Park give-away?
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| Formerly known as Triangle Park, at 23rd and Broadway, renamed Eddie Maestas Park in 2006. Photo from Google Earth. |
Stamped "Confidential", these internal documents reveal Denver Parks and Recreation negotiations to give this park to the Denver Rescue Mission under a "stewardship agreement". Recall that we recently spent $275,000 to rebuild this park in order to make it less hospitable to the homeless. For more go here.
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As with many ideas, there is merit seeing if a plan is even feasible. I have facilitated several of those meetings. Each time we met we reminded the group that for any plan to be successful it will need the requisite public process, stakeholder input and final agreement. I can assure you that no final decisions have been made and no land given away. This initial group is working to determine if there are alternatives which will provide a better use for the park and stop the preying upon homeless men and women by drug dealers and others. Thanks, Steve Charbonneau
ReplyDeleteSteve, if this process is in need of public input why are the meetings confidential? Is this not illegal?
ReplyDeleteThere is no mention of giving the park away in the documents but it does say that the Denver Rescue Mission will control access. This process as suggested will turn the park into a day shelter for the homeless. None of this addresses the real issue of dealing with the drug dealers. If the shelters want to protect the homeless from the drug dealers, they why not open the shelters during the day instead of giving them control of public property? This seems like a quick fix to sweep away a problem before Judy Montero goes up for re-election.
Why isn't Judy demanding that the police clean out the park and deal with the drug dealers instead of demanding that the park be closed to the public?
Where will the dealers go when the park is closed to them? They will move over to Little Box Car or Sonny Lawson. Then the police will still have a problem.
Finally, if the Denver Rescue Mission wants to use a public park as a day shelter why not put the homeless on a bus and take them to a park that is more comfortable, away from traffic and has more room such as Washington Park or Crestmoor? Because those neighborhoods will not put up with it, the shelters don't want to pay for that and this process is really not about them, it's about making the park look better for Judy Montero's re-election.