All the News About Denver’s Best Residential Community Since 1961 • Volume 57, Issue No. 1 • January 2018
INSIDE THIS ISSUE PAGE 2
2018 Is The Year To Engage The Community
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Upcoming Legislative Session Likely To Be A Wild Ride
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Effort To Rename Stapleton Relevant To Park Hill
PAGE 13 The Frustrated Dad’s Ride (FDR) cycling group rides out 56th Avenue east, with Mount Evans in the background. The FDR, along with the Park Hill Peloton group, is comprised of committed local cyclists who ride through the winter – some of whom will ride in temperatures down into the single digits. See story and additional photos on page 10. Photo by Reid Neureiter
7 Questions For Melissa Hart
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TRACKS IN WINTER
A Frank Conversation With New DPS Board Member Carrie Olson
Words That Shaped Last Year: Complicit, Alternative Facts, #MeToo
UPCOMING GPHC MEETINGS Thursday, Jan. 4 and Thursday, Feb. 1, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at 2823 Fairfax St. All are welcome to attend.
Colorado’s Newest Supreme On Law, Liberty And The Movies By Cara DeGette Editor, GPHN
The second time was the charm for Melissa Hart, a Park Hill resident, East High grad, and Colorado’s newest Supreme Court Justice. In December, Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed Hart to the high court. Hickenlooper, who also calls Park Hill home, picked Hart from a field of three women finalists. The others were attorney Marcy Glenn (who also lives in Park Hill) and the Hon. Pattie Swift, a judge in Alamosa. Hart was also a finalist in 2015 for the state’s highest court. Hart is a 1995 Harvard Law School graduate, a University of Colorado Law School professor and director of the Byron R. White Center for the study of American Constitutional Law. A left-leaning Democrat, she replaces conservative Allison Eid, who was appointed by President Donald Trump to the 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals. The Greater Park Hill News caught up with Hart just before the holidays. Greater Park Hill News: When Gov. Hickenlooper was talking about your appointment, he was quoted describing you as having a reputation as a liberal academic, and also bringing a “pro-business sense.” What ideas did you mention during your interview, that puts you in the “probusiness” category as a Colorado Supreme Court justice? Melissa Hart: What I said to the Governor is that I would not be “pro” or “anti” any category of litigant but that I believed
PARK HILL CHARACTER | Jack Farrar
Matriarch Of Elm Street Ophelia Mejia: Educator, Innovator, Mom
that every litigant wanted a Justice who was committed to writing clear, consistent opinions that would provide predictability. For all litigants and district judges having rules that are understandable, that are easily applicable, and that allow parties to evaluate the risks and costs of litigation is essential. I believe that is what the Governor perceived as pro-business in my approach. continued on page 8
The gene pool of Ophelia Mejia, who has lived in Park Hill for 56 years, runs wide and deep. She is one of 11 siblings (six of whom are still alive). She bore 13 children. Most of her children went to Blessed Sacrament in Park Hill; all attended Gove Junior High and East High School. She has 30 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Many still live in the Denver area and are educators, keeping alive the legacy of their now 85-year old matriarch. Despite living in poverty and extreme cultural prejudice, Ophelia beat the odds. She became one of the most respected educators in the metro area, teaching early childhood teachers how to work with young children, in particular at-risk minority students and students with disabilities. Mejia was raised in Weld County in Northern Colorado, the daughter of proud, hard-working migrant worker parents, Petra and Magdeleno (Mack) Garcia, who tended sugar beets and other crops from
sunup to sundown. Before landing in Colorado, her father fought with the rebel army of legendary Pancho Villa, instead of attending the University of Mexico, and was ostracized by his family. The Garcias moved frequently and lived in structures that could barely be described as homes. “It was very difficult. We had no electricity, no running water,” says Ophelia. “The ‘wallpaper’ often consisted of newspapers and magazines pasted on the wall. My brothers and sisters and I would play a game based on how many ads we could find on the walls. I did my homework by the light of a kerosene lamp. Racism was a daily reality in our lives. We were constantly reminded of how different we were, of our place. All of us were pressured in school to anglicize our names. So, I, Ofelia, became Ophelia. Belen became Betty. And so on. We were never allowed to speak Spanish in class. Discrimination made me shy.” continued on page 11