Volume 55, Issue No. 4
A Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. Publication
Democracy In Action
April 2016
More Photos and Story on Page 6
Can We Find A Middle Ground? In An Era Of Division Over Education Reform, DPS To Replace Departing Board Member Landri Taylor By Lynn Kalinauskas GPHC Education Chair
The scene inside McAuliffe International School at the Smiley Campus, where state Sen. Mike Johnston, top, and hundreds of his closest friends gathered to caucus on March 2. Photo by Willy Wilson
The Unexpected and Sudden Demise of City Park Golf Course ‘Coincidences’ Don’t Add Up With Interstate 70 Widening Project and Proposed Destruction of Golf Course By Dick Young Special to the GPHN
Everybody knows that water runs downhill, not uphill. And many know that in Denver, water flows from the south to the north. Certainly the Colorado Department of Transportation knows this. So do Denver officials. So why are we just now finding out that “maybe” – because of CDOT and Denver’s long announced plans to put part of I-70 below ground as it runs east to west across the northern part of Denver – that the City Park Golf Club must be demolished? Specifically, many of the golf course trees will be cut down, and a whole bunch of acres of the golf course will be turned into a huge unattractive hole in the ground. That is required, they now say, to hold runoff water during a 100year flood that currently can’t flow north fast enough. For years, runoff from floods has flowed north, most notably to join the Platte River, on the other side of Interstate 70. So why all of a sudden is the City planning for a 100-year flood – particularly when most of Denver is not protected from a 100-year flood, only a 10-year flood? Could this be because of Denver’s version of the “Big Dig,” the long-planned infamous
I-70 widening project? And if so, was this brought out by the government officials while they were selling the Big Dig on how great it would be? Why the sudden urgency for Denver, which now claims that there is “absolutely” no connection between the Big Dig and the need to effectively destroy the City Park Golf Course as it has existed for years, and
Did the Department of Transportation and the City of Denver deliberately and intentionally hide the fact of the demise of the City Park Golf Course from the public?
Forget the fact that this “Big Dig” project is extremely expensive. Forget the fact that I-70 and surrounding streets will be horribly torn up for years. Forget the fact that instead of moving the through traffic currently on I-70 to go around Denver, the Department of Transportation wants it added to the already crowded I-70 Denver traffic. And isn’t it ironic that the Colorado Department of Transportation, which years ago caused the dividing of the Elyria-Swansea community northwest of Park Hill, is now trying to put it back together by moving it further apart? But all of this planning for the demise of the Park Hill Golf Course is based on how to handle a 100-year flood. So why now, in northeast Denver, that area just south of the I-70 Big Dig, has the city decided that I, ahead of all other parts of the city, needs to be protected from a 100-year flood? I’m not sure any City official has ever explained that perhaps the reason is that the Colorado Department of Transportation has to have that “protection” in order continued on page 12
continued on page 5
Ways To Celebrate Your Mama Earth
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Sierra Club Sues To Stop I-70 Expansion
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Inside This Issue
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April 2016
Beyond the buzzwords
After submitting resumes and application forms, the initial 20 applicants were invited to a community meeting on March 8. They were each given a few minutes to address the board and the public to explain why they wanted to serve. The candidates did not lack for talent or experience. Most of them expressed a passion for education that was both convincing and impressive. The candidates spoke of their contributions to society and education in particular, of the successes of DPS, the Denver Plan 2020, what can be learned from test scores and school choice. Many spoke of closing the achieving gap and ensuring that all children receive a quality education. Beneath the veneer of educational buzzwords, however, the candidates also revealed the cracks that have formed in the last 10 plus years of education reform, and pointed to the areas where much attention is needed. Some candidates probably never expected to become finalists, yet felt compelled to step up to the podium and use it as a platform to speak their truth and express some of their concerns. Both Roger Kilgore and Eve Cohen, two candidates from Park Hill who did not make the first cut, spoke of the role of students, parents, teachers and communities in any attempt to strengthen public education. Kilgore who ran for the school board in 2011 and 2013, stressed the importance of education in civil society.
Isn’t it ironic?
Commentary
at quite an expense to the taxpayers? Could it have anything to do with Denver’s plans to totally rebuild the Denver stockyard area, which is just on the north side of the soon to be started I-70 construction?
When Landri Taylor, the Denver Public Schools District 4 board member, announced his resignation on Feb. 16, the remaining six board members were responsible for appointing his replacement. The yet-to-be-chosen board member will have the option of running for election in November, 2017. An initial group of 20 applicants put forth their materials. On March 14, the board narrowed it down to 10 finalists, and is expected to make its final decision on April 12 – with the new board member being sworn in two days later. As per the redistricting that was approved by the Board in October, 2014, District 4 includes all of Park Hill from the north side of Montview Boulevard. It stretches to the far northeast section of the city. Thus Park Hill Elementary is represented by Board Member Mike Johnson (District 3) – but most Park Hill residents will vote for a District 4 representative come November, 2017.
Honoring Library Legend Pauline Robinson
Next GPHC Meeting Thursday, April 7 at 6:30 p.m. 2823 Fairfax St., Denver
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