Zoo's renovation plans by Bridget Walsh

Dear Council Members, April 20, 2015

I strongly suggest that City Council put the vote

on the Zoo's renovation plans on hold until there has been adequate time  for meaningful citizen input.

Some people seem to believe that  City Park Friends and Neighbors (CPFAN) was not notified in a timely fashion  about  the Zoo' Master Plan and the Zoo's plan to ask council tonight, to approve the addition of 27 , new buildings over 3000 sq. ft. , was because we are a new organization. 

I would like to point out that many of the local people active in CPFAN, have been park advocates for years and in some cases, decades. CPFAN is celebrating its 1 year anniversary this April. In the year that we have existed, the Zoo could have found us for meaningful discussion about their plans before they were hatched.  We have over 250 members. 

FYI : The Zoo's George Pond was invited to come to a CPFAN meeting and speak on a topic of his choice.  He brought a facilitator and  "clickers" so that attendees could "vote" on "choices" prearranged by the Zoo.  All discussion was micro managed and was pretty much confined to what people would like  to see  planted on the south side of the Zoo. Mr. Pond, said after the voting was in, that the people's "choices" would not necessarily be used to influence the direction of what actually happened. The Zoo master plan was mentioned in passing. there were a couple of slides of a polar bear standing next to a little girl with a glass wall separating them. There was no meaningful discussion, for example, about traffic, parking, animal well being or construction impacts on City Park and neighborhoods 

The Zoo has a habit of presenting their ideas (not asking, before the fact)  to the community in this fashion. Honestly , it is insulting. They make a shallow, PR  presentation to the public and to City Council , get Council's rubber stamp, then proceed, citizen input be damned. 

I recall the Zoo's gasification plant that Council approved last December. I  have spent months researching the negative impact of the Zoo's incinerator  will have on the health and well being of Denver residents. The Zoo uses a PR term, "waste to energy", to describe its biomass gasifier but It is permitted as an incinerator by CO  , the EPA defines it as an incinerator and it is a form of incineration and  it is permitted to dump tons and tons of pollutants into the air in City Park. An uninformed Council made a very bad decision not to heed the warnings of citizens who had taken the time to find out what was really behind the Zoo's PR, about this industrial plant,  and  to allow the Zoo to put this dated ,dangerous, polluting, experimental  technology in the middle of City Park. 

I hope this time that Council has the wisdom and grace to hear the pleas of citizens and  to hold off on the approval of the Zoo's latest fiasco until a reasonable amount of time is allowed for citizen review of the Zoo's plans and then time for the new City Council and the Zoo, to hear citizen input and incorporate it into their plans. 

I think that the entire question of the appropriateness of renovating  a too small zoo with 4500+ animals , in City Park, should be addressed before Council approves a multi million dollar plan to rework the Zoo in its present location. I read in the Denver Post this AM ,that the animal wild life refuge in CO is going to welcome many  large animals that it has rescued from Peru. Frankly, they only had to look close to home, in the Denver Zoo, to find big cats and other large animals.  confined to tiny "cages." 

I hope that Council doesn't make the same blatant mistake that it made when it voted to approve  the Zoo incinerator. 

Warmest regards,

Bridget" Eileen Walsh
Broker Associate/ Owner
720.440.3562 

ELECTRONIC RECYCLING AT EAST HIGH PARKING LOT - MARCH 28 - BUT YOU WILL NEED A TICKET

To participate, click here and register for a time slot.

LOCATION: East High School football field parking lot (1650 Josephine St.), between 16th & 17th Avenues, just south of City Park.

APPOINTMENT: Participation is by appointment only. Select your appointment time slots, then show up on March 28th at your scheduled appointment time with your electronic items.

ITEMS ACCEPTED: Televisions, monitors, CPUs, laptops, printers, scanners, faxes, keyboards, mice, stereos, external hard drives & storage devices, cellular phones, telephones, DVRs, VCRs, digital cameras, video recorders, MP3 players, video game consoles, wires, cables and some small appliances such as microwaves. Items Not Accepted: Air conditioners, large appliances, vacuum cleaners, car batteries or household batteries (rechargeable batteries okay).

NOTES: This event is open and at no charge to any and all Colorado residents. No commercial or business recycling. Electronic recycling costs subsidize by OEM sponsorship.
Questions: Contact Denver Recycles at 311 (720-913-1311) or DenverRecycles@DenverGov.org.
Event Partners: Metech Recycling, City & County of Denver, Denver Public Works, Denver Recycles, Denver Environmental Health

INTRODUCING EAN TAFOYA FOR COUNCIL DISTRICT 9

I had heard Ean Tafoya's name but never met him until our new Denver Direct producer, Bridget Walsh, arranged the following interview. Ean is running against Albus Brooks, who was switched from the old District 8 by redistricting. Brooks has raised a lot of money and will be hard to beat, especially by a newcomer like Tafoya. But Brooks also has the legacy of sponsoring the Denver No Camping ordinance which some say criminalizes homelessness

DENVER COUNCIL RACES HEAT UP

CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1 (NW Denver)

Candidates: Susan Shepherd, Rafael Espinoza, Malachi Martinez
Outlook: This looks like a tough two-person race between the incumbent Shepherd, who critics say has alienated her constituents, and a community activist with an interesting, if somewhat vague, resume in Rafael Espinoza.

Here's an interesting YouTube video just posted today by Guerin Green.

DENVER MUNICIPAL ELECTION MAY 5, 2015 (Yikes, ballots will be out in April)

Yes, its that time already for Denver citizens to vote for candidates to run our City government: Mayor, Auditor, and some City Council members. As an interested voter, your first challenge is to figure out in which City Council District you now live. This is made more difficult by the fact that the boundaries have been redrawn, due to redistricting. Here are maps to help you figure this out.
Old Districts: 
 New Districts:

If that doesn't help, you can go here and enter your address.

I was in the old 8, now the new 9. My former Council member was Albus Brooks, and he is moving to the new 9, where he will be running for "re-election" having fulfilled one term (4yrs) of his 12-year term limit.

Also running in the new 9 is Ean Tafoya, an energetic bright young man who graciously allowed us an hour-long interview. I'll be putting up snippets of the interview in this space. I've also contacted Albus Brooks for the long-overdue interview we agreed to years ago. 

On CitizenFour

Opinion by Dave Felice

As people in Denver and around the world watch the documentary "CitizenFour" about Edward Snowden's disclosure of government spying on ordinary citizens, here is something else to consider.

Almost all of the information gathered by NSA snooping comes from mobile phones and computer devices. People are so fascinated or enamored of the convenience and capability of their electronic gadgets, they either do not realize or choose to ignore the fact that both legal and technical data collection requirements are much more stringent for wired landline telephones.

A cell or PCS (or home cordless) phone is a two-way radio device, broadcasting on a public frequency, just like a radio in your home or car. anyone with a good tuner can listen anytime, anywhere. It's somewhat of an oversimplification, but a wired landline telephone signal is carried by a discrete private pair of wires from Point A to Point B.

Since Alexander Graham Bell first used a functioning telephone to say "Mr. Watson, come here, I want you," in 1876, telephone workers have adhered to a strict practice of protecting the customer's privacy at all costs. Privacy protection was enacted into law by the Communications Act of 1934 and renewed by the 1996 telecomm regulation update. Even today, telecommunications workers are obligated by law to certify they understand and comply with requirements to safeguard customer privacy.

Since 9/11 and the subsequent "Patriot Act," government agencies have used the idea of "national security" as a ruse to trample many basic democratic freedoms. Remember, too, that members of both political parties enthusiastically endorsed the legislation which has little to do with patriotism. We are fortunate to retain enough freedom that more people are not simply plucked from the street for suspicion of violating "national security."

A harbormaster at an eastern seaport once told me he deliberately instructed people they could not go on the dock because of "security," and they complied without question. In fact, all he really wanted was to keep people off the dock when a cruise ship arrived.

If you think you can trust the government, ask a Native American or a whale. Our whole struggle against the Trans-Pacific Partnership is about uncontrolled government involvement and deception, aided by excessive corporate interference. Nobody knows how much of the NSA snooping data go into the hands of corporations such as Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America.

There are always those who are willing to expose government wrong-doing and suppression of freedom. We actually have no assurance that there has been any change in NSA practices since Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and even Daniel Ellsberg told the public about government secrecy.

GROPINGS IN CITY PARK

from KVDR
DENVER — A safety alert about a string of gropings in and near City Park. The suspect description is a little vague right now as is the number of women he’s groped.
Visitors to the park say they go there to walk, workout or enjoy the view. And now they have to closely watch their backs.
This place of natural beauty and calm is interrupted by the turbulence of a stranger sexually touching several women after approaching them from behind.
...continue reading here

COMMUNITY WORKSHOP - TAKING DOWN THE I-70 VIADUCT

Via INC
Denver and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) have proposed taking down the I-70 viaduct, rebuilding the highway below grade, and putting a “lid” over the lowered highway. What should be on the lid? Park, playground, playing fields? Come to a Community Workshop on Wednesday, March 4, 2015 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at Swansea Recreation Center, 4650 Columbine St. to share your thoughts and hear what your neighbors are thinking.

Stand Up, Stand In Against Fast Track for the TPP

When: Friday, Feb. 27

Time: 11:30-1 p.m.

Where: Congressman Jared Polis' office at 1644 Walnut in Boulder.

More info on Fast Track and TPP here and here .

May 5th Municipal Candidate Forums

February 25, 2014

Get Ready for the  May 5th Municipal Elections! Candidate Forums   Come to these live and lively events to learn more about the candidates before the May 5th Municipal Election. The Forums will start at 6:30 p.m. and each Forum will run from 30 to 90 minutes depending on the number of candidates involved.  Programs will be recorded by Denver 8 for TV and online viewing.  Council District boundaries change with this election.  If you are unsure of your district, you can find maps on the Denver Elections website or under Voter Information at www.lwvdenver.org.   Date/Time Office Forum Location Tuesday, March 24 6:30 p.m. Council District 4 Calvary Baptist Church 6500 E. Girard Ave.   Wednesday, March 25 6:30 p.m. Council District 10 City Auditor Denver Botanic Gardens - Mitchell Hall  1007 York St.   Thursday, March 26 6:30 p.m. Council District 9 Council At-Large Colorado Miners Community Center 4809 Race Street   Tuesday, March 31 6:30 p.m. Council District 11 Clerk and Recorder Evie Dennis Campus 4800 Telluride St.   Wednesday, April 1 6:30 p.m. Council District 1 City Auditor The Oriental Theater 4335 W. 44th Ave.   Thursday, April 2 6:30 p.m. Council District 2 Council At-Large Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy 2250 S. Quitman St.   Tuesday, April 7 6:30 p.m. Council District 7 Clerk and Recorder Cameron United Methodist Church 1600 S. Pearl St   Saturday, April 11 9:00 a.m. Council District 6 City Auditor Council At-Large University Park United Methodist Church 2180 S. University                     Denver Decides:  A Community Partnership for Accessible, Transparent Elections