Phony P.I./FBI Agent Johnson Goes National
U.S. Government Desperate To Hide Identity At Bundy Standoff Trials
by Charles C. Bonniwell
Glendale’s very own phony private investigator Charles Johnson has now made national news regarding a fake documentary he directed on the Cliven Bundy family in Nevada. His national exposure includes PBS’ Frontline documentary television series and stories in the investigative online magazine The Intercept to the apparent great consternation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States government generally.
Johnson Comes To Glendale
Johnson arrived in Glendale in March 2016, claiming to be a private consultant for an unidentified “female journalist” tracking down anyone who was quoted in the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle critical of Mohammad Ali Kheirkhahi, the principal owner of Authentic Persian & Oriental Rugs, or his proposed massive condo development on Colorado Boulevard. Johnson also tried to gain entrance into Glendale City Clerk Sherry Frame’s Denver apartment late on a Saturday afternoon. (See “Phony P.I. Arrested: Citizens Critical of Wealthy Rug Merchants Harassed,” Chronicle front page April 2016 issue.)
Various persons who were stalked and harassed by Johnson filed complaints with the Glendale and Lakewood police departments and when he returned to Glendale several weeks later he was arrested by the Glendale Police for failing to register in Colorado as a private investigator as required by Colorado law. However, prior to going to trial in Arapahoe County on the misdemeanor charge the FBI demanded that Arapahoe County D.A. George Brauchler dismiss all charges “for reasons that cannot be disclosed.”
FBI Letter
Brauchler however indicated that he required a letter on FBI letterhead by the Special Agent in Charge of the Denver office before he would act. He then took the letter, attached it to his request for dismissal to the court, which made the letter publicly available to the outrage of the FBI. The Chronicle published the full letter as part of our June 2016 front page story “Phony P.I. — FBI Mole or Worse? All Charges Dismissed Per FBI.”
In March 2017 the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies issued a “Cease and Desist Order” against Johnson from acting as a private investigator in Colorado without obtaining a license, which the FBI was unable to block. (See “FBI Agent Provocateur Charles Issued ‘Cease and Desist Order’ From Colorado Agency,” Chronicle front page February 2017 issue.)
But it was always unclear who exactly was Charles Johnson. Was he an FBI informant, a rogue agent or something else? We now know. The man arrested by the Glendale police and pictured on the front page of the Chronicle is, in fact, an official Special Agent of the FBI whose real name is not Charles Johnson.
Johnson In Nevada
Agent Johnson went to Nevada after the standoff over the cattle of Cliven Bundy which had been seized by the BLM concerning a multiyear grazing fee dispute. A group of armed citizens had taken the cattle back from the BLM who feared a Ruby Ridge-like firefight and had backed down. But the government was now intensely committed to bringing criminal charges against Cliven Bundy, his two sons and 14 other people who were part of the standoff.
Johnson arrived in Nevada claiming he was a documentary film producer and he wanted to produce a film to be called “America Reloaded” that would be sympathetic to the Cliven Bundy family and followers. But he was, in fact, an undercover FBI Special Agent hoping to obtain incriminating statements to be used in any upcoming criminal trial. He gave out a card that was exactly the same, with one exception, as he used in Glendale with the same address in Nashville and phone number but instead of “Detective Consultant” it stated he was a director with “Longbow Productions.”
Ultimately Johnson and his camera crew obtained over 100 hours of interviews, portions of which were shown at the trial of six relatively insignificant Bundy standoff participants. The federal court ordered, over the objections of the federal prosecutors, that the minor participants be tried first followed by Cliven Bundy and his family and then a third trial of middle level participants.
Cloak Of Secrecy
Johnson was brought in under the cloak of secrecy to testify about his fake documentary. It was admitted that Johnson was, in fact, an undercover FBI agent, that Charles Johnson was not his real name, and the government would not provide his real name. He entered the courthouse through a special entrance barred from the press and the public. To hide his visage from the public all cell phones were banned from the courtroom. The federal judge prohibited any questions of Johnson about his other activities.
All of this amazing court secrecy seemed almost comical as all anyone had to do was Google the name Charles Johnson and FBI and Johnson’s arrest photo appears from the stories run in the Chronicle and on Fox 31 television in Denver. That was exactly what Trevor Aaronson, investigative reporter for The Intercept, did for his story “How An Undercover FBI Agent Ended In Jail After Pretending To Be A Journalist.” He also requested copies of the tapes, recordings and documents regarding the arrest of Johnson for his story from the City of Glendale.
The Glendale story 
was a subsidiary story to one Ryan Deveraux and Trevor Aaronson wrote in The Intercept titled “The Bizarre Story Behind the FBI’s Fake Documentary About the Bundy Family.” Embedded in the online story at The Intercept are portions of the fake documentary with Johnson as the director and interviewer trying to get the Bundy family and others to criminally implicate themselves as well as telephone calls with Johnson and Bundy family members.
PBS
PBS’s Frontline has a documentary series titled “American Patriot: Inside the Armed Uprising Against the Federal Government” in which they did a segment on May 16 titled “FBI agents posed as filmmakers infiltrate the Bundy family” in which they reveal Johnson’s fake documentary. Interestingly Frontline, in playing the videos of Bundy and followers as well as Johnson’s phone calls, distorted Johnson’s voice to hide his identity perhaps not realizing that Johnson was already an infamous figure and that the same video and phone calls were on The Intercept’s site without distortion.
Poor Track Record
The FBI’s history of pretending to be film makers and journalists is highly dubious and controversial. In the FBI’s scandalous persecution of alleged Atlanta Olympic bomber Richard Jewell, the FBI tried to get the innocent Richard Jewell to waive his constitutional rights by informing him they were simply doing a training film about bomb detection. The FBI then leaked his name to the press. It was later determined that the deadly bomb was, in fact, planted by Eric Rudolph, an anti-abortion activist. Jewell, found innocent, later sued the FBI and got a large monetary settlement.
The FBI pretending journalists became so tainted that in June 2016, four months after Johnson’s foray into Glendale, then Director of the FBI James Comey announced the FBI would rarely use that ruse and only after consultation with the deputy attorney general.
First Bundy Trial In Nevada
The first Bundy Nevada trial which ended April 24, 2017, did not go well for the government. None of the six defendants were found guilty of the main two conspiracy charges that were the core of the government’s case. Two of the defendants were found guilty of other charges including Gregory Burleson who was found guilty of eight charges, inter alia, threatening and assaulting a federal officer, interstate travel in aid of extortion, and brandishing a weapon.
The website for Frontline states that the Johnson fake documentary footage was used to help convict Burleson. Frontline did not reveal that Burleson was, until just prior to the Bundy standoff, a paid informant for the FBI in Arizona.
Federal Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial for the four defendants not convicted of any charges and set the retrial to June 26, 2017. Charles Johnson is expected to once again testify under strict secrecy even though he has now become a highly visible public figure.
It is expected that the government may try to take a different approach at the retrial as defense attorneys stated that the jurors split 10 to 2 for acquittal for two defendants and a majority for acquittal on the other two defendants.
Giglio — Impaired Witness
The FBI and/or the federal prosecutors may be facing ethics charges relating to Charles Johnson. Under the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court case of Giglio v. United States when a federal employee is to testify the relevant agency must disclose any information that reflects negatively on its employee’s credibility to the prosecutors and the prosecutors in turn must disclose such information to the defense attorneys. The fact that Johnson was arrested in Glendale, that he clearly lied to the Glendale police and is under a Cease and Desist Order from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies would all appear to be mandatory Giglio disclosures.
According to The Intercept no Giglio disclosures were made to the defense attorneys regarding Johnson. While Federal district courts have a general reputation of looking the other way concerning FBI and prosecutorial misconduct Federal appellate courts are often not so lenient.
It is expected that Glendale’s own phony P.I. Charles Johnson will be prominently in the national news for the duration of the three Bundy trials in Nevada notwithstanding all of the secrecy efforts by the U.S. government.
But what was a super-secret FBI undercover agent doing in Glendale in the first place? Why would the FBI want to harass a city clerk on a Saturday afternoon as well as local citizens who just didn’t want a massive condo project on Colorado Boulevard? It is difficult to fathom a legitimate purpose and, of course, the FBI refuses to justify to the public its activities. The complete lack of transparency, even at the local level, may be one of the reasons why public opinion polls show ever decreasing approval ratings for what was once viewed as the nation’s preeminent law enforcement agency.
Santa Fe Art District In Dramatic Transition
A $7.7 Million Bond Issue Would Widen Sidewalks, Add Public Art, Better Lighting Plus A Pedestrian Plaza
by Glen Richardson
A walk along Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe can be both depressing and refreshingly optimistic. An intermingled blend of debris, flimsy sidewalks and bric-a-brac storefronts, it is the intersection between run-down buildings and a fun, fulfilling wellspring of art. This unfinished strip of street art offers a sketchy peek at the district’s future as the city around it changes. That’s because — as the Santa Fe strip has already proven — art can change things.
The artistic street canvas between 7th and 12th avenues on Santa Fe Drive has emerged as a national standout over the last decade. The initial First Friday art event here in 2003 drew 20 people to two galleries. Last year’s summer edition attracted Friday night crowds of 14,000. But now the district is at a crossroads as sidewalks crumble 
and the street hasn’t seen infrastructure improvements in 30 years.
The district is seeking to get a $7.7 million General Obligation Bond on Denver’s November ballot. The plan would eliminate one lane of traffic to make room for wider, ADA-compliant sidewalks, add upgraded lighting, branded signage and public art. In addition, a pedestrian-only plaza would be built on 9th Ave. between Santa Fe Drive and Inca St.
Consequences Of Change
Despite the district’s success, infrastructure improvement and other proposed changes risk upsetting the tricky balance between art and commerce. Rents have been rising in recent years forcing artists to move out. Furthermore, escalating real estate prices are already a roadblock for up-and-coming artists lo
oking to plant roots in the district.
Moreover, Santa Fe Drive from 1st north to 13th Ave. is emerging as a more mixed-use district. New restaurants and breweries have opened and more are on the way. The influx of new businesses creates a double-edged sword. People want restaurants, bars, nightlife and boutiques. The changes, however, create gentrification, pushing rents higher and forcing art studios out. Growth and transformation is also threatening the district’s historic Latino culture.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, as rents jumped on Broadway and in the Ballpark neighborhood, artists started looking for cheaper studios and galleries. The old buildings on Santa Fe Drive were ideal, and soon there was a critical mass of galleries a mile south of downtown.
Creative Class
Jack Pappalardo bought a building and opened a studio and gallery here in 2003 and became the Art District’s first president. Working from a classic live-work space at 828 Santa Fe Dr., he lowered membership dues, broadened the base and created what he calls the “rise of the creative class.” The tactic work
ed and membership jumped to 70 artists and businesses during his 10-year tenure as president.
During his first five years as president membership grew steadily. Then in 2006 photographer John Fielder relocated his gallery here from Cherry Creek North. That, according to Pappalardo, was the District’s “stamp of approval.” Two more important newcomers followed in 2010: Su Teatro acquired the Denver Civic Theater and Metro State University opened the Center for Visual Art. Then in 2013 Colorado Ballet purchased and renovated a 100-year-old building at 11th and Santa Fe. The renovated 30,000-sq.-ft. structure opened the following year as the Armstrong Center for Dance.
Destination Development
Amy Phare, who took over from Pappalardo as president and also lives in the district, says the remake isn’t just about Friday night art crowds. Changes are being m
ade to further the economic development of the corridor. Like Pappalardo before her, she says the plan will make it a neighborhood street. She says the plaza would serve both as an “art park” and a “community gathering place.”
Actually the plan, according to both, “harks back to the days when Kalamath St. and Santa Fe Drive were two-way streets. That was before the suburban boom of the 1970s-’80s led to development of feeder routes heading downtown.”
The new plan would make Santa Fe a neighborhood street again. That means reinventing the district as a walkable neighborhood that’s an endpoint, not a cut through. We want Santa Fe Drive to be a destination,” emphasizes Phare. “We have kids here and we want this to be a safe destination, not a thoroughfare or a highway. Undeniably the street shouldn’t be a speed zone.”
Artistic Blueprint
Architect Mark Raeburn of Quantum Urban Architecture + Design (QUA+D) designed the proposed changes to the district. They highlight accessibility, safety and sustainability. “The sidewalks don’t meet the Americans with Disabilities Act or the city’s pedestrian plan,” he notes. “They simply aren’t safe right now.”
He points out that at certain bottlenecks, there’s two feet between gas meters mounted on storefronts and streetlights. “Moreover Raeburn says, “The sidewalks are crumbling plus people can’t walk together side by side.”
He adds, “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into a light pole.”
Raeburn’s plan also calls for the elimination of one lane of traffic to make room for wider, ADA-compliant sidewalks, and adding upgraded lighting. Branded signage and public art would motivate excitement and stimulate business. A pedestrian-only plaza is also proposed on 9th Ave. between Santa Fe Drive and Inca St.
Drawing A Bottom Line
First Friday is the one night galleries in the district really make money. Street closures plus a new art film series in the CVA parking lot adds enthusiasm and is creating new sponsorship opportunities. Nevertheless, as attendance has grown the event has become more of a party. The Third Friday Collector’s Preview gives artists and gallery owners a chance to meet art patrons in a subdued setting with a more mature, sober crowd.
Muralist Forrest Morrison who has a gallery in the district says, “I think we all recognize that an art district cannot survive without development that sustains and complements the creative sector and working-class artists.” He believes a united real estate identity would help stabilize rents and ensure they won’t lose the community and culture that has made the neighborhood so valuable.
Ultimately the artists here say it’s about the creative people who work and exhibit on the street. “You can’t start an art district,” says artist Georgia Amar, Pappalardo’s wife. She calls the Art District on Santa Fe a “grassroots, bottom-up” phenomenon. It’s about the artists, their work and their ability to make a living. She believes the quality of art is getting better and better. Her conclusion: “Now we have to focus on the real McCoy.”
Broadway Bike Lane Blues
City Supplements Its Destruction Of Cherry Creek Retail With That Of South Broadway
by Mark Smiley
The City and County of Denver, fresh from creating chaos and consternation among Cherry Creek retail businesses by failing to plan and provide sufficient parking and traffic flow, has now set its sights on creative destruction of small businesses along South Broadway with the innovative use of bike lanes.
Le Grue’s Flowers and Gifts has been a small business anchor on South Broadway for decades. Today, there is a sign in the front window that says “Can’t find parking? Bike lane slowing your commute? Call City Council.” Owner Alan Bemel says his customers have plenty of complaints, but laments, “I don’t think City Council is listening.”
Some small businesses like Le Grue’s along this stretch of South Broadway are hurting and they blame Denver’s new bike lane plan.
Test Project
Last August, Denver Public Works built a temporary, “test” two-way protected bike lane along a half-mile stretch of South Broadway. It runs from Bayaud to Virginia Avenue. It’s part of the Denver Moves project, a plan to enhance bicycle facilities in the downtown area and throughout the city.
In order to build it, the City took away one vehicle traffic lane and installed a two-way protected bike lane next to the sidewalk. The City also had to sacrifice a significant number of on-street parking spaces to accommodate the bike lane. Denver Public Works spokeswoman Nancy Kuhn says there were
98 parking spaces along the half-mile stretch but now there are 79, a loss of 19 spots.
Businesses call it a “disaster,” but somehow the City of Denver has declared the South Broadway bike lane a “success” and is moving forward with plans to design not only a permanent but significantly longer bike lane, along the main corridor.
“It’s a nightmare,” lamented one owner behind the counter of a South Broadway liquor store. “A nightmare,” he repeated. “My customers can’t find a place to park and neither can the delivery trucks.” He says the loading zones are too small and delivery trucks have to endlessly circle the block, often forced to park in a through lane which further snarls traffic. He says the bikeway has definitely hurt his business.
Le Grue’s owner Bemel agrees. He says, “Last month my sales tax revenues were the lowest in I don’t know how many years. I attribute that to the bike lane.”
He explains his walk-in business has all but disappeared and even loyal customers complain they can’t find a place to park and therefore shop less at his establishment.
Simple Mathematics
Fat Willy, owner of Fat Willy’s NBS Electronics on South Broadway predicted problems when the test bikeway was first installed. At the time, he said, “It’s a simple matter of mathematics. If you’re going to take space for a bike lane you have to take it away from cars.” Recent posts on Fat Willy’s Facebook page complain his fears have come true. One post says, “I don’t know a single merchant who hasn’t lost money since the stupid thing was forced on people who didn’t want it and were never consulted in the first place.” The post writes that quick access places like restaurants, coffee shops and liquor stores are affected the most with some businesses down as much as 40% because of the bike lane.
Other businesses have also encouraged frustrated shoppers to contact Denver City Council and ask them to get rid of the bike lane. But one business owner sighed saying, “But I don’t think anyone is going to listen, I think they’ve made up their minds and it’s a done deal.”
It may well be. From the beginning, when Denver Public Works first installed the half-mile bike lane “test,” city officials admitted that barring an unexpected safety issue, the ultimate plan was to remove one lane of vehicle traffic and install a permanent bike lane all the way from I-25 and South Broadway to Colfax Avenue downtown.
City Argument
The Denver Public Works website says the city’s surveys and evaluations show the test bike lane dramatically reduced the number of people
riding bicycles on the sidewalk and that makes cyclists and pedestrians feel safer.
The City further claims taking away one vehicle traffic lane had almost no impact on drive time. Before installation of the bikeway, peak period travel time from Colfax to I-25 was an average of 11 minutes, 50 seconds. After installation, the average travel time was 11 minutes, 59 seconds. An increase of just nine seconds.
The Public Works says its website survey also shows strong support for the bike lane and bicyclists and nearby residents we talked to say they do think it’s a good idea.
Small Business Reply
But many small businesses and disgruntled city employees indicate that it is all of scam and a con by the City and County of Denver. They laugh that a website survey can be easily manipulated and the only persons that individuals in Public Works actually talk to are each other.
An individual with the City revealed (whose name was withheld due to his employment status and the sensitive nature of the project):
“Everyone knows Mayor Hancock and Planning Director Buchanan are more or less owned by the real estate developers who could care less about small retail businesses. The City is not planning for parking or traffic flow since that might negatively impact the approval of various projects.
“The undisclosed working model for the city is Saigon 1968 where most everyone got from point to point by bike or public transportation. You don’t need to worry about parking or auto traffic if there aren’t very many cars. What families with young kids do in mid-winter in Denver who knows, but this is a millennial oriented administration who doesn’t like the concept of young families. Those people who can’t go along with the program can all move to the stinking suburbs as far as the Administration is concerned.”
“They are going to build bike lanes everywhere. If the Saigon ’68 model doesn’t work who cares? Buchanan will be back at his big ranch in Strasburg, while Hancock will be on a beach in South Florida with all of his ill-gotten gains.”
The Public Works website says roughly 32,000 vehicles on average travel South Broadway between Bayaud and Virginia each day.
The city says over a three-month period, an average of 52 bikes used the bike lane each day.
Many of the small businesses along South Broadway question the City’s decision to inconvenience tens of thousands of drivers and potential customers for the sake of a few dozen bicyclists. They suggest if the City really feels a bike lane is necessary, simply put it a block or two over on a side street instead of on a main corridor.
City Plans
The city plans to ask for proposals to design a permanent bike lane along South Broadway, from I-25 to Cherry Creek within the next several weeks. Part of the plan will also include transitioning the current peak-only bus lane to a 24-hour bus lane. Spokeswoman Nancy Kuhn says they know that parking is important and part of any design plan will take that into consideration.
The money is available to pay for the initial design plans, but the city does not have the money to actually build a permanent bikeway on South Broadway. The project could be part of a bond measure that voters will decide on this November.
Councilman Jolon Clark whose District 7 includes South Broadway stated to the Chronicle that he was aware of the parking concerns of small businesses in the area and he believes the final bikeway design will address them. Regarding the virtually empty bike lane he believes that usage of the lane will increase significantly once it is extended all the way to Cherry Creek.
Some South Broadway business owners hope voters pay attention the next election. A Fat Willy Facebook post puts it this way, “This is what happens when green-weenie global warming bozos get a bee in their bonnets and decide to do something that doesn’t need to be done … Please try to remember what these fools have done to the small business people who can’t fight back when the next election rolls around.”
Denver As ‘Chinatown’
By: Larry Ambrose
Raises Funds And Awareness
A few months ago on December 7, 2016, more than 100 people attended the showing of the movie Chinatown, at the Sie Film Center, in support of the lawsuit to stop the destruction of historic City Park Golf Course and the Globeville Landing Park. Both parks are part of the Platte to Park Hill Storm Drainage project (P2P) being done to enable expansion, undergrounding and partial cover of I-70 and the massive public/private development of the Platte Valley north of the River North Art District (RiNO).
The movie, set in 1930s Los Angeles, is really about the sinister development of the then agricultural San Fernando Valley. Jake Giddis (Jack Nicholson) stumbles upon a secret plan to divert water to dry up farm land to buy it cheap and use it for massive commercial and residential development.
The panel discussion that followed featured River North (Taxi) community based developer, Mickey Zeppelin; attorney Aaron Goldhamer; and citizen activist, Christine O’Connor. Zeppelin is gratified by the grassroots momentum building to stop the current plan for I-70 and the further degradation of the Globeville, Swansea and Elyria communities. He pointed out that Giddis, a private detective, tries to fight the evil of municipal corruption by himself without the benefit of community, which results in tragic consequences. Goldhamer outlined the lawsuit against the City of Denver challenging the use of City Park for the non-park use for storm water retention for I-70 and the Platte Valley and asked for community support for the effort. O’Connor outlined the history of the project and how it coincided with the decision to underground I-70 and expand the Stock Show.
Globeville Swansea Elyria: Victim Of I-70, Stepchildren To The Stock Show and River North
In the past decade, the north Denver neighborhood known as RiNo has been transformed from one filled with aging warehouses to an artist community — and the next hot spot for commercial development. Developers like Zeppelin Development and Industry built successful office and mixed-used projects, which attracted more development. See: Denver Post, RiNo project picked by HomeAdvisor for new Denver headquarters is delayed By Tamara Chuang December 19, 2016.
http://www. denverpost. com/2016/12 /19/rino-homeadvisor-denver-headquar ters-delayed/
“Chinatown” Secret Development Plan Or Just A Coincidence: The 2026 Winter Olympics
So, where do the dots connect to a schematic where our government leaders are using a massive public/private partnership to have the the biggest developers and the power elite slop copiously at the public trough? That too, was revealed at the Chinatown event on December 7. Could the Stock Show/I-70/River North be the location of Winter Olympic facilities in Denver and an Olympic Village as part of a bid for the 2026 games? At the end of the panel discussion, NW Denver Councilman Rafael Espinoza, rose to confirm, ”All this is true. I was at a presentation recently where Kelly Leid [now head of development of the “National Western Stock Show Center“] offered up that the planned NWS facilities could be used to accommodate Winter Olympic events.”
The Omnipresence Of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Article Author: Larry Ambrose, above, is a teacher at Metro State Denver and was the former head of INC the umbrella group for Denver neighborhood associations and others until forced out by Mayor Hancock’s administration. He had criticized some of the development projects being pushed by the Mayor’s office which were opposed by many neighborhood groups.
Political and financial influence in Denver has been centered around an elite group of institutional power-brokers and lobbyists. Chief among them is the lawfirm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck (BHFS) whose principles, Norman Brownstein and Steve Farber, not only have exerted considerable control over Denver’s municipal affairs but who also have been a major lobbying force in Washington, D.C.
BHFS’s connection to John Hickenlooper goes back to the beginning of his Mayoral administration. Cole Finegan had been with BHFS for 10 years and a partner when he was picked to serve as Denver’s City Attorney and Chief of Staff to Hickenlooper in 2003. In January 2015, Governor Hickenlooper hired Doug Friednash from BHFS as his Chief of Staff. A former state lawmaker, Friednash also served as Mayor Hancock’s City Attorney before joining the Brownstein firm.
When shortly after Michael Hancock was first elected Mayor in 2011 and his telephone number was found in copies of phone records as a client of a local prostitution ring, BHFS was retained to manage what was a very touchy situation. Fortunately for the Mayor, the original records were stolen from the home of the head pimp shortly thereafter.
Although associates and clients of Norman Brownstein were at the center of his son Bo Brownstein’s activities, the father escaped untainted. Bo was convicted of insider trading by the SEC, paid a $4. 7 million fine and served a year in prison. Farber is largely credited with bringing the Democratic National Convention to Denver in 2008. Escaping from the crashing financial markets, Steve Farber’s sons Brent and Gregg, investment bankers in New York, moved to Denver in 2008. Their brother, Brad, a lawyer at BHFS, was to join them in the development firm, Elevation Development Group.
What’s The Plan Behind The Plan?
There is a little known but very active plan to bring the 2026 Winter Olympics to Denver. How can it be that by playing a big role in the bigger plan behind the entire Stock Show/I-70/major population relocation and flood control scheme can this group of local politicians and developers stand to profit from the residents of Denver? Connecting the dots between the formation of an Olympics Exploratory Committee in 2011, the Committee’s vote to put in a bid, the US Olympic Committee refusal to submit a bid in 2012, the need for any successful future bid to have City infrastructure for venues and Olympic athlete
housing, the creation of the Northwest Denver Cornerstone Collaborative, obtaining nearly a billion tax dollars, expanding the “Stock Show” development area to 250 acres and creating I-70 at the Stock Show in such a manner as to serve as a covered transportation station (ala Union Station) to the mountains and, voilá, you have quite an Olympic venue.
Colorado Voters Rebuke 1976 Winter Olympics: Cause For Caution?
In 1976, Colorado voters rejected the Winter
Olympics even after being chosen as the site by the US and International Olympic Committees. Although Hickenlooper and Hancock have not exactly hidden the effort to bid on the Winter Olympics again, it cannot be seen as an open and transparent process. One could describe the ongoing attempt to bring the games to Colorado as very low-key. But neither have our civic leaders involved revealed the connection to the North Platte Valley, keeping I-70 in place or the NWDCC and the Stock Show.
Denver Bids For The 2022 Winter Olympics
Created by Mayor Hancock, and Governor Hickenlooper, the Denver Olympic Bid Exploratory Committee featured such notable players as Steve Farber and Cole Finnegan as well as other downtown Denver operatives with ties to the Mayor and Governor, including: Tami Door, Kelly Brough, Elbra Wedgeworth, Richard Scharf and Anne Warhover. See: The Colorado Independent, Denver, Colorado, form official exploratory committee for 2022 Winter Olympics David O. Williams December 16, 2011.
The Recommendations in 2012 from the Operations Committee of the Exploratory Committee contains the following:
Colorado also starts in a strong position as it relates to the structural components necessary to bidding and hosting the Winter Games . . . . . . . For non-competition venues, there are seven total structures required. Of these, only the city and mountain athlete villages will require permanent construction. While these facilities will likely require some public financing to construct, they all represent opportunities for long-term legacy use. Examples of how other Olympic host cities have turned facilities into legacy opportunities include the Oval Vancouver constructed in 2010. This facility now serves as multi-use facility for the city and surrounding communities. Also, to accommodate the International Broadcast Center and Main Press Center, Vancouver 2010 expanded the existing convention center to triple its previous size . . . . . . . Additionally, Olympic villages can be used to showcase cutting edge design and construction techniques as well as to fulfill vital affordable housing needs after the Games are completed. See: The Denver Olympic Exploratory Committee Endorsement of the 2022 Winter Olympics June 27, 2012.
In 2012, after due consideration the Exploratory Committee officially voted unanimously to put in a bid for 2022. No surprise there! Hancock and Hickenlooper sent out a joint statement:
“We want to thank the Denver Olympic Exploratory Committee for their thorough, objective work to evaluate a potential Olympic bid. It is great news to learn about the Committee’s unanimous support of a bid and we deeply appreciate the research and expertise offered in the report. We will take due consideration of the report, which will inform our decisions on next steps. ”
What Happened To The Bid For 2022?
However, not long after, in July 2012, the US Olympic Committee (USOC) dashed Denver’s hopes of bidding for the 2022 Winter Games by announcing it would sit out the competition. Denver’s Exploratory Committee was disbanded, with the intention of reviving the effort for a bid in 2019 for the 2026 games. Exploratory Committee member and 12-time Paralympic gold medalist Sarah Will of Edwards said, ”whether it’s 2026, 2030 or beyond, the Winter Olympics ultimately should be held in Colorado.” See VailDaily, An Olympic bid in 2026? David O. Williams February 14, 2014.
http://www.vaildaily.com/news/an-olympic-bid-in-2026/
Bill Marolt, champion Colorado skier, US Snowboard Assn. President and CEO and a member of the USOC Board, thinks Denver should bid. “I believe that the USOC and IOC are going to look for the best opportunities and their viable candidates, and I think Denver’s a viable candidate.”
However, Denver faced stiff competition in 2012 for the 2022 games from joint Olympic bidders in Reno-Lake Tahoe. Detrimental to a successful bid from Denver would be serious questions about infrastructure, facilities in the City and, of course, upgrading I-70.
Hancock And Hickenlooper: Enhancing Denver’s Chances For 2026
So in January 2013, the Mayor announced a major, ”envisioning” effort to “revitalize,” 3000 acres and the neighborhoods of Globeville, Swansea and Elyria and appointed Robert Moses of Denver, Kelly Leid, a protege of Oakwood Homes developer, and major supporter of Hancock, Pat Hamill, to head it up. Almost $1 billion dollars was approved for infrastructure and improvements for the “Stock Show.” See: Presentation North Denver Cornerstone Collaborative, Six Projects — One Vision by Kelly Leid August, 2015.
http://www.denverleadership.org/ wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Leid-Kelly.pdf
About the same time, in 2012, Hickenlooper ordered CDOT to study undergrounding I-70 through the Stock Show area in order to build a $2 billion partial cover over the freeway to connect the Stock Show area to the Coliseum and RiNO. As plans for both massive infrastructure projects progressed, it became clear that storm run-off flooding would put a “damper “ on all of these projects. Thus was born the Inter-Governmental Agreement between the City and CDOT to charge the citizens of Denver more than $400 million to enable the “vision.”
Do the residents of Globeville, Swansea and Elyria feel like all of this money and these projects are at all directed to “revitalize” their communities? Most do not. But what then could this $3. 5 billion plus plan be all about? Few seemed to notice when Jon Murray, city beat reporter for The Denver Post on June 22, 2016, wrote an article with the following headline. “Colorado group seeks lessons from Rio for potential Olympics bid: Delegation includes Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.”
Murray goes on to report, “Asked about a potential Denver bid for the winter Olympics, Hancock spokeswoman Jenna Espinoza sent this statement:
“Denver has made no secret of the fact that we are interested in pursuing the Winter Olympic Games, if the opportunity presented itself. Every city we visit, we learn from the challenges and opportunities of the area. From this discussion with the Rio host committee, we expect to learn from their bid process, and overall, hear about their approaches to event hosting.” See: “Colorado group seeks lessons from Rio for potential Olympics bid: Delegation includes Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper,” Jon Murray Denver Post, June 22, 2016.
Is it just a coincidence that in 2015 Steve Farber’s sons, Elevation Development, purchased a full square block of land on the southern edge of the Stock Show’s new development boundaries? With a $10 million land deal closed, a Denver developer is firing up another major RiNo project. Elevation Development Group bought 2. 5 acres near Downing and Blake streets last month for $9.6 million. Principal Brent Farber declined to comment on specifics but said the company plans to break ground on a significant mixed-use development in 2016. “There’s a big story happening in RiNo right now, there’s a lot going on in the area,” he said. ”One thing I loved about this specific site is it’s right on the light rail stop — it ‘s just right off of the platform.” Elevation’s purchase includes the entire block bounded by 36th, Blake, Downing and Walnut streets and a separate parcel at the northeast corner of Downing and Walnut. Elevation Development, acting as Hub Development LLC, closed the deal on Sept. 17, city records show. See: BusinessDen With mixed-use plans developer buys RiNo lot for $9. 6M Burl Rolett October 1, 2015.
http://www.businessden.com/2015/ 10/01/with-mixed-use-plans-developer-buys-rino-lot-for-9-6m/
Be Here Then, Be Here Now
If only we had paid attention to Denver’s most astute observer, artist and prophet, Kenny Be, way back in 2009. He knew this was coming and even came up with a mascot!
Denver City Planning Choking Cherry Creek Businesses
City’s Refusal To Plan For Traffic And Parking Causing Crisis
Bed Bath & Beyond Leaving. Elway’s Next?
by Megan Carthel
Creek Cherry was named in the 19th century for chokecherry bushes that once lined its banks. While attractive flowers bloom from the bush, if you eat the leaves or seeds you would choke and go into convulsions.
Denver’s adamant refusal to consider traffic and parking concerns in approving new developments in the area is slowly choking and destroying the retail businesses at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center and in Cherry Creek North according to experts.
When District Court Judge Shelly I. Gilman was told in a lawsuit on a zoning dispute for a new development that the City does not and will not consider traffic and parking concerns in approving new developments, she was incredulous. “That can’t be true,” she exclaimed. When the City sheepishly confirmed that it was, in fact true, Judge Gilman was still incredulous, stating that if you didn’t consider traffic and parking impacts, what did the Denver Community Planning and Planning Department and the City Council plan for?
City Reduced Parking For New Developments
Denver significantly reduced parking requirements for apartments and condominiums to a fraction of those required in other cities.
Former City Councilman Ed Thomas explained, “If they actually did consider traffic and parking impacts some projects would h
ave to be modified or even not approved and real estate developers simply don’t like that.”
In January 2017, of this year, the Shopping Center was forced to introduce paid parking which The Denver Post stated in its headline as “a total disaster.” Channels 4 and 7 ran similar stories saying that shop owners reported that it was “killing business.”
Major Cherry Creek Shopping Center retailer Bed Bath & Beyond announced it was moving to Glendale this fall. There are unconfirmed rumors that Elway’s restaurant, a well-known gathering place in the center, was going to close and move to the old Cool River Café location at 8000 East Belleview in Greenwood Village.
Restaurants At The Mall
Scott Stevens, owner of Which Wich, said the move has severely hurt his business.
“The impact on my business has been horrendous. Food business in a mall is highly dependent on traffic in a mall. We are down 40 percent consistently versus a year ago, week after week after week. Which 
says to me the traffic in the mall is down 40 percent.”
While Stevens’ restaurant is a fast-food joint inside the mall, he said it’s still beneficial for him to have foot traffic the mall is now lacking. Signing his 10-year lease just over a year ago, Stevens said the mall management was not upfront about making the switch to paid parking.
“Had I known they were going to start charging for parking this year, I would’ve thought twice about [having my store in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center].”
Nick Gourian of Fresh Healthy Café told Channel 7 that its business was down nearly 40 percent in March and he wrote a letter to Governor John Hickenlooper and Mayor Michael Hancock to complain about the imposition of paid parking.
Some businesses at the Shopping Center are taking proactive measures. Jennifer Olson, General Manager of Brio Tuscan Grille stated to the Chronicle, “We’ve been telling everyone eat, chat, and we will validate. Come on in and eat and drink for up to three hours and we take care of the parking fees.”
But Why?
In almost none of the articles and stories about paid parking at the Shopping Center is it truly explained why the Shopping Center would adopt a policy that has such disastrous consequences for its tenants.
The answer is simple. The City gave the Cherry Creek Shopping Center no choice in the matter. Not by any kind of direct governmental edict but by approving scores of projects in Cherry Creek North with limited or vastly inadequate parking. The Cherry Creek Chamber at an annual luncheon several years ago disputed the claim that there was inadequate parking in Cherry Creek North, declaring, inter alia, that there were 5,100 free parking places at the Cherry Creek Mall.
The Cherry Creek Shopping Center found itself flooded with cars from new hotels, apartment houses and condominium complexes with minimal parking. Moreover employers at retail and other businesses instructed their employees to also park at the center.
Nick LeMasters, Cherry Creek Shopping Center General Manager, said, “Customers have always parked at the mall and in Cherry Creek North and crossed First Avenue and have cross-shopped and that has never ever been discouraged or has never presented itself as a problem.” LeMasters added, “The challenge has been the fact that we have employees, not just from Cherry Creek North, but employees primarily in the service industries and hospitality and the retail industries who have viewed us, perhaps appropriately, as the free parking option because there’s very little complimentary parking around the neighborhood.”
Cherry Creek North
Councilman Wayne New
Wayne New, District 10 City Councilman, who won his seat in part for his willingness to take on the City and developers on planning issues, called the present situation a “perfect parking storm” not only for the Cherry Creek Shopping Center but also Cherry Creek North.
Gavin Berry, General Manager of Del Frisco’s Grille at 100 St. Paul Street, is feeling the effects. Del Frisco’s is an upscale eatery in Cherry Creek North that has seen a drop in its customer base since the transition to paid parking.
“We’ve definitely seen less traffic than we did this time last year. The sentiment is that fewer folks are coming into Cherry Creek,” Berry said.
Berry noted he’s seen about a 20 percent decrease in traffic. “If less people are coming into Cherry Creek, less people are dining in Cherry Creek and less people are shopping in Cherry Creek,” Berry said.
Aimeé Noel, Pea in a Pod store manager in Cherry Creek North, said it’s too early to tell if there has been an impact on her business but suspects there might be an effect on the area.
“I would definitely think (the 
paid parking system) would have an effect on the overall area,” Noel said. She did say that she has heard complaints from customers.
But Why Again?
Why would the City and County of Denver want to destroy one of its vibrant retail business areas which provides the City an estimated $10 million in sales tax revenues?
A key lobbyist in Denver revealed (not for attribution): “They just don’t care. Restaurants and retail stores do not fund political races. They do not provide future lucrative contracts or jobs for term limited politicians after they get out of office, but real estate developers can. The City also hopes that with all the new Cherry Creek area residents, some of them will not be able to have cars because there will be no place to park them, will shop in Cherry Creek and make up for the fact that no one outside of Cherry Creek will ever come back to Cherry Creek to shop again.
“Moreover if that doesn’t work and retail shopping is destroyed in the Cherry Creek area because traffic and lack of parking it is irrelevant from a financial standpoint. Denver is both a city and its own county so it gets the lion’s share of all property taxes. The money from property taxes for all the new buildings in Cherry Creek more than offsets all the retail sales taxes that will be lost. If the Shopping Center and retail shops in Cherry Creek North cared about surviving they should have bought themselves a mayor and a planning director like the real estate developers did.”
Prior to winning his council seat Wayne New was involved in various lawsuits against the City and its Planning Department for failing to require parking or traffic studies or forecasting models. Led by New, the Cherry Creek North Neighborhood Association* hired its own traffic firm, TDA Colorado, who looked at future traffic and parking needs which showed that thousands of additional parking places would be needed and Third Avenue reconfigured at a minimum to handle significantly increased traffic.
If there is any silver lining, New
notes that some of the newer developments are putting in parking significantly well above what is being required by the City.
But Cherry Creek Shopping Center’s Nick LeMasters is not sanguine, “The development that’s going on around us, there’s no end in sight and there’s multiple projects coming out of the ground as we speak and several more that are imminent that will soon happen, and [paid parking] was a defensive move on [the Shopping Center’s] part.”
Most of the chokecherry bushes have disappeared from Cherry Creek and retail stores may face the same fate in the relatively near future.
* The Chronicle originally reported that the Cherry Creek North BID hired TDA Colorado to conduct a traffic study. It was in fact the Cherry Creek North Neighborhood Association who hired the firm.
