Going to 5

Recently, State Rep. Bob Marshall did exactly what he said he was going to do when he ran for o ce — he introduced a bill that would require large counties to expand from three- to ve-member boards of commissioners. If the bill is approved, that would mean Douglas County will go from three to ve commissioners.

Arapahoe County already has ve commissioners, which means they would not be impacted by the bill. However, Arapahoe County operates without a lot of incommission ghting, has good discussion and debate and is a great example of why a ve-member board can be a lot more functional.

When it comes to party lines, I would like a better balance of Republicans and Democrats on the Arapahoe board, given there is currently only one Republican, but that’s not a huge complaint.

In Douglas County, the current commissioners are great evidence of why a three-member boards is not good in representing a county with 360,000 people and growing. e argument against the bill is that it “creates more government,” not less. I get not wanting more government, but is having two more commissioners added to a currently dysfunctional board a bad thing?

I have never been a fan of the all-yes boards. I like my elected boards to have a balance of voices and opinions. If all members of a council, commission or school board have the same thoughts, beliefs and ideals — you will get a lot of rubber-stamp voting without thoughtful discussion and debate.

Local city and town councils, with fewer residents than all of Douglas County, currently have more elected o cials looking out for their best interests.

In Douglas County, residents currently have George Teal and Abe Laydon deciding where and how money is spent. ey are making decisions on zoning, land use and water. If Commissioner Lora omas does have an opposing view or opinion — it doesn’t seem to matter as the two men on the board have clearly formed an alliance. is alliance means if one supports a project — the other will get in line to do the same. ese are schoolyard games that should never been the norm on a local, elected board. is alliance has cost taxpayers plenty of money in approving investigations against omas that have yielded nothing more than tens of thousands of dollars in wasted taxpayer dollars.

At the very least, two more commissioners being asked to approve another frivolous investigation might ask questions and vote against it.

With two more commissioners, decisions might still end the same way, but I bet there is more discussion, fewer alliances and probably a healthier representation of what residents in Douglas County deserve.

What I love about Rep. Marshall introducing the bill, House Bill 23-1180, is that he can’t be bullied. He is at the state level and the two-member majority can’t just quash it. Do I think the bill will pass? It’s early and hard to say. e argument of having more government oversight could win out in halting it in its tracks. However, I do hope our elected o cials at the state level give it true thought and consideration.

If it is passed in the 2023 session, counties that would be a ected by the bill are Je erson, Larimer, Douglas, Boulder, Pueblo and Mesa, all of which are counties with three commissioners.

elma Grimes is the south metro editor for Colorado Community Media.

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

MICHAEL DE YOANNA Editor-in-Chief michael@coloradocommunitymedia.com

THELMA GRIMES South Metro Editor tgrimes@coloradocommunitymedia.com

TAYLER SHAW Community Editor tshaw@coloradocommunitymedia.com

As a partner and potential sales channel to the enterprise selling team, they were faced with a decision to make about an interaction they had with a new account executive they had just started working with. ere was a lack of follow-up on the account executive’s part and the partner was torn between letting the young account executive’s boss know, or not.

Ultimately, he decided to call their boss because they wanted to provide a coaching opportunity for the young new hire. e leader was grateful and said, “ ank you as I cannot x something that I do not know is broken, and I cannot manage what I do not know.” ere is so much sensitivity around what we can say and what we cannot or should not say. We fear that it may not be our place to say anything at all, after all we may become the one where others choose to point the nger of blame. We would rather keep our mouth shut and let the next person who receives bad service or experiences a problem be the one to share their concerns. Maybe they are braver than we are in those moments. e question becomes this, wouldn’t we want to know if something that we, or someone in our family, circle of friends, or company was doing something, or had done something, that wasn’t right and could potentially be harmful to others or to our family or business? Most of us would answer the same way, of course we would.

In the case above, the leader did use it as a coaching moment and the young account executive embraced the feedback and became determined to make a change in his response times and doing what they said they would do

ERIN ADDENBROOKE Marketing Consultant eaddenbrooke@coloradocommunitymedia.com

AUDREY BROOKS Business Manager abrooks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

ERIN FRANKS Production Manager efranks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

LINDSAY NICOLETTI Operations/ Circulation Manager lnicoletti@coloradocommunitymedia.com when they said they would do it.

Another friend I know stopped going to the same co ee shop they had been stopping by every morning for years. When I asked them why, they said that the shop had started serving co ee that wasn’t as hot as it should be. I asked them if they let the manager know. ey shook their head and said, “No.” is was a simple or minor issue that, if the manager had known or been told, could have been easily resolved.

We know parents who have approached the o cials of the school where their child was being bullied. e o cials were given the opportunity to x what was broken. ey now knew what they had to manage, yet they refused to take action. e nal outcome was that the child was transferred to another school and thankfully, was met with a new set of friends who they became very close with, enjoying a wonderful and safe high school experience.

It’s no di erent at home or in any relationship. If we do not know what is broken, we cannot manage or x what we do not know. We have to provide others a safe environment to share what they see as a problem or an area that can be improved, and then be vulnerable enough to acknowledge that it can be better and then take the steps necessary to x the problem.

Two of the most important ingredients to any

SEE NORTON, P13

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Letters To The Editor

`Arrested Development’ at county

We read with befuddlement, and more than a thimbleful of bemusement, CCM’s article covering the “hissy- t de jour” emanating from that local Center of Arrested Development — our County Commission.

At the center of this Vast Confabulation of Conspiracy is the county’s underwriting of metal detectors at STEM School. Apparently, Chairman Laydon’s Department of TOP SECRECY deemed disclosure of this milliondollar purchase too sensitive for the eyes and ears of parents, students and simpletons like taxpayers.

In the nest traditions of innuendo and disinformation, Laydon implicated not only DougCo’s Resident Punching Bag, Lora omas … he felt compelled to pull the Local Free Press into his dark and stormy story. Like many DougCo politicians, Laydon believes the First Amendment applies only to his allies … and the Free Press better watch it.

Never mind information on these metal detectors had been publicly released days before. To Laydon, reality spins around him, as the center of all, something adjustable for political convenience … reminiscent of his infamous declaration, “let me be the rst to state that the COVID pandemic is over” at the time when it wasn’t.

One of these days, DougCo’s conservative voters will determine that, perhaps, the Arrested Development series has been on for one season too many, and it’s about time to nd higher quality programming.

Lloyd Guthrie Roxborough Park

Support Democrats

Joe Biden was not my choice for the Democratic nominee. I voted for Bernie Sanders. I am willing to admit now that Joe is probably the only Democrat who could have beaten Donald Trump. It had to be a moderate. I am also willing to concede that Joe has been a very e ective president, especially given the small Democratic majorities in Congress in the rst two years of his term.

In less than two years, the Democrats passed a sizable COVID relief package, brought our troops home from Afghanistan, and also added a signicant infrastructure bill, green energy incentives, more taxes on wealthy corporations, allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, allowing hearing aids to be sold over the counter, at least modest student debt relief, and the president has been integral in holding the western alliance together in assisting Ukraine in their war e ort against Russia.

No one likes high gas prices or in ation, but those are worldwide prob- lems. No one wanted to see those 13 Marines killed by a suicide bomber at the airport in Kabul, but the American casualties would likely have been far worse if we had stayed. Lastly, lawlessness in Central America, Haiti and elsewhere has people walking hundreds of miles at great peril to get away from it. Add refugees from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Africa, and the Middle East, and there are no easy answers.

Overall, the present Democratic coalition has the country moving in the right direction against great odds, and we need to get behind them.

Marcus Pohlmann Highlands Ranch

Unhappy about story is letter will be worth writing if it can convert just one of your liberal journalists away from their woke ideology as expressed in your second of a four-part series, e Long Way Home by Nina Joss and Haley Lena Jan. 26, reporting on the housing crisis. e article is the epitome of woke ideology because of the accusations made from beginning to end that essentially accuse the U.S. for systemic injustice in housing.

Instead of any consideration of our American ideals around equal opportunity this article focuses on a socialist Utopian ideal with many examples of unequal outcomes. Not surprisingly this very lengthy article ends advocating mandatory liberal training to combat discrimination for real estate licenses.

First, don’t ask about the facts in this article, ask why the Colorado Community Media (CCM) is editorializing about identity politics and race baiting. No mention is made of the problem put on hardships cases which are the outcome of living in a free society, also known as an imperfect world, which is the history of our country. e Long Way Home series is being published in all the 24 metro Denver newspapers, and for a good reason none of the testimonials in this week’s article relate to any of our Douglas County jurisdictions.

Nobody will disagree that it’s easy to nd biased journalists these days, they’re everywhere, so the fault of biased reporting lies with the editors and a biased sta . e paper identi es 25 people contributing to this series. I can’t help but wonder where people like these journalists come from. For me, I don’t personally know anyone whose as severely handicapped with racial prejudice about identity politics as the publishers of this article.

Smith Young Parker

Housing and diversity

Kudos to Colorado Community e January 26 articles detailing racial inequities in Denver’s suburban communities like the Littleton area, where I live, provide important insight — and highlight the need for all of us to redouble e orts for social change.

Media for a piece of ne local journalism with “ e Long Way Home” series examining Colorado’s housing crisis.

As the series illustrates, Littleton and surrounding towns didn’t become lily-white by accident. Government policies assured racial and economic segregation via redlining, racially restrictive covenants, and large-lot zoning. Today, Denver metro is highly racially segregated, ranks 13th among the most highly economically segregated urban areas, and 40th among U.S. large metro areas for upward mobility of below-median-income families.

Today’s a ordable housing emergency is compounded for our Black, Latinx, and Native American neighbors who face historical barriers designed to exclude them from generational wealth-building as well as present-day ingrained prejudices. is is not a healthy situation for our community or our nation.

Visionary racial justice leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. fought to pass the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), enacted 55 years ago this April. anks to the FHA, local groups like the Denver

Metro Fair Housing Center (funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — HUD, help persons facing discrimination to le complaints with Colorado’s Civil Rights Division or in federal court. And the framers of the federal law had the wisdom to include a provision for “Afrmatively Furthering Fair Housing” which requires local governments to take steps to reverse historic segregation via a renewing ve-year action plan they submit to HUD.

Still, many folks in white skin identity today do not realize the extensive bene ts of living, working, and learning in diverse communities for all racial and ethnic groups. Major employers are realizing the bene ts, but the embrace of diversity lags in our suburbs.

As we work together locally to cope with the a ordable housing crisis, we need to use all the tools provided by federal and state law to increase local diversity. Let’s move toward a Denver metropolitan area where every individual, group, and community enjoys equal housing opportunity and access in a bias-free and open housing market, where integrated neighborhoods are the norm, and the private and public sector guarantee civil rights.

John Paul Marosy, outreach and education coordinator, Denver Metro Fair Housing Center Je erson County

successful relationship, husband-wife, parent-child, teacher-student, employer-employee, company-customer, or any other relationship are communication and trust. And when we can honestly and openly share with others what needs to change or be managed better, most times we will be seen as being helpful as again, none of us can x or manage what we do not know is broken or a problem in the rst place. How about you? Do you feel safe and comfortable sharing with your boss, partner, co-worker or the manager of a store where you frequently shop what is broken or needs to be managed better or di erently? Or would you rather someone else take that responsibility? I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@gmail. com, and when we can be open to managing and xing what we know to be broken, it really will be a better than good life.

Michael Norton is an author, a personal and professional coach, consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator of individuals and businesses, working with organizations and associations across multiple industries.

BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

While working out at a gym in Golden recently, someone approached Ty Scrable and asked if he was associated with Colorado School of Mines. Scrable had to explain that, no, he’s just a Golden resident.

Unfortunately, Scrable said, this isn’t the rst time it’s happened.

“I get that a lot,” he said. “People think I’m a student, professor or tourist because I’m Black.”

Systemic racism stubbornly remains in Golden. But, as Scrable said, it has morphed from Ku Klux Klan demonstrations in the 1920s and racist housing policies in the 1940s to something less overt but still widespread and endlessly frustrating.

Because White people make up the overwhelming majority in the city and, thus, are seen as the norm, Scrable said, “many people don’t view me as part of my own community.” e newspaper, which now is part of Colorado Community Media, isn’t immune to biased coverage. is report is the product of its journalists attempting to examine the paper’s coverage of the Black community since the Civil Rights era and own up to its mistakes.

In the wake of Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the summer of 2020, many cities and newspapers across the United States have started reckoning with their pasts, examining how they’ve contributed to systemic racism, learning what they can do to be more inclusive and fair. e Golden community has started the process, and now it’s the Golden Transcript’s turn.

Since 1866, the Golden Transcript — known as the Colorado Transcript for its rst 103 years — has been a record keeper for Je erson County. While its stories are extensive and valuable, the paper contains original and reprinted content that was harmful to the Black community and other marginalized groups.

Just one example is its coverage of the Black Panther Party, a group that gained national attention in the late 1960s for its response to policing in Black communities across the country.

Between 1969-1971, the newspaper published approximately 170 articles that referenced the Black Panther Party. Nearly all of these articles

BEYOND THE GOLDEN TRANSCRIPT: Our efforts to reconcile racial mistrust begins with this story

In our newspaper this week, you’ll see an article about the Golden Transcript. It’s one of two dozen newspapers owned by Colorado Community Media, which also owns this paper. The article tackles the issue of systemic racism in the Transcript’s pages.

The idea for the project started in 2020, when the Colorado News Collaborative, Colorado Media Project and Free Press convened the Black Voices Working Group, which was made up of Black leaders, community members and journalists. The group addressed media coverage and focused on how to improve trust in mainstream media among the Black community. Acknowledging past harm was the No. 1 recommendation made by the group.

A few months later, I attended a Denver Press Club event where Jameka Lewis, a senior librarian at the BlairCaldwell African American Research Library, illustrated biases in mainstream local media coverage of the Black Panther Party in the 1960s and ’70s while exhibiting rare prints of the Black Panther Press. Many of Lewis’ examples came from the Transcript. Most articles were wire stories from other cities, but editors still chose to run them, affecting perceptions of the party in Golden.

We pursued and were awarded a grant from the nonpartisan Colorado Media Project to explore, uncover and analyze this issue in the form of the special report that is in this edition of your newspaper.

Our newsroom, which is predominantly White, also participated in the Maynard Institute’s diversity, equity and inclusion Fault Lines training along the way. West metro editor Kristen Fiore was a speaker at the Advancing Equity in Local News convening with journalists from publications like the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Washington Post to talk about this project.

We believe this story is important beyond Golden — and we hope to spark conversations in our communities across the Denver area about race and inclusion and how our news coverage impacts those issues.

Linda Carpio Shapley is publisher of Colorado Community Media, which runs two dozen weekly and monthly publications in eight counties. She can be reached at lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com