| Spring 2012 Edition  Councilwoman Kniech educated over 400 students this month on City Council processes. In this Issue Welcome Camping Ban vs. Curing Homelessness:Refocusing on Mixed-Income Housing Denver City Council Redistricting Including Your Voice Earlier in the Process The Bottom Line: A Quick Update on Denver’s Budget Gap City Snapshots Find Us on the Web www.denvergov.org/robinkniech In the Media Comcast Newsmakers Interview Colorado's Most Influential Women: Up and Coming Civil Unions Rally: Full and Councilwoman Robin Kniech's Speech   Follow Robin Kniech, Denver City Council At-Large   Follow us on Twitter @KniechAtLarge 
Public Notices Public Comment: Government and Finance Committee Wed. 6/6,10:30a (registration10:00- 10:15a) City and County Bldg. 1437 Bannock St., Council Committee Room, 3rd Floor Recyclers Corner: Changes to the Denver Recycles Program Upcoming Events Memorial Day Remembrance Parade Sat. 5/26, 9:00a Civic Center Park, Broadway and Colfax Downtown Denver Arts Fesitval 5/25-5/28, All Day, Downtown Denver Denver PrideFest 2012 6/16-6/17, All Day, Civic Center Park, Broadway and Colfax For more entertainment & events around the City click here.
Useful Numbers Police Non-Emergency: (720) 913-2000. Denver Recycles: (720) 865-6900 Call 3-1-1 for: Graffiti Removal Non-Emergency & Info Parking Management Neighborhood Inspection Services Noise Violations Animal Control Permits & Licenses | Welcome This newsletter we’re suspending a couple of our regular columns to update you on important legislation moving through Council. For an institutio n that passes many contracts and ordinances on unanimous consent after committee work-up, it is noteworthy to have so many large policy debates taking place on the floor of Council. I consider the divided votes that have taken place on these issues to be a sign of a healthy democracy. Anything as large and complex as dividing the city up into districts after the largest population shift in the history of the City, or an attempt to solve the community impacts of street homelessness, should by their nature bring out different perspectives and ideas. What is the point of a representative democracy reflecting the diversity of our city if not to bring differing perspectives, facts and ideas to the table? When my constituents are divided, or impacted differently based on their geography across the city, I consider it my job to make sure all perspectives are represented. The public’s input on all sides of these issues has been critical in pointing the way for questions that need to be asked, anticipating unintended consequences, and generating suggestions to improve outcomes in the future. At the end of the day the test is whether those of us who voted differently can still work together on areas of common interest, perhaps outside the formal language of ordinance, but during the budget process, in setting future priorities, or through department-level action. I have every confidence that we can and will do so, and value the perspectives of all my constituents and colleagues and what we as a community are learning from the appropriate and vigorous debates we have undertaken. The only weakness that has emerged from the process is the lack of public input in the public realm earlier in the process. See my article Including Your Voice Earlier in the Process for my proposal to strengthen this component of our local democracy. I hope you will join me in supporting this improvement in the process, so we can move forward. Together. Robin  Back to Top
Camping Ban vs. Curing Homelessness: Refocusing on Mixed-Income Housing Heavily covered in the mainstream media has been the intense debate on whether to make it a misdemeanor to camp on public or private property. My position since the beginning has been that there are very real community impacts of street homelessness and those impacts deserve attention and action.  But there are unintended consequences of the ban as proposed, and I am concerned that it will not achieve the goal of eliminating negative impacts on our community, it might just disperse it to places it is harder to address, because it doesn’t get at the root causes of street homelessness. But I take the Mayor and my colleagues who supported the ban at their word that we are in agreement on the need to refocus and re-energize our attack on the root causes.
There is an old saying that the best cure for poverty is a good job. Well, the best cure for homelessness is a home. A job can help with finding a home, but when there is a mismatch between the market price of housing and the wages of a critical mass of jobs, a job isn’t enough. Over 30% of our homeless are working and it’s not enough to afford a home. So now that the ban has passed, our real work begins, and regardless of how we voted on the ban we should all be focused on mixed-income housing. Read More Back to Top
Denver City Council Redistricting City Council has finalized new Council District Boundaries. Click here to see the new map that was adopted, along with demographic information. Per Charter, at least once every 10 years, the Denver City Council must re-draw its district boundaries, based on the  latest U.S. Census data. The 2010 Census represented the largest shift in population the city has seen in recent history, with thousands of new residents added to far northeast Denver, while other areas of Denver either grew much more modestly or even lost some population. In addition to limitations on population variations, the timeline and district boundaries were heavily influenced by new election precincts. We had a vigorous debate on how to balance the interests of the entire city while complying with these limitations. Read More Back to Top
Including Your Voice Earlier in the Process: Unlike the state legislature which holds a committee hearing on every bill, and most City Councils which have public comment  periods during public meetings, there are very limited opportunities to give input to the Denver City Council in open forums. I have proposed a change to City Council Procedures that would encourage Committee Chairs to include public comment periods on matters of broad public interest during the committee process, or to allow for residents to petition for a comment period. Please attend Government and Finance Committee on Wednesday, June 6th, at 10:30 a.m. Sign up begins at 10:00 a.m. to publicly comment on this proposal. Read More Back to Top
The Bottom Line: A Quick Update on Denver’s Budget Gap Denver’s projected budget shortfall for 2013 is currently $94 million, including a shortfall in human services program funding generated for safety nets like child care and emergency assistance. A portion of this gap is the structural shortfall we’ve been talking about in this newsletter since last year. The gap that isn’t going to go away even when the economy gets better. The remainder is due to the slow economic recovery Denver is still emerging from. The Mayor completed a series of four community and employee meetings in March and is still in the process of evaluating that input and various scenarios for ensuring a more sustainable future for Denver, in the hopes of minimizing reliance on what should be short term cuts that are increasingly difficult to sustain, such as further deferring maintenance of equipment that has already been deferred for years, or closing the city to our residents for five business days each year. His recommendations will be focused on looking to further efficiencies and cost-savings measures first, and then where necessary to modernize our revenue streams to better meet Denver’s future. Recommendations requiring Council action will be vetted through Council committees and processes, and I will send a special email alert with the proposed package when it is available to seek additional input. Back to Top
City Snapshots ► Denver's Airport City Concept Unveiled Denver's Airport city is creating a master plan for how to best utilize the over 900 acres of land DIA currently owns. This plan will allow for Transit Oriented Developments surrounding the airport, lightrail access from Downtown Denver to DIA, and create a community gathering place for both National and International travelers. Learn more about the new Airport City concept here. ► Denver International Airport Changes The next time you head out to Denver International Airport (DIA), you’ll see many signs of progress as DIA builds for the future. Starting in mid-May, DIA will demolish and reconfigure the bridges that connect Peña Boulevard to the south end of Jeppesen Terminal as part of the South Terminal Redevelopment Program. Bridge reconstruction will result in some temporary detours to DIA’s passenger pick-up and drop-off – but parking is not impacted. See more here. ► Denver Public Library: Gigantic Book Sale There will be over 70,000 books, CDs and DVDs on sale.The sale begins Thursday, June 7th and will continue through Sunday, June 10th. The hours are from 10:00am- 4:00pm each day, Sunday closing at 1:00pm. For more information click here. ► Mortgage Credit Certificate Program Denver’s new Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) program can help you attain homeownership. MCC is a tool to reduce the amount of federal income tax a borrower must pay by providing an annual federal income tax credit. This in effect provides additional take-home income for the borrower to use in making a monthly mortgage payment. For first time home owners. Learn more right now. Back to Top |
0 comments:
Post a Comment