All the News About Denver’s Best Residential Community Since 1960 • Volume 62, Issue No. 12 • December 2023
Finding Shelter
’Tis The Season
Northeast Denver To Host Majority Of People Coming Off The Streets In Mayor Mike Johnston’s House1000 Initiative By Cara DeGette GPHN Editor
The tradition of hanging electrical lights outdoors began more than a century ago right here in Denver. In 1914, electrician D.D. Sturgeon was looking for ways to cheer up his four-year-old son, who was ill. Sturgeon dipped some light bulbs in red and green paint and strung them on electrical wire on a pine tree outside his son’s window. Now, holiday colors light up City Hall downtown every year, and light shows can be seen all over the Mile High City. Photo by Reid Neureiter
Highlights, Lowlights And Political Resets. A Look Back At the Year As It Draws To A Close Compiled by Cara DeGette
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Path To City Hall Winds Through Park Hill It’s a fairly easy task to run for mayor of Denver. You’ve got to be 30 years old, a
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Help A Neighbor Out: A Guide For What And Where To Give
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Stampede For City Council The mayor’s race is not the only game in play. Several of Denver’s 13-member council are term-limited, including Chris Herndon, who has represented Park Hill for 12 years. Both at-large council seats are also in play. Nearly 50 people announce they are running for council seats citywide. The election is April 4, with a runoff in June. It’s a done deal that local politics will stay front and center for the foreseeable future.
It’s Baaaaack… Voters have consistently and overwhelmingly supported the city’s conservation easement on the 155-acre Park Hill Golf Course. But thanks to a persistent developer and his friends at City Hall, Denver will again be asked again to weigh in on the future of the property. It becomes one of the driving issues in this year’s election. However, when asked directly — Do you support the developer or do you support the easement? — many mayoral candidates just won’t say.
Inside This Issue
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After a campaign season that stretched through the first half of the year, Denver voters elected Mike Johnston to be its first new mayor in 12 years. Term limits also resulted in an overhaul of the city council. And voters again crushed efforts by Westside Investment Partners to try to build a massive development at the Park Hill Golf Course. The second half of the year has been dominated by school board politics — most notably clashes between parents groups and board member Auon’tai Anderson, as well as clashes between the school board president and Auon’tai Anderson. The upshot? Last month a slate of reformer candidates won seats on the school board. Anderson, who opted to not seek a second term on the school board, has decided to run instead for the legislature. Other news has dominated the local landscape. East High School was roiled by gun violence — first with March death of junior Luis Garcia, who was shot while he was sitting in his car in front of the school. Weeks later, student Austin Lyle shot and injured two administrators inside the school, and then fled to the mountains, where he died by suicide. The year 2023 has also seen much better moments and events. Here’s a look back on a year that will soon be in our rearview.
Looking For A New Mayor After 12 years as mayor, Michael B. Hancock is soon to be termlimited from office. The general consensus is the Queen City of the Plains’ crown is pretty tarnished. A record 5,818 people are homeless in Metro Denver — a fourth of them camping outside without access to toilets or showers or other basic needs. A postpandemic downtown has become a near ghost-town. Serious crime and vehicle theft is spiraling out of control. Working people can no longer afford to live here. The city can’t even figure out its new trash service. These are just a few issues on voters’ minds. Twentyfive people decide it’s their turn to run Colorado’s largest city.
February
continued on page 8
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GPHN Editor
January
qualified elector, and a resident of the city for two years. Living in Park Hill at some point in your lifetime isn’t a requirement. But — as highlighted in the January issue, dating back to 1959 every mayor has called Park Hill home at some point.
At one November council committee meeting. Cole Chandler, the mayor’s director of homelessness initiatives, said the city is actively seeking additional hotels and other sites. Chandler also said that in areas where the highest saturation has occurred (including Park Hill and northeast Denver), the city has “engaged the community deeply.” That comment drew a rebuke from Gilmore, who called such claims “not accurate.”
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2023 In Rearview
As Mayor Mike Johnston makes a mad dash toward his self-imposed finish line to find shelter for 1,000 unhoused people by the end of the year, northeast Denver and Park Hill have emerged as the destination for almost all of them. It hasn’t been a smooth ride for the new mayor or the rollout of his signature program to address the city’s homeless crisis. In recent weeks, members of the city council have publicly vented their frustration and distrust at Johnston and his administration. Councilwomen Stacie Gilmore and Flor Alvidrez have been particularly vocal. They’ve complained about a lack of transparency and accountability, mixed with chaos and confusion over which of the mayor’s chosen housing sites are moving forward, and which are on hold. They, and others, have expressed frustration, distrust and disgust at the way the mayor’s office has communicated — and not communicated — their plans for new housing sites. Denver’s point-in-time count this year showed 5,818 people experiencing homelessness, with 1,423 of them unsheltered and living on the streets. Johnston’s goal is to house 1,000 people and permanently close unsanctioned encampments by the end of 2023. At the end of November, 292 people have been housed, leaving the mayor with 708 people to shel-
ter to meet his year-end goal. The mayor has said that housing will be evenly distributed throughout the city — which has not happened. Instead, the majority of the planned sites are in economically disadvantaged areas, in and near Northeast Park Hill, which Gilmore and others say further concentrates poverty in already vulnerable neighborhoods. These are the announced sites in and near Park Hill (see the story sidebar on page 8 for details, as well as a list of additional existing facilities): • The DoubleTree: 4040 Quebec St. — 450 individuals (plus 75 during cold weather) • The Best Western: 4595 Quebec St. — 136 individuals (plus 75 during cold weather) • The Comfort Inn: 4685 Quebec St. (open since February): 138 families • The Stay Inn: 12033 E. 38th Ave. — 95 households
Rendering of the City Park Nature Play.
A Stream Will Run Through It After five years of planning and extensive outreach to residents, the $7.9 million City Park Nature Play project has broken ground. Just south of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in City Park, the Nature Play will include a replica of a mouncontinued on page 6
At the Library: What Did Park Hill Read This Year? We Love Our Advertisers. Check Out This Who’s Who List Of Superstars
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Upcoming GPHC Meetings Community meetings are conducted on the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., except for July and December.
Meetings are held in person at 2823 Fairfax St. People can also attend via Zoom at greaterparkhill.org/join-us/community-meetings The next meeting is Jan. 4. at 6:30 p.m. There is no meeting in December