Eye On Englewood

Link: http://www.eyeonenglewood.com

What Englewood does right certainly deserves Kudos. In this case, it may be the one man band, Jon Cook, who not only owns much retail space on Broadway, but who also serves up his own marketing schemes, and is doing it right.

THE GRAND OPENING of B.I.T.E.S., on S. Broadway and Amhurst will be a sell out on August 6, 2010, if you're one for samies, soups and brekkies. It is located where the popular Auld Dubliner Pub and the one time breakfast spot, Marmalade sat.

Jim and Dave, co-owners, say that BITES is a spin-off of the Blueberry Cafe. All I know is you can get a hell of a good turkey bacon croissant there, and the crab lobster bisque tastes fresh.

The place is well lit and colorful. A roomy, well-healed coffee bar features at the front end. Made fresh daily pastries for the lean at heart entice your digestive juices in the air-conditioned entryway.

In fact, I'd heartily recommend that City Council members eat their fill not only of the pastries, but also of the small business ideas opening up all around them. They, who continue to state they do not have a plan for their main retail district, Englewood's mainstreet, Broadway, should take inventory of the many places bringing paychecks to them.

While City Manager, Gary Sears, has finally recognized his mismanagement of the City budget, cutting jobs, supplies and benefits across the board, entrepreneurs such as the Englewood ma and pa eateries are opening and flourishing in this economy.

Business managers as well as home bodies alike love a good bite out, and Englewood's restaurants are heads above surrounding suburbs.

Link: http://www.eyeonenglewood.com

During June 7,2010 City Council meeting, the Denver Christian School requested a business variance to open a second hand store on Broadway. The history underlying this request is that the latest version of the Englewood code prohibited various kinds of businesses, including thrift. But in this economy, beggars can't exactly be choosers.

Senior Planner, Langon, suggested changes in the code to enable the School to open their store front. The only question there is whether the code should lighten up across the board, or whether the school will receive preferential treatment.

The School also requested a change to the square footage. Again, Council debated the advantages against the disadvantages, and several district representatives admitted that they had no vision for what was to happen along South Broadway, and did not talk with the business owners, but only amongst themselves. Olsen stated she was concerned that there was no real downtown plan, and also concerned about allowing a subcategory for nonprofits. McCaslin recognizing the limits of government in a unprecedented moment, suggested that it was more appropriate to allow the businesses themselves to determine such things, and that it was better for Council to let out the rope.(See Council Bill 11, See Item 11.b.1 discussion.)

Mayor Woodward, however, suggested that Council purchase a new set of aerial photographs for $5,000, at "a real bargain" and that further he personally used the photos for code enforcement issues against business and residential properties comparing the last photographs were taken. (Item 11-a.1. Council Bill 13).

"With a $39,953 loss anticipated this year,and a 2.5 million dollar deficit in the City, I am very disturbed about our cavalier Council," reported Rick Gillit after the most recent financial presentation at Monday's City Council meeting.

The votes are down the line, six to one, six to one, six to one, but District 4 Representative, Rick Gillit is sticking to his Mantra: "Stop Approving New Spending."

Mayor Jim Woodward's response seemed insipidly lacking in perspective when he said, "Well you know, back in 2007, we were really concerned, but we had a super situation and we came out on top." In 2007, Englewood was still rechanneling sales taxes from Cherry Hills and Greenwood Village. Englewood can no longer do that, so it must either amend it's spending or enact a higher tax on the people in order to make ends meet.

"I am very disturbed at this ongoing trend. It terrifies me that this Council just doesn't care." Said Gillit. Thankfully, Commissioners on the Board of Adjustments and Appeals stood up and took notice themselves in this week's Board meeting directives to the Englewood City Attorney, Nancy Reid.

In the BOAA meeting, two private land owners approached the Board because the present Englewood Code was inappropriate for their properties. Research performed by Commissioner, Douglas Cohn,was presented, showed that,

1. Englewood had originally drafted its zoning codes after Denver's zoning codes in the 1903 (Mayor Jacob Jones, and afterwards, with Mayor Daniel Sutton). These codes established the typical lot sizes as 25 feet and 37.5 feet wide.

2. Mayor Woodward had changed the entire zoning code (E.M.C)in 2004 off of a generated template from the Municipal League of Cities. This code replaced the old lot measurements with a minimum of 40 feet wide.

a. the template was geared towards new emerging cities, not
existing, and did not apply to Englewood's historic issues.

b. the new Englewood Municipal Code did not grandfather the
residents' pre-existing properties or conforming uses.
Therefore, all lot sizes under 40 feet wide are automatically
non-conforming in use.

c. The enacting of the new Code in it's entirety rather than
in smaller topical sections that had time to be reviewed and
researched in detail, violated Constitutional restrictions for
enactments.

d. Owners and developers are encountering logistical conflicts
in these last few years, throwing the City into numerous
lawsuits due to lack of foresight.

e. Owners cannot sell existing residences as a "conforming use"
and are forced to sell them as "non-conforming" uses at a loss
of value because they are under 40 ft wide.

Chairman John Smith III,'s ire was raised, as a multiple property owner and landlord in Englewood. He spearheaded the ensuing discussion and both of the residents approaching the Board for variances this week obtained their objectives. Chairman Smith and the Board of Adjustments and Appeals instructed City Attorney Reid to direct Englewood Mayor Woodward to revisit and amend the zoning code accordingly. The code is the Mayor's own yard work.

Link: http://www.eyeonenglewood.com

It don't look good, folks. Frank Gryglewicz,Director of Finance, issued this week a Summary of the Updated General Fund Financial Report to City Council, Englewood, Colorado. While April is generally the month that a huge influx of taxes show up in the City budget, this April 2010 shows "Expenditures exceeded revenues by $393,740."

Nevertheless, the financial report was listed as last on City Council's agenda on Monday, and in the end, they simply ran out of time to address it. While a lot of people have been screaming about the Englewood budget,--and being ignored by their Council Representatives,-- the real issue has become obvious. Fiscal Mismanagement. It's a simple lack of leadership in the making of financial policies for the kind of economy Englewood has faced for years.

While Englewood was gladly and deceptively collecting the sales taxes from the City of Centennial, the problem stayed so well hidden that Englewood seemed rich. But Centennial caught on to the sales tax drain, and throughout 2008, formed their own Home Rule City in order to fight back.

Englewood City Manager, Gary Sears, continues to spend wildly as if the funds will come from somewhere, but where's that, folks? And also Mayor Jim Woodward feels entitled, as he expressed in his Monday evening address: I've put out enough of my own money for travel, and I want the City to pay for my retreat. Of course, he wasn't obligated to go to any such retreat he has used your tax money for. He simply wanted to go. The upcoming Breckenridge retreat will cost constituents $900 per council member for one night's stay.

Twelve items of "less than last year" representing thousands of dollars each, were listed in Mr. Gryglewicz' Report. But there is no recommendation to cut back in any area of spending. The silence is deafening because it is not their money that is being spent, and Council members are bought and paid to keep their mouths shut so long as they get their retreats and their power showers.

In this week's Arapahoe County political meeting, Gene Turnbull, a member of the Englewood School Board raucously teased County politicians for the same kind of silence. He stood up and said, "I'm stealing from you, and you are not paying attention." Several people finally noticed his point. Who on City Council has the balls to stand up and say the same thing? Mr. Rick Gillit, from District 4, alone. He is the only one who continues to make a stink about the unreconciled spending practices of City Council and Gary Sears.

Gillit sent out an e-mail to District 4 saying, "Pay Very Close attention to the graph on top of Page #9) Our city had a nearly $450,000 deficit in income in April alone. If this trend continues we will be in deep trouble if we do nothing to change. With this in mind I was "SHOCKED", to say the least, that the Mayor - Jim Woodward, Council Member Bob McCaslin - (At Large), and Council Member Joe Jefferson (District #1) would ask for the city to pay nearly $1,000 each to attend a retreat in Breckenridge Colorado and attend the Colorado Municipal League annual meeting/retreat. Some of you may remember that there was outrage last year on the news about how residents felt that this was a waste of money during hard times. Looks like we don't learn much about what the residents feel!

He continued, "I guess what is most disturbing to me is that we may possibly have to cut some services, salaries, and possible employees if the financial situation does not get better and we are sending people to a retreat that is not required. This is so extremely bothersome to me! The city just spent almost $10,000 in March to send some council members and the City manager to Washington DC for the National League of Cities retreat. Again, a non required trip that has not brought any benefit to our residents and here we go again. Please someone help me understand how we can bleed our city dry during obvious hard times? When will my fellow Council Members say "NO"??? How bad do things have to get before they are pressured to stop spending??? These trips seem like a small amount but they could be the difference of whether or not we cut a position, or some other service."

Anyone in the City can contact Representative Gillit at: RGillit@EnglewoodGov.org or call(303) 246-4780. But because he only represents District 4, he is limited in his power to represent the entire City. That should be the Mayor's Job, and he simply doesn't care.

Link: http://www.EyeOnEnglewood.com

On Monday evening, the topic of discussion came round to the City’s pet peeve of the gas operated golf carts at Broken T Golf Course. The carts are not using green energy. But to turn the relatively new carts into brand new green machines, Gary Sears set forth a proposal for Council to consider. The City would be asked to fund the construction of a $200,000 storage facility, and all new electric carts, where the golf carts could be plugged in and recharged every night.

It was estimated on Monday that for every round of golf, a gas operated cart is costing the city twenty cents in fuel. Nobody asked whether upgrading the budget to include the new construction and purchase of "green" carts was really the City's highest priority in this economy.

For a bit of recent history: the City reduced a large chunk of land kept as a long-term investment asset, to the sale and development of the golf course, Broken T, which now serves the interests of the few. Namely: Denver's Singles Golf and Englewood’s City Manager, Gary Sears, who is listed not only as Englewood's Mayor, but also as employed by Broken T in the White Pages, and those who broker deals with him over the green. It seems to me these few interested persons could fit the bill for the twenty cents of fuel costs by raising fees.

Or, perhaps they could hold a fundraiser to raise a new electricity-charged storage facility.

Batteries routinely die, and electricity is the most expensive form of energy Englewood could buy. In eight years, the electric carts at Broken T Golf Course will have to be recycled and replaced, whereas the fuel operated carts have engines that will continue to run.

If Englewood has $200,000 to burn in the budget, then perhaps it should invest in equipment to make its meetings and study sessions more open and accessible to the public. Perhaps it could build bathrooms in the parks that do not have toilet facilities, as one resident asked for last year. But I can see why the City Manager's whims might be considered more important than a common resident's more urgent park request, don't you?

While we are on the subject of priorities, I'll add this. If anyone does hope to address their city on any well-researched topic, they may as well put it into outline form.

Council just changed the rules for wasting their time with your puny requests. You now have three minutes to state your name, address and explain your cause. Forget your research. Otherwise, a newly purchased traffic light will go off and humiliate you publicly. Police bouncers are still available to this Council if you exercise your right to freedom of speech over the traffic light flashing.

Link: http://www.EyeOnEnglewood.com

On February 22, 1010, Dianna Wray Tomasso was asked to speak during the City Council Study Session. Tomasso is a gifted, educated woman who provided her resume to the City of Englewood as her "two cents" in obtaining a National Historic Designation for Englewood's Broadway Post Office. Hear her presentation on ECOG website.

You don't have to listen very long to realize the Mayor and Tomasso had privately shared a letter from the Post Office and discussed the price the Post Office had suggested to pursue a place on the National Register of Historic Places. Deeming it to be substantially unfounded, Tomasso was asked to present her own bid for the project, which she did on February 22.

Whose property is the post office? Does it belong to the City of Englewood, the State of Colorado or to the Private Postal Service? It seems it is the duty of the owner to decide whether they wish for their property to obtain a place on the registry because although there are grants to be had, there are also extremely costly limitations and restrictions to building renovations that the owner may not wish to be subjected to.

It could be a wrestling match. The fact that the Mayor and Tomasso have included Representative Dianna Degette into the mix, suspiciously sets the post office up for a unfair fight by weighing in the interests of the entire State of Colorado to take away its own choice.

In any government building undertaking, a bidding process must be undertaken. Englewood skipped this bidding process entirely. It has it's own historic register of places on which the Skerrit House is listed, and another home at 2734 S. Acoma in Englewood. Neither of these homes cost $5,000 to simply apply for and obtain a historic status. But, a few years ago, Councilman Ray Tomasso disbanded the historical society in Englewood.

Another question one might have is why this $5,000 in payment was granted to Dianna Wray Tomasso in a private study session on February 22, 2010? Aren't policies and unbudgeted changes to the City's finances supposed to be published for a public hearing or sent to the vote of the people? Nevertheless, when Councilman Rick Gillit, confronted the rest of council with what they were about to vote on, City Manager, Gary Sear stated that he had the authority to do it on his own and the fact that he was allowing Council in on the action was simply a courtesy.

Apparently Council did not understand Sear's slight of them and his own undertaking of full power. They all voted affirmatively, minus Gillit's vote.

After all, Tomasso's offer was only available for the evening. The woman had to know immediately or would refuse to weigh in with all her experience and price tag to boot.

Once, again, City Council voted to spend the taxpayers' money without letting them know anything about the issue or the change in budget policy, once again ignoring the Colorado open meetings laws, obviating the bid policy and succumbing once again to Gary Sear's personal power mongering. After all, it was only a matter of $2500, or was it $2800, or Hmmmm. Maybe the City will be stuck with the full $5000 pay check to Tomasso if it fails to raise half from private investors. It's really not Council's money that Council is disseminating any way. It's yours.

Then, City Attorney, Nancy Reid, asked the City to consider another change in its policies. Apparently, the Board of Appeals has been having a difficult time with absenteeism, which prevents a quorum, and short a quorum in light of a hearing, means the parties must wait for at least another couple of months to be heard. The absenteeism of the board members is causing some grumbling amongst residents and developers trying to work in Englewood.

So, Ms. Reid requested that the problem be solved by allowing a faithful alternate board member to step in and fill the quorum space required. After all, he or she has not had a difficult time showing up for every meeting, but not being allowed to vote.

The request, being reasonable, was voted on and passed. Once again, I ask you, is a City policy change of any kind to be presented privately to Englewood Council and voted on in a study session where most residents are not permitted to speak?

Take Note. Voting records and official actions are mounting up.

The only way to change the status quo is to vote differently with better educated persons in the next election, but having just passed one in November, you must wait for a long long time, and who knows what other policies will be enacted behind your backs?

Link: http://www.englewoodcitizens.org

Allow me to introduce you to Jon Cook, seasoned Englewood entrepreneur and developer. Just before Monday's Council meeting, Cook contacted Council Woman, Jill Wilson, and asked to speak with the City. During her Council's Choice section at the end of the meeting, she did her job and introduced him to speak.

A discussion hotly ensued in which Councilman, Bob McCaslin whined about not being warned before the meeting that Mr. Cook wanted to present, and that no-one knew what he planned to say. Then the discussion turned to procedural issues as to whether Mr. Cook could speak during Council's Choice, out of order from where residents are normally allowed to participate. A vote was taken, and Council asked for it. Jon Cook presented to council regarding a incident that occurred, where a representative from the Englewood Community development department made several harassing remarks to Jon Cook and the owner of Colore restaurant.

Colore, is a great little restaurant at Yale and Broadway, staffed by it's owners to ensure the quality of the food and the hospitality to its customers. When I visited there myself this month, I thought, "Now Englewood will give Pasquini's a run for their money."

But the developer, had his tenants, Colore, down his neck after Tricia Langon came with her arrogant ultimatums, "We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way." Apparently, there was no other way she offered to do them.

She was talking about an advertising banner being taken off the building when she slapped her card on the counter. Colore owners responded, "But our landlord told us we could do this."

Her response? "We at the City know all about Jon Cook and we have our issues with him."

Colore immediately ragged on Jon Cook for bringing them into Englewood's domain just to be unfairly treated. After all, as Mr. Cook pointed out to Council, there are storefronts and grocery stores with banners all over Englewood.

Jon Cook ceremoniously handed back Langon's "calling card" to Mayor Woodward, looked at Bob McCaslin and said, "If you have an issue with me, then why don't you call me? My name is plastered all over Broadway with open buildings for lease.

I did exactly what you guys wanted. I gave you the kind of Welcome to Englewood Building you've been asking for. This should be a time of celebration for us...implying that Community Development had ruined it for them.

"But, this isn't the first time Tricia Langon has interfered with us and threatened us," he testified. It is indecent and backwards.

Jon explained many of the reasons why businesses are reluctant to move to the City of Englewood. He also stated that until Ms. Langon is fired, he will no longer be developing properties in the City of Englewood.

City Manager Gary Sears denied that Ms. Langon worked for him or that he had any control over her. He also stated that many complaints come in about various City employees, apparently trying to downplay the incident.

Mr. Cook stuck to his mettle though, and reiterated that he is sick to death of the inhospitable nature of the City. He is finishing up one project and not starting another until the City rascals clean up their acts.

Link: http://EyeOnEnglewood.com

Why should Englewood prohibit the City from prosecuting any definition of household?

Moral issues are taken care of in the criminal codes of the State and City. Being unrelated and sharing a house, is not in itself worthy of prosecution, but in Englewood, the violation of the City's definition of Household is prima facie evidence of a crime.

Rick Gillit, running for District 4 in the November election, says he believes the term, "'Single Family Residence' is purely a real estate term, and means there is one residence per address. It does not extend to the definition that Englewood currently attaches to 'single family residence' meaning that not more than one unrelated person can live under the same roof."

Since his wife was raised in a home that took in families of patients of Craig Hospital, Gillit may be sensitive to the humanitarian side that some boarding houses offer. But, Englewood has ungrandfathered all pre-existing residences that house more than 1 unrelated person under the same roof.

It is clear that Community Development and Planning and Zoning both have limitations as to implementing codes against existing or grandfathered codes, and are relegated in their duties to forecasting development, plan for the future, and not criminalize the pre-existing.

The Department of Regulatory Agencies (D.O.R.A.) agrees. Their jurisdiction is limited to agencies of the State, not residences. Yet, these departments are the ones prosecuting residents for their choice of who shares their home. Isn't this a privacy issue?

In Gillit's opinion, these departments should not interfere inside a home with whether people are closely related enough to share the residence.

Last July, Planning and Zoning Commission members were asked to amend the code so that City could prosecute a single family in the City Manager's neighborhood. Commission Chair Bleile opposed the tactic as devious. Two other Commission members sided with him, but they ended up the minority and the City Manager Sears achieved his end. The case is scheduled for Court, June 4 and 5, 2009.

In the past five years, the City's habit has been to threaten people reported as violating the definition of household with 7-day or 14-day Notices to Comply. But, when it comes down to the prosecution of such a household, the City staff find themselves asking strange questions of City Manager Sears and Attorneys Brotzman and Reid, "How do we figure the unrelated number 2 again?"

Notice, it is not an issue of knowing how to count 1,2,3,4, or asking the City's accountant. It is rather a question of personal relationships. Does the City have the right to determine your relationships?

Says a widowed father in law who wants to move in with his daughter, "Can they kick me outa' here just because my daughter happens to have a spouse with a son she has not officially adopted? I mean, add me into the mix...ya know? Maybe I shouldn't have sold my place."

Good question. In Alaska, the town actually began to prosecute a family such as this, except the ACLU stepped in. In 2008 Englewood's City Council members McCaslin and Penn promoted not only Englewood's narrow definition of household, but also got personally involved promoting the prosecution and intimidation of moral households who happen to share a home unrelated.

Englewood isn't so afraid of the ACLU, because it has your tax money to fight extended court battles totally in the millions of dollars. Their salaries get paid for looking busy, so why not?

But after all the litigation Englewood has engaged in during the past year, a severe budget cut is occurring of up to 15% to parks and salaries.

But, what if a child has had a name change to resemble that of her family's surname, yet, in fact she has not been adopted. What about x-spouses not quite out of the home? Any why should foster children have more legal rights than your own father-in-law and step child?

This election could stop the intrusion of government into private relationships by voting new blood like Broker Rick Gillit to City Council. Keep Council out of your homes.

Link: http://www.EnglewoodCitizens.org

If you receive a City paper called "The Englewood Citizen" you might discover a high-lighted portion at the bottom of page 2, May/June 2009, announcing that the City Council has made their meetings available on their website.

Funny thing, a grass roots group calling themselves Englewood Citizens for Open Government (ECOG) has been recording and uploading these meetings for several months now, pressuring City Council to be more transparent, approachable, accessible and accountable to their constituency.

After City Council discussed whether they would continue to allow ECOG to record and publish their meetings, and finding no way out of it short of criminal liability, they decided to join the parade and outdo ECOG.

After all, an official City website is going to accumulate more hits than an unknown grass roots group, right?

Matthew Crabtree, concerned citizen, must be given the credit for his endurance of four hour long city meetings, and his fortitude in pilgrimaging the recordings of conscious. He has continued to upgrade his services to the public of Englewood.

Mr. Crabtree reports that he has started clarifying who the speaker is on any given subject.

For those who would not recognize their own district representative's voice over any other, and what they might stand for, they may now begin to follow topically what each representative states.

For instance, on April 20, 2009, Council resurrected the idea of mandating paved driveways... spear-headed by John Moore, but if you are not familiar with District representative Moore's voice, you may not realized that he is the one representing the issue. II. Hard Surface Standards.

Council is on a roll with "ungrandfathering" residential properties that were pre-existing to their new-fangled ideas. Apparently, their town just cannot change quick enough for them. In this case, Council will extend grandfathering rights only to those who have gravel, while just weeks ago these were deemed dangerous. They will forego grandfathering of dirt driveways.

The really bad news is that any arbitrary thing enacted by this Council will make residents liable for fines, liens and even threats of jail.

Englewood residents barely surviving hard times can thank their electorates for this finely timed gift.

The cool thing for residents to know is that while dirt is illegal in the new Englewood, road base is solidly safe within the proposed code. Residents just need to declare which one they have.

It was important for me to note in listening to the recordings that Mayor Woodward raged against a great-grandmother and long-time resident of Englewood who came to Council for the second time to represent her opinion about them throwing away Nancy Peterson's various awards after she was injured by an unnamed City policeman.

When she originally caught them in the act, Ms. Cummins represented herself kindly about the matter and obtained a March agreement from Council to put them on public display somewhere in City Hall, alongside City Manager Sear's trophies. But, after seeing some scratches and wear from being tossed away, they decided to put the awards out of public eye in the airlock of the Englewood Police Station.

She, Ms. Cummins, came bravely to Council to tell them that she didn't appreciate her friend's honors being stuffed away from public eye twice, and what happened to their original 100% commitment to her by Mayor, Bob McCaslin and Jill Wilson? She wanted to know.

Mayor delays his hottest topic til near the end of section 12. "General Discussion," when he begins to respond to "Ms. Cummins comments" and then lectures her for her "attack" on him personally. It's a bit of a shameful interaction from the office of City Mayor that can be heard in the last third of General Discussion, during Mayor's Choice section at www.EnglewoodCitizens.org. Monday, April 23.

I personally will stick with Mr. Crabtree's recordings as all of the background noise has been removed from the recordings, and they are conveniently set out per section and per speaker. It's much more accessible and transparent than having to listen to the entire four hours of this Council's official meetings.

Link: http://englewoodcitizens.org/

The topic of Council's April 13, 2009 study session regarding office expenditures and discretionary funds actually began right after the close of last election, when council woman Laurett Barrentine lost the popular vote to coach Randy Penn.

Because Ms. Barrentine had been the voice of accountability and fiscal conservation on Council, albeit bull doggedly, it was not enough to simply hush her voice this term.

No. Not nearly enough. In retaliation for daring to request a line item budget report for Council's review, the City Manager arranged a little parting gift to Ms. Barrentine.

She was billed, then publicly threatened by council's vote to prosecute her in a collection action over $57.00. This bill was in dispute as to whether it qualified as part of her allotted $150.00 discretionary funds. It was the City's opinion that she had billed them and been reimbursed for something not covered by discretionary funds.

She argued that the bill she submitted for reimbursement was indeed included within her line of duty. It was related to her computer access used to perform Council duties.

Council members decided to agree with City Manager Sears that the $57.00 was outside the text of the policy. The text of the policy reads, "Or materials directly related to the responsibilities..."

According to District 1 Council Representative, Joe Jefferson, stated he believes the meaning is wide open within the judgment of the elected official.

Where previously John Moore voted to prosecute a collections action against Ms. Barrentine, he flipped at the Council meeting of April 13, 2009, stating that he agreed that standardized computer access was a requirement of members of Council and within a member's discretion.

Ms. Barrentine knew at the time of the City's collection action against her that it was retaliatory in nature, but she paid the City's claim because $57.00 wasn't worth the cost or trouble of hiring a defense.

I find myself aghast at the City's public humiliation tactic to pursue a questionable $57.00 from a civil servant, while the same officials privately approved another hefty raise to the City Manager's salary, weighing him in at $160,000.00.

In a City where people are questionably surviving lost jobs and failure to achieve merit raises equal to inflation, it's not likely Council or Manager can successfully argue the proper allocation of residents' tax money being their true aim. Me tinks they just wanted a play date with darts at the bar and Ms. Barrantine as the target.

In the final minutes of the discussion, Jefferson requested that he use his discretionary funds for informal district meetings with residents, specifically for invitations. When Wilson asked what he meant by "informal" he explained: no notice would be required, no more than 3 council persons would be in attendance, no decisions could be made.

Its purpose would be more of a communication opportunity with the residents in his district. Jefferson has been talking about implementing this since being voted onto council, better late than never.

Wilson stated that everyone should be invited to a District 1 meeting. Disregarding the rule prohibiting a quorum [C.R.S. 24-6-402(2)(c)]of council at any informal meeting, she stated that she has a hard time understanding excluding people. She favored public notice and an invitation to all people. She specifically stated that she lives in District 1, and would like to participate.

Jefferson reminded them about Open Meetings laws, and that his purpose would not be to exclude anyone, but to allow his constituents to speak freely, without fear. His goal is to provide a casual avenue for communication.

Woodward, Oakley and Moore questioned whether the meetings could be construed as a campaign booster so near elections. But Jefferson's district seat is not one of those available this November.

Moore stated he did not believe district meetings were necessary, and therefore funds for invitations should not come from office supply funds. He further stated that the entire council would have to vote to approve the funds for the single district meetings if it came out of discretionary spending. He admitted the concept was a new one to him.

In the last seconds of Monday's meeting, Moore completely turned about face, actually daring anyone to "take me to court." Some of the last comments in the discussion were John Moore's when he arrogantly stated: "If I believe in my personal discretion that I needs to host a district meeting with only half of my district, I have that right."

Not so fast, Mr. Moore. Your attitude toward your district is opposite that expressed by Mr. Jefferson. While you know you are protected by governmental immunity and your solid dare, who is going to recuse you or prosecute your over suspicious use of your annual $600.00 discretionary budget?

We know you are well aware of this fact. It is precisely because the people are helpless that you can get away with such patronage of your district.

At the end of the day, Council members generally decided that contributions to charities or other council member's needs will not come out of individuals' discretionary funds due to possible abuses of unilateral entitlement of voters' money. They decided that whatever is surplus at the end of the fiscal year is returned to the general fund.

Finally, they decided that members only carried the right to advise Joe on his expenditure, but not the power to interfere or limit his choice on how to spend discretionary funds in relation to his duties.

It looks like District 1 will get its private play date. Sorry, District 2, you will have to take Mr. Moore up on his challenge in order to bend your District Representative's ear.

The full discussion can be heard on www.EnglewoodCitizens.Org.
IV. Council Discretionary/Office Supplies Policy

Link: http://englewoodcitizens.org/

Closed. Closed for the seasons... and "We Are Nothing"... These are the whispers of experts.

During the City Council study session of April 9, 2009, Alan White, Community Development Director for the City of Englewood presented a 20 minute video presentation from a group of experts from Urban Land Institute (ULI).

There is something to be said for being first, and I'm happy to acknowledge the virtue of creativity. Mayor Wolosyn would have agreed. The expert placemakers acknowledged Englewood's attempt at a transit oriented community as being the first in Colorado.

It's always easier to improve on a prototype, but creating the prototype is hard work. I'd shake Gary Sears' hand for this if he'd care.

Community Development Director White cautioned Council before pressing "play" that City staff do not necessarily agree with the experts' findings. Then the lights went out.

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