Letters To The Editor April 2023
Say No To The Concrete Jungle
By Hon. Wellington Webb
For the GPHN
As Denver voters return their ballots for the April 4 election, here’s a reminder of my stance on Referred Question 2 O.
I have faith that voters will see through all the lies in campaign literature also landing in their mailboxes. Do your homework because this election will greatly impact our city’s future.
The Denver Post has urged voters to vote NO on 2 O because it’s a bad deal for taxpayers. I agree for that reason and others. The conservation easement on 155 acres of open space, known as the Park Hill Golf Course, cost taxpayers $2 million with the understanding the land would not be developed. If we allow this property to be developed, what other parks will be targeted by developers?
Denver should not have to surrender its open space or city parks to address affordable housing concerns. And let’s be clear, this proposed affordable housing is not affordable. The 12 stories in height will block views, which has damaged other neighborhoods citywide.
Sloan’s Lake, Wash Park, Harvey Park, Cheesman, Bear Valley, Ruby Hill, and Chaffee, among others, were investments in Denver, and made as permanent parks for the city. None of these beloved parks were built overnight. In fact, the city secured the land in advance with the actual parks development coming years later. The same is true for Park Hill. We made the investment in Park Hill two decades ago with the conservation easement so that once its use as a golf course became obsolete, it would transition to a city park in northeast Denver.
Measure 2 O must be defeated, or it will become open season in Denver for developers to begin speculating with a new administration and council to open up our other parks to affordable housing development. Because that is exactly what happened with the Park Hill Golf Course property. A private developer purchased a track of land legally off-limits to development — but they bought it anyway hoping political headwinds might one day become an opportunity.
I’m also alarmed that the developer claims 2 O creates Denver’s 4th largest park. Westside claims the park will be 100 acres, which is another lie, because their proposal is only 60 acres of real open space.
I urge every voter to do your research, and make the right choice. Denver cannot afford to allow this land to become a concrete jungle.
Wellington Webb was mayor of Denver from 1991-2003. He and his wife Wilma live in the Whittier neighborhood, just west of City Park.
Historians: Don’t Surrender Colorado’s Open Spaces
We represent a group of Denver-based historians from many different walks of life – authors, educators, former officials, design experts, preservation advocates, and more. Our pattern is to meet most weeks throughout the year and discuss current projects related to historic preservation, including research, writing, historic tours, restoration efforts, and design.
We are sharing comments on Ballot Measure 2 O which, if approved, would remove the 155-acre conservation easement to protect the Park Hill Golf Course land from future development. One of the characteristics which has set Denver apart from other cities has been its iconic parks and open space network. From graceful landscaped parkways to preserved spaces of high desert ecosystems, Denver has been blessed with a long history of placing value on parklands that contribute to a sense of place and to connect the city with its landscape setting.
While we support the need to provide housing and new investment in the city, we strongly oppose sacrificing a conservation easement paid for by Denver residents to be replaced with a master plan proposal at the former Park Hill Golf Course. As members of the community with a keen awareness of Denver’s urban form and its neighborhoods, there are ample areas for infill and redevelopment throughout the city. It is a flawed process on the part of city officials to present voters with a false choice between open space or development.
Denver now has a serious deficit of parkland and open space which has significant dropped its status and ranking for parks. The city’s own analysis of its park system identifies that there is now a 1,400-acre deficit in parkland citywide. Today we only have 9 acres of parkland for every 1,000 people, when the national average is 13 acres per 1,000 people. And many of our most park deficient neighborhoods are in lower-income areas and communities of color (see Game Plan for a Healthy City, 2019 – the city’s adopted park plan – and Trust for Public Land).
We encourage a “NO” vote on the ballot measure – with a message back to city officials to identify opportunities for new housing that do not surrender existing open space. To reclaim Denver’s reputation as a “city in a park,” we need decisions that close our serious parkland gap and decision that direct housing to areas that are the ripest of infill and redevelopment – that is the many acres of vacant and underutilized lands currently in the city.
Building on our past legacy of parks and vibrant neighborhoods should be at the core for creating a future that is sustainable, ecologically healthy, equitable, and resilient — especially to the challenges of a changing climate.
– Tom Noel, professor emeritus of history, CU-Denver, and former state historian
– Mark A. Barnhouse, Denver historian and author
– Bart Berger, Colorado historian
– Jay Fell, professor of history, CU-Denver
– Danny Gallagher, son of state Sen. Dennis Gallagher
– Jim Kroll, former manager of Western History & Genealogy, Denver Public Library
– Katy Ordway, professor of history, Red Rocks Community College
– Stephen J. Leonard, former chair and professor of history, Metro State University of Denver
– Mary O’Neil, schoolteacher
A Word From Faith Leaders
In this time of increasing divisiveness in our country and community, election seasons are becoming more and more contentious. In response, some people in our community have strongly suggested that faith communities should refrain from taking public stances on political issues.
While we implore all people to maintain relationships with each other, stay in conversation, practice civil discourse and seek understanding even when they hold different opinions, we affirm the legal right and moral obligation of all faith communities to take public stances on political and social issues that align with their values. And to speak out when they do not. We stand united as faith leaders to support and protect that right.
– The Rev. Clover Reuter Beal, Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church
– The Rev. Ian G. Cummins, Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church
– The Rev. Claudia Aguilar Rubalcava, Park Hill Congregational UCC
– The Rev. Dr. Valerie L. Jackson, Park Hill United Methodist Church
– The Rev. Genevieve Rohret-Navin, Park Hill United Methodist Church
– The Rev. Terri Hobart, St. Thomas Episcopal Church
– Pastor Inga Oyan Longbrake, Messiah Community Church, ELCA
– Rabbi Adam Morris, Temple Micah
– Fr. John Ludanha, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church
– Deacon Kevin Heckman, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church
Park Lover Or Trojan Horse?
Thank you for publishing responses from candidates in the races for Denver mayor and city council districts 8 and 9 in the February and March issues. Your direct questions about Westside Investment Partners’ plans to develop the Park Hill Golf Course and the conservation easement on that property elicited responses that should help voters who care about these and other issues choose among the many candidates. I appreciated their direct and forthright answers to all of the questions, even when I didn’t particularly like some of their answers.
The lovely ad on page 26 in the February issue for Darrell Watson, candidate for the District 9 council seat, also caught my eye. His promise that “Parks are my priority…” and the history he cited regarding his efforts related to parks sounded good. That prompted me to want to learn more. What I learned brought to mind the words in your Editor’s Note in that same issue on page 2: “Support Local Journalism, And Watch Out For Sharks.”
According to an Oct. 17, 2022 Business Den article by Thomas Grounley, as of Sept. 30 last year, Mr. Watson had raised over $77,000 from a roster of donors who could be considered a who’s who of major Denver real estate interests and developers, including Andrew Klein, Kevin Smith and Kenneth Ho of Westside Investment Partners. (Watson has subsequently raised much more money and has amassed the biggest campaign war chest of any council candidate to date in this election cycle according to the Denver Clerk and Recorder’s Campaign Dashboard.)
Thus, in spite of the Watson For Denver ad’s lofty rhetoric about advocacy for parks, supporters of protecting Park Hill Golf Course as open space need to know that they may not be able to count on him to deliver on their wishes. Instead, Mr. Watson’s candidacy could be just a Trojan Horse for the developers.
John Brink, District 9, Park Hill
Don’t Pick Denver’s New Mayor On One Issue
As a fifth generation Denverite and longtime Park Hill resident, I am deeply concerned about the welfare of our neighborhood and the outcome of the upcoming Denver mayoral election. The redevelopment of the Park Hill Golf Course has become an extremely divisive issue among the neighbors of Park Hill, and will undoubtedly have a significantly disproportionate impact on the upcoming election.
I am in support of the redevelopment of the Park Hill Golf Course, because the development of this private property will address several of our city’s most urgent needs. However, whether one supports the redevelopment or not, it is shortsighted and reckless to pick our city’s next mayor based on this one, single issue.
As the only candidate in this election who had to take an official, public stance on the development, Councilwoman Debbie Ortega had to take a controversial position on a decisive — and divisive — issue, while most of her opponents in the mayoral race have been allowed to remain conspicuously silent about their stances on the redevelopment.
This isn’t a matter of supporting green space. Debbie has been a tireless supporter of parks and green space. She’s fought to expand Denver’s park systems, especially in low income neighborhoods. She has stood up to developers and city officials, protecting and preventing the development of over 1,000 acres of land designated to be parks.
With that said, she is also committed to increasing affordable housing options. Debbie helped establish eviction defense and affordable housing funds, and has connected hundreds of Denverites with permanent, stable housing as board president of the Del Norte Neighborhood Development Corporation. She truly has the best interests of the people of Denver at heart and isn’t afraid of taking a difficult political decision. Regardless of one’s stance regarding the Park Hill Golf Course, Debbie Ortega is the leader that Denver needs. She deserves your vote.
Robert J. Bruce, Attorney-at-Law, Park Hill
We love your letters, and give preference to those that address an issue that has been covered in the newspaper, or a topic that is Park Hill or Denver-specific. Send letters to editor@greaterparkhill.org, and include your full name, and the neighborhood in which you live. Deadlines are the 15th of each month, for the following month’s issue.
Ms. Amy Will Be Missed
This is my daughter Evie, with Ms. Amy. She had Ms. Amy last year. She was the best and taught with her whole heart. I’m forever grateful she was in our lives. She will be so missed.
Kara Nicklas, Park Hill
What They Needed To Succeed
When my kids were at Park Hill, I used to help give school tours to prospective families. I’d take them to Amy Maes’s room and her carpet. I’d tell them about the time I walked into Ms. Amy’s classroom after a time change, and there was a little one curled up and asleep on the rug while the rest of the class was quietly doing a read-aloud in another part of the room. Ms. Amy told me he clearly needed some rest, so he was getting the rest he needed. She met each student where they were so she could give them what they needed to succeed, and she always did it while modeling kindness and compassion. The world is a little darker without Ms. Amy.
Michelle Scott, former Park Hill parent
Editor’s note: These remembrances were submitted in response to the passing of Park Hill Elementary Kindergarten Teacher Amy Maes, who died unexpectedly in February. A story about Ms. Amy’s impact on the community appeared last month and can be read at this link: greaterparkhill.org/news-and-opinion/remembering-ms-amy/