train echoed through my room all night long. What is the deal?”
Under the Train Horn Rule (49 CFR Part 222), locomotive engineers must begin to sound train horns at least 15 seconds, and no more than 20 seconds, in advance of all public grade crossings. The maximum volume level for the train horn is 110 decibels which is a new requirement.
RTD has the horns sounds close to the maximum allowed decibels and according to a letter sent to The Denver Post, residents can hear it as far as the Montclair neighborhood which is 25 blocks away at 12th Avenue and Elizabeth Street.
Some residents of Denver are having déjà vu as they remember the baggage claim issues at DIA. The computerized baggage-handling system was an unmitigated disaster whi
System Failure: RTD operates the 23-mile stretch of the A-Line train from Union Station to Denver International Airport. Many have been affected by the technological glitches that have plagued this system for nearly two years.
ch caused mass chaos. It was plagued by serious mechanical and software problems that has a ripple effect even today.
When the trains in between concourses broke down the day before Thanksgiving in 2017, people wondered if everything DIA is associated with turns sour. If the bad luck continues, RTD’s A-Line Train To The Plane will be next in a long line of failures associated with the airport.
by Mark Smiley | Dec 17, 2017 | Main Articles
by Glen Richardson
Open Season: Paul Rosenthal, a Democrat for House District 9, is faced with sexual harassment claims. Some are saying not all accusations necessarily have merit and that it is open season on some high profile people.
The sexual harassment claims that are sweeping the country have also hit the Colorado legislature with claims made against four different legislators including Paul Rosenthal, a Democrat representing House District 9, which includes Glendale and parts of the Cherry Creek Valley.
Rosenthal who is openly gay initially was accused by Thomas Cavaness, a political organizer for Jared Polis, of inappropriately touching him at a political campaign event some time before he was first elected to the legislature in 2012. The Denver Post came to his defense in a lead editorial asserting that they did not believe “anything in Cavaness’ report precludes Rosenthal from remaining in office. The Post noted that the alleged incident occurred before Rosenthal was elected for the first time in November 2012 and questioned what jurisdiction the Speaker’s Office would have in the first place.
The Denver newspaper noted that the two men had exchanged friendly Facebook messages around the time of the campaign event and that Cavaness couldn’t recall when exactly the harassment occurred.
The publicity of the Cavaness claim caused a second complaint to be filed with Speaker of the House Crisanta Duran, reported first by Fox 31 Denver News. The man is identified only as “Dan” and asserts he was the roommate of Rosenthal back in 2007 and 2008 when he said Rosenthal made “several inappropriate comments” and that he had appeared unannounced while he was sleeping. He said he wrote the complaint to Duran, stating that he could no longer “remain quiet.”
The second complaint was generally greeted with disbelief and derision. Rosenthal’s attorney Harvey Steinberg remarked, “The only thing more ludicrous than this complaint is that FOX 31 would report it.”
Then on November 17, 2017, it was reported in The Denver Post that sometime earlier Heather O’Donnell, an attorney and former legislative policy aide, complained to her boss, Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp, that Rosenthal repeatedly attempted to get her to set up a meeting with her brother saying he found him “attractive” and he could help him professionally.
She declared his actions to be “predatory.” Kraft-Tharp in turn reported it to Duran but O’Donnell declined to file a formal complaint. The Speaker’s Office provided Rosenthal with materials concerning workplace and sexual harassment policies.
Anecdotally, the complaints do not appear to be gaining much traction in the 9th District. Sally Perone indicated, “Rosenthal tried to be introduced to somebody’s brother and said something inappropriate to his roommate a decade ago. Is there any human interchange that is not sexual harassment these days? Perhaps politicians deserve it, but this is really open season on them.”
A local shop owner on Colorado Boulevard who did not wish to be identified stated, “It is the season of the witch. The press giving such exaggerated coverage to claims such as those against Rosenthal do a real disservice to the people who have suffered real sexual assault and harassment. The real claims now get lost among all the clutter. It is a real shame.”
Rosenthal who will be up for re-election in 2018 for his final term has always received above 60% in his prior election efforts for the District seat.
