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Check out our local neighborhood associations by way of their websites. Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods City Park North City Park South City Park West Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. Whittier Any conclusions? Please comment.

Plague in Denver - City Park Squirrels Infected

Written by Staff (www.NorthDenverNews.com)
Friday, 27 April 2007

DENVER--State health officials Thursday confirmed that plague has been found in a dead tree squirrel in the vicinity of City Park. A citizen had noticed a die-off of squirrels in the neighborhood and reported it to Denver Animal Control. A carcass was collected Wednesday and tested at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment laboratory where preliminary tests were positive for plague.


John Pape, an epidemiologist who specializes in animal-related diseases for the department's Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology Division, said, "Plague is a disease seen every year among rodent populations in rural areas of Colorado, including the Front Range. It is unusual to find plague in the center of an urban area although it has happened before." In Colorado, plague-infected animals are most likely found in the foothills and mountains, he added.

According to Pape, "Plague is a bacteria that is maintained in various species of rodents and rabbits and transmitted by fleas. When an infected rodent becomes sick and dies, its fleas can carry the infection to other warm-blooded animals, including humans. People also can be exposed through direct contact with infected rodents, rabbits and cats."


"The risk of Denver residents contracting plague is extremely low," said Denver Public Health Director Dr. Chris Urbina. "We want people to be aware of what to look for and take a few simple precautions to further reduce that risk." He indicated that Denver Health, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Denver Environmental Health are working together to investigate the case and to determine the extent of the die-off in the area.


When plague appears in an area, there is usually a die-off of the rodents and rabbits. When the animal dies, the fleas leave the carcass to find another host thus spreading the disease. Most human plague cases result from infected fleabites. Less commonly, people are infected by direct contact with blood from an infected animal or from cats which can become infected and transmit the disease.


People should not directly handle any dead rodents they find and should keep their pets away from them. If a dead rodent is found, do not handle the animal directly. Use gloves and place in a plastic bag. Contact CO-HELP (Colorado Health Education Line for the Public) at 1-877-462-2911 to report a dead rodent or rabbit.

Latest YouTube Hits

As before, insert standard disclaimer here.

Flag This! (Part 2)

Denver City Flag
Madison Campaign Literature

Years ago I worked in a trademark law office in Washington, D.C. It was my job to see if our clients’ proposed trademark was “confusingly similar” to existing trademarks. In those days it was a manual search, looking through “boots” of paper registrations. One had to be very careful with the use of symbols and signs.

So it was with interest that I first noticed Madison’s use of the Denver City Flag in all of her campaign materials and yard signs. I figured they wouldn’t be stupid enough to just appropriate the City flag without permission or acknowledgement. Its use seemed to me to be “confusing” in the sense that it looked like a subtle City endorsement of the Madison campaign.

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From: Gerald Trumbule
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 12:36 PM
To: Lynn Kimbrough
Subject: Denver City Flag

Can you direct me to any ordinances or rules governing the use of the Denver City Flag in advertising? See http://www.denverdirect.blogspot.com/. Thanks for the info.

Gerald Trumbule

Reply:

Mr. Trumbule, I don’t have this information, but have asked my colleagues in the Mayor’s Office to find the right person to help. They should contact you soon.

Lynn Kimbrough
Communications Director
Denver DA's Office
201 West Colfax Avenue, Dept. 801
Denver, Colorado 80202
720-913-9025

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From: Sargeson, Stacey L. - OED
To: Gerald Trumbule
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 4:36 PM
Subject: Denver City Flag

Mr. Trumbule,
I wanted to get back to your regarding your inquiry on rules or ordinances in regards to the Denver City flag.

I checked with our attorneys and although there are currently no ordinances in place regarding use of the City flag, we do have common law rights. Therefore, the use of the City flag by private persons or entities for non-City purposes is strongly discouraged. If the City has not granted permission for use of the flag, we will ask those using the City flag to cease and desist use or, alternatively, print the following language near the depiction of the flag:

"Use of the City flag is done without permission of the City and County of Denver. The City and County of Denver is in no way associated with this business (or individual as the case may be) and the City in no way endorses, approves, nor sponsors the products and services referenced in this publication."

Thank you for your email.

Best,

Stacey Rohrer
Denver Marketing Office
City and County of Denver
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From: Gerald Trumbule
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 4:52 PM
To: Sargeson, Stacey L. - OED
Subject: Denver City Flag

Thanks for your reply. I guess my next question is: Does the Madison campaign have specific permission to use the City flag as indicated here:
http://denverdirect.blogspot.com/2007/04/flag-this.html without the language you specify. And if not, should the City issue a cease and desist order.

Thanks for looking into this.

Gerald Trumbule

Reply:

To my knowledge, they do not have permission. Vicki Ortega and I are going to place a call to the Madison campaign staff early next week. Thank you for bringing this to our attention and we will definitely follow up.

Stacey

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"Why are You Being So Mean to Me?"

Carla Madison asked as we accidentally happened to leave the Denver Democrats Spaghetti dinner at the same time last Saturday night.

“I’m not being mean, I’m just trying to expose the truth.” I said. “I think we need to sit down and have a talk.” I added as we walked toward the parking lot.

“Well, let’s do it now.” replied Madison, candidate for Denver City Council District 8 and the subject of a number of postings on this blog.

So it was that we stood in the parking lot for the next half hour discussing her campaign and issues. No video camera, not even a notepad, the following is my best recollection of our conversation.

CM: Why are you writing all that stuff about me?
DD: I’m just using your own emails to demonstrate the facts.
CM: I guess I’ll have to be more careful about what I put in emails.

DD: What is the current paid membership of the City Park West Neighborhood Association?
CM: 20.
DD: Really?
CM: Well, probably 15.
DD: Rasheed says they have over 400 paying members in Greater Park Hill Community, Inc.
CM: (laugh) And you believe that?

DD: What about the fiscal mess the Association is in?
CM: Nobody really cares. (Madison did agree that an independent audit would be a good idea, but CPWNA could not afford it. Ok if somebody else pays.)

DD: You repeatedly violated the by-laws of the Association with loans to and from yourself and your husband.
CM: We were just putting in seed money. Maybe we should get rid of the by-laws.

DD: What about the fact that your husband Paul stormed out of meetings whenever he was asked to document his expenses?
CM: Oh that Paul.

DD: Why do you think the membership of CPWNA is so low?
CM: I've tried but you just can't get people to come out unless there is a burning issue.
DD: I think its because of the autocratic way you run the meetings and the lack of outreach.
CM: I've been told that people are tired of the constant complaints to the NPO (neighborhood police officer) about Coleman Manor and the blacks.

DD: Why do you claim you started the CPWNA Festival when we know it started before you ever showed up?
CM: It was just a little street fair and I turned it into a Festival of the Arts.

DD: Why do you claim that you implemented the overlay when we know that only the City can do that.
CM: The City waived the $50,000 application fee when I asked them to, and I did most of the work to get approval.

DD: What about the over 400 people in the overlay district who never responded and still had their zoning changed by the overlay?
CM: They had their chance. We did two mailings.

DD: Yes, but they weren't even sent by registered mail.
CM: That's not a City requirement.

DD: Every R-4 lot owner who was overlaid lost about $150,000 of value in the transaction.
CM: That’s what people are willing to pay to preserve their neighborhoods.

DD: How did you get the power to go around changing people's zoning without their permission?
CM: That’s just the way it is. They could have spoken up. They were notified.

It was getting cold and my back was killing me. I thanked Madison for the interview and we went our separate ways.


My opinion: Madison is a one-trick pony. If you like zoning overlays, you'll love Madison. She even thinks scrape-offs are causing inflation. Her position on other issues is a mash-up of other candidates' statements. (See the interview at Colorado Confidential in which she recites Rasheed's position on youth almost verbatim.) She doesn't communicate her ideas well in public. Despite her claims, she has very little experience in governing or leadership.

She claims she is "smarter than she seems". I think she's a nice lady in over her head.

Oh darn, I forgot to ask her about that giant gargoyle in her front yard.

Lack of Transparency

Saturday, April 20, 2007 Denver Democrats Annual Spaghetti Dinner Dennis Gallagher, Denver's Auditor, is running for re-election. I've heard him talk (and sing) many times, and he's always good for a laugh. But Mr. Gallagher, sir, you are not transparent. Fiscal transparency is one thing, but physical transparency is more difficult. The TV camera cannot see through you. But nevermind, the jokes in Latin were a scream.

Change of Pace

Unexpected, unannounced, hundreds of cyclists streamed past my house on York late one night.

CPWNA – The Overlay Railroad

Madison insists that she “implemented a 30-block overlay with 100% approval”. Wow, can one person implement an overlay? No, the City implements overlays after Council votes. And how can you possibly get 100% approval? 1. Eliminate all of the property owners who don’t respond.(78%) 2. Remove all of the no votes from the overlay by letting them out if they agree to support it.(15% of those returning cards.) This is a long (and probably boring to most) story, so I’ll try to be brief. I helped Madison stuff the envelopes mailed to over 600 property owners. (Regular mail, not registered.) I’ll let the emails (between Madison and me) do the talking. (I've removed individuals names and replaced them with [ ].) Sept 10, 2002 Hey Jerry, I want to stress that people can request their property out of the overlay and still be for the overlay in general. We are not looking for no votes. We are looking for support of the overlay and working with people to get eveyone on the same page. See, [X] can still vote yes but request to be removed from the overlay. ... What we hope for is 100% support of the overlay from the folks we are leaving out. Part of the deal we hope to strike is letters of support for the overlay from all the parties that are being taken out. So, maybe that's what you meant in the first place but I hope you're not talking down the overlay in general. I know if the [Z] guys are way against it there's nothing much you can do. I hope you catch my general drift. Anyhow, I'm pretty much considering you guys off the overlay. I can't speak for Kiersten but I don't think she'll have much problem. See you tomorrow, Carla October 12, 2003 Carla … I'm in the process of considering what to write re the overlay. Do you have the results of our mailing? I recall that we sent out over 600 letters to the residents of CPWN, but I don't recall hearing the results. Number of returns, number in favor, number against, number of owners of R-4 property who responded etc. Please bring me up to date. Thanks. Jerry October 12, 2003 Hi Jerry, We got 130 postcards back. 110 for the overlay and 20 against. That was about a year ago. We talked with a number of the people that sent in the negatives - [X] and [Y] were responsible for 6 of them - and we were able to adapt the overlay for them. ... I don't think I got any cards form the R-3 portion of the overlay so they all would have been R-4. Many of them were from the area that is now OD-1. I'm sorry I can't be more exact since I no longer have the cards to refer to. I'm not sure if you know that we held the NW R-4 application back because of protest along Downing and Marion. We'll see what we can do to work things out with those folks. Let me know if you have any more questions. Thanks, Carla [Full disclosure: I am one of the property owners who voted against the overlay and, along with my neighbors on York Street, was removed from the overlay.] Okay then, the 470 property owners who did not send in their cards were not included in the count. But what about the 20 who voted no? We were told that if we wrote a letter of support for the overlay we would be removed from it. October 10, 2003 Jerry … We are sending out our final request for support letters from those neighbors that we removed from the overlay. We would very much appreciate a letter from you. We are asking that letters be submitted by 10/17 so we can get them together and to Council a week before our hearing on 10/27. Or, if you like, you could come and speak in support of the overlay, 6:30, Oct 27th at City Council Chambers. Below is a letter I drafted for your convenience. Feel free to change it in any manner that you like, but please have it sound like you do support the overlay as a whole. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns, Thank you, Carla Madison City Park West Neighborhood Association president Proposed letter City Council 1437 Bannock Street #451 Denver, CO 80202 Dear City Council Members: As a member of the City Park West Neighborhood Association I was aware of the boundaries of the overlay as soon as it was proposed. I support the basic concept of the overlay and understand the desire to protect the low rise feel of the bulk of the neighborhood blocks, but felt that the property that I owned along the 1600 block of York did not have the "neighborhood feel" that the overlay was designed to protect. After talking with a number of other property owners on the block who also preferred to be excluded I talked with Carla Madison, the association president, and Kiersten Faulkner the city planner involved with the project. We all were in agreement that since this block was on the the perimeter of the overlay and along a major transit corridor it was appropriate to remove this block from being overlaid with the OD9. I appreciate the willingness of the neighborhood association and the city planner to work along with the property owners of this area and exclude the 1600 block of York. I wish to express my support of the overlay as a whole. Sincerely, I want to make it clear that Madison did work very hard to get this overlay implemented. Unfortunately, she was working on behalf of the City and a small group of individuals and not for the majority of the 600 property owners. Is this what you want your representative to do?

CPWNA - August 2006 - Financial Chair Resigns

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CPWNA - July 2006 - Financial Chair is Hopeful

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