New’s Letter October 2016
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Councilman Wayne New | District 10
1437 Bannock Street, Office Room 493, Denver, Colorado 80202
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Affordable Housing
The lack of affordable housing has increasingly become one of the City’s most important and difficult priorities. With the large influx of new residents coming to Denver, the shortage of available affordable housing and increasing rental and home purchase costs are major problems for both residents and employers. The normal 30% of income used for housing costs is now approaching 50% of income. In addition, homeless individuals need permanent housing with supportive services to help break the cycle of homelessness.All City Council members agree that additional funding for affordable housing units is critical with the only question focusing on what funding approaches will produce the most housing units and provide residents with rental assistance to prevent homelessness. At the September 19th City Council meeting the Mayor’s proposed plan to establish an annual funding of $15 million for 10 years to increase housing units from 500 to 600 units was approved. The bill’s permanent funding would use property tax revenue from increased property assessments and a one-time impact fee on new development. I felt that the Mayor’s bill which would only produce 100 additional units per year would not make enough of a difference with this major housing shortage problem. As also shown in my constituent survey results, I supported spending some additional time to consider revenue sources and levels. Therefore, I voted for a completing bill sponsored by Councilman Herndon that increased the housing funding to $20 million per year using City’s general funds for one year and then either finding alternative funding sources or supporting the Mayor’s funding plan. I also did not feel that adequate resident and business leader input was obtained. Almost 600 residents responded in our recent survey on affordable housing with the following results: Do you agree that Denver has a severe affordable housing shortage problem?
Yes: 73%; No: 13%; No Opinion: 5%; More Information Needed: 9% If you agree that there is an affordable housing shortage, do you agree that increased housing funding is needed?
Yes: 56%; No: 21%; No Opinion: 6%; More Information Needed: 17% With a defined need of 27,000 affordable housing units, should the Mayor’s plan to increase the number of affordable housing units per year from 500 units to 600 units be significantly improved?
Yes: 54%; No: 26%; No Opinion: 7%; More Information Needed: 13% Because new housing unit development will take 2 to 3 years to become available, should the City increase its short term rental assistance funds to help provide additional rental housing for those in need?
Yes: 52%; No: 24%; No Opinion: 8%; More Information Needed: 16% Do you believe the City should utilize property tax revenue to fund affordable housing?
Yes: 30%; No: 51%; Unsure: 19% Do you believe the City should utilize a development impact fee (one-time fee on new construction) to fund affordable housing?
Yes: 68%; No: 22%; Unsure: 10% Do you believe the City should utilize marijuana tax revenue to fund affordable housing?
Yes: 71%; No: 20%; Unsure: 9% Do you believe the City should utilize its financial reserve funds to fund affordable housing?
Yes: 23%; No: 59%; Unsure: 18% Do you believe the City should utilize a combination of all the above funding sources to fund affordable housing?
Yes: 36%; No: 45%; Unsure: 19%
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Denveright
Denveright is a community-driven planning process that challenges you to shape how we want to evolve in four key areas: land use, transit / transportation / mobility, parks, and recreational resources. Some of the key questions to be answered are: As Denver continues to grow and change, what are your hopes, ideas and concerns for the future of our city? What changes in land use, mobility, parks and recreational resources would make life in Denver more enjoyable and successful?At the October 4 and 5 Community Visioning Workshops come share your vision for Denver, hear from others in your area, and learn about the city plans that will guide the future of our city for the next 20 years. For additional information go to denvergov.org/denveright
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2017 Budget Update
Below is a comparison of the 2016 and the proposed 2017 General Fund budgets. The revised 2016 budget is slightly modified due to unanticipated expenses, such as the additional personnel required for the building permitting process. City Council has been meeting and reviewing various City department budget requests and will have the opportunity to present additional funding requests for specific issues to the Mayor on October 4th. The budget will be finalized and approved by City Council in November. 2016 and 2017 Budget Comparison
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Colfax Safety Improvements
One of my most important goals is the re-development of Colfax Avenue. To order to improve the Colfax environment the issue of public safety must be addressed, and two improvements have been approved for implementation. The first improvement is the addition of police foot patrol officers for the high crime areas between Grant and Downing, which has begun this month. The extra police staffing will complement the present off duty officers provided by the Colfax BID. The second improvement in this same Colfax area is to convert 54 inefficient, high pressure sodium (HPS) street lights to efficient, 4000K light-emitting diode (LED) lights. Both have demonstrated to reduce crime, according to the Denver Police Department. The pilot lighting program will receive funding assistance from my City Council office. This pilot has the support of both DPD and area business leaders and will be used to study the effectiveness of LED lights on crime. Below is a picture showing on the left the LED and HPS lights and their impact on lighting and visibility in an area.
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South Harrison Lane Street Repair
Through the efforts of Wastewater Management and Public Works, this section of South Harrison Lane that runs through the City of Brest Park towards Exposition from Cherry Creek South Drive is getting some much needed attention. Due to being built over a landfill and a lack of repair for over 30 years, the street needs significant improvement. The approximately $500,000 repair by Wastewater will replace a portion of the public sidewalk, curb and gutter in an effort to improve area drainage. Public Works will then begin repairing and improving the road with a scratch and overlay. Although this is considered a temporary fix, the long-term repair of digging up the road to solidify the top soil will likely cost $6-$7 million and is proposed for the 2017 general obligation (GO) bond.In addition, much thanks to Public Works for this year’s street paving in the Country Club Historic and Cherry Creek North neighborhoods as well as 13th Avenue, York Street and Josephine Street. |
Volunteer Opportunities
Project Homeless Connect (PHC) is a free one-day event that connects individuals and families experiencing homelessness or who are at-risk of becoming homeless with essential services and resources all under one roof. Services provided include basic medical care, legal services, homeless court, basic dental and medical care, general documentation, food benefits, resume building, wellness services, veterinary services and many other community resources all geared toward helping people achieve overall wellness and become self-sufficient. This year’s event, PHC15, will be held on Thursday, November 3, 2016 at the Colorado Convention Center. Doors are open to guests from 10am-2pm. Descriptions for all volunteer opportunities and training dates can be found at: bit.ly/denverphc. This event is a joint effort between the City & County of Denver/Denver’s Road Home and Mile High United Way.
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Denver Board of Ethics – The Denver City Council is seeking qualified individuals to apply to serve on the City’s Board of Ethics. The Council’s appointment will serve with four other members of the board to oversee implementation of the Denver Code of Ethics. The Denver Board of Ethics, established by Denver ordinance and the City Charter, is an independent agency governed by specific provisions of the City Charter, the Denver Code of Ethics and its own Rules of Procedure. The mission of the Board of Ethics is:
The Board of Ethics meets once monthly (currently on the third Wednesday of every month at 8:00 am in the Wellington Webb Municipal Office Building) for approximately two hours. For additional information on the selection process contact Shelley Smith, City Council Legislative Services at Shelley.Smith@Denvergov.org; or by mail at Denver City Council Office, 1437 Bannock, Room 451, Denver, Colorado 80202 or by phone at 720-337-2004. Denver’s Building Code Board of Appeals (BOA), which oversees appeals of building code-related decisions, is required to include two members and one alternate who have no job-related association with the building industry. So if you are not an architect, contractor, engineer or other building-related job holder, but you have an interest in Denver’s built environment, you are invited to apply for a board/commission appointment by following the instructions on the Mayor’s Boards & Commissions page. Board members are paid $70 per meeting. The meetings are generally held once a month, on the fourth Thursday of each month, except in November and December, when the meeting is on the third Thursday of the month. Email cpdcommunications@denvergov.org if you have any questions about board membership. |
Recycling in Denver is easy, but it’s important that residents only place acceptable recyclables in their purple carts. The sorting equipment at Denver’s recycling processor is great at separating bottles from cans, but trash and unacceptable items are sometimes difficult to remove. Help keep Denver’s recycling stream clean and free of non-recyclable items by staying current on Denver’s recycling guidelines. Take a look at the “Do’s and Don’ts” listed below for some helpful clarification on common areas of confusion: DO EMPTY ALL FOOD AND BEVERAGE CONTAINERS COMPLETELY BEFORE RECYCLING
All food and beverage containers must be empty before they are recycled. Food and food residue are considered contaminants. DON’T FLATTEN CARTONS OR BOTTLES
For years flattening your cartons, aluminum cans and plastic bottles was encouraged to maximize the space available in recycling bins and carts. Today, these containers should not be flattened before recycling. With new high-tech sorting equipment that identifies containers by their shape and characteristics, it’s important for containers to be reasonably intact and not flattened. DO BREAKDOWN CARDBOARD BOXES INTO PIECES NO LARGER THAN 2 FT. BY 2 FT.
All cardboard boxes should be flattened and broken down into pieces no larger than 2 feet by 2 feet and placed inside your recycling cart or underneath the cart’s lid. Breaking down cardboard helps to maximize cart space and also prevents collection trucks and carts from getting clogged. Oversized boxes or non-flattened boxes left next to recycle carts will not be collected for recycling. MINIMIZE SHREDDED PAPER
Residents are allowed to place a very limited amount of shredded paper in their purple carts. However, all shredded paper must be placed inside a paper bag that is well labeled with “shredded paper” and either folded or stapled closed. Never place shredded paper in plastic bags. It’s best not to shred paper before putting into your cart because small pieces of paper are difficult to sort and can cause litter. If you are concerned about the security of certain documents, consider using a professional document destruction company. You can find a list of such companies in our online Recycling Directory. DO REMOVE MAGNETS AND PLASTIC WRAP FROM MAGAZINES AND PHONE BOOKS
When recycling magazines, phone books and junk mail make sure you remove all magnets and plastic wrap and/or plastic bags before putting them into your purple cart. Magnets and plastic bags contaminate the recycling stream. ONLY RECYCLE GLASS BOTTLES AND JARS
Only glass bottles and jars are accepted for recycling. Never put window glass, vases, stemware and drinking classes in your recycling cart. They are different and will contaminate the recyclable glass. Large metal lids from glass jars are recyclable, but should be removed from the jars and placed in the carts separately. Visit the Denver Recycles website at DenverGov.org/DenverRecycles to view Denver’s complete recycling guidelines and list of acceptable and non-acceptable materials. |
Public Hearing on Park Designation Policy
The Denver Department of Parks and Recreation is drafting a new policy that would provide clarity as to the designation status of and the protections afforded to Denver parks under the existing legal framework and to make clear the public process with respect to designation of Denver parks in accordance with the City Charter and City procedures. The following questions will be addressed in the policy:
A copy of the proposed Park Designation Policy is on file with the Executive Director of Denver Parks and Recreation and is available for public inspection online. A public hearing will take place on Wednesday, November 9, 2016 during the regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, which is held at the Wellington Webb Municipal Building, located at 201 W. Colfax Ave., Room 4.F.6 at 5:30 p.m. |
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Police District Contact Information and Advisory Meetings
The Denver Police Department has three police districts within portions of the boundaries of our District as follows:
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Upcoming Events
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Community Organizations
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