Wheatridge transcript 1003

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Transcript Wheat Ridge

Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 30, Issue 15

October 3, 2013

50 cents

A Colorado Community Media Publication

ourwheatridgenews.com

Election: Jeffco School board candidates trade views. See Page 16

Parents protest police actions

Covering the field

Two Alpine students confronted by officers By Vic Vela

vvela@ourcoloradonews.com

Wheat Ridge sophomore Christina Nelson fields a ball and fires it back into her pitcher on Friday. See story on Page 25. Photo by Daniel Williams

Mayoral candidates’ views differ on 38th Jay, Stites in race for top office By Vic Vela

vvela@ourcoloradonews.com Wheat Ridge voters will have a clear choice when they go to the polls to elect a new mayor this fall. And the election could come down to the candidates’ positions on one particular issue that divides elected city officials and council hopefuls. Council members Mike Stites and Joyce Jay will square off in a race to fill an open mayor’s seat that is being vacated by term-limited Mayor Jerry DiTullio, who is running for a District I council seat. Stites is owner of B&F Tire Co., was born and raised in Wheat Ridge and is the son of former Mayor Frank “Hank” Stites. Jay has called Wheat Ridge home for nearly three decades. A former photography business owner, Jay has served on several boards around the city and county, including the Wheat Ridge Cultural Commission, the Citizens’ Advisory Committee and she actively volunteers with the Jefferson County justice system, working with domestic violence offenders. Both candidates would like to see the city’s home ownership rates rise above 50 percent.

And both candidates would like to see more businesses open in town. Beyond that, there really isn’t a lot that Stites and Jay agree on — especially regarding the divisive issue of the 38th Avenue road diet. The 38th Avenue Corridor Plan, which reduced traffic lanes between Wadsworth and Sheridan BouStites levards on 38th Avenue, was put in place last year as part of an effort by the city to revitalize the strip and to turn it into a “vibrant main street.” But Stites and Jay are at odds over the effectiveness of the road diet. Stites, whose Jay tire business is located in the corridor, is adamant that he and other businesses have lost customers ever since the road diet was put in place. Stites said that motorists avoid driving along 38th Avenue, creating more traffic on other nearby streets. Stites said that his conversations with voters affirm his belief that the election “is coming

POSTAL ADDRESS

down to 38th Avenue.” “I’m absolutely for the revitalization there, but I’ve never thought the two lane road was the answer,” he said. “Joyce has always been very supportive of it. She thinks it’s great and that we have to spend as much money as we can on it. But we’re into this thing about $615,000.” Stites is referring to the amount of money the city has spent on both the project itself and other associated costs, such as marketing and streetscape amenities. Stites said that 38th Avenue would do just fine without the road diet because residents in nearby communities, such as in the Denver Highland neighborhood, are being priced out their areas. “It’s the area, not the twolane road diet that’s going to bring people here,” Stites said. But Jay believes that the numbers are on her side. She points to more and more businesses popping up in the corridor, ones that “contribute strongly to our sales tax dollars,” as proof that the revitalization project is working. “You can’t ignore that other developers are looking at us, finally,” Jay said. “Yeah, there are lots of people who don’t like it, but it has created a synergy that’s never been there. At the same time, I won’t be happy unless it works for more of our citizens. I would like to see our citizens more pleased with it. Jay said she would like to see more daytime events along 38th Avenue, so that more seniors could spend time there and see the benefits of the project. At the same time, Jay believes there is a fiscal and demographic reality that is being ignored by her opponent. She said that Wheat Ridge needs to do more to attract younger people to town.

“We’re seeing our population and earning drop,” she said. “I see young people touring our city and they’re enjoying a little bit of the excitement on 38th and wanting to move here. So, it’s not healthy to move in the other direction.” Jay said that she would also like to see the 44th Avenue Corridor get more attention; see Wheat Ridge become more bike and environmentally-friendly; and wants the city to promote more opportunities for urban agriculture. Stites thinks all of that is fine. But he also believes that the city needs to do more to protect its senior population, perhaps through having more senior apartment housing. “Old people, they still have an opinion, regardless of what age they are,” Stites said. “They still live in Wheat Ridge. The other side’s plans are for new restaurants and coffee shops, but you gotta have diversity in the city.” Stites also questions Jay’s leadership abilities. “Could Joyce run a (council) meeting? I don’t think she could,” he said. “Leadership is a big part of the job. She’s active in a lot of things, but in last four years on council she’s been lost. Some things go over her head.” That’s nonsense, Jay said. “Stuff is never over my head,” she said. “There’s never anything I haven’t understood. I listen well and can play back what’s going on. And I can encourage a more collaborative council as mayor.” The race also features a third candidate, sort of. Jeff Worthington, a local landscaper, is listed on the city’s website as a certified write-in candidate. Worthington failed to submit the required number of valid signatures by the city clerk’s deadline.

Parents and students at a Wheat Ridge private school are blasting the city police department’s handling of an incident that took place on campus last month, where two students were ordered by officers to the ground at gunpoint and detained with handcuffs. Police, looking for two burglary suspects, converged on Alpine Valley School on Sept. 9. The two boys whom police briefly detained had no connection to the burglary. The Wheat Ridge Police Department received criticism from several people with ties to Alpine Valley, an alternative learning school at 4501 Parfet Brennan St., during a Sept. 23 city council meeting, where council members were urged to look into making changes to police policy, as a result of what occurred. “My expectation for Wheat Ridge is that police officers should be peacekeepers and peacemakers, not the stern enforcers we often see on television shows depicting police,” said Larry Welshon, a teacher at Alpine Valley School. Wheat Ridge Police Chief Dan Brennan said this week that the police department is taking the concerns seriously and that his department is currently investigating the incident. “We’re looking into all the concerns expressed by students, parents and administrators and, until I’ve had an opportunity to look at the facts, it would be premature to talk about what had happened,” Brennan said. According to Welshon and several parents and students who spoke during the council session, when police arrived on campus, they were greeted by 14-year-old Carlos Duran-Rael, who was outside playing a game. “I asked (the officer), ‘May I help you?’ and he pointed his gun at me and said something along the lines of, ‘Put your hands where I can see them and get down on your knees,’” Duran-Rael said. Duran-Rael said he was ordered to the ground and put in handcuffs before police asked him questions having to do with why he was on the school property and what he was doing there. The boy said that a female officer did not believe that he was a student, saying to Duran-Rael at one point, “’Are you going to

Police continues on Page 23

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