COLORADO DRUGGED DRIVERS INVOLVED IN FATAL CRASHES
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
US 36 fifty-year privatization contract to be signed Monday Feb 3, 2014
from (Ken.Beitel@DriveSunShine.org)
Terms described as risky and a threat to the economic future of Colorado
In a deal described by citizen’s groups as “risky and damaging the economic interests of the people of Colorado for the next half century”, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has indicated that the controversial US 36 privatization contract will be ready to sign by Monday February 3, 2014. The 50 year legally binding contract will be signed behind closed doors by the state highway privatization board, the HPTE. The contract will not be read or reviewed by the Colorado Senate or House prior to signing and public input is not allowed.
An investigation by a Boulder based clean energy organization, the Drive SunShine Institute (DSI) has revealed a sweeping ten year effort by corporate lobbyists from the world’s largest toll road developers to create a Colorado state highway privatization board. The new HTPE board is leasing US 36 for fifty years, then will also privatize and add toll lanes to I-70 in the heart of downtown Denver and into the mountains, the rest of C-470 and I-25 between Denver and Ft Collins. View privatization map
“The US 36 fifty year contract is a high risk, bad deal for the people of Colorado that is primarily paid for with state and federal money. Escalating toll rates on the new wave of Colorado private highways will threaten the financial well being of residents who travel for work or recreation,” says Ken Beitel, a clean energy analyst with the Drive SunShine Institute (DSI). DSI research has revealed the intense corporate lobbying campaign focused on Colorado by the world’s largest toll road developers including Cintra and Macquarie. “From what we understand the 50-year US 36 contract has the standard non-compete and revenue guarantees. This means it may be illegal for surrounding communities like Broomfield and Westminster to upgrade roads near US 36 because it could damage toll revenue for the private contractor. In 2008, Northwest Parkway threatened legal action to stop expansion of nearby West 160th avenue.”
Another Colorado toll road, E-470 has non-compete clauses including agreements with the Cities of Aurora, Brighton, and Thornton, the Town of Parker, and Adams and Douglas Counties that provide, for at least fifteen years, these entities will not construct or improve any road (with certain pre-approved exceptions) that would reduce tolls collected on E-470.
In 2002, an E-470 non-compete clause with Commerce City lowered the speed limit on nearby Tower Road from 55 MPH to 40 MPH, and had stop lights installed on Tower Road at 96th, 104th, and 112th Avenues to force paid toll traffic onto E-470, a privately operated toll road.
Revenue guarantees in the US 36 contract also remove control of highway policy from the people of Colorado. For instance, if the now under construction US 36 toll lanes are removed or additional free lanes are added, or if electric vehicles are provided incentives to use the HOV lane to reduce carbon emissions, the State of Colorado may be required to provide toll compensation for the next 50 years to the Plenary Group consortium and its partners.
To ensure private sector earnings on US 36, wages and total compensation for snowplow drivers and maintenance workers may be cut by more than half. Privatized highway workers will not be eligible to participate in PERA, the state retirement plan, or in the state union of public employees.
Colorado Senate/House Denied Opportunity to Review 50 Year US 36 Contract Prior to Signing
Colorado state Senator Matt Jones has repeatedly asked CDOT for the US 36 privatization contract to allow him to review the deal to ensure the public interest is being met. CDOT has refused to comply with the Senator’s request informing the elected official that he can read the contract in a week or two, just like everybody else, after the 50 year binding contract is signed.
“We urge Colorado senators and state representatives to prevent the state HPTE board from signing this risky contract, highly influenced by corporate lobbyists,” explains Beitel, “How can Senate President Morgan Carroll, an advocate of consumer rights and democracy, be comfortable in letting a state privatization board sign a fifty year contract she has not even seen?”
Sign the Petition Now
So far, more than 1,200 people have signed a petition calling for the Colorado senators and house representatives to read the US 36 privatization contract prior to the signing of the 50 year deal. A town hall meeting at 5pm Friday, Jan 31st in Boulder is expected to draw hundreds as anger grows at elected state senators and representatives who seem to be ignoring their public duty.
CDOT Communications Director Amy Ford and HPTE Director Michael Cheroutes will attend the Friday night town hall to discuss the US 36 privatization deal along with hundreds of concerned voters.
In order to read the US 36 contract, the Colorado Senate and House will need to convene an emergency session and pass legislation that suspends the ability of the HPTE board to sign the fifty-year US 36 privatization contract.
“Elected officials must act now to guard the economic interests of Colorado from corporate lobbyists or face the disappointment of angry voters this fall,” concludes Beitel, “The urgency of this matter cannot be overstated. This deal is a clear threat to the finances of Colorado. It is a failure of public duty to sign a risky 50 year contract privatizing state assets without reading it. The multi-generational impact of this lobbyist driven agreement will harm the economic interests of the people of Colorado and our children for the next half century.”
US 36 Privatization Town Hall, 5pm Friday, January 31, 2014, Boulder, CO
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Sonny Lawson Park Playground Installation
YOU'RE INVITED - The long awaited improvements to Sonny Lawson Park are underway and we would like to invite you to come help kick off the first construction project.
Please join me, the Volunteers of America Colorado Branch and Better Block at Sonny Lawson Park for the installation of a brand new playground for the park.
When: Fri., January 31st
Time: 8am to 4pm
Location: Sonny Lawson Park (24th & Welton/Five Points Neighborhood)
To volunteer, please click here
For more information, please contact Amanda Gregg with Volunteers of America at (720) 264-3307 or via email at agregg@voacolorado.org
Thank you,
Councilman Albus Brooks
Intercontinental Day of Protest Against the TPP
Civic Center Park
Friday, 31 Jan 2014, 4:30 PM
We are not alone! Millions of people across the globe who realize the damage the TPP would do our lives are going to stage a coordinated protest against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Act (TPP) on January 31st. Although the text of the bill is classified, we have learned enough from leaks to know that it would spell the end of our democracy.
MoveOn Denver Metro council has held three actions to protest the TPP and have contributed to the fight to prevent a “fast track” vote that would require our legislators to vote yes or no on the bill without knowing anything about it or being able to discuss or amend it. We have stopped the fast track vote twice, but the multinational corporations that wrote the bill with their profits in mind will be pressuring Congress to vote on it again fairly soon. If we want to stop it, and it is critical to every single issue we believe in that we do so, we need to educate the public about what it contains and urge them to pressure their legislators to vote against it. We keep fighting and educating and we invite you to join us.
Message from host: We will hold a honk and wave action on January 31 with signs and handouts to educate the public about the bill. Come to Civic Center Park at Broadway and Colfax, west sidewalk at 4:30 to join the honk and wave. If you can come early, pick up some handouts at the park and distribute them on the mall at quitting time.
To quote Margaret Flowers who has helped spearhead this movement, “the TPP affects many issues, among them worker’s rights and wages; environmental collapse and climate change; sovereignty of nations and democratic rule of law; Internet freedom and online creativity; food safety and agriculture; health care and financial regulation including controls over the flow of capital. This is an opportunity for everyone working on these issues and more to join together in unity to stop the TPP… The only groups helped by these trade agreements are big transnational corporations who get cheap labor, avoid environmental regulations, and have inexpensive access to resources.“
To learn more go to: www.flushthetpp.org or www.stopthetpp.org or www.popularresistance.org. Public Citizen also has some good information on their website. Then make a sign about the impact of this bill on your favorite progressive issue and join us. We will be joined by activists from other groups that want to protect our freedom and sovereignty.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
US 36 Privatization Town Hall Meeting - Fri Jan 31, 5pm Boulder, Colorado
Ed. note: From the response to this post, I'd say there will be a great interest in this town hall.
Impacts of privatization of US 36 and I-70 may include conversion of Colorado highways to partial or full toll roads, rapidly escalating toll fees and the removal of public input in determining Colorado transportation policy.
Please join us at the Friday town hall meeting to call for public review of Colorado highway privatization
Friday January 31, 5pm
Alfalfa's Market (Community Room)
1651 Broadway, Boulder, CO
Alfalfa's Market (Community Room)
1651 Broadway, Boulder, CO
5:00 pm - refreshments & networking
5:30 pm - presentation and town hall discussion
6:45 pm - refreshments & one-on-one action planning
5:30 pm - presentation and town hall discussion
6:45 pm - refreshments & one-on-one action planning
To ensure enough space, to attend you must RSVP at:
http://www.meetup.com/Network/events/162603242/
http://www.meetup.com/Network/events/162603242/
Attend a hard hitting town hall meeting organized by the Boulder based Drive SunShine Institute.
The Colorado Senate and House must convene an emergency session to immediately suspend the ability of the HPTE to sign the 50 year US 36 privatization contract to ensure the public interest of Colorado is being met.
"The crown jewels of Colorado infrastructure- our public transportation system including US 36 and I-70- are being stolen. Colorado public highways are being sold off to the private sector in 50 year contracts being signed this week or next. " explains Ken Beitel, co-founder and clean energy analyst with the Drive SunShine Institute.
The Drive SunShine Institute (DSI) supports does not oppose all privatization. DSI believes there must be full public discussion of the merits of public vs private funding options and question of whether 50 years of highway revenue will go to a private corporation or to the State of Colorado.
DSI strongly object to privatization in secret deals organized by CDOT in partnership with Glen Vaad, former house Chair of Transportation and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
DSI strongly object to privatization in secret deals organized by CDOT in partnership with Glen Vaad, former house Chair of Transportation and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
The US 36 Privatization Contract is due to be signed this week or next. Once the contract is signed it is permanent and binding for the next 50 years.
Beitel explains that the time for action is now. In the face of a public firestorm, the CDOT privatization board, the HPTE, is expected to rush the signing of the US 36 privatization contract in order to silence criticism of its corporate lobbyist influenced actions.
Our only hope for a public review of US 36 privatization is for the Colorado Senate and House to immediately suspend the powers of the state privatization board, the High Performance Transportation Enterprise.
The HPTE and corporate lobbyists from the world's largest toll road developers, Cintra, Macquarie and Plenary have orchestrated the theft of Colorado's crown jewels- our public highway system.
Contract signing authority must be removed from the state privatization board must be removed until a full investigation of the influence of corporate lobbyists on the US 36 and I-70 privatization deals can be investigated and criminal charges pressed if warranted.
---------------------------------------------
What we know is that for years, former state lawmaker, the House Chair of the Colorado Transportation Committee was meeting behind closed doors with corporate lobbyists from the worlds largest toll road development firms including Cintra and Macquarie at resort hotels from New Orleans to Scottsdale AZ. At these meetings we have rock solid evidence that the lobbyists were drafting legislation to privatize state assets in partnership with Vaad with the goal of having this legislation passed into law in Colorado and state legislatures across the country."
Colorado Senators have repeatedly asked CDOT for the US 36 privatization contract to allow review of the deal and ensure public interest is being met. CDOT has refused the requests, informing the elected officials that they can read the contract in a week or two, after the 50 year binding contract is signed, just like everybody else.
The people of Colorado need to call their house representative and their senator before it is too late. The Drive SunShine Institute anticipates the CDOT and the state privatization board, HPTE will respond to public questioning by rushing to sign the contract behind closed doors.
The Colorado Senate and House must convene an emergency session to immediately suspend the ability of the HPTE to sign the 50 year US 36 privatization contract to ensure the public interest of Colorado is being met.
At this town hall, hosted by the Boulder based Drive SunShine Institute, we'll learn about and discuss the US 36 Privatization
• Join the Call for a 90 Hold on Contract Signing to Allow for Public and Colorado Legislature Review
• Demand Suspension of HPTE Legislation Enabling the Rapid-Fire Privatization of Colorado Highways
For more information visit www.DriveSunShine.org
Perlmutter seeks more congressional involvement on trade treaty
By Dave Felice
Exclusive to Denver Direct
 |
| Rep. Ed Perlmutter |
Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Lakewood is opposing a measure which would send the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade treaty through Congress with limited debate and no amendments.
The limited debate proposal is commonly known as "fast track." Its official title is Trade Promotion Authority. While supported by President Barack Obama, the TPA measure is sponsored in the House by Rep. Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican.
Perlmutter’s Legialstive Aide Jeff O’Neil issued this statement: "Congressman Perlmutter has decided to oppose Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) or Fast Track. He still hasn't made any decisions on specific trade deals, including the TPP, but after studying the TPA bill and educating himself over the last several weeks he has decided to oppose TPA to encourage more Congressional involvement in trade negotiations."
Perlmutter joins Rep Diana DeGette in opposing fast track. Rep. Jared Polis has not decided his position on TPA, according to his District Director, Andy Schultheis. A group of activists met with Schultheis last Friday to urge Polis to reject the fast track measure.
The four Republican members of Colorado’s congressional delegation are silent so far on both fast track and the TPP.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty is a massive trade deal, being negotiated in secrecy. Its provisions could negatively impact the environment, American jobs, and consumer protections under the guise of promoting fair trade among the U.S. and 11 Pacific rim countries.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Publicopoly - WHAT?
Butterfield: ALEC's half-century contract on US 36
Click photo to enlarge
Anne Butterfield
Have you ever wished to sign a 50 year contract?
Sounds like a major bummer. Even utilities seek contracts from city-clients that last only 20 years, although their finance projections for their coal plants can go 60 years. Fifty years, 60 years, 20 years, they all last longer than most marriages. But in a few days Colorado's Department of Transportation (CDOT) will sign a 50-year contract for the management of the Boulder Turnpike and its toll lanes, affecting transportation planning options from here to central Denver.
Read entire article here.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
"Fight on!" vows Not 1 More Acre! as ban on DOD's Piñon Canyon expansion dies
By Robert Ewegen
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| Scorched Earth -- Warhorse Rampage |
Removal of the funding ban scraps Congressional restrictions that have also stopped efforts to massively increase military operations and activities by heavy and all-terrain armored vehicles, aviation units, lasers and weaponized drones at the headwinds of the Dust Bowl. Removal of the ban also permits the military to resume secret planning efforts to launch a new land grab at some future date after opposition to such expansion has lost momentum.
"Realistically, we know we can't restore the funding ban to the 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Bill that passed the House and Senate and was signed by the President January 17, Aguerre said.
"But as John Paul Jones said, 'We have not yet begun to fight when it comes to the greater, ongoing, struggle to protect the site that has been identified as the headwinds of the 1930s Dust Bowl from further abuse such as that afflicted by Warhorse Rampage maneuvers.
And we will be alert to future signs that the Pentagon may be planning another round of purchases or condemnations to expand the site, which it could easily do with future Congressional approval - approval that taxpayers won't know about until it is too late.
"While we thank the many citizens who rallied to this and earlier efforts to save the funding ban, we know it is time to move on to the next fight in our battle for the Southern Great Plains. Our funding ban was originally passed in 2007 after open public hearings and a courageous fight waged by then U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave.
In contrast, this appropriations bill was done in the back room by committee staff people over the holidays - with the connivance of Rep. Cory Gardner, who newly represents the military maneuver site, and of Sen. Mark Udall. They killed our funding ban. It is a done deal with no way to alter it," Aguerre said.
"When Fiscal Year 2015 appropriations bills, twelve of them, start moving next month the funding ban will not be there to renew. That means to restore the funding ban, its language would have to go to the full floor of the House and the Senate. There is not a single member - much less two, one from the House and another from the Senate - of Colorado's current delegation with the guts to represent everyday people against special interests and other delegation members in her own party the way Marilyn Musgrave did," observed Aguerre.
Even though PCMS was not technically in her district, Rep. Musgrave knew the threat that the massive expansion would have posed to family ranchers and the whole Southern Plains region.
Thus, she crafted simple, understandable language that prohibits spending on any aspect of military expansion at Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site. Representative Musgrave personally secured the support of her party's leadership and then worked across the aisle to overwhelmingly pass the funding ban.
But in the 2012 Congressional Redistricting, Las Animas County, which hosts the contentious military maneuver site, was moved to the 4th Congressional District, which is now represented by Gardner. That redistricting removed the funding ban from the protective hands of strong, vocal support all around western Colorado and placed it in Gardner's hands to throw under the bus. He wasted no time doing just that for special interests feeding his political ambition.
"Gardner, without any advance public hearings, drafted language that replaced the explicit and comprehensive seven-year-old funding ban with language that is already in the law and is a meaningless substitute for the stronger funding ban that was killed by mutual consent between Gardner and Udall," Aguerre said.
"Udall, for his part, was willing to throw the seven-year-old funding ban under the bus in return for a letter from the Pentagon pretending to have more authority than Congress in determining how much and when land will be seized for military operations. This time the Pentagon produced a letter saying it was withdrawing a piece of administrative technical minutiae that would return expansion back to 'square one.' "
The blue smoke and mirrors gets thicker when we know that by killing the funding ban, it is the Gardner /Udall legislation that opens the door to the next round of secret joint forces military expansion planning while maximizing use and destruction of the existing site at the headwinds of the Dust Bowl.
Why did Udall need to get rid of our funding ban? At Not 1 More Acre! we bet it has everything to do with the new $3.5 billion dollar Heavy Combat Aviation Brigade he ordered up from his committee positions on Army Services and Intelligence to be stationed at an encroached urban military base that doesn't have room to maneuver it. That cash-flush house of cards falls apart when spending on any aspect of expansion at DOD's Piñon Canyon Manuever Site is prohibited, as the funding ban did. The founders called it the 'power of the purse.'
This spring the most lethal integrated electronic warfare weapons system on the market - Udall's new $3.5 billion Heavy Combat Aviation Brigade - will take a significant step closer to turning the headwinds of the Dust Bowl at Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site into a 24/7 base of operations.
"We can end this nightmare. And, we should try. The Southern Great Plains belongs to each of us. Here, we can let our eyes and imaginations roam while standing in a 150-million-year-old dinosaur footprint. To the right, we can see the ancient Purgatoire River ribboning into its canyon, while looking left we see tipi rings of the Jicarilla Apache. At the horizon the Santa Fe Trail heads north to Bent's Fort and south through the mountains to Taos. Straight ahead you can see a patina rock wall and be fascinated by pictographs left 17,000 years ago by the first humans to record wonders of this native shortgrass prairie.
Communities of every kind at home on the grasslands - the headwinds of the Dust Bowl at the top of the Southern Great Plains - have achieved a delicate but ongoing recovery from the worst environmental disaster in United States history. That disaster was brought on by bad government policies that required homesteaders to plow lands where the shortgrass ecosystem had supported Native peoples, buffalo and a richly unique array of wildlife for tens of thousands of years. Today, generational ranchlands and National Grasslands keep the shortgrass in place, protecting the soil and the economy of the Southern Plains.
"We must stop misguided governmental policies - here wrapped under the rubric of national defense -- which spell another catastrophe for the Southern Plains. The supporters of Not 1 More Acre! pledge to stay vigilant and fight for every precious inch of the last shortgrass prairie in all the American Great Plains" Aguerre said.
Bob Ewegen had a 45-year career in journalism, including more than 36 years with The Denver Post, before becoming Director of Research and Communications at the Ewegen Law Firm in Denver. The firm, headed by his daughter, attorney Misty Ewegen, represents Not 1 More Acre.
We have to report you if you ask
You know that your bank is required to file a form with the Federal government if a transaction in any of your accounts is $10,000 or greater. Even smaller transactions that add up to $10,000 have to be reported.
I went to my bank (UMB) to ask for a list of those actions that would trigger a filing of the report. "We can't give you that", I was told by a VP of the bank. "It's prohibited."
"Is asking for a list one of the triggers?" I asked.
"Yes."
Ooops.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
How long do YOU want to live?
Opinion by Gerald Trumbule
I know this isn't something most people want to think about, but I have to admit that as I grow old, I find it coming up more often. Especially as my friends die off.
Twice in the last few years I've had friends who I assisted in completing the "Five Wishes" questionnaire which sought to provide a living will, answering end-of-life questions for themselves. In both cases their stated wishes were not followed.
In one case, I got a personal call from the head surgeon, who honestly related to me what had happened in the operating room.
My friend (in his mid-50s) had gone in for open-heart surgery with a well-known surgeon. He had had a heart-attack three days earlier and knew that his heart was in bad shape and was looking forward to the possibility of repairs. I was named as the person to look after his affairs in the Five Wishes document. He had stated that he did not want "extraordinary measures" taken.
During open-heart surgery your heart is taken off-line and your blood is circulated by a pump. "When we tried to start his heart back up, it wouldn't start" the surgeon explained. "And that's when the surgical team split on what to do next. There were six of us involved, and three wanted to stop. The other three wanted to thread a balloon up to his heart which would be externally driven to rhythmically inflate and thereby drive his heart (extraordinary measure). They won, and this device was threaded in place, but then we discovered that he was unexpectedly bleeding out. We couldn't find the source at first but soon learned that we had nicked the blood vessel through which we had threaded the balloon in a nearly inaccessible location behind his stomach. At that point we were 7 hours into the surgery and we stopped."
Clearly my friend would have died with or without the "extraordinary measure". But the point here is that his wishes were ignored.
The other friend had an inoperable brain tumor. She was adamant about not wanting radiation or chemo-therapy. As time went by, her resolve was worn down and she acquiesced. To me it seemed that while there was almost no hope that the procedures would have any effect, they wanted to run her through the very expensive and debilitating treatment anyway. Drugged and diminished, she had given in.
Well, the good news is that there is now a more powerful version of the Five Wishes that is available. It is called the Colorado Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (MOST) and you can get it here. The difference is that your doctor has to sign this one. But the problem is you still have to decide.
I had always chosen "yes" on most of the choices. Yes to CPR, yes to intubation, yes to mechanical ventilation, yes to IV whatever. Until I read this article.
Turns out that doctors choose none of this stuff. Not even CPR, which hardly every works in real life, unlike the movies. Doctors just want to die peacefully, and not in hospitals.
As it happened. I was in my doctors office a few days later and told him about the article and asked if he had a living will with directives. "Yes." he said. "May I ask how you filled it out?" He had said no to CPR and everything else. Why? "Because I don't want to end up in a nursing home."
So, having now spent over 27,000 days on earth, I've arrived at the conclusion that it would be best for me to depart without medical heroics. I haven't filed the form yet.
What's your choice?
Highway 36 - Fifty Year Privatization Contract to be Signed Next Week
via email:
Call for Public Review and Colorado Legislature Approval
While the controversy over the rapid privatization of Colorado public highways continues to escalate, a seemingly secretive fifty year contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars, known as the US 36 “Concession Agreement” is due to be signed next week without public input or legislative approval.
“A bad deal on the US 36 Concession Agreement could cost Colorado taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over fifty years, place the private sector in charge of public highway policy, and mean low wages for snow plow operators and maintenance workers in order to increase profits of corporate shareholders,” explains Ken Beitel, a clean energy analyst with the Drive SunShine Institute (DSI), a Colorado based research and education organization that promotes emission free transportation.
The framework driving privatization of Colorado Highways was created under the leadership of former state lawmaker Glenn Vaad, Chair of the Colorado Transportation Committee, Vaad has recently come under fire for accepting “scholarship money” from a D.C. based lobbyist organization in 2006, 2007 and 2008 (Source: Buying Influence Report- Common Cause). In 2009 Vaad sponsored Colorado legislation HB 09-1187 - “Allow Tolling Of Existing Toll-free Highways” that provided an option to convert Colorado public highways to full toll roads without any general non-tolled lanes. Although the bill did not pass, Vaad continued his pursuit of road privatization.
From 2006 to potentially as late as 2012, the scholarship payments received by Vaad, encouraged the House Chair of the Transportation Committee to attend a series of private, out-of-state meetings at resort hotels with corporate lobbyists from Cintra, Maquarie and Transurban (Click to view Aug 3, 2011 New Orleans meeting chaired by Glenn Vaad). At these meetings, Vaad is believed to have formed close ties with some of the world’s largest toll road developers- the same developers that are now bidders on CDOT transportation projects including the Cintra bid for US 36 (view CDOT privatization bidders list). Macquarie is now the financial advisor to the State of Colorado on the fast moving $1.1 billion I-70 privatization deal. (Source: CDOT Memo: Jan 15, 2014-click here to view, Page 1) There have been loud calls for the Colorado Senate to reject Vaad’s recent appointment to the Colorado public utility commission due to conflict of interest concerns.
“Not all privatization deals harm the public interest,” continues Beitel, an advocate of free markets, “We are calling for a 90 day public review period for the US 36 concession agreement and for the final deal to be approved and signed by the Colorado Legislature. This contract covers a half century period - we have a fiduciary trust to future generations to ensure that what we sign here in 2014 will still be a good deal for the public interest in 2060.”
A petition calling for public review and legislature approval has already gathered more than 1,000 signatures. Public review of the proposed contract is also expected to benefit the revenue of towns adjacent to US 36 who are now in the process of signing a revenue sharing agreement with a CDOT board to split road tolls. The US 36 revenue sharing agreement MOU was made public yesterday and can be viewed by clicking here.
Beitel explains that the public needs to be an active partner in securing a US 36 contract that benefits the public interest. He cites a previous bad deal negotiated by CDOT, “For instance, if the 50 year US 36 deal contains a “non-compete” agreement as does the 99 year Northwest Parkway contract, it may be illegal for communities surrounding US 36 to upgrade free roadways as this could damage profits on the US 36 toll lane.” In 2008, the foreign consortium that owns the Northwest Parkway lease threatened legal action over the expansion of West 160th Avenue. The NW Parkway 99 year contract states that construction of a "competing transportation facility" would be an "adverse action," reducing toll revenues and the number of vehicles using the parkway, and entitling the toll-road operator to compensation. (Source: Denver Post, July 24, 2008)
Another example of a poorly negotiated concession agreement is the recent privatization of Chicago parking meters. The 75 year contract provides Chicago with only $1.2 billion over the term of the contract while the private sector operator will collect more than $11.6 billion in parking fees. Since the signing of the contract, rapid parking meter rate increases have hurt downtown Chicago merchants as shoppers fled to the suburbs. (Source: In the Public Interest Report)
US 36 opened to the public 60 years ago in 1952 and the highway now carries between 80,000 and 124,000 vehicles a day (Source: CDOT). The privatization of US 36, the key transportation link running from Denver to Boulder, is already impacting public road policy. In order to maximize revenue on Highway 36 and I-25 toll lanes, HOV usage rules are changing from 2+ to 3+ to increase the number of paying customers in the toll lanes and reduce the number of non-paying customers (Source: HPTE 2013 Annual Report). There is also concern that the secretive US 36 deal may not support use of electric vehicles in the HOV lanes- a powerful market based incentive that can drive the purchase of zero emission vehicles.
“Colorado recently suffered a billion dollars in flood damage because of an extreme weather event that may have been linked to climate change. Like California, our HOV lanes must encourage the adoption of zero emission electric cars, vans and pick up trucks powered by wind and solar to reduce the high costs and impacts of extreme weather events,” notes RJ Harrington, executive director of Clean Energy Action, a citizens organization that is working to create a clean energy future for Colorado.
DSI analyst Ken Beitel concludes, “Rather than the new quest to maximize toll revenues for private sector operators, highway policy should be driven by the public interests of Colorado. Public review and legislative approval of the US 36 contract will ensure a half century of positive benefits for the people of Colorado.”
Press Contact/Interviews:
Ken Beitel, clean energy analyst & Advisory Board Chair, Drive SunShine Institute (DSI)
ph: 720 436-2465 email: Ken.Beitel@DriveSunShine.org
Press Contact/Interviews:
Ken Beitel, clean energy analyst & Advisory Board Chair, Drive SunShine Institute (DSI)
ph: 720 436-2465 email: Ken.Beitel@DriveSunShine.org
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Oxycontin - 17,000 deaths last year
from here:
Oxycontin
Purdue Pharma's Oxycontin is the granddaddy of drugs that make money despite lethal side-effects. Along with other prescription opioids, it accounted for an astounding 17,000 deaths last year—four times that in 2003. "The increase [in use] has been fueled in part by doctors and pain advocacy organizations that receive money from drug companies and make misleading claims about the safety and effectiveness of opioids, including that addiction is rare," reported the Journal Sentinel.The American Geriatrics Society used Pharma-linked experts to rewrite clinical guidelines in 2009, says the Journal Sentinel, which specified opioids for all patients with moderate to severe pain as opposed to Aleve or Advil. Ka-ching.
Oxycontin, because it is a long-acting formulation, was supposed to reduce toxicities and addictiveness—at least until its crush, snort and shoot potential made it more popular than cocaine on the street. (All the pill's 80mg could be taken at once.) In 2010, responding to the addictions, overdoses, deaths and diversions associated with the drug, Purdue rolled out a tamper-resistant Oxycontin and began to push for state and federal laws requiring opioids to be tamper-resistant in 2012. Purdue said public health was its main concern but many are asking why that concern only surfaced as Oxycontin's patent was expiring. Its patent expired in 2013.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Exciting News!!
via email from Friends of Denver Parks:
I have excerpted a few tidbits from the case to give you an idea of what it contains. Here is the link for the complete document.
http://friendsofdenverparks.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/2090jeffersoncountyjudges_order.pdf
A party lacks standing to challenge the title of another. School District No. Six v. Russell, 396 P.2d 929, 932 (Colo. 1964). However, a resident taxpayer of a municipality has the right to maintain a suit to prevent the unlawful disposition by the municipal authorities of the property of the town, and to restrain the diversion of property in his town from any public use, which he shares, to which it has been dedicated. McIntyre v. Bd. of Commr’s of El Paso County, 61 ….
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Because this issue impacts the disposition of this land, pursuant to C.R.C.P. 105, this Court must also determine whether the land is held for “municipal purposes” or for “open space or park purposes.” It is well settled by authority that a “municipality holds . . . dedicated ground for the use and benefit of its citizens, for the purposes only of its dedication” McIntyre, 61 P. at 239. The trustee cannot impose upon dedicated land any servitude or burden inconsistent with those purposes, or tending to impair them. Id. Neither can it alienate the ground, nor relieve itself from the authority and duty to regulate its use. Id. It does not have the authority to later subvert the purposes of that dedication. See also Turnbaugh v. Chapman, 68 P.3d 570 (Colo. App. 2003). It is undisputed that the dedication here was for “municipal purposes” and that the property has remained undeveloped and in its natural state…….
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Here, the property has been used for open space purposes by the public for over 30 years, but it is not clear that it was used for open space purposes by the City. The City did install signs in the 1980s indicating that the land was City open space and the City has never indicated otherwise. Although this Court does so with significant hesitation, based on the totality of the circumstances presented, and applying a plain reading of the City Charter as required, this Court has no option but to find that this property has been used for open space and thus falls within the purview of City Charter Provision 14.3(b). As such, the property may not be leased or sold without a favorable vote on the question of such lease or sale by a majority of the registered electors of the City voting thereon…..
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There is an Open Records Act Violation in this case because the decision to develop this land was made behind closed doors.
Sound familiar!!!
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THE OWL TEAM WILL BE ATTENDING. PLEASE JOIN US.
JANUARY 22nd 6:30—7:30 p.m.
HAMILTON MIDDLE SCHOOL
8600 E Dartmouth Ave, Denver, CO 80231
COMMUNITY MEETING TO SHARE DESIGN PLANS & SCHEDULE
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IMPORTANT!! We are looking for witnesses who recreationally used the Cherry Creek pathway/trail to the Hentzell Park Natural Area/Hampden Height North Park near Kenwood Dam before 1955. We understand that picnicking, horseback riding, hiking, fishing, and birdwatching are a few of the recreational uses of the trail. If you have older relatives or friends please ask them about their memories of this time. Contact Judy Case at the following email address: friendsofdenverparks@gmail.com
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If you believe the work that we are doing is important please consider joining Friends of Denver Parks as an honorary member or sponsoring a fundraiser. http://www.friendsofdenverparks.org
Thanks so much for your support and hope to see you at the meeting,
Renee - President
Friends of Denver Parks
Sunday, January 19, 2014
I-70 will be privatized in a $1.1 billion dollar deal
via email:
WHAT: BOULDER GREEN DRINKS 2014 KICKOFF EVENT!
Hot topic: Help Fight Colorado Highway Privatization
Hot topic: Help Fight Colorado Highway Privatization
Tues Jan 21, 2012, 5:30pm at Shine in Boulder, Colorado
To attend RSVP at:
http://www.meetup.com/Network/events/161110742/
http://www.meetup.com/Network/events/161110742/
The American Legislative Exchange Council has launched a major attack on solar in Colorado that could cripple the industry and clean energy production. ALEC is funded by coal, oil and toll road development companies.
ALEC has already privatized US #36 from Denver to Boulder with a 50 year contract awarded 6 months ago. Over the next two months I-70 will be privatized in a $1.1 billion dollar deal and made into a toll road in downtown Denver and going up to the mountains.
The Boulder Sustainable Energy executive team is very concerned about the impacts that converting public highways into private toll roads will have on our member's liberty and freedom to enjoy mountain recreation. We don't want ALEC to take away your right to install solar if you so desire. We invite you to help fight the ALEC attack on the people of Colorado.
At this event come talk to me and we will form a Council of War to halt the ALEC attack on Colorado. Meet great people, enjoy green drinks and find out how you can help!
Ken J. Beitel - "A Friend of Colorado"
Email: ken.beitel@drivesunshine.org
cell: 720 436-2465
website: Friends of Colorado
Email: ken.beitel@drivesunshine.org
cell: 720 436-2465
website: Friends of Colorado
To attend event please RSVP at:
http://www.meetup.com/Network/events/161110742/
http://www.meetup.com/Network/events/161110742/
Friday, January 17, 2014
COUNCILMAN BROWN LAYS DOWN THE LAW
Re: “Don’t get worked up about 4/20,” Jan. 15 editorial. (Denver Post)
 |
| Brown with tomato plants (once considered poisonous) |
In November 2012, Colorado voters passed Amendment 64. The council responded to the will of Denver voters, working long and hard to create a legal framework for marijuana sales, consumption and penalties. Our new laws reflect what was in Amendment 64, which specifically prohibits “consumption that is conducted openly and publicly or in a manner that endangers others.”
The annual 4/20 event, which takes place on seven acres in the heart of our city in historic Civic Center, is not an image that will appear in any chamber of commerce or tourism brochure. During last year’s event, shots were fired, people were injured and hundreds were sent fleeing, scared for their lives.
When the council passes laws, we expect them to be enforced. There is no asterisk in the law that makes an exception for Civic Center on April 20. Like any other group, 4/20 organizers and participants must abide by our established laws and regulations.
Charlie Brown, Denver
The writer is a Denver city councilman and head of the Amendment 64 committee.
This letter was published in the Jan. 18 edition.
HICKENLOOPER AND HORSES
This picture
reminded me of footage we shot some time ago (March 20, 2010) at the Capitol (Hick at 0:59):
and who can forget this?
But what is really weird is the plastic one in his front office at the Capitol.
.jpg)
Colorado Highways are Being SOLD OFF
***Breaking News - Colorado Highways are Being SOLD OFF and Made into Full or Partial TOLL ROADS to Enrich Corporate Profits
***US 36 - ALREADY PRIVATIZED. Lost to a 50 year contract to Plenary Group. HOV2+ Lanes on #36 and I-25 will soon require 3+ people in your car or you MUST pay to use HOV.
***I-70- The Colorado Transportation Commission is now SELLING I-70 for $1 BILLION.
I-70 will BECOME A TOLL ROAD in downtown Denver and UP TO THE MOUNTAINS. This is happening FAST. We must STOP THEM by FEBRUARY 3 or it may be too late!
***ALL OF C-470 that is not a toll road will SOON BE PRIVATIZED and made into a partial or FULL TOLLl road.
Please FIGHT NOW before I-70 and C-470 are SOLD!
Once the 50 year contract is in place there is NOTHING that can be done.
THIS IS A FIGHT for FREEDOM that we the people of COLORADO must WIN!
WHO is behind this theft?
A) About a DIRTY DOZEN large toll road companies including Cintra, Transurband and Macquarie- ALL members of GLEN VAAD's ALEC Commerce task force.
These ALEC companies helped Vaad write legislation that is making this THEFT of Colorado roads possible.
B) The REASON FOUNDATION funded by the Koch brothers - see "What is ALEC?" link below for more.
LEARN what is going on and HELP US FIGHT HARD!
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Today we the Friends of Colorado started to FIGHT BACK by issuing a national media release raising the ALARM.
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Today we the Friends of Colorado started to FIGHT BACK by issuing a national media release raising the ALARM.
READ the press release at: https://friendsofthecoloradopuc.wordpress.com/
Stop by "Friends of the Colorado PUC" website - JOIN the FIGHT!!
STOP the THEFT of Colorado public highways to FOREIGN TOLL ROAD FIRMS that have manipulated our political leaders!
DEFEND your RIGHT to travel!!
DEFEND YOUR RIGHT TO control what happens on our public roads!
EMAIL your friends to sign this petition and write an ANGRY letter to the editor. Today.
From the Friends of Colorado
https://friendsofthecoloradopuc.wordpress.com/
https://friendsofthecoloradopuc.wordpress.com/
Yours in service,
Ken J Beitel
Advisory Board Chair, Drive SunShine Institute (DSI)
Boulder, Colorado
Advisory Board Chair, Drive SunShine Institute (DSI)
Boulder, Colorado
Email: Ken.Beitel@DriveSunShine.org Cell: 720 436-2465
"A Friend of Colorado"
PS This petition has been expanded to stop ALEC's Glenn Vaad from being appointed to the Utility and Crushing Roof Top Solar in Colorado, and to stop the sale of Public Highways.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Denver Mayor has approved the development plan (GDP) for the old St. Anthony’s site at Sloan’s Lake
via FB
Dear neighborhood supporter, Thank you so much for your support for the petition (comment below for link) and thanks for striving for good development in Northwest Denver. We are sorry to report that the Mayor last night announced that his managers have approved the development plan (GDP) for the old St. Anthony’s site at Sloan’s Lake.
Councilwoman Susan Shepherd, at the same neighborhood meeting, thanked those neighbors for supporting the GDP and for supporting the developer, EFG. While we are disappointed that elected officials don’t primarily care about voters’ views, and about following democratically adopted plans and zoning, our work to effect a positive outcome for this development continues.
As a next step, let’s get involved with the individual developers who will buy portions of this land. Some of them are presenting their concepts next Wednesday, January 22. This is a great opportunity to share concerns that are meaningful to them and will help make this a better development for everyone.
The open house is at: Confluence Ministries, 1400 Quitman, Wednesday, January 22, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Our petition to lower heights to a maximum of 8 stories and to increase open space gathered 690 signatures in under a week. That’s almost six times the number of people who wrote in to comment on the GDP, before the hearing in December. And out of those, the vast majority expressed concern about the excessive scale and lack of open space in the plan.
Please be assured that the Mayor and Councilwoman Shepherd are aware of this petition. They are.
It is a shame that we, collectively, have elected City officials who don’t care about voters’ views. Also, by not making a decision on zoning that fits the intended development of this property now, our politicians kick the can of zoning fights down the road, leaving both developers and residents in uncertainty.
Either way, the good fight for a good outcome on this site continues. Thank you so much for your passion and for your polite and appropriate advocacy to date. Please stay engaged with this process and let’s work together for as good of a result as possible.
Thank you.
Sloan’s Lake Town Center
Councilwoman Susan Shepherd, at the same neighborhood meeting, thanked those neighbors for supporting the GDP and for supporting the developer, EFG. While we are disappointed that elected officials don’t primarily care about voters’ views, and about following democratically adopted plans and zoning, our work to effect a positive outcome for this development continues.
As a next step, let’s get involved with the individual developers who will buy portions of this land. Some of them are presenting their concepts next Wednesday, January 22. This is a great opportunity to share concerns that are meaningful to them and will help make this a better development for everyone.
The open house is at: Confluence Ministries, 1400 Quitman, Wednesday, January 22, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Our petition to lower heights to a maximum of 8 stories and to increase open space gathered 690 signatures in under a week. That’s almost six times the number of people who wrote in to comment on the GDP, before the hearing in December. And out of those, the vast majority expressed concern about the excessive scale and lack of open space in the plan.
Please be assured that the Mayor and Councilwoman Shepherd are aware of this petition. They are.
It is a shame that we, collectively, have elected City officials who don’t care about voters’ views. Also, by not making a decision on zoning that fits the intended development of this property now, our politicians kick the can of zoning fights down the road, leaving both developers and residents in uncertainty.
Either way, the good fight for a good outcome on this site continues. Thank you so much for your passion and for your polite and appropriate advocacy to date. Please stay engaged with this process and let’s work together for as good of a result as possible.
Thank you.
Sloan’s Lake Town Center
Construction starts on DPS school being built in the floodplain/park
The Owl team will be attending this event. (See Below) PLEASE SUPPORT FRIENDS OF DENVER PARKS AND JOIN US.
Your presence will be important. Be forewarned this is a sham event. The audience will be loaded with DPS and Parks & Wreck employees invited specifically to be involved in this dog and pony show! The last time they had this event they invited a member of the Greenway Foundation who knew nothing about this project until four hours before the event. He gave his green wash seal of approval and extolled the virtues of the plan to an astounding degree. I've never felt the same about the Greenway Foundation after seeing how this person allowed himself to be a tool in that manner. This Meeting is clearly a "BIG ME, LITTLE YOU" attempt to bypass the communitie's right to a legal process at all levels. In spite of these undeniable "Power Over" tactics, Friends of Denver Parks will have their day in court on May 19. We have incredibly good news as to how that is shaping up. We are also in the process of developing a strong public response to the theft of our parks. At last count we have 42 parks that are wide open and unprotected. Or should I say, protected against the vote of the people. We are already getting dictates from Parks & Wreck as to how many acres they plan to set aside for projects in some of these parks. This is an unacceptable bypass of Denver City Charter 2.4.5 that requires a vote of the people before repurposing any park land. If you believe the work that we are doing is important please donate to support John Case and our court case. John is working pro bono but we will need substantial funds to get this court case done right. http://www.friendsofdenverparks.org IMPORTANT!! We are looking for witnesses who recreationally used the Cherry Creek pathway/trail to the Hentzell Park Natural Area/Hampden Height North Park near Kenwood Dam before 1955. We understand that picnicking, horseback riding, hiking,fishing, and birdwatching are a few of the recreational uses of the trail. If you have older relatives or friends please ask them about their memories of this time. Contact Judy Case email address: friendsofdenverparks@gmail.com Thanks so much for your support and hope to see you at the meeting, Renee - President Friends of Denver Parks |
City Loop project at City Park
via FaceBook
Northeast Neighbors, please come to the Whittier Neighborhood Association meeting tonight (Jan. 15) at 6:30 p.m. at 2900 Downing to help us pass this resolution supporting a request for further study of plans for a playground expansion at City Park. You don't have to have a position on the current proposal, just a desire to see more neighborhood input into what happens at City Park.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Sign the Petition to Reject 20 and 12-story buildings at Sloan's Lake
GO HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION
(Signed by 656 supporters so far)
Reject 20 and 12-story buildings at Sloan's Lake
Denver citizens welcome revitalization, but do not support 20 and 12-story buildings by Sloan's Lake. Tell the Mayor and City officials not to approve the current development plan (GDP), unless it's modified to include only up to 3-8 story buildings and additional open space. It is NOT TOO LATE if we act today!
The vast majority of input from citizens at the public hearing showed serious concern about the excessive scale of this plan. But the City is choosing not to listen. Tell the Mayor it is not OK to ignore voters. The Mayor has the power to affect positive change before this GDP is approved. Tell him we hold him accountable for good governance and for good development at South Sloan’s Lake. Also, by fixing the GDP now, the Mayor avoids multiple divisive zoning fights over this site for years to come.
Time is running out. Please ask the Mayor for a sensible plan today.
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