Jennifer Coken is battling DanPabon and Amber Tafoya for the nomi-nation of the Democratic Party for theColorado Legislature, District 4. Jennifer Coken is a candidate forState House District 4. She is a cham-pion of progressive causes, a womanof action, and a caring neighbor. Thelessons in her youth taught her boththe inequity, and decency of human-ity, instilling in her strength of char-acter, resolve, and deep compassion.Over the past two decades, she hasled efforts to improve education, pro-tect the environment, support workersrights, reduce poverty, and end home-lessness and hunger. Jennifer’s inspiration comesfrom people like Rosa Parks, HarrietTubman, Cesar Chavez and RachelCarson because they were people whohad the courage to stand up for whatwas right. These people felt it was moreimportant to stand up for their valuesand do the right thing for society thando nothing. Jennifer also was inspired by her Grandmother: “she was a 5 footnothing powerhouse, who taught meabout hard work,making a contri- bution, and beinga strong indepen-dent woman.”At a veryyoung age, Jennifer beganstudying her Jewish heritage,and was horri-fied to learn of the loss of members of her own fam-ily, and the lives of 11 million others.It was from this experience that shevowed to always speak up – no mat-ter the cost. This is why she has spentthe last 22 years of her life organizingcommunities and making sure they areheard.Currently, Jennifer is the Director of the Western Clean Energy Campaign.Previously she served as deputy direc-tor of the Congressional Hunger Center,the acting Development Director of the Public Education Network, anassociation working to advance pub-lic school reform in low-income com-
North Denver
NEWS
March 5, 2010
mailed to14,136Homes
Potter Highlands • West Highland • Sunnyside • Sloan’s Lake • Berkeley
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• a voice for the new North Denver •
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* * * T I M E S E N S I T I V E M A T E R I A L * * * P O S T M A S T E R P L E A S E D E L I V E R B Y M a r c h 9
Coken brings lifetime of activismto House District Race
This month
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Romanoff for Senate
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DPS values Principals?
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Amendment XXI
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Getting Fit
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History of Highlands
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SERVICE SOURCE
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Cadillac SRX
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by Kersten Hostetter
Susan Shepherd and John Haneyenter City Council vacancy race
Two candidates with the potentialto challenge the political status quohave emerged as candidates for theCity Council seat being vacated byRick Garcia.Susan Shepherd and John Haney,different as chalk and cheese, mayradically shake up politics as usual.Shepherd, a Highland Mommie, andHaney, a cop and coffee shop owner,represent much about a North Denverthat has changed greatly in the pastdecade.Both are challenging State SenatorPaula Sandoval, considered by someto be a favorite in the race. Shepherdis counting upon her past politicalexperience to leverage the concerns of young families in the council district,typified by the powerful internet socialnetwork, the Highland Mommies. “I believe the shared concerns of momsand dads are key for the health of ourneighborhoods and the quality of lifefor every resident. Basic issues likeparks and streets,city services andeducation speak to all of us. Andif young familiesrally together, wecan put some- body who livesthose issues oncity council.”It’s a similartake for Haney, adecorated police detective and lifelongNorth Denver guy. “We can do bet-ter for the residents here,” he said. “Iwant to take better care of our neigh- borhoods. I want the banks to take bet-ter care of their foreclosed and vacantproperties. The landlords of vacanthomes need to be held accountable forcleaning up their empty rentals.”Haney, 56, was born and raisedin North Denver, along with his ten brothers and sisters. All four boyshave made careers as police officers,
by the North Denver News
Before the effective date of a newcity ordinance to regulate the loca-tion of medical marijuana dispensa-ries, nearly 400 of the businesses hadapplied for sales tax licenses in Denver.But when a new deadline passed lastmonth for specific licensing for medi-cal marijuana shops, only some 242shops compliedFor the North Denver area, thatmeans some 39 businesses. Our reviewof city applicants show 24 in zip code80211, 10 in 80212, 4 in North Denverareas of 80204, and one in 80221. Thehighest density in the city may be onTennyson St., with six applicants inwithin several blocks of one another.While no reasonable observer believes that many of these businesseswill survive a very competitive busi-ness climate and increasing regulation,that hasn’t stopped some posturing onthe issue. With dispensaries poppingup in neighborhood business districtsas well as more conventional commer-cial areas, it can appear as if there is aninvasion of the pot purveyors.However, the legislature seemsvery likely to narrow the ability toretail marijuana, and those changes,including limits on caregivers, willmean a serious change in the econom-ics of the business.New city regulations will forcefuture dispensaries to be at least 1000feet from existing shops, which willinevitably reduce their growth, andperhaps negative perceptions of theirpresence.Colorado voters approved the useof marijuana for medical purposes in2000, and Denver voters have essen-tially pushed for its legalization insubsequent elections. The state legisla-
Fewer Medical Marijuana licenseapplicants than expected
by Guerin Lee Greensee COUNCIL on page 4see MED MARIJUANA on page 10see COKEN on page 10
John Haney
Two new reports, one produced by theUniversity of California at Los Angeles,the other by the University of Coloradoand the Great Lakes Center for EducationResearch, challenge charter schools, theprincipal school reform approach beingaggressively pushed by Denver PublicSchools Superintendent Tom Boasberg.Boasberg’s efforts have been bolstered behind the scenes by groups funded by oilcompanies and foundations, and pushed by hundreds of thousands of dollars spenton political contributions.The failures of charters are stark:Charter schools tended to be strongly con-centrated in racial or ethnic terms – eithermore heavily populated with minority
Charter Schools discriminatory,say two university reports
students, or more heavily populated withwhite students compared to their hostdistricts. “Only one-fourth of the charterschools had a composition relatively simi-lar to that of the sending district,” accord-ing to the report.Charter schools draw their studentsfrom the extremes of family income,divided into either largely high-incomeor largely low-income populations.“Between 70% and 73% of the schoolswere in the extreme categories of thescale, depending on the comparison.”More than half of these privately man-aged schools enrolled far fewer Englishlanguage learners than did their homedistricts. The schools are radically segre-
see CHARTERS on page 6by the North Denver News
Susan Shepherd and son Austin
March 5, 2010Page 2
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Opinion and Comment
Romanoff the Colorado Choice for United States Senate
In a couple of weeks, it will be cau-cus time, the somewhat antiquated but beloved process political parties use tonominate their candidates for publicoffice. The marquee race is the UnitedStates Senate, and both Republicansand Democrats will begin the processof choosing a nominee caucus night.
We believe the best choice forColorado on the Democratic sideis Andrew Romanoff, the formerSpeaker of the House in Colorado’sGeneral Assembly.
For the North Denver News, this ispersonal. I’ve known Andrew almost adecade and a half. I first met Andrewwhen he was a young guy running forelection to the Democratic NationalCommittee. I was working as a con-sultant for Gene Nichol, who was run-ning for the United States Senate, andmy wife and I were driving Nicholall over the state, hitting rural countyconvention after rural county conven-tion. Andrew was there, working everylocation, too, with an unusual abil-ity to connect with people of all back-grounds and positions. And, unlike alot of hacks who seek party leadershippositions, he was motivated to createchange to benefit people. Andrew wasa standout, and you could tell he wasgoing to make waves. He was passion-ate, committed, genuine. Those werethe same qualities that made him thefirst Democratic Speaker of the Housein a generation just a few years later.And that is the reason that the DenverPost, and papers all over the state edi-torialized that Andrew was the bestchoice for the Senate vacancy a yearago. So strong was his record as HouseSpeaker,
Governing Magazine
namedAndrew the national Public Official of the Year in 2008.Not long ago, I took to the tenniscourt against Andrew. I believe thatcompetition reveals character. Andrewis not the most gifted athlete. His back-hand would be charitably described asugly. But he is tenacious. Persistent. Hehustles after every ball. He doesn’t hanghis head when an opponent smokesa winner crosscourt, and he doesn’tgloat when his opponent can’t reach hisdropshot. He is willing to outwork anopponent, regardless of the odds. Hedoesn’t give up. It’s a matter of steel inthe spine.That’s why Andrew Romanoff is the best choice for Colorado in the UnitedStates Senate. He knows Colorado andits people, and accomplished more asSpeaker than almost any other publicservant than I can recall. He savedthe state from fiscal catastrophe bytirelessly championing ReferendumC. He saved schools across the statefrom literally falling apart. And he wasa passionate fighter against the com-placency that allows genocide to gounpunished.———————————————One of my oldest friends and mydaughter’s godfather is chief legalcounsel for Governor Ritter. I believeI understand, at least in part, why theGovernor appointed Michael Bennetto the United States Senate, choos-ing Bennet over Romanoff and DenverMayor John Hickenlooper. And whileI can sympathize with that choice, I believe, that in 2010, it was not the bestdecision for Colorado.Michael Bennet made strides torationalize Denver Public Schools asSuperintendent, making some realprogress while making some terri- ble errors, like the decision to closeManual precipitously, and the decisionto fire the whole staff at North HighSchool. He also politicized the positionof Superintendent, getting involved inSchool Board elections, setting a prec-edent that haunts the district today, andundercutting the connection betweenour schools and our people.Bennet is a tremendously smart guy,with a ready and accessible intelligence,one of the our brightest political figuressince Tim Wirth. On a recent conferencecall with reporters on a bill he is carry-ing to use returned bailout funds, hedemonstrated a thorough-going mas-tery of issues and he his ruffling feath-ers left and right with a new reformproposal. Several years ago, I inter-viewed him at length and I was struck,not just by his intelligence, but by hisintellectual curiosity— a rare qualityin official Washington. That interviewliterally transformed my thinking onsome education issues, pushed me innew directions. Politically, he is a pro-lific fundraiser and has won some sub-stantive laurels. But he hasn’t walkeda mile in the shoes of the averageColorado family. I wonder if he reallyhas a clue what that is about. I knowAndrew does— I have seen his empa-thy, understanding and endurance firsthand.While Bennet has made strides,most notably in a bold effort to cham-pion the public option in health carereform, he has taken votes, notably onmortgage bankruptcy relief and on theFCC, which shows a tendency to sidewith giant corporations over regularfolk. Bennet has very thin Coloradoroots, and it gives me pause, that whenthe issue turns to water, or the chal-lenges of a family farmer, or the trialsof a small business owner. Will hethink first of the billionaires he knows,and their corporate interests, or thosereal people, the same real people thatI watched Andrew meet those longyears ago?Michael Bennet may make a fineUnited States Senator, if he is notshown the door by Colorado votersthis year. But the choice, given thetrack record, and history, is clear, if narrow.
Andrew Romanoff should bethe next Senator from Colorado.***
—Guerin Lee GreenPublisher, North Denver News
Romanoff the best choice for Senate
Opinion and Comment
Point of personal privilege...Want an insight into the difficultiesplaguing Denver Public Schools?Look no farther than how they sourceprincipals.While DPS administrators focus theirmegaphones upon unionized teachers—the whole brouhaha over direct place-ment— processes they wholly control(without the intervention of state statuteor collective bargaining) are fairly wellscrewed up.Some illustrative cases: GreenleeElementary was targeted for “trans-formation” at the end of November.According to the DPS Job Board, asof this date, the Greenlee position isstill open. That means, despite havinga gigantic, loud and costly process totransform the school, it is still leaderlessthree months later. This means chaosfor the potential parents (not to mentioncurrent ones) at the school, as choicedeadlines have come and gone, and stillno resolution.DPS has operated in recent yearswithin the cult of the principal.Principals, under the original DenverPlan, are supposed to be “instructionalleaders,” spending 75% of their time oninstruction and forging the educationalculture of the school. There is much to becredulous about in this approach, but letus stipulate to this version of reality.So when Edison Elementary’s prin-cipal announced her resignation earlyin February, you would think that therewould be a plan in place, an orderlytransition anchored by a broad and thor-oughgoing search for a new leader. Afterall, Edison is one of a few schools in theentire northwest quadrant of the citythat is at capacity, and has the highestachieving students. But, of course, thatisn’t the case.To date, DPS has communicatednothing to parents, not even a single notesent home. Janice Spearman, the DPSAssistant Superintendent with respon-sibility for Edison, is slow to returnphone calls from parents. And the onlyevidence of a search is a boilerplate joblisting on line, with no description of theunique facets of the Edision community.In short, nothing approaching what youwould assume to be the case, give therhetoric of district officials on the valueof principaldom.
And that Greenlee position may befilled after all, according to letter weobtained for a applicant for that job.It reads, in part, “I received an emailfrom Ana Tilton stating the following,“There has recently been a decisionin regards to the Greenlee principal.It turned out that there were severalinternal applicants. I will let you knowwhen we are able to announce it publi-cally. I do hope you are still interestedin a principalship. This completelyadded to my disbelief and disenchant-ment with the district process.“My concerns continue to be whatI stated previously; the need for anInstructional Leader that reflects thecommunity, is vested in the commu-nity and can appropriately commu-nicate with the community. There isan additional concern that a personinvolved in the interview process asthe INTERVIEWER ended up beingplaced into that position, and now is being called an “internal candidate”.It is important to understand that pro-cess affects the public as a whole. Theway this process was handled and theultimate decision can tarnish the pub-lic perspective of the District.”“I felt that I needed to express myfrustration with the process as well aslet my concerns be known. I believethe Board of Education needs to reviewthis practice as it appears to be quiteunfair and may have a negative impacton community trust.”
—Guerin Lee Green
Denver Public Schools value principals?
NO CHARTER PIMPS
Additions & RenovationsKitchensBathroomsBasementsPorches / Pergolas / Decks
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An out-of-state special interest group fueled by oilcompany dollars is “organizing” parents in North Denver.
Stand for Children came to Denver to elect pro-charter school boardcandidates to the Denver School Board (
Stand for Children’s rst push
in Colorado is the election for Denver’s school board — the governingbody that is effectively Boasberg’s boss—
Denver Post, 9/29/2009
)Now they are in our neighborhood, targeting our School Boardmember, Arturo Jimenez.Do we need pro-charter, oil money fueled organizations telling ushow to vote in North Denver? Do we want out-of-state specialinterests targeting our elected officials?We don’t need organizations spending hundreds of thousands ofdollars to attack our representatives.
Tell Stand for Children we don’t need someone else to play politics with education in our community.
To learn more and fight back go to charterpimps.com
March 5, 2010
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Denver’s favorite doggie, Lulu,cruises around the city highlightinga different neighborhood eachmonth.Guess where Lulu is in Denver andwin a $50 gift certificate to a greatneighborhood restaurant.
Where in
Denver
is Lulu?
To play log on toTheDenverRealtor.comorcall Liz Rozum at303.525.5128.
Where in Denver is Lulu?
930 Lincoln Street, Denver
303.839.5100
|
www.dazzlejazz.com
dazzle
food | lounge | jazz
March 5
BOB MONTGOMERY QUINTET
Chet Baker / Gerry Mulligan Tribute
March 6
BASSIST PAUL WARBURTONwith PIANIST DON GRUSIN
“Denver jazz magic!”
March 11
JOHN GUNTHER, MULTI-REEDINSTRUMENTALIST
with Guitarist Brad Shepik
March 12 & 13
WYCLIFFE GORDON:A MASTER IN BRASS
presented by Guitarist Dave Corbus
March 14
PIANIST ART LANDE /PAUL McCANDLESS
a gifted multi-instumentalist and composer
March 18 & 19
ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT
playing music from his 3rd Blue Note album,
Double-Booked
March 30 & 31
RON MILES TRIO
with leading Jazz Guitarist and ComposerBill Frisell and Drummer Brian Blade
Denver’s
On February 18th, PresidentObama woke up in Washington DC,met with the Dalai Lama to the chagrinof China, and then flew to Denver tostand up on behalf of Senator MichaelBennet, in preparation forthe March 16th Democraticcaucus. This election cyclethere are two democraticsenator candidates for considerationat the caucus, Andrew Romanoff andMichael Bennet. Ticket holders waitedfor more than two hours in a linethat wrapped around the block slowlymoving through the security processand into the Fillmore Auditorium onColfax. Over 2500 people in line sharedfood and stories, discussed our compli-cated health care dilemma, and dem-onstrated a willingness to be activeparticipants in the community.Obama spoke to the challengeshe faces in pressing for change inWashington DC. He indicated thatBennet, who is not a career politician,is often scratching his head at the lack of logic in the political process. It’seasy to be discouraged observing theclaims of government to drive Americain a healthy, efficient direction whenit doesn’t appear that the governmentitself is healthy or efficient. Obamaadmitted the biggest challenge for himright now is creating consensus. Hesaid, “We’re going to have to changethe ways of Washington, to solve theproblems that keep holding us back,and we have no time to waste. This isa problem that transcends both parties,what’s happening in Washington rightnow… We need leaders determinedto break through the partisan gridlock to get the tough stuff done… peopleare fed up because it’s not a game.”Obama is striving to alterthe process that has ledto the term “political” beingdefined as complicated bureaucracywith a requirement to present oneself in a certain acceptable man-ner rather than in a trans-parent and authentic way.At the rally Obamaendorsed Michael Bennet for electionas a Colorado Senator. Bennet has beenserving for a year and was appointedto fill the seat vacated by Ken Salazarwho was appointed last year by Obamaas Interior Secretary. Many high-levelDemocrats in Colorado governmentwere in the house but not all stoodup to endorse Bennet. Present wereCongressman Jared Polis, Governor BillRitter, Senator Mark Udall, LieutenantGovernor Barbara O’Brien, DenverMajor and gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper.The environment of the Fillmore,traditionally a rock-n-roll concertvenue had a personal and celebratoryfeel. Obama’s message didn’t addressthe issues but focused on the systemthat seems to be preventing the issuesfrom being dealt with in Washington.It’s clear from his talk and recent newsout of Washington that he’s fightingpolitics as usual and won’t give upon making transformation happen.Obama is holding space for changerather than getting dragged down intothe mire that perpetuates a system thatis broken. Let’s hope he can point thismassive ship in a positive direction.
Natalie Cutsforth is a freelance writerand consultant living in NW Denver.Follow her blog on accessing your intu-ition at http://nataliecutsforth.com***
Natalie CutsforthNorth Denver Notions
Obama inthe house
President Barack Obama with Colorado Senator Michael Bennet at the Fillmore February 18.Photo by Peggy Crimmins.
New pick-up location Highland United Methodist Church 3131 Osceola
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