Monthly Archives: November 2009

I hope everybody got enough turkey over the holiday. Some good news arrived during the long weekend from Union Station Advocates (USA): The organization’s “Night in Old Union Station” fundraising event drew about 800 attendees and raised about $70,000 toward the revival of the Welcome/Mizpah Arch. Judy attended the event and has worked closely with USA throughout the Union Station redevelopment process. She would like to thank everybody who attended.

Additional contributions to the Arch Fund can be made by buying a light for the replicated Arch at $1,000 per light. The lights will be numbered between 1 and 2194 (the number of lights on the original arch), so you can choose a number that is meaningful to you, and your name will be on the arch. If you’re interested, check the USA website or send an e-mail to info@unionstationadvocates.org. There’s more info at the USA blog.

From the same source we learn that Havey Productions has completed Denver Union Station: Portal to Progress and be debuting it in February at the Hyatt Regency Denver Colorado Convention Center. Union Station Advocates contributed to the production of this film to help highlight the historic and future significance of Union Station. Click here for a sneak peek of the film.

Want to help Denver ‘s low-income families? You can help them file for the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC, on their 2009 tax return. You don’t have to be an accountant, a computer whiz, or a tax expert; just have a willingness to help, and you’re in. In exchange for your commitment, you can complete your family’s taxes for free using the latest IRS software.

Many working families are not connected to the financial mainstream and therefore don’t know how to claim the EITC, which benefits millions of low-income families annually. National estimates indicate that approximately 15 percent of eligible families do not claim the EITC. Perhaps they don’t know they’re eligible, or they may feel that since their incomes are so low, there’s no need to file at all. Education and free tax preparation are crucial to these families.

The DABC will train you to provide tax assistance to struggling single moms, parents who have lost their jobs, immigrant families who cannot speak English, and others who can really benefit from the aid. DABC tax law training is offered online or through a self-study course in December and January. E-file training to prepare returns using a computer will be provided to all volunteers in January. Volunteers are asked to commit to at least 28 hours of volunteer time (after training) between January 30 and April 15, 2010.

Interested parties should complete an online application at http://www.denverabc.org/volunteers10.htm; application deadline is November 30. Please put “City of Denver ” in the “Referred By” field. For additional information, please visit the DABC website: www.DenverABC.org or e-mail Volunteer@DenverABC.org.

New Code Listening Session #2 happens this afternoon; see details here. If you haven’t shared your feedback on the Code yet, be sure to do so; citizen input has been, and continues to be, invaluable.

A week from today, Rosa Linda’s Mexican Cafe will host its 25th Thanksgiving Day Feast for the community. Over the years, Rosa Linda and her family (the Aguirres) have served Thanksgiving dinner to tens of thousands of people who otherwise would have gone hungry on this holiday. When the tradition began back in 1985, the Denver economy was in the dumps, and a lot of people were struggling — just as there are today. In fact, there may be more people who need help this Thanksgiving than at any time since the Aguirres began this tradition.

If you can help out — with dollars, with food, or by delivering meals on Thanksgiving Day — please contact the Aguirres. The restaurant is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday; phone is (303) 455-0608. You can also help by spreading the word and reaching out to people who need assistance — especially the elderly, veterans, undocumented individuals, or anybody else in the community who can use some support this Thanksgiving.

The feast is served to everyone — there is no paperwork to sign, no eligibility requirements to meet. The meal will be served from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the menu includes turkey, green chile, rice, beans, stuffing, and more.

The Aguirres have always been there for the community, in good times and bad. Join them, and add your generosity to theirs, this Thanksgiving.

The first New Code Listening Session begins tonight at 5:30 p.m.; details (including how to sign up to speak) are in yesterday’s post.

Transition Colorado, a grassroots networking organization that helps communities create their post-fossil-fuel futures, is asking people to wear green clothing to the Listening Sessions tonight and tomorrow. They’re also encouraging people to sign up for a speaker’s slot and talk about green technologies —- specifically, ensuring that the New Code makes it easy for Denver residents and homeowners to practice urban agriculture, build passive solar elements into their properties, mount rooftop photovoltaics, etc etc.

Channel 8 has released its rebroadcast schedule for the two Listening Sessions. They’ll both be aired live, and then Session 1 will be played back next Wednesday (11/25) at 10:30 a.m., and on Sunday 11/29 at 2:30 p.m. Session #2 will be played back next Tuesday and Wednesday, 11/24 and 11/25, at 1:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., respectively.

The New Zoning Code “Listening Sessions” take place this week. These are very important, so pay attention.

The sessions are scheduled for Wednesday, November 18, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., and Thursday, November 19, from 1 to 4 p.m. They will take place in the Webb Building in Rooms 4.F.6./4.G.2, and will be attended by all Council members as well as key personnel from Community Planning and Development. The sessions are intended to give members of the public the opportunity to interact directly with the decisionmakers charged with finalizing the new Zoning Code and passing it into law.

District 9ers have been extremely vocal during the early parts of the Zoning Code drafting process, and their feedback has been valuable — and influential. Many changes to the Code have been made as a result of input by citizens throughout Denver. Judy values the participation of her constituents and urges everybody to attend at least one of the sessions this week.

It’s estimated that 50 to 70 people will be able to speak at each session. Speaker sign-up will begin 30 minutes prior to the announced start time, and each speaker will have the floor for 3 minutes. You may either make a comment or ask a question; Planning Department staff will be on hand to respond to questions. If time runs out before all signed-up speakers have had an opportunity, their observations will be included in written form in the tabulation of comments.

CPD staff will be available to answer questions concerning specific properties in Room 4.I.4. where they have access to computers to pull-up maps and other resources.

If you can’t attend either session, you can still watch on Channel 8; both sessions will be carried live, and rebroadcast after the fact. In addition, all comments will be posted on the Council website, organized by topic.

Good news in today’s Denver Post:

Officials promoting the $500 million redevelopment of Denver’s Union Station as an expanded transit hub said today that they have received an “investment grade” designation from Fitch Ratings for an all-important loan that the project hopes to get from the federal government.

The Denver Union Station Project Authority hopes to borrow between $300 million and $330 million from several loan programs offered by the U.S. Transportation Department.

The authority needed the initial positive credit assessment from Fitch before it could even apply for one of the loans, said Denver finance chief Claude Pumilia, who is on the board of the authority.

With the Fitch rating in hand, the station authority can start the process of negotiating terms of the loan package with federal officials, Pumilia said. Officials hope they can close on the loans in January. Doing so would allow construction to begin in earnest at Union Station.

Great news for District 9, and very satisfying for Judy, who has been working on the Union Station project from the very beginning and currently sits on the Denver Union Station Project Authority (DUSPA).

At tonight’s Parks and Rec Advisory Board meeting, a new policy will be introduced that has implications for District 9′s Confluence Park, and other parks around the city. The policy will govern “admission-based events” —- such as concerts, cultural festivals, or other events that require a paid admission —- in the public parks.

There has been a lot of focus on the policy, which has taken two years to hammer out. For a long time there has been confusion about which rules / regs applied to admission-based events, and even about whether such events are legal under the city charter. Some people are worried that these events will have negative impacts upon neighborhoods, and others have argued that the public should never be charged admission for an event at a publicly owned parks. But supporters of the policy have pointed out that many of these events are extremely popular, and they also can provide Parks and Rec with much-needed revenue to fund park maintenance and programming that serve the entire city.

About two years ago, Parks and Rec formed a Task Force made up of individuals and organizations from across the city to help clarify this policy. Judy’s office has been involved (along with every other Council district office); other participants have included 20 festival and concert promoters, nine park advocacy groups, and 15 neighborhood organizations (particularly from neighborhoods with parks that are likely to be impacted by such a policy).

After two years of research, deliberation and policy development, the Task Force recommended that Parks and Rec should allow admissions-based events in city park facilities, with regulations in place to ensure that such events would never become burdensome to any given neighborhood.

Under the new policy, only parks that currently allow festival permit sites, event facility permit sites, and special occasion permits will be allowed to issue these permits in the future. Confluence Park is the only District 9 park that falls into this category. The permit must be pulled 30 days prior to the planned event. The events cannot occupy more than 20 percent of the park, and an organization can only pull this type of permit once every 30 days. No more than one admission-based event can take place at a given park within any 15-day period. All fees and sales tax will be guided by the parks and recreation guidelines. Alcohol policy will be implemented with no changes.

Contact Judy’s office or leave a comment here if you have an opinion about this new policy.

Thursday night the Denver Office of Economic Development (OED) will present a draft of the 2010 Action Plan of the City’s Consolidated Plan during a public meeting at the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building. The meeting will last from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

The 2010 Action Plan is the third action plan of the City’s five-year Consolidated Plan (2008-2012). The plan is required for the City to receive housing and community development federal funding. It identifies proposed activities to be funded through the following federal programs:

• Community Development Block Grant Program
• HOME Investment Partnership Program
• Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Program
• Emergency Shelter Grant programs
• Neighborhood Stabilization Program I & II
• Community Development Block Grant-Recovery

The Action Plan includes information about the overall goals and objectives for the upcoming year with a description of available resources and proposed actions to address identified needs. All proposed activities and projects are intended to principally benefit Denver residents who have extremely low, low, and moderate incomes, as well as special needs populations including the elderly, homeless populations, individuals with disabilities and those with HIV/AIDS.

Denver’s Consolidated Plan has funded homeownership and rental assistance programs, construction of community centers, sidewalk and alley improvements, economic development programs and programs that assist special needs populations.

For additional information regarding the meeting, visit www.milehigh.com, or call 720-913-1999.

Judy will be involved in two Union Station-related events this week. Tomorrow night she’ll be joined by Mr. and Mrs. Mayor, plus other local luminaries, for “A Night in Old Union Station,” a fundraiser to benefit the re-creation of the Welcome/Mizpah Arch. It’s going to be held at the Station from 7 to 11 p.m.; tickets run from $40 to $200. There’ll be an awesome gourmet spread, live jazz, and a lot of other fun. You can get tickets at King Sooper’s and elsewhere; see the flyer below, or log on at www.lodo.org, www.anightinoldunionstation.com, or www.unionstationadvocates.org.

That’s the fun event. The down-to-business event will happen the next night, November 12, as the Denver Union Station Project Authority (DUSPA) holds a public meeting to provide an update on the project, present public realm schematic designs, and answer your questions. The meeting will be held from 5:30-7 PM in the RTD Administrative Office, 1600 Blake Street, in Rooms T&D; Judy (who has a seat on DUSPA) will be there. Presentation materials from previous meetings may be viewed on the project Web site at www.denverunionstation.org.

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.