Transcript Wheat Ridge
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 30, Issue 11
September 5, 2013
50 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwheatridgenews.com
Mayor vetoes sales tax question Ballot measure would have raised city’s sales, use tax from 3 to 4 percent By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com Wheat Ridge Mayor Jerry DiTullio on Aug. 30 vetoed an ordinance that sought to place a 1 percent sales and use tax hike question on the November ballot, calling the proposal a “recipe for disaster.” The mayor’s veto came days after the council voting 6-2 earlier in the week to move forward with the ballot measure, which, if voters approved, would have pumped more than $6 million in revenue into city capital improvement projects. The mayor’s veto did not officially spell the end for the measure. The council had the opportunity to override the veto this week, in order to submit the ballot language to the Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder’s Office by Friday — the deadline to get the initiative on the ballot this fall. It was unknown by Colorado Community Media’s print deadline whether the council had intended on attempting to override DiTullio’s veto this week. If passed, the ballot measure would have raised Wheat Ridge’s sales and use tax from 3 to 4 percent — the highest among neighboring communities. The tax would have equalled a one penny increase on every dollar spent. The majority of the council voted in favor of putting the measure on the ballot, arguing that the city could use additional money to fund improvements around the city. But DiTullio said in his veto to council members that the ballot measure comes at a bad time. He said that the ballot measure would lead to a 33 percent increase on sales taxes for Wheat Ridge residents, at a time that they cannot afford. “Now is not the time to ask the voters for more money with a blank check,” DiTullio said in his veto. DiTullio also pointed out that the two council members who voted against the tax hike — Mike Stites and Joyce Jay — are also running for mayor this fall, “which indicates that (the) council is not united on this issue.” Proponents of the tax hike argue that much of the revenue will come from visitors to Wheat Ridge and that the tax hike is offset by the city’s low property taxes.
Jacob Stangel poses with his bike outside of his Wheat Ridge residence on Aug. 29. Photos by Vic Vela
Two wheels restored
Community helps repair boys bike, destroyed by bullies By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com
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arry Malloy remembers what it was like to have his bicycle messed with. During a recent interview, the Wheat Ridge school resource officer recalled having his bike stolen during football practice when he was a teenager, several years ago. “I never forgot that,” Malloy said. And maybe that’s exactly what Malloy was thinking about when he lent a helping hand to a young boy whose bike was destroyed following a bullying incident from earlier this year. “It really upsets me when people pick on others,” Malloy said. “I just really wanted to help him.” Jacob Stangel was riding his bike through a Wheat Ridge park last spring, when two older kids accosted the 9-yearold boy and destroyed his bike in the process. “It was pretty much destroyed,” said Doraine Sangel, Jacob’s mother. “He was really upset. And I was upset for him because there was just no need for it.” Doraine Stangel, a single mother, could not afford the repairs. That’s when Malloy and the folks at Wheat Ridge Cyclery stepped in to fix Jacob’s bike at no cost. The altruistic act led to Wheat Ridge
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Stangel now has a completely repaired bike, after bullies “pretty much destroyed it.” Cyclery president Ron Kiefel and his employees receiving the Wheat Ridge Citizen Award at an Aug. 12 Wheat Ridge City Council meeting. “This gesture of generosity and caring has significantly touched this 9-year-old’s family,” Wheat Ridge Police Chief Dan Brennan said at the council meeting. Kiefel said that his employees, like service manager Doug Bittle, deserve the credit, and not him. “It was nice to do something for somebody in the community who had a bad break,” Bittle said. Doraine Stangel didn’t want to pursue criminal charges, out of fear of retaliation. And Malloy didn’t think it was right for the bullies to get away with what they had done. “I read them the riot act like it was nobody’s business,” Malloy said. Malloy said he was going to pay for the repairs out of his own pocket. But Wheat
‘Everyone went above and beyond to help Jacob.’ Doraine Stangel Ridge Cyclery stepped in and fixed Jacob’s bike for nothing. “Everyone went above and beyond to help Jacob,” Doraine Stangel said. Now, the soft-spoken Jacob has a bike that works, and it’s because of the act of people in the community who cared enough to do something about it. “If we can show a kid that people around him are willing to do the right thing, and to show him that there are others who can stand with him, maybe we’re on the right track,” Malloy said.