Volume 55, Issue No. 5
A Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. Publication
May 2016
A Comedy of Errors Nothing Funny About DPS Failure To Appoint Board Member
schools Update
Lynn Kalinauskas
GPHC Education Chair
In the famous Oblio’s golf cart: Tommy Gilhooly, in the driver’s seat. Clockwise, daughter Brooklyn, wife Nicole, General Manager Suzanne Kiani, son Sean, son Jimmy. Photo by Cara DeGette
Oblio’s Pizzeria Comes Of Age You Go For The Pizza. You Go Back For Community By Cara DeGette Editor, GPHN
Everybody eats at Oblio’s. Children, the parents of children, construction workers, other restaurant owners, teachers, hairdressers, mortgage brokers, magazine writers, book lovers, orthodontists, landscapers, musicians, real estate mavens, plumbers. Heck, even the governor of Colorado eats at Oblio’s.
Here’s a story that Gov. John Hickenlooper recently shared with the Greater Park Hill News, highlighting just how much he likes Oblio’s: “When [my son] Teddy was young and in his first years of elementary school, we headed into Oblio’s for dinner on a snowy night,” Hickenlooper said. “In the restaurant were two of his classmates and their families, which turned out to be a boisterous reunion for the kids and a great way to get to
know some of the parents. Oblio’s plays that role in the Park Hill neighborhood, where new residents connect with residents of longer standing. It’s a haven for neighbors and brings life to the neighborhood.” This month, Oblio’s turns 20 years old. When original owners Danny and Dawn McKay opened the restaurant at 22nd and Kearney, the business block was in disrepair, rampant with criminal activity. There was continued on page 6
Offshoring Oreos
Help Save American Jobs. If It’s Not Made In The USA, Put The Cookies Down By Dave Felice A decision by a multi-national corporation to move Oreo cookie production from Chicago to Mexico has prompted some Denverites to think about American jobs and domestic products. “One person may not be able to change the world, but buying American-made products can make a difference one purchase at a time,” says Tracey MacDermott, Chair of Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. “We help ourselves by purchasing American goods. And if it’s a non-essential product made overseas, put it down and walk away.” Those supporting bakery workers who are losing their jobs in Chicago say buying
Oreos made only in the U.S. is an important way to demonstrate that public interest is more important than profit. Some even suggest they will stop buying the sandwich cookies altogether. “Global commerce is extremely complex, and corporations have every prerogative to increase profits,” says Dan Severt, President of Local 26 of Dave Felice the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union (BCTGM) in Denver. “But when a company like Mondelez puts several hundred workers out of a job and shifts production of an iconic American product to Mexico, it’s time to re-examine
City Matters
In July 1911, the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) named its chocolate sandwich cookie OREO biscuit. At the company’s 75th Anniversary in 1986, Oreo was known as the best-selling cookie in the world. This photo shows a reproduction of a 1918 advertisement for Oreo.
City Park Ice Cream Social June 2
Page xx 11
Park Hill Fine Arts Fest May 20-22
Page xx 10
Inside This Issue
Page Pagexx 9
April2016 May 2016
continued on page 7 Garden Walk: Is Winter Finally Over?
When Landri Taylor resigned from the Denver Public Schools Board on Feb. 16 to spend more time with his family, the remaining board was required to appoint a replacement within 60 days. What followed was a chain of events that culminated in the announcement that MiDian Holmes would be appointed to fill the seat – only to withdraw two days later after past convictions of child abuse and inaccurate claims of a college degree came to public view. The entire episode left many astonished at the failure by the school district to properly vet their top pick of 20 candidates. In a hastily arranged press conference on April 18, DPS President Anne Rowe, announced the board would not vote to appoint Holmes after all. Rather, Rowe indicated she would appoint a new District 4 representative, as is legally allowed. Insisting the process had been “extremely transparent,” Rowe acknowledged the failed appointment of Holmes to the board. “We didn’t have all the information,” Rowe said.
The first 55 days In February, Nancy Mitchell, chief communications officer for DPS, announced the search for a replacement in District 4. The district is the largest in DPS, extending from Green Valley Ranch and Montbello through Stapleton, Park Hill and extending to the Cole and Whittier neighborhoods. It includes all of Park Hill north of Montview Boulevard. However, Mitchell mistakenly described the district as limited to the “far northeast.” After Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. pointed out the mistake to DPS, it was corrected on DPS communications. On April 12, the board announced Holmes, a Montbello resident, would serve out Taylor’s term. She was their top pick of 20 people who applied. This was no surprise to many, as Holmes has been a long time advocate of the Board’s reform agenda. She has, among other positions, vocally endorsed school turnarounds in northeast Denver that resulted in a number of neighborhood schools, including Montbello High School, being shuttered and replaced by charters. When Holmes was appointed, board member Mike Johnson was quoted in the online education news outlet Chalkbeat, saying, “I feel like she’s almost a board member already, she’s been so involved in the district for so long.” Indeed, Holmes had been a vocal advocate of DPS reforms as the Denver chapter chair of Stand for Children, which was formed in continued on page 5
Next GPHC Meeting Thursday, April May 57 at 6:30 p.m. 2823 Fairfax St., Denver
This newspaper is made possible through the support of our advertisers and members. If you are not already a member, please consider joining the Greater Park Hill Community, Inc.