Judy Montero

Denver Arts Week kicks off tomorrow night and runs from November 8 through 14. A lot of the action will be taking place in District 9, in gallery-heavy districts like LoDo, Santa Fe Drive, River North, and Highland. Here are some of the things you can do during the week:

• Ride the free First Friday circulator bus that connects the ArtDistrict on Santa Fe with the Golden Triangle Museum District. This free luxury shuttle coach debuted at last month’s First Friday; it features an on-board guide and provides easy access to more than 100 art galleries, museums, cultural centers, restaurants and shops. The bus runs every First Friday (including tomorrow night) from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.; there are stops at the Osage Light Rail Station; Santa Fe / 10th Ave; West High School (Galapago / 10th Ave); 11th Ave. / Cherokee Street; and the Denver Art Museum Entrance at 12th Avenue.
• Attend one of Denver’s top museums for free during Night at the Museums on Saturday, November 7. Four of the participating museums are in District 9 —  the Children’s Museum, Forney Transportation Museum, Museo de las Americas and Museum of Contemporary Art. Other participants include the Black American West, Byers Evans House, Colorado History Museum, Denver Art Museum, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Kirkland Museum, and Molly Brown House. Free admission will be available from 5 to 10 p.m.
• Check out special theater and musical performances during Sunday on Stage, November 8; participating organizations include the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Colorado Ballet, Opera Colorado, Colorado Symphony and Starz Denver Film Festival.
• Pick up a copy of the new Denver Gallery Guide, published by the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs (click here and look for “Gallery Guide” on the left-hand nav bar).

Arts week runs through next Saturday, November 14. For a complete list of events, see the Denver Arts Week website.

The election results are in, and Initiative 300 was rejected, 69 to 31 percent. Details are at the Denver Post.

Tomorrow night Judy will be hosting another meeting regarding the future of Byers Library and La Alma Recreation Center. Community organization gave these facilities a one-year reprieve from the budgetary chopping block, but it will take continued effort and creative thinking to keep the library and rec center open beyond the next fiscal year.

Join Judy and other neighborhood leaders tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the Denver Inner City Parish, 1212 Mariposa. Refreshments will be served.

The New Denver Zoning Code Draft 3 will be posted later today at http://www.newcodedenver.org. This near-final draft will incorporate substantial input from the commercial and residential community following the release of Draft 2.

District 9 residents have been extremely active in the process so far, and Judy is strongly encouraging everybody to stay involved. Your input so far has been invaluable in making the code better, and ensuring that it works for neighborhoods, businesses, and families.

You’ll have multiple opportunities to comment on Draft 3 during November. The comment section at the New Code website is open 24 x 7; you can always use that. If you’d prefer to provide your comments in person or to ask questions of city staff, there will be multiple opportunities to do that as well. Zoning Code Team members from Community Planning & Development (CPD) will hold Q+A sessions in the Webb Building next Tuesday, November 10, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and next Thursday, November 12, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The room number is not yet available; check back at this website and/or the New Code site for that info.

In addition, the City Council, Planning Board, and Zoning Code Task Force will hold two joint “listening sessions”  to hear your comments and your questions before the final draft and the formal hearings. If you want to speak, you will need to sign up during the 30 minutes prior to the listed start of each session. Maps and other information will be available for review during that time. Both sessions will be in the Wellington E. Webb Building, 201 West Colfax Ave., Room 4F6/4G2, on the 4th floor. The first will be on Wednesday, November 18, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.; the second will be the next afternoon, November 19, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

If you have questions about the any of the events noted above, please contact Gretchen Williams, Council Legislative Services, at Gretchen.Williams@Denvergov.org or 720-865-9341, or Sue Cobb, Community Planning & Development, at Sue.Cobb@Denvergov.org or 720-865-3052.

Tomorrow is Election Day. If you haven’t dropped off your ballot yet, you can do so today or tomorrow at the Webb Building or the Elections Division (3888 E. Mexico Ave.). One of the big issues on the ballot is Initiative 300 — Judy joined a lopsided Council majority in issuing a resolution against Initiative 300, you might recall.

Also on the calendar this week:

• Wednesday at 3 p.m., the Denver Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the FasTracks 41st and Fox Station Area Plan. A lot of District 9 residents put in many hours on that plan; the result is something that Judy supports and that the neighborhoods are behind. For more information or to view the draft plan document, go to www.denvergov.org/TOD.
• Grow Local Colorado is sponsoring a potluck and networking party on Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Green Spaces Colorado, 2590 Walnut Street. It’s a chance for folks who are doing urban agriculture (greenhouses, community gardens, school gardening projects, etc etc.) to connect with each other. RSVP by tomorrow (Nov 3) to Dana Miller at pompomdana@comcast.net.

Habitat for Humanity is hosting an open house tonight to show off its new headquarters at 3245 Eliot Street, and to celebrate its 30 years of service to the Denver community. The doors open at 5, and there will be a brief program at 6:30. You can RSVP to 30years@habitatmetrodenver.org, or 303-534-2929.

Also at 5 tonight, you can attend a public meeting at the Colorado History Museum, 1300 Broadway, to participate in the development of a State Historic Preservation Plan. The Colorado Historical Society is actively seeking public input on the plan; RSVP at 303-866-2825.

Finally, from 1:30 to 4 p.m. today the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline will host an open house to celebrate the success of the program and to thank the many people and organizations involved in this very collaborative effort. The event will take place at the Hotline’s headquarters, located at Brothers Redevelopment, 2250 Eaton St. , Suite B, in Denver.

Since its October 2006 inception, the Hotline has helped more than 13,000 Colorado homeowners avoid foreclosure. Homeowners concerned about losing their home to foreclosure can call the Hotline and be directed to a counselor, who will review their budget, loan, and hardship information to determine what options are best suited for their situation. The counselors also communicate directly with the lender on the homeowner’s behalf.

Because of its focus on local, one-on-one counseling and its success in helping homeowners, the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline has been recognized by the National Association of Realtors; the National Governor’s Association; the Wall Street Journal; National Public Radio; CNN; and TIME Magazine. Colorado was the first state to launch a Hotline and network to deal with foreclosures.

For more information, visit www.brothersredevelopment.org, www.coloradoforeclosurehotline.blogspot.com or contact the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline Call Center at (303) 685-4200. For a list of housing counseling agencies and other partners or sponsors, visit www.coloradoforeclosurehotline.org. If you need counseling or have questions regarding your mortgage, call the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline at 1-877-601-HOPE (4673).

If you haven’t received your mail-in ballot by now, get in touch with the Secretary of State’s office (303-894-2200, or follow this link). If you have your ballot and want to review the mail-in and dropoff procedures, click here.

Your ballot will include races for Denver Public Schools Board of Education, depending on which DPS director district you reside within. It will also include a City-wide Initiated Ordinance (I-300) question on Auto Impoundment. Judy voted with a 10-1 majority earlier this month to issue a Council proclamation opposing Initiative 300. The proclamation argues that I-300 ties the hands of police officers. I-300 removes the right of officers to use discretion to determine when towing a vehicle is appropriate for public safety — we’ve seen in the past that this can be problematic.

As an interesting side note to this election, it will feature the inaugural class of the groundbreaking Colorado Elections Fellows Program. Ten student fellows will be trained to serve as poll workers, and will recruit other students to serve as poll workers in future elections. The Denver Elections Division will provide training materials and other resources to help the fellows train other student poll workers on their campuses. The Colorado Campus Compact at Regis University was one of 13 organizations in the United States to receive grant funds from the federal Election Assistance Commission to recruit college students to serve as poll workers during the 2009 and 2010 election cycles.

The Denver Office of Economic Development (OED) has issued two notices of funds available under a part of the Obama administration’s economic stimulus package. The program is known as Community Development Block Grant-Recovery (CDBG-R). The OED is soliciting proposals for business lending projects and community/neighborhood improvements.

Aout $1.4 million is available for projects supporting business start-up and expansion, and roughly $850,000 is available for neighborhood revitalization projects such as:

• block beautification
• installation and upgrade of parks and playgrounds
• community centers
• tree planting

Here’s OED Executive Director André Pettigrew: “In shaping our CDBG-R strategy, we placed an emphasis on making as many funds as possible available to our small business community. We have seen a very strong need for greater access to capital among our businesses, and we’re fortunate to have these extra funds to leverage within our community to create jobs and stimulate the economy.”

Funding proposals are due October 29, 2009. For more information, including specific business lending criteria, application process and to view the notices of funding availability, visit www.milehigh.com.

To date, the City and County of Denver has received $55 million in ARRA funding for a variety of projects and programs. For more information visit www.denvergov.org/stimulus.

Yesterday’s post contained not one but two errors, viz.:

• Mayor Hickenlooper and Senator Udall are not confirmed attendees at the Urban Organics open house on Saturday night. Both leaders were invited; they may or may not show up.
• Last night’s Living Streets Initiative meeting took place at the Highland Masonic Temple, not at the Exdo Events Center. Tonight’s meeting takes place at Exdo, beginning at 6 p.m.; hope you can make it.

Apologies for the errors!

Living Streets Initiative is holding a workshop tonight in District 9 about transportation, economic growth, environmental health, and other urban development issues. It takes place at the Exdo Events Center, 1399 35th Street, the Highland Masonic Temple, 35th and Federal, from 6 to 8 p.m.; more info at www.denverlivingstreets.org.

Judy’s aquaculture bill passed unanimously at Monday night’s council hearing. On Saturday, you can join Judy, Mayor Hickenlooper, U.S. Senator Mark Udall, and other community leaders for an open house at Urban Organics’ aquaculture greenhouse, located at 4751 York St. The event lasts from 10 to 2:30 and will includes tours, workshops, and more. Hope to see you there.

Blog commenter Quentin Dodd provided a helpful clarification of how “aquaculture” should be defined:

Aquaculture is by no means confined to aquaponics and hydroponics. Technically speaking, aquaculture is growing anything in water, whether in the ocean or on land. Aquaponics is growing fish in conjunction with plants which derive their nutrients from the water the fish poop into. Hyrdoponics cuts out the fish and has the plants of whatever variety getting fed through having their roots immersed in water or sprayed with water.

He added that he found Judy’s bill “laudable” and concluded, “It’s good to see Denver considering something to advance aquaculture rather than ban it within the City limits.”

There was an article about aquaculture in Sunday’s Denver Post; the article is here, in case you missed it.