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Week of February 17, 2022
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 11 | SPORTS: PAGE 16
VOLUME 17 | ISSUE 35
Arvadans for Jefferson Center partners with RTD for mental health and homelessness outreach Progressive Action
lobby for affordable housing, diversity and inclusion
New routes in extending social services explored as demand continues to grow BY BOB WOOLEY BWOOLEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Jefferson Center for Mental Health (JCMH) is partnering with RTD to provide a mental health professional on trains and at stations to help address people in need of care, people who are in crisis and people who are homeless with mental health needs. According to JCMH Spokesperson Stephanie Schiemann, in this new and unique role, a Navigator will make contact on RTD trains and in stations, offering assistance in the form of resource referrals. The Navigator also will develop trauma-informed standards of care for RTD, while acting as a liaison between RTD and the community. “Jefferson Center participated in a competitive bidding process to house this important role, and we are honored that RTD has recognized the high quality of care that we can offer,” Schiemann said. Steve Martingano, Deputy Chief, RTD Transit Police, said more than three years ago, RTD started a co-responder unit, where clinicians from Mental Health Center of Denver would accompany the District’s police officers on mental health related calls in the City and County of Denver. He said data captured from that program — what types of contacts and diagnoses they were making, and information about the individuals they were contacting — indicated up to 68% of the people they assisted were experiencing homelessness. “Our buses and trains take a lot of those individuals to their appointments and other services they receive through various outreach organizations,” he said. “So, we started looking at bringing someone on full-time.” Martingano said because they operate in eight counties and the mental health counselors often didn’t have the full breadth of knowledge to effectively service homeless individuals RTD was having contacts with, they realized
Letter from APA to city council also calls for halt to development near Rocky Flats BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
RTD’s program was great timing. “We’re doing a lot more in the way of unhoused outreach and homeless services in this region, so this felt like a really nice extension of the work we were already building internally,” she said. Alton Reynolds was hired to fill the new position. As the new RTD Navigator and Case Manager, Reynolds is on the front lines, armed with knowledge of available resources to help transit riders in need as well as those living in camps on or along RTD bus and train routes. Clepper said Reynolds will work inside Jefferson County, but also will connect the dots for those transit related cases throughout the region. “Alton is riding the rails, he’s going to the stations — he’s the one making contact with the unhoused individuals and making those resource connections in the community,” Clepper said. All agree the new position will
A letter to city council written by two citizen action groups was discussed at the Feb. 7 Arvada City Council meeting as council prepares for its annual strategic planning retreat. In the letter, Arvadans for Progressive Action and Arvadans for Social Justice lobby council for increased transparency, affordable housing, diversity and for a halt to development near Rocky Flats. APA’s letter comes as council prepares for its annual retreat – slated for March 4 – which focuses on “Setting the vision for the city,” according to Deputy City Manager Laurie Gillis. Councilmembers have until Feb. 11 to submit pre-retreat surveys to the city team. The letter has a strong focus on sustainable development and growth, as well as an emphasis on protecting the city’s environmental interests. Eleven APA members spoke during the public comment portion of the Feb. 7 city council meeting, advocating for council to consider the letter’s suggestions. APA Leader Rebekah Hernandez said that the group – which includes 500 members, in addition to Arvadans for Social Justice’s 500 Facebook group members – drafted and redrafted the letter over a three-month period while gauging imputes from group members and others that live in the community. “Throughout this letter writing process, I was in complete disbelief at just how many residents you represent brought forth ideas,” Hernandez said. “We hope that by presenting you this letter, we’re building a bridge
SEE OUTREACH, P4
SEE LOBBY, P3
Deputy Chief of RTD Transit Police Steve Martingano, RTD Navigator Alton Reynolds and Jefferson Center Director of Navigation and Housing Services Taylor Clepper stand for a portrait in front of The Jefferson Center for Mental Health in Lakewood. PHOTO BY BOB WOOLEY
their riders would be better served by a full-time homelessness navigator. Homeless encampments along train tracks create a dangerous situation for homeless individuals as well as train operators and riders, Martingano said. “When we had to go and break up an encampment — ask people to leave, we didn’t know where to send them,” he said. “We felt that if someone could work with us on that, it was better for everyone involved. So, we put in for and received the Hope Grant through the Federal Transportation Administration.” From there, he said, RTD took the money and accepted bids from different organizations to help create the program. That’s where The Jefferson Center came in — it had the winning bid. Taylor Clepper, Jefferson Center’s Director of Navigation and Housing Services, said Jefferson Center already was developing and growing its street outreach team, so winning the bid to implement
2 Arvada Press
February 17, 2022
One apartment building changing hands sheds light on the dire shortage of affordable housing in Arvada A 20-unit building on Carr Street was affordable to seniors and people with disabilities not using government vouchers. Rents may almost double after renovations are done. BY TATIANA FLOWERS COLORADO SUN
Gerald Flores lived for almost four years in a one-bedroom apartment at 5840 Carr St. in Arvada. But on Jan. 10, he received a notice that he and three other tenants in the 20-unit building had 30 days to move out. The building had been purchased from the family of Flores’ landlord by investors who have plans to renovate and raise the rent. It was an eerily familiar experience for 58-year-old Flores. The last time this happened, he was living in a building on Olde Wadsworth and after he was evicted, he lived in his car for two years, until a friend directed him to an open apartment in the Carr Street building. This time around, though, advocates are involved and they’re trying to find a way for tenants like Flores, who has a disability and lives on a fixed income, to remain in their homes.
The building on Carr Street was a crucial source of affordable housing, not subsidized by the government, that is increasingly in short supply. Over the last year, volunteer advocates said they have seen rental rates greatly increase as multiand single-family rental properties were sold to new owners. The trend is leaving higher numbers of renters stranded or cost-burdened. The city of Arvada published a study in May 2020, that found 28% of renters in Arvada were severely cost burdened, meaning they were spending more than 50% of their income on housing. The report also found that in 2017, including subsidized units, Arvada was short 2,275 rentals affordable to people earning less than about $12 an hour, or $25,000 a year. And that was before the real estate sales boom of the past two years. According to the report, 13% of renters in Arvada earn less than $15,000 per year. Several organizations, includ-
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Nicholas Cooper, who has been a tenant at his complex for 12 years, received notice in PHOTO BY OLIVIA SUN January that he would be evicted by the end of February 2022.
ing Coloradans for the Common Good, have met with Arvada and Jefferson County leaders for many years to discuss the need to address the affordable housing crisis in the region, they said. “Our message is that they cannot just rely on the faith communities and nonprofits to solve this problem,” according to a press release from Coloradans for the Common Good. “Government agencies have a role to help ensure that everyone has a safe roof over their heads.” City of Arvada and Jefferson County leaders recently received more than $120 million in stimulus payments from the federal government, and Coloradans for the Common Good and their allies are asking elected officials to put a substantial sum of the money toward preserving and expanding affordable housing, so that the trend does not continue in the community, according to the release. Coloradans for the Common Good sent volunteer advocates to help Flores and the other tenants negotiate with the new ownership group, which says it will renovate
the apartments on Carr Street and potentially sell the building if it becomes a challenge to manage in the coming months or years. “If someone like the Housing Authority or the church had interest in buying it from us, we would be very open to talking with them,” said Keith Vaughn, one of the fourinvestors who purchased the building for $2.6 million in August under RNGC Carr LLC. Vaughn said the buyers did their due diligence, asking the seller if the building tenants were paying with government housing vouchers or covered by other special rent payment arrangements. “And we were told, ‘No.’” So it was a surprise, Vaughn said, when the group learned from volunteer advocates that many of the residents there are older adults with disabilities living on fixed incomes, unable to meet the new qualifying requirements and higher rents, in some cases, almost double what they had been paying. Advocates were also concerned that residents could not find affordable alternative SEE HOUSING, P8
Arvada Press 3
February 17, 2022
LOBBY FROM PAGE 1
and tackling each of these issues in a unified way.” APA Member Bruce Morrison said that his family has lived in the city for 33 years and stated that a family in a similar financial situation could not afford to buy a similar house in Arvada today. APA’s letter urges a formation of a Housing Advisory Committee with members from different fields to address the “housing crisis in Jefferson County.” “(I urge you) to take seriously the issues raised in our letter. All of the recommendations in the APA letter are very doable and should be pursued with a real sense of urgency because they are important to the future of Arvada,” Morrison said.
Arvada Mayor Marc Williams said that asked Gillis to ensure that a copy of the letter was delivered to councilmembers before the deadline for the pre-retreat survey. “I think it would be beneficial for us to have that as prepare… to get a sense of where people stand, at least from that group we can have their perspective and decide what of those things we want to prioritize as part of our strategic planning as well,” Williams said. Other members of APA who spoke at council discussed other points of the letter including the Jefferson Parkway, a suggestion to hire a staff member to help apply for affordable housing grant money and the proposed disbanding of the Arvada Urban Renewal Authority. “I’ve long been concerned about AURA not only due to the large amount of our tax revenue that
are at the disposal of an unelected board but also because of the coziness with big developers that I’ve seen,” APA member Joyce Richardson said. “I feel that AURA should be incorporated into Arvada’s city structure for better oversight or disbanded altogether.” Kathleen Flynn, also an APA member, urged council to abandon the Jefferson Parkway project – a proposal to complete the Highway 470 beltway that’s been in the works since 2008 – due to environmental concerns with continued development near Rocky Flats. “Plutonium has a half-life of 110 years, so if you postpone the plan until then, it would be safer for all of us,” Flynn said. “High winds are common across the Rocky Flats site, and small particles of plutonium when disturbed in the soil can attach to very small particles of dust and be blown
across Arvada and our neighbors in Westminster and Denver.” APA’s letter also praised the city’s work on creating a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Taskforce and urged the city to launch the group in the first quarter of 2022, though other public commenters disagreed with that suggestion. “I’m here tonight to express my frustration with the council’s intention to hire a firm to conduct a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion audit in our city,” Chelsea Canda, a District 1 City Council Candidate in 2021 said. “I’m not sure this is an appropriate use of city funds… When it comes to city employees, the only thing that should matter is whether or not the person hired is qualified.” APA’s letter closes with a request that the city implement the suggestions over a two-year period.
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The 2.8% Co-op Commission Is Becoming Less & Less Common There’s a term in journalism called “the buried lead,” meaning that the key point of an article doesn’t appear until several paragraphs into it. Well, last week’s column had a buried lead. You may recall that the headline spoke about the myth of the 6% listing commission. The point of the column was that it’s common for prospective sellers to think there’s a “standard” 6% commission that’s charged by most listing agents. In fact, as I explained, the listing commission is totally negotiable and has declined over the last 40 year from a 7% commission dictated by the Denver Board of Realtors to listing commissions averaging, according to surveys by the
National Association of Realtors (NAR), in the mid-5% range. What has slowed the decline of the listing commission is the more resilient “co-op” commission paid to buyer’s agents from the listing commission. Until recently, 2.8% was almost universally offered to buyers’ agents. If listing agents offered less, they ran the risk of limiting the number of showings and contracts they would receive, since the amount of the co-op commission was prominently displayed on the MLS. What’s now allowing listing commissions to drop to (or even below) 5% has been the freedom that listing agents now feel to offer a smaller co-op commission.
56% of Americans Say They Would Live in a Tiny Home
Treehugger.com is an interesting website which was brought to my attention because of its year-end posting entitled, “2021 in Review: The Year in Tiny Living.” I have posted a link to this article at www.GoldenREblog.com. The article contains 10 stories of tiny homes that make great reading and may inspire you to look into building your own tiny home. The headline above was story #1. Here’s an excerpt from it: “...Oft-cited factors behind the appeal of tiny houses include efficiency, ecofriendliness, the minimalist lifestyle, the ability to downsize, with the top motive being affordability, as 65 percent of respondents indicate. Of those surveyed, 61 percent say they would spend $40,000 or less on a tiny home, compared to 16 percent who would spend more than $70,000. Seventy nine percent say they would be able to outright buy or finance a tiny home, rather than a traditional starter home.” Here are the titles of the other nine articles:
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It has been my own practice to list homes for 5.6% because I felt it necessary to offer half of it — 2.8% — to the agent who represents the buyer. With a 2.5% co-op becoming more common (as I showed in last week’s column and as evidenced in the chart at right), I’m more comfortable now listing homes, especially higher priced homes, for 5% instead of 5.6%. I believe next year’s survey by NAR will show a big drop in listing commissions, and it will be because of the lowering of co-op commissions. In addition to being good news for sellers, this is not bad news for listing
agents because of the increase in selling prices of listings. Getting 2.5% on a $700,000 transaction pays $3,500 more than getting 2.8% on that same listing when it sold for $500,000 a few years ago.
No Brokerage Experimented More With Co-ops Than Trelora
Trelora began as an outspokenly antiRealtor brokerage that also was against paying buyer’s agents a co-op commission. The name “Trelora” was chosen because it was a scrambling of the word “Realtor.” However, Trelora has made an about-face in the last couple years and is now both a Realtor brokerage and a brokerage that pays 2.5% to 2.8% coop commission. When it started as a non-Realtor brokerage in 2010, its first 96 listings all advertised a co-op commission of $2.80, an apparent play on the common co-op of 2.80%. Perhaps they wanted buyer agents to misread the co-op on the MLS and only realize they had worked for free at closing. By April 2013, they had adopted the practice of recommending to their sellers a flat co-op of $3,000, although it wasn’t universal because many buyers realized that their listings might not get shown if they were too miserly in their compensation offer. I myself was paid 3% on a listing during this time because the seller told me that he wanted buyer agents to show and sell it knowing they’d earn a commission equivalent to that of a mil-
lion-dollar listing. Also during this time, one of my broker associates told me that Trelora encouraged him to put into the listing contract that the buyer would pay 2.8% instead of $3,000, and that indeed worked for him, although I’ve been advised since that inserting an additional provision related to broker compensation was inappropriate. In mid-2019, Trelora created a separate Realtor firm that operated side-byside with their original non-Realtor firm for about two years. That non-Realtor firm hasn’t listed a home since May 2021. Meanwhile, the Realtor firm has listed over 500 homes and has closed 450 of them. Of its first 50 listings, 33 offered 2.8% co-ops, 3 offered 3% coops, and 7 offered 2.5% co-ops, Only 3 of the 50 offered less than 2%. The 50 most recent closings showed the same shift I reported on last week: Only 13 offered 2.8%, 34 offered 2.5%, and none offered less than 2%. Fellow Realtors won’t be surprised by the change in co-op compensation as much as by Trelora becoming a Realtor brokerage, given its origin.
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4 Arvada Press
February 17, 2022
Casa Bonita art show is back Quirky annual tradition returns to Lakewood’s NEXT Gallery BY BOB WOOLEY BWOOLEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
“Mi Casa es Su Casa,” the fifthannual Casa Bonita art show, celebrates its opening night from 6-8 p.m. on Feb. 18. One of the most anticipated events in the 40 West Arts District, this year’s show features more than 60 works inspired by the iconic Mexican restaurant, created by artists around the country. Mediums include: painting, sculpting, photography, felting, ceramics and embroidery. “We began hosting the show in 2018 after the gallery moved from LoHi to West Colfax. We hoped the show would be quirky enough to attract new artists, new visitors and let the neighborhood know that the gallery was ap-
OUTREACH FROM PAGE 1
create quite a challenge. Luckily, Reynolds was able to hit the ground running.
Lakewood’s Next Gallery host the annual Casa Bonita Art Show, opening Feb. 18.
PHOTO BY BOB WOOLEY
proachable. Everyone loved it. We learned that Casa Bonita holds a special place in lots of hearts,” said Betsy $B Rudolph, NEXT Gallery member and founder of
The Casa Bonita Art Show. Artwork in the show will be judged, with prizes being awarded during the show’s opening reception.
The NEXT Gallery Casa Bonita Art Show runs Feb. 18 through March 6. Gallery hours are 6-10 p.m. Fridays and noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
With several years experience as an RTD driver, Reynolds already knew the routes and had a familiarity with the types of situations he would likely encounter while performing his new duties. Right now, he’s meeting with
community partners, making preliminary connections to be a more effective navigator when the program really kicks in. Aside from outreach for mental health and homelessness, he’ll also be spreading awareness of other assistance and benefits like discounted fares, available to some riders. Reynolds also is collaborating with homeless navigators in various municipalities including Lakewood, to strengthen connection points in Jeffco and beyond, even riding along with the Lakewood Community Action Team to learn more about different ways of offering assistance. Reynolds said some folks he makes contact with are more receptive than others in taking advantage of resources. But he’s willing to make multiple contacts to build the trust that will eventually lead to people finding their way into permanent housing.
Clepper said many people experiencing homelessness or mental health needs have a level of distrust in the system that can make it necessary to re-engage after an initial contact, so patience is key. According to Martingano, the grant will fund the program for one year. He said at just one month in, it’s too early to gauge the success of the program, but he’s hopeful that data will show it to be effective, allowing RTD to continue with the outreach. And that, he said, benefits his officers as well, by allowing trained mental health clinicians or other professionals to assist where needed, taking some of the load off transit police. Reynolds added that it’s about showing the community that RTD Police aren’t just interested in enforcing the law, but they’re also interested in getting people the appropriate services they need.
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Arvada Press 5
February 17, 2022
Environmental Film Festival goes virtual COVID surge moves film screening to online, streaming formats BY DEBORAH GRIGSBY DGRIGSBY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Colorado Environmental Film Festival is back for its 16th year, but it returns as an all-virtual event thanks to surges in COVID infections. “The all-virtual setting for this year’s festival will allow us to share films and conversations about the pressing issues facing our planet with audiences across the globe, while also preserving public health in the face of the continued COVID-19 pandemic,” CEFF said in a statement. “With recent COVID surges impacting our community in Colorado, we ask for your understanding as we adapt to the changing situation.” However, while screens may be smaller, the festival itself is not. Set for Feb. 24-March 6, the virtual vent features more than 90 critical new films about critical issues facing the planet. Films are on-demand and may include special features such as live efilmmaker conversations. CEFF’s virtual festival website .is an easy-to-use tool that includes everything filmgoers need to explore, purchase and enjoy this year’s
COURTESY OF CEFF
selection of films. The “How to Fest” tab takes visitors to a helpful page that answers frequently asked questions, as well as offers some technical help for configuring your computer, television or handheld device for viewing. Tickets range in price from $10 to $75. Purchase a collection of 3-6 films or view all 90—including 13 world premiers—with a $75 allaccess pass. CEFF seeks to use the power of film to inspire, educate, and motivate audiences to protect and preserve the environment. The annual festival presents thought-provoking films and dialogue that raise awareness of a wide variety of interconnected ecological, social, and economic themes and provide an experience for the audience beyond passive film viewing.
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Annual Good News Breakfast
at Jefferson County Fairgrounds 1520 W. 6th Ave. Golden, Colo.
Shining Stars: Youth Shaping a Bright Future for our Community, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, from 6:59-8:29 a.m.
Olympic Gymnast and Golden High School alum Yul Moldauer will present the keynote address. Tickets are $15 pp or two for $20 and can be purchased at the door or online. Face masks are encouraged but not required. Nominate a young person or organization serving youth for their efforts to improve our quality of life and make our community safer, healthier, more inclusive, and more beautiful.
GoodNewsJeffco.org/nominations Deadline is February 20, 2022. Sponsorships are still available. Deadline is March 1, 2022. www.goodnewsjeffco.org
6 Arvada Press
February 17, 2022
Boba tea is a labor of love for Wee Tea co-founders
A packed scene inside Wee Tea during the boba shop’s grand opening.
Arvada residents Nhi Vo and Vinh Nguyen open tea shop at Wadsworth and 88th BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Nhi Vo remembers her father making tea every morning.
“My dad, every morning he would make tea – this is back when they were in Vietnam. It’s just a thing that everyone does; you always have a hot pot of tea in every morning,” Vo said. “It’s the first thing when you wake up; you brew your tea.” Vo’s desire to carry on her family’s tea tradition led her to opening Wee Tea, a boba shop in Arvada that opened on Feb. 6. The tea shop – just the second boba storefront in Arvada
COURTESY OF VINH NGUYEN
– offers milk tea, fruit tea, slushes and an assortment of Vo’s signature drinks. Vo, a stay-at-home mom of two, and her husband Vinh Nguyen, a chemical engineer, hatched the plan to open a tea shop after finding a dearth of non-coffeehouse establishments for young people to hang out at. Vo said she decided to pursue a boba shop because of how important tea is to her family. “The kids always liked boba tea and we’d go together after dinner to boba tea shops, and I thought about, ‘What if we open a place?’” Vo said. “I want to have a place where high school kids can hang out besides a coffee shop.” From there, Vo spent two years perfecting her boba recipe with the help of her family, which she said served as a focus group. “I wanted to take it in my own hands and have my own place and make boba how I want it to taste and the texture and all of that,” Vo said. “(Nguyen) doesn’t like boba, but he likes mine – and so do the kids. It makes me feel good that they actually enjoy it.” Vo’s specific taste in boba led her to seeking out a Taiwan-based supplier that stocks Wee Tea with fresh, nutritious ingredients. After tackling the challenge of how to perfect boba, Vo set her sights on crafting unique signature drinks. These include the WeeTea Signature – a jasmine milk tea – and WeeTea Double Delight – a matcha concoction that Nyugen said is a fan you favorite.
CELEBRATE CELEBRATE CELEBRATE CELEBRATE CELEBRATE JEFFCO CELEBRATE JEFFCO O JEFFCO JEFFCO O Celebrate with us! JEFFCO O Celebrate with us! Celebrate with us! Celebrate with us! Celebrate us! Celebrate with us!
THANK YOUFOR FOR SUPPORTING US! US! HANK YOU SUPPORTING THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US!
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Three Wee Tea signature drinks. From left: WeeTea double PHOTO BY RYLEE DUNN delight, WeeTea-monade, WeeTea signature.
our
As with everything involved in the planning process, Vo used her kids, aged 8 and 10, and husband to test flavors and drinks. She found that because she’d grown so used to drinking strong tea, she’d need to tone down Wee Tea’s offerings to reach a broader audience. The planning process continued over the course of about two years, with Vo and Nguyen signing a lease for Wee Tea’s Wadsworth Boulevard storefront in June. At that point, they just needed a name. “I came up with ‘Wee Tea’ because we as a family always do everything together. But then we also have people – friends and family – come together for a good meal, a good cup of tea. So, I came up with that name and it revolves around my kids. The two pandas represent those two,” Vo said. Vo continued to say that Wee Tea’s panda-themed logo came from her daughter, aged 10, who drew a girl and a boy panda, representing herself and her brother. Vo took the sketch to a professional graphic artist who fleshed out the design, creating the logo Wee Tee uses today. Nguyen said that in addition to creating a unique hang out spot for young people, he wanted to see Wee Tea working with local schools for fundraisers in the future. We want to grow the business so first the community can have time together, but also we can do some fundraising for schools,” Nguyen said. “We plan to have school fundraising nights and give a portion of our profits to local schools.”
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Arvada Press 7
February 17, 2022
‘You cannot research what you don’t know’: Navigating disability legal services make decisions for their child with disabilities after they become a legal adult at 18. Brock worked with the family throughout the process and assuaged Chitla’s worries. Understanding legal jargon and best practices can be overwhelming for families and those with disabilities, and as Chitla points out, sometimes that original lack of information can keep you from finding out more.
How CCDC is helping people with disabilities in the legal realm BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE OLOVE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Navigating the world with a family member with disabilities can be challenging on multiple fronts, and the Denver-based advocacy organization Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition has a program to help with legal services. CCDC’s social enterprise legal program, Probate Power, was founded in 2015 and assists in special needs planning, conservatorships, guardianships and probate administration. Services like these can help people with disabilities to navigate administration of an estate while maintaining state benefits. Chris Brock, the first managing attorney for the program, is providing an essential service for people with disabilities that can be hard to find. “We are a legal program run by two attorneys with disabilities, and our whole goal is to help individuals and families with disabilities plan for the future,” Brock said. He explained solutions are not black and white in many probate situations. “It’s really hard if you’re trying to
SEE DISABILITY, P10
Luca (lower) and his younger brother Marco smile for a photo.
Tom and Linnette Chitla pose with their PHOTOS PROVIDED BY LINNETTE CHITLA son, Luca.
provide for someone past your death — that you can’t just give them that money,” he said. Linnette Chitla, whose family lives in Denver, met Brock at a special needs fair years ago. When her son with disabilities neared the age of 18, she realized she needed to give Probate Power a call. “When my son turned 18, we went to him, (and) he helped us a lot,” Chitla said. “I do tend to do things by myself, but when I saw all the paperwork, I went to him. Everything was so smooth.” Cost of legal services is one barrier that can exile some. Probate Power aims to provide affordable services to
families and people with disabilities. “It wasn’t expensive either; it was doable,” Chitla said. One of the hardest things for the Chitla family was lack of information and understanding when to pursue services. “[It was difficult] knowing in advance what to do ... debating a lot if we needed it, then I found out that you need to … because they treat your son as an adult and you can’t decide,” she said. Chitla is referring to the guardianship her family needed to put in place when her son turned 18. A guardianship must be appointed by the court for parents to be able to continue to
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8 Arvada Press
February 17, 2022
HOUSING FROM PAGE 2
housing arrangements during the renovations. Several residents have already moved out of the building. “Many people jumped the gun on getting out because they basically were being told (by the management company) that they needed to prepare,” Flores said. The Sun was not able to reach any of the residents who have already moved out. Flores is in the process of counting the number of residents who have already left. That list will be given to a leader at the local housing authority and she will help struggling residents explore other affordable housing options, said Tom Olschner, a volunteer with Coloradans for the Common Good. A studio that costs $999 per month and a one bedroom apartment that costs $1,200 is just under market-rate rent for the area, Vaughn said. Mindy Mohr, one of the volunteers helping the residents, said she was concerned that many 5840 Carr Street Apartments residents would become homeless. She’s a volunteer at Mission Rising, a day shelter in Arvada. One Wednesday morning, in late January, 45 people checked into the shelter while she was there. “The numbers are huge, and they’re only growing and everyone has a story,” she said. “And I don’t want to see anyone from 5840 Carr have to go to The Rising for help,” she said as she started to cry. The Carr Street building, built in 1958, is in a prime location that Vaughn said was especially enticing to the investment group. It’s near a K-8 school, a few blocks from Arvada’s Olde Town and near a light rail stop. Median household income within a mile of the apartment complex is $65,000. Within 3 miles, that median income jumps to $75,000. The structure has not seen much renovation over the last 50 years, Vaughn said. The new owners are replacing the flooring, paint,
tiling, appliances, boiler, heating systems and some air conditioners. They’ve also repainted the exterior of the building, repaired railings and done other maintenance. Renovations are expected to conclude in the next three or four months if all goes smoothly, Vaughn said. Vaughn and his partners have purchased buildings in the past and said this is the first time they’ve ever negotiated with residents and their advocates. “I think every situation is so unique,” he said. “We’ve seen properties where tenants are in a better financial situation, that don’t have an issue moving across the street to another apartment building. Carr is a little bit unique. There’s not a lot of other buildings like it right there in that area.” Olschner and other advocates with the organization had asked the new owners if they would consider rescinding the eviction notice for the four residents and allow them to take action to meet the owners’ new requirements, including undergoing a credit check and paying a new application fee. Volunteer advocates asked if owners would coordinate with tenants and allow them to move into newly-renovated apartments, and remain there, if they met the new owners’ requirements. If residents had a history of consistently paying rent on time and had not caused problems for neighbors, advocates asked owners if those tenants could be exempt from any income requirements, a credit check, a new application fee, and a more expensive security deposit, or be allowed to pay those extra costs over a period of six months. The advocates asked if residents in good standing could also pay a graduated increase in rent that would rise by 33% during the first year and increase by 66% the second year before tenants would pay the full amount after two years. After the meeting, the ownerssaid they wanted to work with residents and would consider the volunteers’ requests to help prevent homelessness. When the group met again a few days later, on Feb. 5, the owners
agreed to all but one request. They would not allow residents to pay the suggested rent increase over a two year period. The owners said they’d consider allowing that kind of arrangement over a three-month period instead. “We’re still discussing how we’re going to handle that,” Vaughn said. “In order for us to make this work, everybody needs to come to the table with some compromises. This is a business for us and we rely on how these things turn out in order to pay our bills. That’s what we’re working on at this point.” Olschner, the volunteer advocate, said the experience is a good example of how real estate investors/private owners, residents and volunteer advocates can work together to prevent homelessness. “I’m thrilled. I really have a sense that they want to do right by these residents, and treat them with the kind of consideration they can. On the other hand, this is an adjustment for them,” Olschner said of the owners. Vaughn said he and the other investors are not in the business of putting people on the street. “Different owners are motivated by different things. Some people that buy apartment buildings are part of big hedge fund groups and bigger operations, and I don’t know how they would react to this situation,” he said. “But I think we are, as a group, very sympathetic to what’s going on, not just with two or three apartments, but across the country, when it comes to the housing crisis and the homeless crisis,” he said. “It’s a really, really complicated, difficult situation, that doesn’t seem that anybody can get their arms around.” Coloradans for the Common Good is researching different funding streams, helping residents get on waiting lists for housing vouchers, and helping tenants who wish to make the physical move from one apartment to another. Although he’s strapped for cash, Flores is also planning to stay in the building. Rent for a one bedroom apartment likely will climb to $1,200 from $850, so
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he may move into a renovated studio to pay a lower rent. He has looked for other apartments in the area and rent prices are about the same, he said. To afford the new rent, if he stays in a one bedroom, Flores said he will stop spending on some things, such as internet access and burial insurance premiums. When he gets a part-time job, he will resume those payments. Flores and another resident, Nicholas Cooper, were two of the four residents that received an eviction notice. But after attending the meeting with the volunteers, the owners agreed to allow them to stay in the building after learning about their chronic health conditions and financial struggles. Both men have also been homeless in the past. Cooper, who has lived in the building for 12 years, receives $1,056 per month from social security payments and he recently was scrambling to find a secondpart-time job to afford his new rent and other bills. The 64-year-old, who is one year too young to qualify for Medicare, said the rent for his studio apartment will likely rise from $600 to $999per month. Over the last few days, he’s limped for miles to 7-Eleven, McDonalds, Starbucks and nearby other establishments to apply for any part-time job he can get. On Feb. 3, he secured a job at 7-Eleven, he said. “It hurt me just to walk in the snow,” he said. “I’m so stressed out. I’m not in great health anymore.” Before volunteer advocates reached out to help residents, Flores said he felt “so alone.” “At least (now) I don’t feel alone totally,” he said. “And that’s better than what I felt the first time around when I ended up living in the car.”
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Arvada Press 9
10 Arvada Press
February 17, 2022
Arvada’s population growth outpaces state, national trends A growing – and rapidly changing – population ushers new challenges, state demographer says BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Arvada has grown by nearly 18,000 residents over the last decade, spelling demographic changes that will impact education, labor force and the home market, according to Colorado State Demographer Elizabeth Garner. Garner gave a presentation at the Feb. 7 Arvada City Council meeting outlining the forecasted trends and discussing data collected between 2010 and 2021. She said that between 2010 and 2020, the U.S. experienced
DISABILITY FROM PAGE 7
“You cannot research what you don’t know,” she said. Brock understands this information gap exists, and that’s what he is trying to change with Probate Power. “It’s not something that a ton of attorneys do,” he said. Nearly one in four people in the U.S. have a disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
its second slowest growth rate on record, behind the Great Depression. “The population is growing at a slowing rate. Births are down, deaths are up – pre-Covid – and that’s slowing population growth. Likewise, migration is slowing. It’s harder and harder to attract the best and the brightest. We’re seeing concentrated growth along the I-25 corridor, and we’re aging,” Garner said. Between 2010 and 2020, Arvada’s population grew from a total of 106,433 to 124,402; a change of 16.9%. “(Arvada’s population growth is) faster than the U.S. definitely, faster than Colorado slightly. It’s important to see that change, so Arvada is growing faster than the state as a whole,” Garner said. However, Garner cautioned that a slowdown in births will lead to an aging population across the board. From 2010 to 2020, Arvada’s 18-andunder population grew 4.6%, com-
pared to a 5% growth rate statewide and 1.4% decline nationally. The younger population has a larger share of people of color, according to Garner. In 2019, over 40% of people under the age of 18 in Colorado were people of color. The state as a whole saw growth in diversity; between 2010 and 2020, 67% of Colorado’s population growth was comprised of people of color. In Arvada, that total was 53%. “As we age, we’re going to see it very gradually aging and then becoming more racially and ethnically diverse because it’s our young folks who are going to be aging into our homebuying, our labor force, who are going to be creating this diversity from that young end,” Garner said. Garner cautioned that will all demographic forecasting, there are variables that are difficult to account for. In this case, she mentioned uncertainty around the COVID-19
pandemic, international immigration, housing and water availability as concerns around the projects. She said that as the population ages and folks remail in place, the demand for housing within the $300,000 to $500,000 range will outpace the availability of those homes. Garner said that trend might impact Arvada more so than other Colorado municipalities because the city is older on average – Arvada has a median age of 40.2, compared to Colorado’s 36.7. Garner said that one thing that’s become apparent is that changing labor conditions have put the onus on employers to make themselves attractive to applicants. “I think employers are going to have to fight for people like they never have – they really haven’t had to do this in about 40 years – they’re going to have to prove to the workers ‘what I can give to you to earn you as an employee,” Garner said.
tion. Disabilities take many forms and can be visible and invisible. According to the World Health Organization, disability can have three dimensions: impairment, activity limitations and participation restriction. Disabilities can present at birth, be associated with developmental conditions, be related to injuries, be associated with long-term conditions and can be progressive, static or intermittent. Brock understands the importance of involving the person with disabilities in the legal process, and he makes an effort to interact with them, regard-
less of their disability. “I always want to at least meet the respondent in the case,” he said. Except for hospital staff informing the Chitla family they would need to look into a guardianship in the future, information about raising a child with disabilities was difficult to find. Chitla said she wishes there was a central location to find information about disability services. “When you have a kid with special needs, it’s like a new world … there should be a database with everything there: waivers, what to do when they
turn 18, etc.,” Chitla said. While a service like this has not been established yet, Probate Power is working to expand its services. In 2021, the program served over 75 cases, compared to 50 the previous year. Probate Power plans to expand services and staff going into the new year. For those pursuing disability legal services, Brock said the best thing to do is to reach out and start the conversation. Probate Power offers free consultations, and more information and contact forms can be found at ccdcprobatepower.com.
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Arvada Press 11
February 17, 2022
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12 Arvada Press
LOCAL
February 17, 2022
VOICES Maintaining a strong community
L
ook at you, reading a brand new column in a community newspaper! That makes you—on some level—a community minded person. You care about the place you live. You’re solving one of the puzzles in the great scheme of human nature. That being the propensity of people with divergent tastes and ideas to nevertheless cluster together. If not in harmony, which requires peace and accord, then at least in community, which requires respect and cooperation. By learning from newspapers about the needs, plans and achievements of those shopping in the grocery, the ones whose tail lights glare during rush hour, and those elected to govern, you are subscribing to a tried and true method of maintaining community. Well done, you! Here’s why a strong community is so critical to our shared existence: Beyond the truly awesome outpourings that result from tragedies, in addition to well-attended fetes and fireworks displays, a strong community fosters better candidates as well as better voters. Under the auspices of caring and well-informed citizens,
all are accountable. Candidates are held to higher standards of experience and gravitas. Voters use higher standards in judging which issues address the greater good of the community as a whole. Thus, Judy Allison our quality of life springs from the standards we set. Of course there are other contributing factors (and certainly horrible exceptions), but let’s focus on success today. Contribution to community does not, however, end with spending a few minutes in the smudges of newsprint and in the voting booth. Community forms around neighbors. Good communities form around worthy neighbors. Being such a neighbor requires more personal investment. The basis for this was once referred to as “Love Your Neighbor.” Well, let’s face it: behavior on the level of love is just not sustainable toward the person on the block who lets her dogs bark at all hours—or flies a flag that makes
COLUMN
your blood boil—or complains about something your kids are up to. Today’s definition of love just doesn’t work. What if instead we changed that one little word to fit more modern times? Love is, after all, the ultimate, infinitesimal mystery. It wouldn’t surprise me to read in the paper one day that scientists had finally developed a new ultra super collider to isolate and identify the singular particle that forms all manner of matter. To everyone’s chagrin, it turns out to be a base element we call love. But that’s a topic for another day. So what if we changed the highfalutin’ “Love Your Neighbor” into a more manageable “respect your neighbor?” Barking dogs might not sound so intrusive. Flapping flags might not seem so obnoxious. Complaints about the kids might provide positive teaching moments. All because you’re aware and appreciative that those people are generally making an effort and not quite being perfect at it. The same way you are. Reading about others within the neighborhood makes this all so much more possible. Maybe a passing wave leads to a conversation. And so on
and so on. The effect of more widespread respect greatly adds additional particles to the tensile strength of community, which casts an array of pleasing possibilities upon that shared existence. So, you remarkable reader, you!mMy thanks for giving this column a go. I hope you’ll continue to look in even when I fall short. Born, raised and schooled in Jeffco, I’ve always known Arvada as an affable place. One of my neighbors who lives farther down the street recently admitted to me that my reputation had suffered from grapevine speculations a while back when a police car kept showing up in front my house. Someone more in the know finally informed him that the police car actually was a take-home cruiser assigned to my husband. Just goes to show you. Judy Allison has enjoyed a long and varied career in media and has written for newspapers, magazines, cable TV, government entities and elected officials. She and her dog Torrey the Wonder-Bouvier wander through many neighborhoods in the region.
Funds needed for early childhood education
O
ver the years, there have been many significant changes in my profession as an early childhood educator. It’s a very unique industry, as we are highly regulated by the government since we work with children, yet don’t receive enough government financial assistance to make this business model work. For example, when I first started, the ratio of children to teachers was very high. In 2-year-old rooms, the ratio was 12 children to one adult, making it difficult to give each child the attention they deserve. The ratios have changed for the better, but the difficulty of the work has increased and the pay has not. Planning, cleaning and potty training (only a small portion of the necessary work) are all part of a teacher’s day, and many are stretched very thin. Teachers and staff who work in early childhood education are committed and passionate to seeing children thrive. Since I was a child, I always wanted to be a teacher. Once I entered high school, I found out that they offered classes in programs designed to teach a trade, so I chose the early childhood education program. The course offered was at college level, which I attended while also working at a pre-school
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in the afternoon to gain the experience necessary to complete the program. I was so inspired that I moved on to college, obtaining my degree in early childhood education. Here I am, 47 years later, still doing what I love: teaching the Cynthia Sumner littlest members of our society. I introduce them to new concepts such as math, reading, science, language and art, and watch them socialize with others while playing on the playground. These concepts are all immeasurably important for a developing child. Child care educators also work hard to provide a clean, well-organized room, healthy food and a safe place to be while separated from their parents. Teachers do their best to take every child’s needs into consideration when planning educational goals, regardless of the low pay. We are indeed the workforce behind the workforce that makes the American economy grow; without child care providers, parents cannot get back to work. Child care is essential for boosting labor force participation, particularly
GUEST COLUMN
for women. The December 2021 jobs report shows that we are still down over 100,000 child care jobs relative to where we were before the pandemic. This is bad news for all and a reminder that it is vital for the federal government to invest in child care. The need for qualified personnel in schools is crucial and cannot be ignored, nor can the quality of tools at a teacher’s disposal. The equipment that preschools have to buy is very expensive due to regulations. In one situation, the director of my child care decided it was time to replace all the cribs in the two infant rooms, a total of 15 cribs. In less than six months the regulations changed for the cribs, so they had to buy 15 more cribs. At that time the cribs that had to be bought were $300-$400 apiece. The fire cribs are $100 more and each room needs two for 10 children. One table is $300, the chairs are $30 each. Not to mention art easels, paints, markers, paper, blocks, oh my goodness, it goes on and on. These necessary things also need to be replaced as time goes by, which adds up in dollars spent very quickly. Parents and teachers can no longer bear the cost of running a quality school. Parents with very young children are paying the same money as rent, and that’s for each child. So with
two young children, a parent could be paying $3,000 a month just to keep the children in care, and themselves working. Many families are in a dire situation when it comes to affording child care. As a teacher, I could not afford to have both my children in my school, so I had to quit my job to care for my children. The system that is in place isn’t working. Families are being left behind, and the cost is unbearable; if we could at least subsidize just half of the tuition for every child, it would make a huge difference. Allocated money could be used for bolstering teacher salaries, improving equipment and supplies, and relieving the financial burden placed squarely on families. The time is now to come forward and say: yes, American families need early childhood education. The Senate must pass the Build Back Better Act with early childhood education investments to bring quality care and education to America’s children. Together, let us ensure that hundreds of thousands of children across the country have access to safe and fun places to learn and grow.
Cynthia Sumner is an early childhood education teacher from Littleton.
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Arvada Press 13
February 17, 2022
History repeats itself yet again
“
There is no present or future; only the past, happening over and over again…now.” — Eugene O’Neill I don’t know if anybody in Jefferson County could watch the events in Douglas County last week without a powerful sense of déjà vu. To recap, the conservative majority on the Douglas County School Board fired Superintendent Corey Wise. Wise had served in that role for a little over a year, and his contract was to run into 2024. This, after some heated back and forth over Sunshine Law legalities, a tense meeting which was supposed to be behind closed doors but was forced into the open and several weeks of turmoil related to the school district’s equity policy. In response, hundreds of students across the district staged a coordinated walkout from their classrooms in protest. Sound at all familiar? If you recall, in 2014, the Jefferson County School Board—with its own conservative majority—forced their long-time Superintendent, Cindy Stevenson, into resigning from her position. In addition, the board refused to accept the Advanced Placement U.S. History curriculum as it was being presented, which followed the outlines
HITTING HOME
of what was called “Common Core.” In response, there were widespread accusations of “censorship,” there was a “spontaneous” student walkout or four, and, eventually, a grassroots recall election which ousted the majority. What were the Michael Alcorn long-term effects? Well, to start with, it was revealed weeks after the recall that the “grassroots” effort to oust the conservative board was 95% funded by the state and national Teachers’ Unions. Secondly, it was later showed that the Board was right to question the Common Core curriculum, as its authors and the Educational Testing Service which writes the tests for the AP Exam (which, truly, dictates curriculum) scrapped their framework entirely, and wrote a whole new curriculum the next year. So, what’s going to happen in Dougco? Well, I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I can see the playbook developing already. Hamhanded public relations by outsiders
in power? Check. Students organized in protest (to, miraculously, get out of class)? Check. Issues of diversity, race and indoctrination? Check. Will the rest of it play out the same, in 2022? I doubt it — nothing is remotely the same as it was eight years ago. But, there is one, interesting corollary this time around: the curriculum battle is at a much higher level. The Colorado State Board of Education is looking at revising the state’s social studies academic standards. And — surprise! — many groups have already expressed their concerns about the new framework, its ageappropriateness, and their view of its reliance on group identification and the framework of [whispers] Critical Race Theory and social activism. We learned from the Jeffco experience that curriculum, most of the time, takes shape far away from the classroom. And, in my experience as a teacher, most classroom teachers simply want to convey their subject matter and are very responsible about how they deal with complicated topics. However, most of my experience comes from a different generation. Many of (not all, or, perhaps, even most) the youngest teachers today were trained at institutions of
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Proclaiming Christ from the Mountains to the Plains www.StJoanArvada.org 12735 W 58th Ave · 80002 · 303-420-1232 Daily Masses: 8:30am, Mon-Sat Confessions: 8am Tue-Fri; 7:30am & 4:00pm Sat Saturday Vigil Mass: 5:00pm Sunday Masses: 7:30, 9:00, 11:30am, 5:30pm
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Michael Alcorn is a former teacher and current writer who lives in Arvada with his wife and three children. His new novel, “Valkyrie’s Kiss,” a finalist in the ScreenCraft Book Competition, is available now at mjalcorn@comcast. net. His opinions are not necessarily those of Colorado Community Media.
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higher education in which there is no distinction between education and social activism. Twenty-five years ago, teachers changed the world by showing individual students how to be better than they thought they could be; these days, many teachers believe that to change the world, they have enlist students in an army of social change. This curriculum, perhaps, gives activism carte blanche, thus the school board’s concern. And, if nobody noticed, all of this is happening while we’ve barely gotten a grasp for how far our students fell behind in the last two years in actual learning. I am thankful that Jeffco — a newly, happily unmasked Jeffco — is currently free from the chaos that has visited our neighbors to the south. But, as Mr. O’Neill pointed out, it’s worth noting that that’s not necessarily a permanent condition.
BROOKS
Jerome R. “Jerry” Brooks April 5, 1945 - February 10, 2022
In Loving Memory Survived by his wife of 59 years of marriage Marilyn “Linda” Daughter Stacey Rae Brooks two sons Dennis Eugene and Bert Duane Brooks. 5 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren. Various
sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews. Funeral Services will be held March 4, 2022 at 10:00 Gravesite services at 11:00. 10201 Grant St, Thornton, Co. 80229
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14 Arvada Press
LOCAL
LIFE
Hermitage offers countless hardcover books, many of which are collectible.
BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE OLOVE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
B
ook clubs are no longer confined to living rooms, and bookstores offer much more than just books with a whole new realm opening up for gatherings centered around reading. When entering Hearthfire Books and Treats in Evergreen, shoppers are greeted by a bright green wall of frozen yogurt machines and a topping bar. The shop also offers coffee, smoothies and shakes. Owner Kappy Kling believes she has created more than just a store but a space for community. “[It’s] a little oasis for kids and adults to be able to congregate and hang out,” she said. Kling sees many bookstores modifying their business models to attract new customers. “Bookstores over the years, with changes, have adapted by adding different things for engagement, especially smaller ones (bookstores),” she said. “So for us, the frozen yogurt was a big one of those.” Hearthfire attracts a big afterschool crowd from the local schools, and Kling enjoys providing a safe place for kids to hang out, have a snack and read. “It kind of gives these kids a little freedom,” she said. “It allows them to be themselves.” Creating community is also a central focus at BookBar on Tennyson Street in Denver. Nearly nine years ago, Nicole Sullivan was wishing she could have a book club meeting anywhere besides someone’s living room, and from that thought, BookBar was born. The popular bookstore offers wine, coffee and small plates to enjoy while reading and browsing books. Beyond just book club meetings, Sullivan says the shop sees a lot of first dates, girls’ nights, professional meetings and remote work. The pandemic has had its effect on all businesses, especial-
February 17, 2022
The children’s reading area at Hermitage Antiquarian Bookstore is a favorite for owner Robert Topp.
BookBar is a common venue for book clubs, girls’ nights and first dates.
A customer enjoys a glass of wine at BookBar on Tennyson Street.
PHOTOS BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE
ly food and drink service. But when the going got tough for that side of the business, books had BookBar’s back. Book sales kept the business operating until more of the nontraditional features of the shop — food and drink — could return safely. Sullivan says she thinks there is one secret to the continued success of bookstores. “The future of bookstores is community bookstores,” Sullivan said. And Sullivan is doing her part to ensure that. She not only owns BookBar but also The Bookies bookstore at 4315 E. Mississippi Ave. in Glendale. Together, the two independent bookstores have become a Public Benefit Corporation, offering the benefits of literacy, environmental sustainability, freedom of expression and diversity, equity and inclusion. Sullivan also has created a nonprofit called BookGive with 10% of book sales from both stores going to this organization. BookGive aims to get books into the hands of people who need them at schools, nursing homes, homeless shelters and more. The group has donated nearly 100,000 books since its inception. Some bookstores, like Hermitage Antiquarian Bookstore in the Cherry Creek area of Denver, are sticking to a more traditional model, however. Robert Topp has owned his book business for nearly 50 years, making it the oldest independent bookstore with one owner in the city. His store only offers hardback books, and 20% of the inventory is considered collectible. While he may not have changed his business model, Topp does see a changing audience in his store. He originally thought his customers would grow old with him, but instead, he has seen something different. “Saturdays, it’s almost everyone under 40,” he said. SEE BOOKSTORE, P15
Arvada Press 15
February 17, 2022
A tribute to perserverance at the DJFF
I
f there’s one thing most of us have learned over the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s perseverance. And that all-important trait is honored in the 26th annual Denver Jewish Film Festival. “What really stuck out to us as we were looking at the films is that dogged determination was a through-line in almost all of them,” said Rich Cowden, general manager of the JCC Mizel Arts and Culture Center. “That theme is really timely and I don’t think it’s an accident that so many films focus on perseverance right now.” The festival runs through March 1 and includes both virtual and in-person screenings. The in-person section runs through the 22nd at the JCC Center, 350 S Dahlia St. in Denver, and the virtual portion runs from the 23rd to March 1. According to provided information, the festival includes 34 films and shorts showcasing cinema from 14 countries. “We started with the dream of having a fully in-person festival with virtual options to back it up and what we think we have now is the best of both worlds,” Cowden said. “People have been saying they need this in-person experience in my life. I think a lot of people needed to get back to the theater and get out of isolation and feeling like they’re alone.” Over the years the festival has developed a strong reputation for its documentary entries, and while that remains a strong focus this year, Cowden said that not only were organizers receiving more entries than ever before, but many of those entries were very strong narrative features. Some films that audiences may want to make a point to investigate include “Neighbours,” which takes place in a small village on the Syrian-Turkish border in the early 1980s and fol-
lows a 6-year-old student at his first year in school and “Plan A,” which is based on the true story of a group of Jewish vigilantes who survive the Holocaust and vow to avenge the deaths of so many. No matter which way viewers Clarke Reader experience the films, the aim is that this year’s event will provide some comfort and inspiration for everyone persevering through these uniquely challenging times. And hopefully, many of the films will remind people of the importance of connecting with others. “We have to be strong and unapologetic voices for reason and tolerance. There’s a sign out there of the JCC that says, ‘Everyone welcome,’ and we really mean it,” Cowden said. “There are films here that transcend culture and faith. We’re confident that if you take the leap and buy tickets, they won’t regret it because these are extraordinary films.” Information and tickets can be found at www.jccdenver.org/film.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
The CSO honors the work of Bob Dylan One of my favorite things about writing this column is (hopefully) introducing readers to art in all mediums that are worth their time. But if you don’t know about Bob Dylan, then I really don’t know what to write here. He’s the best songwriter of all time, a Nobel and Pulitzer winner and Frank Sinatra superfan. The Colorado Symphony and Colorado Symphony Chorus are joining together to pay tribute to the man with “The Times They Are A-Changin’: The Words and Music of Bob Dylan,” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday,
Feb. 18 at Boettcher Concert Hall in the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1000 14th St., No. 15. Get tickets at https://tickets. coloradosymphony.org/6026. A dance celebration of one people in Northglenn The Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble is one of the metro area’s favorite arts organizations and to celebrate Black History Month, the ensemble will bring its “One People, Many Voices” production to the Northglenn Arts Parson Theatre, 1 East Memorial Parkway, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 25. According to provided information, the “performance focuses on the power of dance to elevate and enlighten us all as we seek a deeper understanding on issues of justice and equity while honoring our shared humanity.” Secure your tickets at NorthglennArts.org. Clarke’s Concert of the Week — The War on Drugs at the Mission Ballroom The War on Drugs, led by Adam Granduciel, has proved itself the most reliably fantastic alt-rock band we’ve seen in a long time. Over the course of their five albums, they’ve subtly and thoughtfully expanded their sonic frontiers, blending Springsteen-esque heartland rock with My Bloody Valentine guitar reverb. In support of 2021’s excellent album “I Don’t Live Here Anymore,” The War on Drugs will be performing at the Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St. in Denver, at 9 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 18. Get tickets for the show at www.missionballroom.com/ event/408770-mission-ballroomdenver-tickets. Clarke Reader’s column on culture appears on a weekly basis. He can be reached at Clarke. Reader@hotmail.com.
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BOOKSTORE FROM PAGE 14
He laughed and said one misconception about young readers is that they only read Stephen King. Topp thinks people are generally too hard on young readers. “Too many people take a cynical attitude toward kids with reading,” he said. “My attitude towards young people with reading has always been very optimistic.” So optimistic in fact, he has dedicated much of his time to reading to them. Topp founded Read Me a Story, Ink after reading to children in public schools for nearly 30 years. His website features recordings of Topp reading stories aloud and over a thousand stories for others to read. He also has a podcast available on major platforms that feature him reading stories fit for the classroom, bedtime and more. Topp says the internet has made a huge change in the way he does business. Besides his children’s
ArvadaPress.com The fireplace at Hearthfire is a great place to curl up with a new book. PHOTO BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE
site, Hermitage also enjoys a strong online bookselling business, which has only benefited the store. When it comes to a bookstore model that works, Topp says one thing trumps all. “I still think the most important thing is customer service,” he said. In online reviews, customers rave about the special attention Topp
gives to people, often remembering their favorite topics and emailing them when he finds something they might enjoy. Topp says some businesses have rotating staff, but his employees have been with him for the long haul. “We have a collective 150 years book experience,” he said.
To provide the most accurate results by geographical area, Colorado Community Media does not require, but does encourage readers to vote for businesses in their immediate local community. All nominated businesses have an equal opportunity of winning, no purchase required. Please see voting website for complete contest rules and regulations.
16 Arvada Press
LOCAL
SPORTS
February 17, 2022
Ralston Valley in the driver’s seat to claim 5A Jeffco League title BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
LITTLETON — Ralston Valley is two steps away from winning the Class 5A Jeffco League boys basketball title. The Mustangs (14-6, 5-0 in 5A Jeffco) took sole possession of first place in the conference Feb. 11 with a 65-59 road victory against Chatfield (11-8, 4-1). “I know we are in the driver’s seat now if you want to call it that,” Ralston Valley coach Chris Braketa said. “Every game people are going to come out and play us tough because we are in the driver’s seat. We don’t want to look toward the end. Just trust the process we’ve been building.” Ralston Valley built an impressive 24-point lead after an 18-0 run to start the second quarter. The Mustangs’ biggest lead was 35-11 with 3 minutes left before halftime. Junior Josh Rillos drained a 3-pointer to put Ralston Valley in control during the biggest conference game of the season to this point. Tanner Braketa — son of the Mustangs’ coach — continued his impressive freshman campaign pouring in 18 points in the first half. Braketa finished with a game-high 26 points, including six 3-pointers. Chatfield battled back in the second half. Behind seniors Chase Miller, Christian Foutch and Marquis Jones the Chargers cut the Mustangs’ lead down to 63-59 in the final minute. “They started going inside with Chase Miller and he started finishing around the rim,” Coach Braketa said. “Christian Foutch was finishing too and that gave them extra points in there. Marquis Jones went to the rim too. They did a great job coming back.” Ralston Valley had the chance to get some insurance points with sophomore Jackson Hansen at the
free-throw line with 16.9 seconds left and the Mustangs clinging to a 4-point lead. Hansen missed the first free throw which should have been a oneon-one, but nobody grabbed the loose ball and an official blew their whistle. Chatfield coach Erik Buehler said that it wasn’t communicated between the officials if it was a one-on-one or two shots on Hansen’s trip to the foul line. It was the Chargers’ ninth foul of the half so it should have been oneon-one. “I was telling my kids it was a oneand-one,” said Buehler, but the problem was the free throws were being taken at the other end of the court. After the officials discussed the situation, it was ruled since all players thought it was two shots and nobody made a play on the loose ball that possession would go to the jump ball arrow. It was Ralston Valley’s turn on the possession arrow so the Mustangs got the ball under their basket. “I’m not sure what happened,” Coach Braketa said of the bizarre trip to the free-throw line. “It was unfortunate, but it was the right call being a jump ball. It was in our favor with us getting possession.” Ralston Valley iced the game seconds later with Hansen’s inbound pass to sophomore Logan Madden resulted in a layup to seal the win. It was the lone basket of the night for Madden off the bench. “Logan made a hell of a read,” Coach Braketa said of Madden’s driving layup to push the lead back up to six points in the closing seconds. “It was a huge, huge bucket.” Seniors Zach Akin (12 points) and Beau Wilken (9 points) were key for the Mustangs to hang on for the win. Akin’s 3-point play the old fashion way with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter ended a 5-minute scoring drought for Ralston Valley. “That was big because he had been in foul trouble with four fouls,” Coach
Chatfield junior Shay Rumsey, 2, comes off a screen set by senior Chase Miller on Ralston Valley senior Beau Wilken during the Class 5A Jeffco League game Feb. 11 at Chatfield High School. The Mustangs won 65-59 heading into the final week of the PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS regular season.
Braketa said of Akin. “We were trying to save him, but at that point you just have to go. That was a huge play with a great take and then knocking down free throws.” It was the sixth straight win for Ralston Valley. The Mustangs close their regular season next week with home games against Columbine (Wednesday) and Bear Creek (Friday). “We’ve got two more to go,” Tanner Braketa said of the Mustangs closing in on their first conference title since the 2019-20 season. It was the second straight loss for Chatfield. The Chargers lost a nonleague game against Cherry Creek last Saturday. “I just told these guys if we are the team in the second half for three
quarters it’s a completely different ballgame,” Buehler said. “We have just kind of have had slow starts all season. You can’t do that against a team of that quality. We just have to learn and adapt. If we do that in the playoff it will be a short postseason.” Chatfield closes out the regular season on the road against Lakewood (Wednesday) and Arvada West (Friday). “Our goal at the beginning of the season was to host a playoff game,” Buehler said. “That is still alive. If we take care of business next week we should achieve that goal.” Dennis Pleuss is the Sports Information Director for Jeffco Public Schools. For more Jeffco coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.
Pomona girls wrestling team picks up two regional championships BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Pomona’s girls wrestling team picked up two regional championships and qualified four wrestlers to this week’s state girls wrestling tournament at Ball Arena. Persaeus Gomez, who is undefeated through 28 matches, won the title at 118 pounds. She pinned Northridge’s Victoria Perales in 4:31 of the finals. Desza Munson, who hasn’t lost in 2 starts this season, pinned Poudre’s Zoe White in 1:365 of the 147-pound finals. Anastacia Fucci took fourth at 161 pounds, and Alyra Gomez finished second at 100 pounds. The state tournament begins at noon Feb. 17. The finals are set for 5:30 p.m. Feb. 19.
Pomona’s Alya Gomez feels the pain of Northridge’s Shelby Pirbelsky during a 100-pound quarterfinal match at the Colorado High School girls regional wrestling tournament at Fort Lupton High School Feb. 11. Gomez won by pinfall and advanced to the state girls PHOTO BY STEVE SMITH tournament at Ball Arena starting Thursday, Feb. 17.
Arvada Press 17
February 17, 2022
Dakota Ridge stays in the mix for 5A Jeffco title with win over Arvada West BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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Arvada West junior Zion Thomas, 5, drives to the rim on Dakota Ridge junior Alex Rodriguez during the Class 5A Jeffco League game Feb. 9 at Arvada West High School. Thomas scored all of his nine points in the fourth quarter during a furious rally, but Dakota Ridge PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS hung on for a 62-52 victory.
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ARVADA — Dakota Ridge junior Trevor Fuller put up a first-half performance to remember Feb. 9 at Arvada West High School. The junior guard brought the Eagles’ bench to its feet several times in the opening half. Fuller drained five 3-pointers and scored 19 points in the first two quarters on the way to a big 62-52 Class 5A Jeffco League road victory for Dakota Ridge over A-West. “I was felling it,” Fuller said of his impressive first half. “I’ve had games like that, but never to that extent.” Fuller finished with a seasonhigh 23 points on the night despite not making a field goal in the second half. However, his 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 30 seconds helped seal the victory. Dakota Ridge (11-8, 4-1 in 5A Jeffco) had opened up a 45-18 lead with 1:25 left in the third quarter, but A-West (10-10, 2-3) would make a game of in the fourth quarter. A-West coach Jeff Parriott’s squad poured in 28 points in the fourth quarter after scoring just 24 points in the first three quarters combined. “I have the world of respect for Coach Parriott. I know how good of a coach he is and how hard his guys play,” Dakota Ridge coach Sean Kovar said. “We knew it was going to be tight and a close game. (A-West) showed late why they are super tough. They put themselves in a chance to win the game.” Junior Carson Nichols carried the Wildcats offensively with 23 points, including 11 points in the fourth quarter. Junior Zion Thomas was shutout through the first three quarters, but got it going in the final eight minutes scoring all 9 points before fouling out in the final 30 seconds. “They (A-West) out battled us on the boards,” Fuller said of what happened in the fourth quarter when the Eagles were outscored 28-17. “I think if we would have got more defensive boards in that fourth quarter we would have close it out earlier.” The Eagles made just one field goal in the fourth quarter,
but Dakota Ridge was decent at the free-throw line. Dakota Ridge went 15-for-20 from the charity stripe in the final eight minutes. “We took some body blows,” Kovar admitted. “We just have to make sure we don’t get knocked out. We needed to stay tough, fight and finish.” Besides the big night from Fuller, junior Carson Evans had a solid night with 14 points. Junior Alex Rodriguez started slow, but scored all 10 of his points in the second half. It was the first game in 12 days for Dakota Ridge. With the Snow Day across the Denver Metro Area that cancelled all games scheduled for Feb. 2 and the Eagles having their league bye on Feb. 4, Dakota Ridge hadn’t played since a tough 2-point loss to Ralston Valley on Jan. 28. “I was really proud of our guys and our preparation, especially with the gap we had between games,” Kovar said. “I thought we came out and didn’t look rusty at all.” The game Dakota Ridge lost on Feb. 2 was supposed to be against rival Chatfield (11-8, 4-1). Ralston Valley (14-6, 5-0) are currently a game ahead of Dakota Ridge, Chatfield and Columbine (13-7, 4-1) in the conference standings with just two league games left. “It’s going by really, really quick,” Fuller said of the league season. “I wish we would have played Chatfield, but we are playing right now and I want to keep playing.” Kovar just wants his team to take care of business as it closes out the league schedule against Pomona and Columbine. “We are just going to control what we can control,” Kovar said of the league title race. “I’m honestly more worried about what goes on in practice tomorrow that what happens with league.” A-West had a 3-game winning streak snapped with the loss against Dakota Ridge. The Wildcats close out conference play against Valor and Chatfield. Dennis Pleuss is the Sports Information Director for Jeffco Public Schools. For more Jeffco coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.
18 Arvada Press
February 17, 2022
C R O S SWO R D P U Z Z L E
Colorado’s pension system missed out on millions Lawmakers parked cash in low-interest account BY DANIEL DUCASSI THE COLORADO SUN
Colorado’s pension system missed out on millions of dollars in potential investment revenue as a result of lawmakers’ decision last year to park money in a low-interest bank account, according to an analysis by nonpartisan legislative staff. The legislature set aside $380 million last year in a low-interest bank account to ensure the state could still support the Public Employees’ Retirement Association in the case of an economic downturn. But nonpartisan legislative staff say the General Assembly should rethink that strategy and instead dump all of the money into PERA now so that the dollars can be invested and yield a much higher return. State Sen. Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City, who sits on the powerful Joint Budget Committee, summed up nonpartisan JBC staff’s concerns in five words: “Our money isn’t making money.” How to best use the $380 million is the latest question in the legislature’s yearslong quest to adequately fund PERA, which has been a perennial political lightning rod at the Capitol. PERA has more than $30 billion in unfunded future obligations to pensioners. Lawmakers must now decide whether to keep stashing money for future years and potentially miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars in investment income, or to put the money directly into PERA to get the biggest financial return. The state is required to kick in $225 million to PERA each year as part of a 2018 deal to rescue
the system, though lawmakers decided to skip a payment in 2020 to help balance the budget during the early days of the pandemic. The payments help cover PERA’s future pension obligations, which state workers have been increasingly asked to shoulder, even as their benefits are reduced. The $380 million that lawmakers set aside last year has yielded roughly $1 million in the past year, a return of less than 1%. Money put into PERA is expected to make an average annual return of 7.25% over the long term, legislative staff said. But last year, when stocks soared, it made a 25% return. “The question is,” JBC staff analyst Robin Smart said, “do I put my money in a savings account that’s earning me 0.35%? Or do I put my money into a diversified plan that is earning me seven and a quarter or more over time?” Smart acknowledged that lawmakers have other priorities, but said they should keep in mind their financial obligations to PERA because that can affect the state’s broader budget picture. “If creating new things means that over the long haul, we destabilize the other stuff that’s actually keeping this state stable and functioning, then we have a problem,” Smart said. “What I likened it to was basically spending money to remodel your bathroom and not addressing the termites that are eating the load-bearing beams.” Smart and JBC staff recommended that the legislature clear out the $380 million cash fund and put it all into PERA. And their analysis emphasized the financial prudence of investing more money today rather than keeping it in the bank: for every $100 million the state puts into PERA above the annually SEE PENSION, P23
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Arvada Press 23
February 17, 2022
PENSION FROM PAGE 18
required $225 million, they project a reduction in unpaid future obligations of $374 million. For that reason, JBC staff recommended lawmakers consider bumping up the July payment to PERA by at least another $100 million. Smart also pointed out that even though lawmakers created the $380 million cash fund specifically to make contributions to PERA, there’s no legal structure that could stop lawmakers from passing legislation in the future to raid that money for other purposes. JBC Chairwoman Julie McCluskie, a Democrat from Dillon, said she’d oppose any effort to spend the $380 million on anything but PERA. And she’d be surprised if lawmakers even attempted it. She said lawmakers stashed that $380 million for PERA to avoid running into a situation where they needed to skip another $225 million annual payment. She called the staff recommendations, “terrific options for us to get back on that solvency path.” It’s not clear which direction the JBC will take. The committee voted last month to put off the decision until later. Meanwhile, lawmakers are also slated to consider a proposal next week that would make up for the state’s missing contribution in 2020. State Rep. Shannon Bird, a Democrat from Westminster and chairwoman of the House Finance Committee, is sponsor-
Lawmakers are seen at the Capitol’s House floor on Jan. 12, 2022 in Denver at the start of Colorado’s General Assembly’s 2022 sesPHOTO BY OLIVIA SUN sion.
ing legislation, House Bill 1029, that would send $303.6 million to PERA on July 1, the start of the next fiscal year. That figure accounts for the $225 million payment skipped in 2020, and the revenue PERA lost as a result of not having that money to invest. As the state’s obligation to fund PERA grows, she said, “we jeopardize everything else that we pay for in future years. … So because you now will have a bigger and bigger payment to PERA, we will have less money for K-12, less money for roads, less money
for environmental protections, less money for the courts, all those kinds of things. So it’s really important that we take swift action now to pay the whole thing back.” Bird said she supports the idea of eliminating the cash fund, arguing that “one dollar invested today is much better than one dollar invested tomorrow.” Though her bill would have the state pay back PERA from the state’s general fund, she said she is “agnostic” on where the money actually comes from, and would be fine seeing it come from the
$380 million cash fund. Either way, she supports clearing out that cash fund entirely and putting it into PERA. The House Finance committee was scheduled to take up Bird’s bill last week. This story is from The Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support The Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. The Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.
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PUBLIC NOTICES
Public Notices call Sheree 303.566.4088 Legals City and County
CITY OF ARVADA PLANNING COMMISSION /s/ Patricia Connell, Secretary Legal Notice No.413312 First Publication: February 17, 2022 Last Publication: February 17, 2022 Publisher: Jeffco Transcript
legals@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Legal Notice No.413317 First Publication: February 17, 2022 Last Publication: February 17, 2022 Publisher: Jeffco Transcript
Metropolitan Districts
PUBLIC NOTICE
PUBLIC NOTICE
Public Notice
A public hearing will be held before the Arvada Planning Commission scheduled for March 8, 2022 at 6:15 p.m., Arvada City Hall, 8101 Ralston Rd., Arvada, when and where you may speak on the matter to consider the major modification for Whisper Village Car Wash, approximately located at the Southwest corner of W. 91st Place and Holman Street. Members of the public may attend. To submit written public comment to be considered by the Commission, email comments to cedboardsandcommission@arvada.org by 5 p.m. on 3/7/2022. Additional information can be obtained from https://www.arvadapermits.org/etrakit3/search/ project.aspx?activityno=DA2021-0079.
A public hearing will be held before the Arvada Planning Commission scheduled for March 8, 2022 at 6:15 p.m., Arvada City Hall, 8101 Ralston Rd., Arvada, when and where you may speak on the matter to consider amendments to the Land Development Code. Members of the public may attend. To submit written public comment to be considered by the Commission, email comments to cedboardsandcommission@arvada.org by 5 p.m. on 3/7/2022.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS SPRING MESA METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
CITY OF ARVADA PLANNING COMMISSION /s/ Patricia Connell, Secretary
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, and particularly, to the eligible electors of Spring Mesa Metropolitan District ("District") of Jefferson County, Colorado. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the District will conduct a regular election on the 3rd day of May, 2022, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. At that time, two (2) directors will be elected for a 3-year term and zero (0) directors will be elected for a 1-year term.
In order to be a candidate for one of the director positions, a qualified individual must submit a Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form. Eligible electors of the District interested in serving on the Board of Directors may obtain a Self-Nomination and Acceptance form from the District’s Designated Election Official (DEO): Brenden Desmond, DEO bdesmond@spencerfane.com Spencer Fane LLP 1700 Lincoln Street, Ste. 2000 Denver, CO 80203 Phone: 303-839-3743 The Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form must be returned to the Designated Election Official by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 25, 2022. The form can be emailed to bdesmond@spencerfane.com . If the designated election official determines that a selfnomination and acceptance form is not sufficient, the eligible elector who submitted the form may amend the form at any time prior to the close of business on the day of the deadline.
Affidavit of Intent To Be A Write-In-Candidate forms must be submitted to the office of the Designated Election Official by the close of business on Monday, February 28, 2022. NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that an application for an absentee ballot may be filed with the Designated Election Official, at the contact information referenced above, no later than the close of business on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. SPRING MESA METROPOLITAN DISTRICT Brenden Desmond, Designated Election Official Legal Notice No.413299 First Publication: February 17, 2022 Last Publication: February 17, 2022 Publisher: Golden Transcript and the Arvada Press
###
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February 17, 2022
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