Monthly Archives: September 2009

The Denver Union Station Project Authority (DUSPA) will hold a public meeting tomorrow night (Thursday, October 1) to present schematic design work for the project’s transit-related architectural design features. There will also be a presentation of initial design concepts for the public spaces linking the commuter rail, light rail, and bus terminals to one another.

Judy sits on DUSPA and is always eager to get feedback from informed constituents. The meeting will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the RTD Administrative Office, 1600 Blake Street, in Rooms T & D. The meeting is open to the public.

If that meeting doesn’t strike your fancy, then you might consider attending the first in a series of community workshops regarding the new bond-funded Denver Police Crime Laboratory. That event runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Webb Building (201 W. Colfax) in Conference Room 1.B.6. The project management team will make a brief presentation on the current plans for the facility, which will be followed by an opportunity for questions and comments by the public. The new Crime Lab will be located on 14th Avenue between Cherokee and Delaware; construction of the $36 million bond-funded facility is anticipated to begin next summer, with completion targeted before the end of 2011.

Judy’s community meeting re the Byers library drew a packed house on Saturday morning. About 100 people squeezed into a conference room at the library to talk about how important the library is to the Baker and Lincoln Park / La Alma neighborhoods. Here’s a crowd shot:

A number of attendees at the meeting spoke forcefully about the negative impact these neighborhoods would feel if the Byers branch were to close. A few snippets:

• “If Byers closes it will be too far to walk to the Central library with our kids and we just won’t go to the library.”
• “I don’t think it is fair that new libraries are opening but the Mayor wants to close Byers.”
• “If the kinds of programs for Byers now aren’t working, then change the programming but don’t close the library.”
• “I am a teacher at Greenlee, and our kids who don’t have computers at home won’t have a place to do their homework if you close Byers.”

Judy pointed out another key reason why the branch should remain open: Closing it would be in direct contradiction to transit-oriented development (TOD), which is a major benefit of FasTracks and has become a key priority for Denver’s planning and economic development efforts.  The Byers branch sits just a few blocks from the 10th & Osage commuter rail station, which has already gotten wide recognition and has the potential to be a national TOD model. The branch is also very close to the Denver Housing Authority’s planned mixed-income redevelopment project, which will bring approximately 800 new households into the neighborhood. Losing local library access would undermine these redevelopment efforts. It might save money in the short term, but over the long run closing Byers might end up costing the city a lot more.

Here’s a pic of Judy addressing the crowd:

The city expects to save about $600K in the 2010 budget by closing the library, but Judy is combing through the budget looking for alternative ways to save that amount. In the meantime, here’s what you can do to try to prevent closure of the Byers branch:

• Talk to your neighbors and make sure they know what’s going on
• Circulate a petition in your neighborhood against the closure of Byers, and send the signatures to the Mayor’s office and the City Council office. You can get a copy of a petition from Judy’s office; call (303) 458-8960, or e-mail Stephanie.Syner@denvergov.org
• Write letters to Mayor Hickenlooper’s office: milehighmayor@denvergov.org, or Mayor John Hickenlooper, City/County Bldg, 1437 Bannock, Suite 350, Denver CO 80202
• Write letters to the City Council: dencc@denvergov.org, or Denver City Council, City/County Bldg, 1437 Bannock, Room 451, Denver CO 80202
• Write letters to the Denver Public Library: dplcommunity@denverlibrary.org, or Shirley Amore, Denver Public Library, 10 W. 14th Ave. Pkwy, Denver CO, 80204

Read more about the meeting at the Denver Daily News.

Denver Public Schools comes to District 9 tomorrow night (Tuesday, September 29) for a “State of the Schools” event. DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg will discuss Denver schools’ progress, as well as the challenges and the work that lie ahead. He also will present a draft of the “2009 Denver Plan,” an action plan to accelerate student achievement.

It gets underway at 6 p.m. at North High School, 2960 N. Speer Boulevard. To learn more, contact Denver Public Schools at (720) 423-3414 or communications@dpsk12.org.

I’ll have a report on Saturday’s meeting about the Byers library ASAP. Meanwhile, Judy’s already preparing for another important event — tomorrow afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m. she’ll be co-hosting an open house and community meeting about an emergency bad-weather shelter for homeless adults and families. The emergency shelter will operate under the auspices of Denver’s Road Home (of which Judy is a board member) and will be open this winter during snowstorms and extreme cold snaps. Project partners include the Salvation Army and the Delores Project.

The meeting will be held at the emergency shelter at 1901 29th Street, just off Brighton Boulevard in the River North area of District 9. District 9 has hosted other similiar efforts in Sun Valley and Highland with support from compassionate and reasonable neighbors, responsible shelter providers, and good management by Denver’s Road Home.

Scroll down one post for a list of important activities this weekend in District 9.

Judy will be attending two special Council hearings today on the City budget. They’re the latest in a series that began on Monday and continued yesterday. Judy has been hearing from a lot of District 9 residents about various aspects of the budget — not only the Byers library branch (see the post below) but also the parks, rec centers, public works, economic development, and numerous other issues. She values the feedback  — and to ensure that people are informed about the budget situation, she’s encouraging folks to watch the special Council hearings on the budget via Channel 8.

Channel 8 has been carrying all of these budget hearings live, and they’ll all be rebroadcast over the weekend. Here’s the schedule, with a listing of the city departments covered in each budget hearing:

• Saturday at noon: Budget Overview, Council Priorities, Parks and Rec
• Sunday at 8:30 a.m.: Planning, DIA, General Services
• Sunday at 12:30 p.m.: Tech Services, Economic Development, Theatres/Arenas
• Sunday at 6 p.m.: Denver Health, Environmental Health
• Sunday at 8 p.m.: Public Works, Human Services

In addition, the current “Issues and Options” show is a discussion of the Council’s budget priorities with Council President Jeanne Robb (District 10) and President Pro-Tem Rick Garcia (District 1), hosted by Tamara Banks. Channel 8 will be airing that show tonight at 8:30 p.m., Saturday at noon, and Sunday at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Lots of important stuff going on this weekend. A quick roundup:

• Remember to join Judy and community leaders tomorrow at 11 a.m. for a strategy session on how to save Byers library. The meeting will be held at the library, 675 Santa Fe Dr. Details here.
• Also tomorrow, District 9 will be hosting the Fifth Annual “Serious Women, Serious Issues, Serious Action” conference, cosponsored by the Latina Initiative and 9to5. It takes place from 9 to 4:30 on the Auraria campus; registration begins at 8:30. More details here.
• Another worthy District 9 event takes place tomorrow afternoon / evening — the 5th annual Lazos fundraiser. It’s for a very good cause (rural education programs in Central America), and it’s a very good time —- a backyard party with live music from 3 bands, a live auction, catered Sri Lankan food, and brews from the Denver Chophouse. Suggested donation is $17. More information here.
• Approximately 300 volunteers will be working all morning tomorrow to clean up the South Platte during the 2009 Riversweep. There’s still time to register as a volunteer; call (303) 806-9083, or e-mail dprvolunteers@denvergov.org. The River North neighborhood organization (RINO) is counting on a big turnout to work on the Globeville sections of the riverfront; click here for details. Co-sponsored by Denver Parks and Rec  and the Greenway Foundation.
• Finally, on Sunday you can attend a Harvest Festival at Fairview Garden, 12th and Decatur, from 12 to 4 p.m. It will feature the last youth farmer’s market of the season, along with cooking demos and tastings, bike workshops, dance demos, games, and more.

Judy’s battle against the proposed Byers branch library closing is getting a lot of attention locally. Yesterday the Colorado Independent took a look at the issue, noting that the planned closure stands directly at odds with transit-oriented development plans surrounding the 10th and Osage light-rail station.

Don’t forget, Judy will be hosting a community meeting at the library (675 Santa Fe Drive) this Saturday, September 26, at 11 a.m., to develop strategies for saving Byers.

Also on the calendar for Saturday: the South Platte River Sweep. Denver Parks and Rec and the Greenway Foundation are looking for 300 volunteers to come out and help clean up an 11-mile stretch of the river. The event was a big success last year. It begins at 8 a.m. and runs until noon; meet at Fishback Landing, between REI and the Denver Aquarium (just south of Confluence Park).

If you’d like to register, send an e-mail to dprvolunteers@denvergov.org, or call (303) 806-9083. Tools will be provided; you just have to supply gloves, hat, sunscreen, and a water bottle. You can also specify which part of the river you’d like to work on; if you want to help clean up the riverfront in Globeville, for example, just type “Globeville” into your e-mail or write it on your registration form, and you’ll be assigned to that area.

The Latino Commission is sponsoring an important event tomorrow:

Yesterday Judy contributed her first article to the Denver edition of the Huffington Post. Judy wrote about the $10 million in stimulus funds that will be coming into District 9 to redevelop the South Lincoln Park public housing units in La Alma-Lincoln Park. A short excerpt:

This is the first step in a comprehensive redevelopment of DHA’s South Lincoln Homes project into a sustainable, mixed-use, mixed-income transit-oriented community. Phase I development of 100 new senior units is focused on delivering exceptional environmental efficiency and energy performance. The development will reduce energy costs, generate resident and PHA energy savings, and reduce overall energy consumption. New construction design will be a LEED Platinum system.

Additionally, the project will enhance many aspects of public health for residents, including increased access to fresh fruits and vegetables; improved non-vehicular access routes such as bicycle, pedestrian and mass transit routes; the transformation from a public-housing site into a mixed-income environment; and improved access to community amenities. It will also develop and enhance connections to the greater neighborhood through enhanced walking, bicycle and transit connections.

Read the whole article here.

While you’re at it, take a moment to read the Denver Daily News‘s article about Judy’s fight to save the Byers branch library. It includes some quotes from some of the library’s regular patrons — some of whom have been using Byers since the 1940s.

This Saturday at 11 a.m., Judy will be holding a meeting to organize opposition to the closure of the Byers branch library. The meeting will take place at the Byers branch, 675 Santa Fe Drive.

In Judy’s eyes, the proposed Byers closure is the biggest single problem w/ the mayor’s proposed budget (issued last week). While most DPL branches are slated for service cuts under the budget proposal, Byers is the only one that faces outright closure. The citizens who use the branch include some of Denver’s most vulnerable residents; many are recent immigrants and/or denizens of public housing, and they rely heavily on city services.

Judy can see the case for reducing hours at the branch, but she is vehemently opposed to closing it altogether — because it’s an irreversible step. The city’s financial crisis is a temporary situation — the economy will eventually recover, revenues will increase, and city services that have been reduced can be restored to their former levels. But services that have been completely eliminated will probably never come back.

In essence, the budget proposes a permanent service cut to a neighborhood that needs more services than most.

That’s not something Judy can accept without a fight. Join her on Saturday morning and find out what you can do to help keep Byers open.