"Gessler loves an audience"

Via email:

So much for the “party of fiscal responsibility.”

Colorado’s Secretary of State Scott Gessler has never been one to play by the rules. Since taking office in 2011, Gessler has faced scandal after scandal over his own efforts to tilt the playing field to his and his party’s advantage. Gessler is the only statewide politician in office today in Colorado who has been found by the state’s Independent Ethics Commission to have “violated the public trust for private gain.”

Now we learn Gessler can’t even manage his own department’s budget. After slashing fees on business registrations and other services performed by his office, news reports have revealed that the Secretary of State’s office is millions of dollars in the red. Gessler blames political opponents, but these were his decisions. Cutting fees on business is a great way to pander while running for higher office, but taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for it.

Send a message to Gessler right now: tell him you expect better.

Don’t take my word for it. Even the conservative Grand Junction Sentinel [1] says Gessler is wrong to blame others for his own mismanagement:

"Unfortunately for the [Joint Budget Committee], Gessler loves an audience and he will undoubtedly use the grandstand the budget committee is providing him to loudly proclaim his victimhood. But the JBC holds the higher moral ground in this dispute. Gessler got himself into this predicament by sharply cutting business fees for his cash-funded office, when his office had a large surplus several years ago, refusing to put a portion of the surplus into the state general fund as lawmakers demanded."

Over the past three years, Scott Gessler has caused more controversy, and been hit with more ethics scandals, than any politician in this state. By simple yardsticks of scandal and mismanagement, he’s the worst Secretary of State Colorado has seen in decades--maybe ever. Enough is enough: tell Scott Gessler to withdraw his request for millions more taxpayer dollars to cover his office’s avoidable shortfall. He’ll receive your message instantly, and we’ll share your comments with the media and other public officials.

The only thing Scott Gessler is better at than getting into trouble is making excuses. If Gessler can’t manage the finances of a single department, how could anyone even consider entrusting him with more responsibility? It just doesn’t make sense. Let Gessler know you’re not buying it, and that you expect better.

Thank you,

Amy Runyon-Harms

The Pirates and their clever plot to steal our Park in a court of law on May 19, 2014.

Good Morning, I just took David to the bus stop so he can take the light rail to work.  The sun was shining, soft breezes blowing, and hints of spring in the air.  I can't wait to see the earth become alive with new growth again. Speaking of growth, the construction continues in Hampden Heights North Park unabated as if laws do not apply to the most powerful and mighty, which brings me to the purpose of this posting.  We have a date with the most powerful and mighty.  We will get our chance to discuss the Pirates and their clever plot to steal our Park in a court of law on May 19, 2014.  Our crew of unpaid workers is diligently interviewing people in the community, combing through old city records, and old historical documents putting together our court case that will show that it was never the intent of city government to have our parks used as development opportunities without a vote of the people. As in most endeavors, this court case will have its expenses.  And it is my hope that everyone will understand the importance of this court case and it's far reaching implications for the future of our parks. We are now in high alert mode that the time is NOW to kick in high gear our efforts to raise funds for this case.  We were able to get a good start on funding in the fall with our Hootenanny Good Time BBQ Dinner but still have a need for more funds to present our case in the best manner possible.   We looked at our website and saw that currently there has been twelve thousand and forty visitors on our website and this number is not including the visits total on our Facebook and Twitter accounts.  If each  person who visited our sites had made even a small donation, we wouldn't be needing to continue fundraising. So that being said,  we hope to encourage folks to consider a crowd funding effort by joining Friends  of Denver Parks as an honorary member for $25.00, http://www.friendsofdenverparks.org or contributing what you can.  Or you can think about organizing a fundraiser for Friends of Denver Parks such  as a bake sale, spaghetti dinner, garage sale.  Its the best way I know of creating community in your neighborhoods.  Having a common goal and working together.  We have a puppet show being created as a benefit currently. Possibly someone can organize a concert. We have every intention of working hard to win this court case.  We are going to Win!! For Future Generations And For The Community Today, Saving Our Parks from Development Without a Vote Of The People Is Worth Our Every Effort!! *********************************************************************************** Our Theme this year is “ Let’s Have Fun” which has led to Friends of Denver Parks to signing up to be in the St Patrick’s Day Parade.   We want to do something fun and honor our inner Leprechaun’s.  We would like to invite all those “Green Shirts” out there to join us for a fun day as an entry in the parade.   Shawn and I are already working on a giant Owl for the top of the car.  Athena the Owl is still in her chicken wire stage, we hope to have signs to carry (Mary is our official sign person) and if you have a child’s wagon at home, maybe you can decorate it in a parks lover  theme to pull your own personal small float in the parade.  Everyone who cares about the future of our Parks is invited to come have some fun marching in the parade. So Let’s Have Fun Along the Way!!  Come show your support for Friends of Denver Parks!!         Friends of Denver Parks www.friendsofdenverparks.org friendsofdenverparks@gmail.com 303-337-2947

Current 1-70 expansion (the cut and cover)

Via email:

From: Jude Aiello
Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2014 12:10 AM
To: crisanta.duran.house@state.co.us
Subject: follow up to your town hall mtg

Dear Representative Duran,

Please excuse the delay of this email. I was unable to attend your town hall mtg as planned due to other commitments.  I hoped one of your legislative budget requests would include funding for a supplemental  environmental impact study (EIS) for the 1-70 reroute proposal. If that wasn't proposed, I would like to request this be included in the budget. 

I came to a meeting you attended where several people discussed with you mitigation measures if the current 1-70 expansion (the cut and cover) goes thru.  However, the more I hear about the potential (I would dare say probable) health and environmental hazards this project will inflict on an already health impacted population, the more convinced I am that no amount of mitigation can make up for the long term damage this will create for these communities. 

Although some at CDOT and in the City claim that the cut and cover is a "done deal", it was not that long ago that another alternative was described the same way.  That previous alternative was abandoned after a huge outcry from the affected communities. This new "done deal" was only put forth in 2012, without the input of the PAC by the way, and after a five time delay the EIS still is not complete and won't be available until at least the end of May.  What happens if the EIS shows that it is too dangerous, or that needed mitigation would be too expensive?  Wouldn't it make send to have an alternate EIS for comparison, not to mention a savings of time if the re-route was chosen as the better plan?

Denver's history is full of decisions which proved to be harmful and extremely expensive both in terms of health consequences and money; decisions that were a "done deal" made by a limited number of politically powerful people:   Rocky Flats not only caused contamination and the ongoing health problems (and lawsuits because of them), but the product produced was never used. Rocky Mountain Arsenal was so contaminated by the uses there that we had to build a new airport almost to Kansas because they couldn't expand the old one onto that land. I-70 was originally suppose to go further north so it wouldn't divide all the communities it has.  It wasn't that these projects weren't opposed.  It was that those in power didn't listen or consider alternatives.

There are many projects that are moving forward in Denver.  They should not just be rubber stamped and any problems arising from them "promised" to be dealt with by "mitigation".  Those serving the people of Denver have an obligation to prevent harm and not just try to deal with its after effects. 

We should learn from past mistakes. I'm sure you remember when the issue of going to war with Iraq was decided.  Those who voted felt obligated to go along with the president and barely questioned the information given to prove the need for it. In fact, although there was info to show  what was being claimed as a reason to go to war was false, that info was withheld.  All the information and options on an issue should be studied instead of preemptively making a decision based on limited data and politically motivated agendas.

I'm sure it's not comfortable going against to those who are politically and economically advantaged, but we are counting on our representatives to do what is in the best interest of the community.

Our leaders have the chance not only to right a wrong by reuniting areas of the city that were divided by the highway, but to open up inner city land to provide much needed housing close to mass transit choices, providing jobs and decreasing energy use and water and air pollution.  All of these are included in Denver's 2020 Sustainability goals, goals that will be much harder to reach with the proposed cut and cover plan.

I would appreciate a reply giving your position on requesting and funding a supplemental EIS on the I-70 re-route option.  My email is jaiello50@msn.com.  Thank you for your time and attention.  Jude Aiello, a member of Denver Neighborhood Advocates.

Manual High School: A Symbol of Corporate Education Reform

by Ed Augden, Retired DPS Teacher and community activist


In the autumn of 1968, I was transferred from Cole Junior High School to Manual High School where my teaching career began in Denver Public Schools (DPS). Approximately sixty percent of the students at Manual were African American, approximately twenty percent Hispanic and the remainder Asians and Anglos. James Ward, first African American principal of a high school in Colorado, used a collaborative, democratic governance model in which input was sought from the faculty and community. In that hospitable environment, many students succeeded and graduated from high school prepared for college or the working world.
Contrast that hospitable environment at Manual then with the current hostile and fearful environment fostered both by Michael Bennet and now by current superintendent Tom Boasberg, at Manual and throughout the district. And, the method of governance is authoritarian being falsely characterized as “choice” and inclusive of widespread parent support.
While James Ward was Manual’s principal, Denver Public Schools were ordered in 1974 by U.S. District Judge William Doyle to desegregate. To prepare for an influx of Anglo students from the George Washington High School attendance area, Ward facilitated the organization of students, parents, teachers and interested community members into committees to plan for the integration of Manual. While other schools, including GW, encountered difficulties with the integration process, Manual smoothly transitioned from a segregated to an integrated school succeeding academically and socially until the court order ended in 1995.
Since 1995, Manual has been changed numerous times by various administrations including dividing it into three separate schools. None of the changes have been good for the school. Yet, the turnaround strategy, characteristic of corporate education reform, employed at Manual resulted in more hardship for students and parents with little or no increase in student achievement and declining enrollment. Reform has hurt the Manual community as well as other neighborhoods.
When Manual was closed in 2006, the community was taken unaware. Superintendent Michael Bennet apparently decided alone to close the school. There was immediate opposition from Manual community members. Tension, suspicion and resistance replaced collaboration and cooperation in the Manual community. A negative sentiment still persists among students, parents, teachers and community members. The district board of education and administration apparently remain indifferent to those concerns because no serious effort has been made by DPS to create a network of collaboration and cooperation from the bottom up instead of the familiar authoritarian top down approach favored by corporate education reformers.
Similar turnaround efforts have been made elsewhere in DPS with similar results. The North High community endured a “redesign” in 2007 following a period of slow but steady growth. The principal was reassigned and faculty was required to reapply for their positions. With a new principal and staff, North lost students, the dropout rate increased and student achievement declined. What happened at Manual happened at North.
Corporate education reform occurs in so-called “failing schools” such as Manual and North, schools that have high concentrations of impoverished students and special needs students. The issue of poverty is not, and has not been addressed. Instead, teachers’ unions and others who question or oppose “reform” are scapegoated and stereotyped.
Community inclusion and input may not be goals of the current school board majority corporate education reform faction. If those goals are to be realized, the community must provide the organization, passion and commitment. This district is, in my view, at a crossroads. It will be dedicated to the many, governed democratically and dedicated to the common good or dedicated to the privileged and the lucky with an authoritarian power structure as is the current status quo. It’s our choice.

CITIZENS GROUP LOBBYING - WITH BREAKFAST AND TRAINING

		Act for Affordable Transit Where: RTD Board, 1600 Blake Street When: Tue, Feb 18th, 5 PM Economic Justice Lobby Day Where: St Paul, 1600 Grant Street When: Wed, Feb 19th, 8 AM to 1 PM Donate to Colorado Jobs with Justice Show RTD We Support Affordable Transit! Monthly RTD passes start at $80 and go up from there. Many working class folks who rely on public transit to get to work can't afford that. Colorado JWJ member organization, 9to5, is launching a campaign to have RTD create an income-based transit pass, and they've already gotten quite the reaction from RTD. We'll be joining them at the next RTD meeting on Tuesday February 18th at 5 PM at 1600 Blake Street -- will you join us there and WEAR RED to show your support? Economic Justice Lobby Day Next week on February 19th, JWJ will be collaborating with 9to5 Colorado, Colorado Progressive Coalition, El Centro Humanitario, and FRESC: Good Jobs Strong Communities on an Economic Justice Lobby Day. There's a long list of bills that need support -- from major pushes on the bills to stop wage theft and protect the rights of homeowners in manufactured housing to child care affordability and equal pay for adjunct professors at community colleges. We'll start with breakfast at 8 AM at St Paul Lutheran -- 1600 Grant Street. There will be an overview of the bills, materials, and training on how to lobby legislators provided. We'll then go to the Capitol to lobby, return to the church at noon and each lunch. We'll be done at 1 PM. This is a great opportunity to show legislators that working people's issues are important, so come join us!

CREATIVE THINKING

CDOT states its case for private partner on U.S. 36

from here.

"State road officials are launching a full-court press with the public and state legislators. They hope to better explain the need for private contractors to take over a $490 million project to expand and maintain U.S. 36 between Denver and Boulder.

The Colorado Department of Transportation chose a consortium in April 2013, led by The Plenary Group, an international infrastructure developer with offices in Los Angeles, Vancouver andAustralia, to upgrade the aging, clogged roadway.

CDOT issued a letter of explanation Wednesday morning, and will be holding public meetings on the project Wednesday, 6:30-7:30 p.m. in Westminster's City Park Recreation Center. The agency will hold a second meeting Thursday, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the old Sam's Club at 550 S. McCaslin in Louisville."  Read more...

BREAKING NEWS - TONIGHT'S (2/13) HWY 36 PRIVATIZATION MEETING PLACE CHANGED

from here.

LOUISVILLE, Colo. - Due to concerns about the expected crowd tonight, the Colorado Department of Transportation is moving the second public hearing on plans to privatize and charge a toll for the new lanes on U.S. 36.

The hearing was initially going to be held at the Louisville Recreation Center, but it has been changed to the old Sam's Club at 550 S. McCaslin in Louisville. The hearing time has not changed -- it will still be held from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Hundreds of angry residents attended the first public hearing in Westminster on Wednesday. Many are concerned that CDOT signed a contract with a private company.

APOLOGY TO COMMENTERS...

who didn't see their comments show up. I just found a stash of 24 comments that were clogged up. All are now published. Sorry. Ed.

State Senator Matt Jones weighs in on US 36 and highway privatization - meetings tonight and tomorrow night

via email
Dear Mr. Trumbule, 

Last week, I led a group of 14 legislators representing areas along US-36 asking for a 60 day review period. We should know what is in the deal and it should not be secret.
I strongly support transparency and think a 60 day review period should be granted, so the public and legislators can be informed and have an opportunity to comment on the agreement. This is especially true since the contract is said to have been signed this last summer and the final closing documents are said to be soon signed.

Going forward I believe we should require legislative approval and public involvement opportunities before contracts are agreed to and signed.

I also wanted to let you know that there are two public meetings, hosted by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), scheduled for tonight and tomorrow regarding this issue. I encourage you to attend and make your voice heard. The information for the meetings are listed below.

My Best,

State Senator Matt Jones

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014

6:30 -7:30 p.m.

City Park Recreation Center

10455 Sheridan Blvd

Westminster Co 80020

Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014

6:30-7:30 p.m.

The Louisville Recreation Center, Crown Room

900 W. Appia

Louisville, CO  80027