Transcript Wheat Ridge
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 30, Issue 8
August 15, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwheatridgenews.com
Council votes to investigate its own Probe concerning sales tax receipts to include Councilman Reinhart and city hall officials By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com Wheat Ridge City Council on Aug. 12 voted to direct the city attorney to launch an investigation to determine whether a fellow council member — and possibly other city officials — engaged in wrongdoing for allegedly viewing and/or disclosing sales tax receipts of individual businesses in town. The investigation will be far reaching at City Hall, with officials like the city manager and city treasurer possibly being interviewed as part of the probe. But much of the attention is expected to focus on District I Councilman Davis Reinhart and how he may have obtained tax receipts for businesses located along the Ridge at 38 corridor. Reinhart acknowledged to city officials in an email obtained by Colorado Community Media that he asked City Manager Patrick Goff for tax revenue information on 38th avenue businesses, but has denied doing anything improper. “I welcome a complete and thorough and rapid investigation into this matter,” Reinhart said, just before his colleagues voted unanimously to direct City Attorney Gerald Dahl to launch an investigation. Reinhart abstained from taking part in the vote and declined to comment any further, following the council meeting. District IV Councilman Joseph DeMott put the probe in motion. On the heels of a formal complaint that he recently filed with City Attorney Gerald Dahl, DeMott also made the Aug. 12 motion to at council, directing Dahl to launch an “investigation into the leak of tax information to councilor Reinhart from City Manager Patrick Goff, and to determine where else and to whom that tax information may have landed.” Council continues on Page 14
Mike Stites, a Wheat Ridge city councilman and owner of B&F Tire Co., talks about his concerns about the 38th Avenue road diet inside his store on Aug. 2. On Stite’s counter sits a poster containing different photographs of automobile wrecks that have occurred on the street, since the road was implemented. Photo by Vic Vela
‘Road diet’ causes problems Opinions remain mixed a year later By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com For many business owners and customers along Wheat Ridge’s 38th Avenue downtown corridor, “diet” has truly become a four-letter word. A little more than a year has passed since the city instituted the Ridge at 38 “road diet” — a $615,000 lane-reduction project designed in part to increase bike and pedestrian traffic in an area that the city has identified for revitalization.
Some Ridge at 38 customers and business owners say that planters like this one at the corner of 38th avenue and Teller have caused problems on the street. Photos by Vic Vela
Road continues on Page 19
Former lawmaker struck by encephalitis Legislators help raise funds for Summers’ expenses By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com Lawmakers on both sides of the political divide came together on Aug. 7 to raise money for a former colleague who is battling a serious illness.
Former state Rep. Ken Summers is suffering from West Nile virus-caused encephalitis and has been hospitalized since late July. The Lakewood Republican received a lot bipartisan support during a Denver fundraiser, where well-wishers gathered to offer the former lawmaker a helping hand. “Ken would be embarrassed and humbled by all these folks showing up and hearing what everyone is saying about him,” said state Rep. Frank McNulty, R-High-
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lands Ranch, from inside the offices of the Capstone Group, a public affairs and government relations firm in Denver. A Colorado native, teacher and minister, Summers was elected to the House in 2006 and served three terms. He lived in Lakewood for Summers more than 25 years before recently moving to Fort Collins. Christian Summers, Ken’s son, said his father is receiving treatment for encephalitis and meningitis at Loveland’s McKee Medical Center. He said the former lawmaker is “cognitively aware” of what’s happening, but is struggling physically. “He’s got a long road of physi-
cal recovery ahead of him, but he’s mentally sharp,” Christian Summers said. “But I think he feels a little trapped in his body, and I can’t imagine what that’s like for him.” Support for the ailing Summers ranges from those who know him well to others who don’t, yet still hold him in high regard. “I had only met him a few times, but every time I saw him he was just enthusiastic and open and a caring person, somebody that you just wanted to get to know better,” said state Rep. Polly Lawrence, R-Littleton. State Sen. Andy Kerr knows Summers well. The Lakewood Democrat served in the House with him for six years before Kerr edged out Summers in the Senate District 22 race last year. Their hotly contested 2012 race is a thing of the past. Kerr has been
tweeting and emailing updates on Summers’ condition since he learned that his former colleague had been hospitalized. “A lot of people focus on the rivalry, the politics, the division at the Capitol,” Kerr said. “But at the end of the day, Ken and I worked together. We held town hall meetings together; had the opportunity to run against each other. We’ve knocked on hundreds, if not thousands of the same doors. We know a lot of the same people. And he and I get along great.” Contributions for Summers’ medical expenses can be sent to the Ken Summers Medical Relief Fund, c/o Teen Challenge, P.O. Box 239, Englewood, CO 80151.
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