COUNCILMAN KASHMANN ON VIRGINIA VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT
JANUARY 2018
PAGE 2
CHERRY CREEK RESIDENTS ARE GIVING THE CITY AN EARFUL OVER PARKING
PAGE 7
Digital and print community newspaper founded in 1978.
FREE!
South Denver rallies around South High Food Bank By Haines Eason
South High students pose with author Helen Thorpe, center, author of Soldier Girls and Just Like Us and a new book called Newcomers writen about South High School. Read more on page 21. Photo by Haines Eason.
So often we are notified of a need, but rarely do we hear of that need being met. This is not to say that we necessarily live in ungenerous times, but often our rapid-fire news cycle doesn’t have time to document a story’s fallout. However, the Denver South High Food Bank, a food pantry serving South High students and their families, was the subject of a cover story in the November 2017 issue of The Profile. And, according to Greg Thielen, one of the Food Bank’s co-coordinators, community response to the story was overwhelming. “As a result of the article in the Washington Park Profile we’ve seen this outpouring of generosity in this community,” he said recently on location. “It’s just been wonderful and amazing to see. We’ve had people donate food; we’ve had people donate financially. We’ve had an increase in volunteers. Financial contributions have been in the thousands of dollars, and we’ve had hundreds and
: CONTINUED ON PAGE 13
Citizen support to address Wash Park geese issue mounting By Jennifer Turner
Washington Park is one of Denver’s gems. However, if you spend even a few minutes there, it’s hard to miss the Canadian geese and their droppings. The geese population is at its peak right now due to the seasonal migration. Wash Park resident Steven Spirn and a group of like-minded neighbors are fed-up with all of the poop. They want the city to formally recognize the geese as a problem, and develop and implement a plan to deal with them. In 2016, Spirn started Citizens to Restore Our Parks and the group’s one issue is the geese. They have a petition on change. org detailing how they want the city to address the issue. As of December, it had 559 signatures and a wide range of colorful comments and complaints, including remarks from people who avoid the park because they feel the geese excrement is a health hazard and downright disgusting. The petition signature count has grown without Citizens to Restore Our Parks conducting any sort of awareness or marketing campaign. “This is a problem you can literally see on your shoes when you get home,” said Spirn who is a lawyer and has a Ph.D. in Labor Relations and Organi-
zational Behavior. Anecdotally, he says nine out of every 10 people he talks to agrees there is a problem, but don’t know what to do about it. “What I have learned in 40 years of working with public officials is they will respond to constituents if there are enough concerned about the same problem, and if the issue comes to the forefront,” said Spirn. He continued, “I also understand there is only so much money to go around. It’s a question of priorities and desire to solve problems. We fully understand Denver has lots of needs for its resources, but are not sure this problem is being recognized.” Spirn acknowledges the issue is not unique to Wash Park and impacts neighborhoods across the Front Range. District 6 City Councilman Paul Kashmann hosted a community meeting on the geese in 2016 and is open to more discussion on the topic. He acknowledges certain areas of the city are more affected than others. “If the situation continues to be unfairly impactful, I would be happy to facilitate a conversation with Parks and Recreation on how their plans to mitigate the situation are working,” he said. The Front Range resident Canadian geese population is 20,000-30,000
according to Denver’s Wildlife Program Administrator Vicki Vargas-Madrid. This number can dramatically increase October-March during the seasonal migration. Vargas-Madrid oversees the city’s efforts to monitor and control the geese population. Two of the primary ways the city is mitigating population growth is hazing the geese with a machine called the “goosinator,” and
oiling eggs. She and her team “goosinate” one or two times per week, September through March, at the nine parks that have water features, including Wash Park and City Park. They stop in March when the mating season begins. March-August they oil eggs to prevent new goslings from hatching. This
AS DEVELOPMENT BOOMS ON BROADWAY, WE TAKE A LOOK AT GATES' PAST. PAGE 12
KEEP THE GIVING SPIRIT GOING INTO THE NEW YEAR: CONSIDER THESE ORGS. PAGE 14
A LITTLE MINDFULNESS IN THE DARK TIMES OF THE SEASON GOES A LONG WAY. PAGE 16
DIANA HELPER OFFERS UP SOME "RESOLUTIONARY" THINKING. PAGE 19
A recent "geese scene" at Denver South High School. Photo by Haines Eason.
: CONTINUED ON PAGE 19