Tags: housing
Is Historic Englewood Post Office Saveable?
January 25th, 2010There are two post offices in the City of Englewood. Why save the Post Office in old town, on Broadway? Let me list a few reasons.
There is a mural of an Englewood rodeo in the foyer of the Post Office that was painted by a famous Colorado artist. Can you guess who?
The Broadway Post Office is constantly busy.
The building is paid for.
It has a parking lot and an ongoing cycle of traffic to the drop off boxes.
It has streaming pedestrians from the neighborhood.
And for outsiders' access,the busstop is situated directly at the foot of the front steps.
Englewood senior housing is its next door neighbor. Are these people going to get into a taxi and drive two miles south, or are they going to divert their parcels to the UPS store at the Safeway center within walking distance?
Mr. Dolan, in Washington D.C. believes that the Post Office will replace the most needed services with the pick up delivery service now offered by the Post Office. But, the historic building is already paid for. This new service will cost the Post Office more workers, more wages, more vehicles, more gas, more insurance.
And, who will pay for these costs? The shut in's who cannot get access to the post office any other way. The U.S. Postal Service is opening itself up to liability of a class action proportion.
The artist whose work is featured in Englewood's main Post Office is also featured at the Redstone Inn, in Redstone Colorado. With those few clues, the first one to figure out who this artist is, will win a prize.
All others interested in saving the service and the site, please write your concerns to:
John E. Potter, Postmaster General
475 L.'Enfant Plaza S.W.
Washington D.C. 20260-2202
Good luck on all fronts.
Hate Is Not a Family Value
April 8th, 2009Link: http://www.EyeOnEnglewood.com
After publishing my article on Englewood’s civil rights violations, I was sent the following letter.
O Grandfather, Where Art Thou?
April 29th, 2009Link: http://englewoodstory.com
I will go so far as to say this: Everything in a City is grandfathered unless the City is able to prove some license to regulate it.
O, Where O Where doth such a license cometh from?
In Colorado municipalities, they come from Colorado Revised Statutes Title 31, Municipal Governments, michies Colorado free legal which limits powers and are given further boundaries through none other than the Supreme Law of the Land, our great United States Constitution.
These laws clearly state that someone's power, presumed authority or "will" cannot legally over-power or control what rights the law has handed to me already. The mass lynchings are illegal because they are not founded in deference, self-respect or law.
It doesn't matter how much sweaty fervor is passionately invoked or what kind of bribe or slander occurs, if it ain't founded in law, it ain't no good.
Last week in the Englewood Council meeting when Bob McCaslin accidentally, or perhaps conveniently left out of the pre-written invocation, "Help us not to control..." I had to chuckle. Well, it just escaped. I didn't mean to be irreverent. But "arbitrary control" is exactly what this Council loves to do to this fair city by their own elected whims.
But just because they are elected and it is hard to get them unseated, doesn't mean that they have legal rights to presume license over all aspects of residential home lives.
Last week at Council, John Moore played the roll of Mayor and controlled the discussion on Hard Pavements himself. He kept wanting to know what would be "grandfathered" as if Council can simply ignore the City Ordinances and Savings Clauses and has utter authority over the private homes as well as licensed businesses. Near the end of the discussion Moore says, "So what are we choosing to grandfather then? Only gravel?"
Stand Up, people! Where is the Council's license to tell you where or how you can park on your own property?
Once an idea gets passed legislatively, then the full burden of proof rests on one defendant's shoulders, inconveniently cited and hauled to the Judge, to prove that the legislation is unfounded. Since it is the legal duty of the municipal judge to presume the law is reasonable, this individual must have a very strong mind with plenty of time available to find out where the missing links are and present them to the Judge or jury accordingly. If he doesn't have these resources, the illegal law can be established judicially, and then it is almost impossible to over-rule.
So the old maxim stands that all it takes for evil to win is for good men to do nothing.
If you choose not to trust your gut, or defend your right to serve, your right of easement, your immunities, your right to real estate, then you forfeit not only the right, but also the law that governs the right. And if you forfeit the law, you betray your fellow man who depends on that same law.
I was trying to stay one step ahead of myself but now I walk on my hands and don’t look back...
"Though the law itself be fair on its face and impartial in appearance, yet, if it is applied and administered by public authority with an evil eye and an unequal [118 U.S. 374] hand, so as practically to make unjust and illegal discriminations between persons in similar circumstances, material to their rights, the denial of equal justice is still within the prohibition of the Constitution. This principle of interpretation has been sanctioned by this court in Henderson v. Mayor of New York, 92 U.S. 259; Chy Lung v. Freeman, 92 U.S. 275; Ex parte Virginia, 100 U.S. 339; Neal v. Delaware, 103 U.S. 370, and Soon Hing v. Crowley, 113 U.S. 703. Soon Hing v. Crowley, 113 U.S. 703." See, Yick Wo v. Yick Wo v. Hopkins
Submitted April 14, 1886, Decided May 10, 1886,118 U.S. 356.
APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
FOR THE DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
How do we know what rights we have fundamentally? Consider the Privileges or Immunities clause of the US Constitution. One author has then suggested normal people go to the laws of the District of Columbia to see what's fair there. Another suggests that whatever is fair in all the states is fair in your state.
"It is accordingly enacted by § 1977 of the Revised Statutes, that all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no other." (See Above, Yick Wo)
I was really scared that Yick Wo, the laundry proprietor, would only protect those narrow civil rights laws specifically written, but when I went to read that case it was as clear as the blue Colorado skies that everyone in America has the right to make and enforce contracts, to sue, to be parties, to give evidence and to enjoy the full benefit and duties of all laws and policies and access to government and court, and to remain secure in their persons and property.
Neighbors must work hard to subdue your greed, subdue your bias, and subdue being lazy entitled ingrates. Seriously!
Whatever gets sold out for some selfish or shady benefit today, will come back to bite not only you and your white Englewood neighbors and your white grandchildren, but me and my household too because the rest of us have rights only equal to yours, and then your rights are only equal to mine. You need to stand up like responsible, dutiful adults now. I don't want to take the water slide down with you.
W
Embarrassing City Audio Records Now Available
April 25th, 2009Link: 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.
The section ends with Mayor's response to this resident with, "If that's the way you work, then that's fine. We'll deal with that."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.
Better Bang for Your Liened Bucks
April 9th, 2009Link: http://EyeOnEnglewood.com
After Easter, Springtime breezes through Englewood, warming everyone up for a day or two, giving pause to consider what needs attention around the house or the yard.
But, not only in your own yard; Look around. Englewood has some real issues of obsolete housing, dangerous housing, and neighborhood real estate values that directly affect the City's appeal to younger families, thus its school districts.
Can this aging problem be addressed creatively?
Presently, the City Manager and City Council have promoted liening your property in exchange for the city doing yard and weed clean up. Snow removal might also garner a lien on your home. But, Englewood residents need a better bang for their bucks.
Urban Land Whispers
April 16th, 2009Link: 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.
ISO Risk Grading Englewood
April 13th, 2009Link: http://EnglewoodStory.com
A couple of items stand up shouting at me from this most recent City Council meeting. The first is a letter from Lance Smith, who is the head of Englewood's building department.
It was distributed to Council that night, obviating its way around the library's reference packet for the public.
The letter said that Englewood obtained a low grade on risk assessment because it's building inspectors are performing too many inspections every day. ISO recommends two daily inspections because a thorough inspection takes a little longer.
Englewood performs as many as ten inspections a day. Mr. Smith reported to Council how their grade confused him seeing as they can perform so many inspections in a day. But, safety inspections are not a race.
Defying Governor Ritter's Analysis of Fair Housing
April 2nd, 2009Link: http://EnglewoodStory.com
WHAT IS FAIR HOUSING?
"According to HUD, impediments to fair housing choice include actions or omissions in the state that constitute violations of the Fair Housing Act. The following issue [is] shown to be [a] potential impediment to fair housing choice in the State of Colorado:"
Number(14) is "Steering."
here
"Steering is a practice of guiding prospective homebuyers or renters of protected classes (such as color, race,religion, disability, familial status, etc.) to areas with concentrations of persons in those groups." See, State of Colorado Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice, 2005-2010, p 5.
In Englewood, the City Council, City Manager and even the City attorneys not only targeted but endorsed ongoing neighborhood harassment of the Bartnick household for housing four young people of Hispanic, black, Asian and mixed-race origin over a two-year period.
One Tactic of Land Theft-- Decriminalization!
March 29th, 2009Link: http://englewoodcitizens.org/
Englewood's City Council recently cinched the deal on decriminalizing code enforcement issues, like lawn mowing, and snow removal. This, after many hard years of City Manager Sears' labor seems newsworthy.
While most residents appreciate that they do not live under a Home Owner's Association's stringent rules for hard to get repairs, they've been in the dark over the last four years not realizing the crafty hand of their own City management was robbing the pockets of their own properties.
Residents do not believe Eminent Domain (usurping residents’ properties by government tactics or by well-financed developers) is a valuable reparation for the process of development.
At least in an HOA, homeowners will get exterior improvements for their fees. In the City, however, homeowners pay exorbitant interest and fees to pay off City liens...for what? Cutting grass? Where is the value?
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