Jacob's Golden Update (October 19, 2022) - Election Edition

Jacob's Golden Update: Election Edition
October 19, 2022

Hi Golden (and beyond) friends and neighbors – it's that time again. Ballots dropped Monday and should start showing up in mailboxes any day (mine arrived yesterday). Every election cycle I share my thoughts and voting recommendations. I hope you find them useful, and whether you agree with them or not please be sure to vote.

How to Vote

• If you are new to Golden and haven't registered yet, you still can do so online until October 31, either online, via mail (must be postmarked by 10/31), or in person at a voting center (which you can do all the way through election day).

• If you haven't received your ballot by around October 24, contact the Jeffco Elections team, or just go to any In-Person Voter Service and Polling Center (which open on 10/24).

• You can vote by mailing your ballot no later than October 31 or by delivering it to one of the 24-hour ballot drop boxes no later than 7 pm on November 8.

• If you need any other info check out Jeffco's Election Information webpage.

For most Golden folks, the best In-Person Voting Service and Polling Centers will probably be Golden City Hall (911 10th St) or Jeffco Elections Division (3500 Illinois St, Suite 1100).

For most Golden folks, the best ballot drop boxes will probably be School of Mines (1400 Illinois St), City Hall (911 10th St), the Jeffco Courts and Admin Building (northeast side, 100 Jefferson County Pkwy), or Jeffco Elections Division (3500 Illinois St).

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Candidates

7th Congressional District: Brittany Pettersen
I’ve known Brittany for a long time and have the deepest respect for her work ethic, intelligence, and thoughtfulness. She has been a powerhouse at the State Legislature (where she currently serves as a State Senator) and I think will be an exceptional Congressional Representative for Golden.

Jefferson County Commission: Lesley Dahlkemper
There are a bunch of good reasons to support Lesley in her reelection campaign. I’ve appreciated working with her on issues like wildland fire mitigation, and she’s been part of an overall shift at the county in a direction that aligns much better with Golden’s vision and values. It’s also worth mentioning that her opponent was a particularly enthusiastic partisan of the plan to build a high-speed superhighway through Golden.

Jefferson County Clerk: Amanda Gonzalez
I've been deeply impressed with George Stern's work as our County Clerk these past four years, improving how vehicle registration and other parts of the office is run, making it more convenient to vote, and making it easier to get the information you need about the officer and its services. I meet Amanda earlier this year and am very impressed, and think she will pick up where George is leaving off.

Colorado State House District 27: Brianna Titone
Because of redistricting, Rep. Titone is new to Golden but she’s not new to the Legislature. I’ve had the opportunity to work with her these past couple of years on a number of bills. She’s smart, earnest, and takes seriously her commitment to listen to the range of perspective and then make what she feels is the most reasonable decision. I think she’ll be a strong, pragmatic voice for Golden.

U.S. Senate: Michael Bennet
I’m not sure what image the title “U.S. Senator” conjures for most people, but I am pretty sure Michael isn’t it. He’s not showy or flashy, he’s not spotlight-hungry, and he tends to avoid the partisan rancor. He’s also one of the smarter and more thoughtful Senators, with clear values pragmatically applied. In my view he is doing a great job and I will be voting for him.

State Treasurer: Dave Young
This is one of those seats where I mostly just want someone who understands the role and is competent at performing. Everything I know about Dave Young, the current Treasurer, aligns with that.

In the interests of time and getting this email sent now that the ballots are out, I’ll just say about the following folks that I’ve worked with all of them, and while I don’t always agree with all of their views I do find that they generally align with my values and are doing a good job in their respective roles.

• Governor: Jared Polis

• Lt. Governor: Diana Primavera

• Attorney General: Phil Weiser

• Secretary of State: Jena Griswold

• Colorado State Senate District 22: Jessie Danielson

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Ballot Measures

Amendment D: Yes
The Legislature created a new judicial district by splitting an existing one in half. This would allow judges to be assigned to the new district. I don’t know of any downside.

Amendment E: Yes
Currently, disabled veterans benefit from a property tax exemption. This would extend the benefit to surviving spouses of these veterans after they die.

Amendment F: TBD
This measure would change state rules on bingo games and raffles to make it easier for nonprofits to use these for fundraising. I don’t love expanding gambling but do love supporting nonprofits. I haven’t decided yet how I’ll vote.

Proposition FF: Yes
This substantially expands healthy food programs in schools, helping to ensure that all kids can get healthy school meals regardless of family income, which I strongly support. The funding comes from capping state income tax deductions for households making more than $300,000 a year.

Proposition GG: Yes
For future ballot measures that change the state income tax rate, this would require including a table showing how the measure would impact voters.

Proposition 121: No
This would reduce Colorado's relatively low state income tax rate from 4.55% to 4.4%. Most of the benefit would go to the wealthiest Coloradans (as I understand it, three-quarters of Colorado taxpayers would receive a tax cut of less than $63 per year, while those with incomes above $1 million will see a reduction of $6,647). We are often frustrated by Colorado’s poor performance on funding for schools, higher education, health care, and other priorities. This measure would further hurt the state’s ability to fund all of these things.

Proposition 122: Yes
This would allow for the medical use of natural psychedelic substances (such as psychedelic mushrooms) and would decriminalize simple possession. I think it’s always worth asking hard questions about measures like this, but – as with marijuana – this seems to pass the test. As with medical marijuana, the research shows that these substances can have real therapeutic value for people experiencing PTSD, depression, and other mental health challenges.

Proposition 123: Yes
This one is complicated. Simply put, in TABOR surplus years, this measure would reduce the amount of TABOR refunds sent to Colorado taxpayers and use those dollars to fund affordable housing programs. In non-surplus years, this measure would mean that affordable housing programs get an automatic portion of the state’s discretionary spending, likely reducing the amount available for other critical priorities like transportation, education, and public health. I’ve struggled on this one. Affordable housing really is a serious problem all over Colorado (this isn’t a problem the market is solving on its own), and it hits low-income folks the hardest. I’m very reluctant to build more fixed funding formulas into the Constitution that even further hamper the state government’s ability to respond to changing circumstances. My understanding, further, is that the structure of measure will make it very difficult for smaller communities to access these funds. I don’t love it. But this is a statutory rather than Constitutional measure, however, which means the Legislature could change it if they feel necessary, so it would establish affordable housing as a serious statewide priority while still preserving the Legislature’s ability to make changes. It’s not ideal, in my view, but it’s valuable enough to support.

Proposition 124: No
This would allow liquor store chains to expand their number of locations. The measure is heavily funded – surprise – by a massive out-of-state liquor store chain. This would almost certainly harm locally owned businesses in Colorado. As State Representative Chris Kennedy put it, I'd prefer to stand with small breweries and retailers over large ones.

Proposition 125: No
This would allow grocery and convenience stores to sell wine (in addition to full-strength beer, which they can sell currently). As with Proposition 124, this would likely benefit big supermarket and convenience store chains at the expense of locally owned businesses.

Proposition 126: No
Currently, alcohol delivery is allowed when it’s done by a store employee, which helps ensure that alcohol is not delivered to underage drinkers. This measure would third party vendors to deliver alcohol. I like the idea of making it easier for smaller restaurants to more readily compete on food delivery, which this would probably do. But it bypasses most of the systems now in place to prevent kids from buying alcohol (point of purchase controls, training on recognizing fake IDs, liquor license penalties, etc.). It’s hard to see how this wouldn’t simply result in more kids accessing more alcohol. As with medical marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms, the right balance to my mind makes it easy for adults to make their own choices while having a strong system in place to prevent kids from accessing those substances.

Jeffco Issue 1A: Yes
This would mean that when Jefferson County gets grants from the state, it won’t force the county to just issue more in TABOR refunds (completely undermining the value of getting state grant funding).

Jeffco Issue 1B and 1C: Yes
These measures would allow for marijuana sales and manufacturing in unincorporated Jefferson County.

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Feel free to share this email with anyone you think might find it useful and reach out anytime with suggestions, questions, or other thoughts.

Jacob's Golden Update (April 5, 2022) - South Table & Coorstek Rezoning

Hi folks – two quick updates:

1) New South Table Mountain Development Proposal (very time sensitive)

Proposals to develop South Table Mountain (more than it already is) have, over the years, engendered fierce opposition from Golden residents. It's been a while since we had to contend with a significant threat, but here we are again. This is really more of an old threat that's been revived, specifically a proposal to construct a 10-acre solar farm, and while Golden and Golden residents are generally supportive of solar development, there has long been a strong consensus that the top of South Table Mountain isn't the right location.

The proposal involves private property in unincorporated Jefferson County, and there are real questions as to whether the proposal meets Jeffco's requirements.

I appreciate that City Council weighed in with the Jefferson County Board of Adjustment. I wish it had more clearly expressed opposition, but it did clearly convey that City Council is concerned about it. And I think speaking at the Board of Adjustment meeting tomorrow morning would also be an effective way to help influence the outcome (for anyone in the community and for members of City Council). You can use City Council's letter and the staff memo for more details.

The meeting is scheduled to begin around 9am and this hearing ("Special Exception: Bear Creek Development Corporation") is the second main agenda item. You can attend and provide testimony in person or virtually. The details are on this agenda document, and this is a page with more info on their hybrid hearing format.

2) CoorsTek Redevelopment

After a welcome slowing-down of the proceeding to give the community and Planning Commission a chance to catch up, the proposed CoorsTek rezoning is back at Planning Commission tomorrow evening.

My post from February also might be helpful if you are new to the issue or just want a refresher (The CoorsTek Rezoning: 'A Once in a Generation-Scale Development').

I haven't seen any proposed changes to their original submission, so it's possible they've made adjustments that will reasonably address community concerns. Absent such changes, I have the same concerns:

• The Planning Commission's consideration should be focused on legally enforceable commitments made by the applicant. If it's not locked in through PUD/ODP or otherwise legally enforceable, it's not relevant to whether the proposal is appropriate.

• The fundamental question is what value does our community get from the project above and beyond what would happen if it were developed under the current zoning, and how does that compare to the ways in which the applicant wants to be exempted from the limits of the current zoning.

• Affordable housing commitments are extremely important, from my perspective, but they aren't worth much unless they involve permanently affordable units, either through deed restrictions, ownership of rental units by a housing trust, or a comparable mechanism.

• The most important sustainability investments need to happen on the front end of the development, not at some potential point in the future.

I'm not opposed to a large-scale rezoning of the property, but I feel like the community deserves to have a much clearer idea of what we would be getting (the legally enforceable things, not the developer's plans or vision) and what we would be giving up.

To provide input, you can either:

• Send an email to the Planning Commission by 1pm tomorrow: planning@cityofgolden.net

• Speak during public comment at the Planning Commission meeting: 6:30 P.M. at 911 10th St, City Hall Council Chambers

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Jacob's Golden Update 2/22/22: The CoorsTek Rezoning: 'A Once in a Generation-Scale Development'

Jacob's Golden Update
The Coorstek Rezoning: 'A Once in a Generation-Scale Development'
February 22, 2022

Earlier in February, the Planning Commission began consideration of a proposed rezoning of the Coorstek property just north of downtown. They are slated to continue consideration of the proposal tomorrow night (Feb. 23). You can email your comments to the Planning Commission.

The property in question is currently home to a Coorstek manufacturing facility, parking lots, and a few other buildings. It covers five city blocks, from 7th on the north to 10th on the south (excluding the American Mountaineering Center) and from Washington Ave. on the west to Ford St. on the east. This is a massive property by Golden standards, in the middle of the city, that will be converted from a factory into some mix of retail, commercial, and residential space. Whatever happens on that property will have an enormous effect on Golden's future for many, many decades.

PUD Zoning
The property owners are requesting a PUD (aka Planned Unit Development), which is basically a customized zoning instead of using the standard zoning options in Golden's code. PUDs can definitely be abused, but they can also offer the opportunity to do something that doesn't quite fit the existing zoning limitations but might actually be a better fit for the community. Decisions about PUD requests can be complicated because the property owner, without the PUD, still has the right to build something without needing any sort of rezoning. The Planning Commission doesn't get to ask if this proposal is the best possible use of that property. Rather, Planning Commission's question boils down to: "does the proposed customized zoning fit Golden's community character and vision, especially in relation to what the owner could build on that property without any zoning changes?"

The Process So Far
As far as I can tell, the property owners are earnestly attempting to design a project that fits within Golden's character and vision and are earnestly open to making adjustments to that end. They actually did a fair amount of community outreach on their own. The problem here, I think, is that the city's planning department treated this like any other rezoning request rather than the once-in-a-generation project that it is. The city is limited in what it can do after the property owner submits the rezoning application, but they've been working with the owner for a year now, and at any point before the application was submitted the city could have launched a real community engagement effort to help identify what zoning changes and trade-offs might make sense and which ones don't. Alternatively, the planning department could have approached City Council at the very beginning and asked them for direction on how to more fully and appropriately engage the community on a development question of this scale.

The Planning Commission rightly spent hours at that early February meeting just asking questions about the complex project because they had been asked to absorb and make far-reaching judgments on the 750-page document in less than a week. They will resume the hearing tomorrow evening, during which they could decide to reject the proposal, approve it (perhaps with some changes that the property owner agrees to), or pause long enough for a better community engagement process.

Sharing Your Thoughts With Planning Commission
If you want to share your thoughts about this proposed PUD with Planning Commission, I suggest that you email something by mid-afternoon or so. Email your comments to the Planning Commission.

If you've had the time to review any of the PUD documents, you might have opinions about the substance of the proposal. I've seen a lot of comments with substantive thoughts about height limits, parking requirements, the mix of uses, and other considerations.

My comments a few weeks ago focused more on the process, and that's what I will focus on again in my comments for tomorrow's meeting. My suggestions to the Planning Commission:

1. Extend or pause the hearing on this PUD proposal to give city staff time to conduct a thoughtful, legitimate community engagement process. That process should be run by a third party that has the trust of staff, the Planning Commission, City Council, the community, and the property owner. Ideally, in my view, the applicant would either withdraw the application or Planning Commission would reject it so that we can restart the process in a way that lets City Council play an important role. But even if they simply delay the hearing, that allow for a good community process.

2. Make it as easy as possible for community members to understand what is permissible under the existing zoning code and what would be permissible under the proposed PUD/ODP. A clear list – in plain English – of the differences between the existing and requested zoning would be really helpful. Another really helpful tool would be something showing what the worst-case buildout could look like under the current zoning, and what it could look like under the proposed zoning. Community members have the right to know what is at stake here.

3. Ensure that the focus throughout the process is on legally enforceable requirements. The applicant's vision for the property might be useful information, but what really matters are the requirements that are actually codified in the new zoning.

Some Links You Might Find Useful

• The Policy Committee's 2/23/22 agenda and packet (with all of the associated materials)

• My Feb. 2, 2022 comment letter to the Planning Commission

• Public comments submitted on the proposal (Part 1)

• Public comments submitted on the proposal (Part 2)

See This Performance

If you haven't yet had a chance to see any of the Thesharedscreen's performances of Tape, and that's most of you, well, you should. It's Neal Davidson's Zoom-adaptation of the widely acclaimed Stephen Belber play (the (Tony- and Emmy-nominated writer). It's been produced in 24 countries and adapted into a film with Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, as well. We saw TheSharedScreen Zoom adaptation on its initial run, and it was so so good. So good, in fact, that the New York Times called it a top pick. It's running - and free (tixs required) this weekend Friday and Saturday and next weekend as well. https://www.thesharedscreen.com/tickets

Colorado Environmental Film Festival 2021: Opening Night This Friday!

For 15 years now, Golden has played host to its very own annual Colorado Environmental Film Festival, giving filmmakers a chance to share their latest projects, movie lovers a chance to see the films on a big screen and in a crowded theater, and everyone to get to meet and chat and connect. Online film festivals aren’t quite the same, but they’ve been turning out to be more enjoyable and rewarding that I had imagined, and I’m pleased to again have the chance to help CEFF with some hosting and MCing at the opening night festivities on Friday. There are bunch of great films, as usual, with a strong mix of educational, inspiring, provocative, and urgent. And my experiences so far with the live filmmaker Q&A sessions at festivals have been uniformly enjoyable despite the online-ness of the whole thing, and CEFF is offering a bunch of those, including the one I’m hosting on Friday with the directors of the evening’s two offerings. Please join, support Golden’s film festival, enjoy some great storytelling, and support filmmakers who are telling stories that need to be told.

Join CEFF to kick off the 15th annual festival with a live watch party and Q&A session with the film directors from E-Waste and Me and The Story of Plastic! Don't miss the announcement of the 2021 Award Winners - if you miss them during the week, they will be available as a Best of the Fest Collection on Sunday, 2/21 On-Demand!

E-waste and Me - This film is aimed to give people a guide towards ethical spending. Every dollar is a vote as we aim to bring Democracy to the Economy.

The Story of Plastic - Depicting a world rapidly becoming overrun with toxic material, THE STORY OF PLASTIC brings into focus an alarming, man-made crisis. Striking footage, original animations, and archival material combine in this timely documentary to point to the disastrous impact of the manufacture and use of plastics, shedding new light on a pressing global challenge that threatens the life expectancy of animals, humans, and Earth itself.

Grappling with Race in Golden

This has been a challenging and painful week.

We have a long history in Colorado and across the U.S. of violence directed at people of color, and while George Floyd's death is far from the first example of police brutality to be captured on camera, there was something about this particular incident, at this particular moment, that caught broad public attention in a way we hadn't seen before.

We are fortunate in our town to have a police chief and police department that I believe genuinely strive to treat everyone fairly, and as far as I've known over the years they've lived up to that aspiration. Chief Kilpatrick's powerful letter to the community several days ago underscores the department's and the chief's own commitment to treating people with respect and dignity. I've included it below in case you haven't seen it. It is heartfelt and moving, and I deeply appreciate Chief Kilpatrick writing it.

But biases like these are often unintended or inadvertently buried in institutional practices, and even with the best of intentions they can be immensely impactful. An important next step would be to make sure we have credible systems in place for identifying and resolving the implicit biases, overt prejudices, and institutional inequities that can have such devastating impacts on people's lives even while remaining out of view. I don't know what all of the best practices are, but they almost certainly involve tracking and monitoring key types of data, transparently sharing these data with the community, and making sure we have the mechanisms in place to directly address issues if and when they surface.

I will also say that my experiences with the Golden Police Department have been uniformly positive even under trying circumstances. It is difficult to reconcile the professionalism of the police officers I know, particularly here in Golden, with the inexcusable violence that we have seen some law enforcement officers around the country inflict on people and communities of color. I know how hard our officers work, as Chief Kilpatrick says, to build trust in the community, and law enforcement is a difficult and dangerous job even in a relatively safe community like Golden. At the same time, I've spent enough time in communities brutalized by police violence to understand at least something of their deep anger and distrust. Even if the problems were limited to a small number of cops in a few places, the impacts can be profound and wide-reaching.

And while I'm focusing on the police department for the obvious reason that law enforcement agencies around the U.S. have been regularly implicated in extrajudicial killings and brutality directed at people of color, I hope we will ask these questions more widely, looking at the rest of our city government and our community, asking tougher questions about the biases we are bringing to bear in our day-to-day lives and the biases that might be inadvertently embedded in our organizations and institutions.

Dispiritingly, I still overhear disparaging racially tinged comments in Golden with uncomfortable frequency. Some of our residents experience overt harassment - even today - because of their religion or the color of their skin. And we shouldn't settle for assuming that we are doing fine because we aren't hearing any complaints. Often the last thing a victim of discrimination wants to do is complain since so frequently the only outcome is even worse consequences for the victim. If we are genuinely committed to a community that welcomes everyone and treats everyone with dignity and respect, we all need to examine our own unconscious biases.

I love Golden and I'm proud to be part of it, while I also believe we can do better. Every community is tied to its history, and Golden's has some ugly chapters that have almost certainly helped shape our challenges today. It's not random that our community is so overwhelmingly white, for instance, even if we as its current residents don't intend for that. We know this is at least partly the result of a history that is intertwined with the history of Colorado's white supremacy and anti-immigrant movements, and we know it is also the result of decades of policies both overt and informal that were practiced in cities across the country to deny fair employment, housing, and educational opportunities to people of color.

To state the obvious, individual, institutional, and cultural biases based on skin color have devastating impacts on people of color. And simply condemning racism, while important, isn't enough. I believe the conversations happening in Golden right now, if we are willing to continue them and follow through with what actions we can take, could be a powerful start to taking these challenges more seriously and an important step toward how we as a community and a nation come to terms with our history and our present.

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Chief Kilpatrick's Letter to the Community

To our Golden Community,

Over the course of the last several days I have been asked by many, as the City of Golden Police Chief, my thoughts on the death of Mr. George Floyd while being taken into custody by officers of the Minneapolis Police Department.

Honestly, it feels like my heart has been torn to pieces and is broken. Broken for the senseless and unexplainable loss of Mr. Floyd's life, broken for the unimaginable pain and suffering that Mr. Floyd's family and friends will endure for the rest of their lives, broken for the terrible divide that is ripping apart the fabric of our nation, broken due to the continuing and ongoing violence that is occurring throughout the country and broken for the loss of faith in our police officers who work tirelessly to build trust among you, the public we serve.

I have been in policing for a very long time and the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Floyd are deeply disturbing to me. There is no reasonable or rational explanation for what occurred.

Let me be clear. What I saw in the video of the last minutes of Mr. Floyd's life was repulsive, appalling and unconscionable.

It goes against everything I believe in; the sanctity of life, the dignity of the human spirit, and our responsibility as humans, but most particularly as police officers, to treat all people with respect.

I believe that each of us is responsible and accountable for our actions as well as for our failure to act. Therefore, it is my belief that those officers must be held to account in the criminal justice system for their behaviors. Behaviors which go against all that we, as police officers, stand for.

I share in the grief that is being experienced as a result of Mr. Floyd's death. And I know there is a path forward. It continues with our willingness to listen, learn, dialog and connect with those we serve.

All organizations have a culture that shapes the behaviors of its members and its members shape the culture of the organization. This department of ours strives every day to create a culture of inclusiveness, community and respect.

I take great pride in being your police chief and leading the women and men of the Golden Police Department. We have amazing individuals working here. They are highly competent, committed, motivated and dedicated people who endeavor to give their best to you, our Golden community, every day. They believe in our core values of teamwork, integrity, excellence, personal responsibility and professionalism. And they believe in the right of the people to peacefully protest.

Their jobs are not easy and yet they seek, always, to try and do the right thing for the right reason. They have good hearts and good minds. No, we are not perfect, but I will tell you that our folks are as good as you will ever find anywhere. I know that through all that we are facing they will continue to provide high quality and honorable service to all they encounter.

I hope that you are as proud of them and the work they do as I am.

Respectfully,

Bill Kilpatrick, Chief of Police

Jacob's Golden Update: Ward 4 Endorsement, New Pandemic Needs and Resources (April 10, 2020)

1. Ward 4 Special Election Endorsement: Bill Fisher

2. Two Important Pandemic Response Needs in Golden

3. Some New and Updated Resources

4. The View from Here

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1. Ward 4 Special Election Endorsement

The mail-in ballots for the Ward 4 special election should be landing in everyone’s mailboxes right about now. I am supporting William Fisher (known to many as Bill) and encourage other Ward 4 voters to join me in voting for him.

Bill and I served together on the Council during my time as mayor and I’m pleased to offer my endorsement as he asks the voters for another term. Bill is whip-smart, understands how the city works, and is not afraid to ask hard questions in his role as an elected representative. We didn’t agree on everything, but we agreed on quite a bit, and I always knew he would take my thoughts and concerns seriously, and those of his constituents, before making a decision.

I’m proud of what we accomplished during that time, not least of which was successfully navigating the 2008 economic crash. Bill was a key part of the team that led Golden out of the recession with higher bond ratings and a stronger reserve fund than we had started with (which was already strong) while protecting all of the city’s programs and amenities. Those skills and experiences will be especially crucial now as we once again navigate a significant economic crisis.

I will also note that public health issues were a priority for Bill back then, so much so that he was recognized as a Jefferson County Public Health Champion because of his commitment and effectiveness. That background, combined with his professional background as a nurse, makes him especially well-suited to serve on Council as we work our way through and then recover from the pandemic. Moreover, the fact that he will hit the ground running feels especially important right now.

We are fortunate to have two candidates who are both connected to and clearly care about Golden. For the Ward 4 readers of this newsletter, whomever you support please be sure to vote.

You can mail your ballot by April 24 (be sure to use adequate postage).
You can drop your ballot at Golden City Hall (911 10th St.) by 7 p.m. on April 28.

And you can watch the video of the candidate forum earlier this week hosted by Golden United and Leadership Golden.

2. Two Important Pandemic Needs in Golden

Fabric. If you have extra fabric lying around that might be useful for face masks, it sounds like some of the folks in town who are making them are running out. To my understanding, the key is that it be a tightly woven cotton fabric. Email me and I’ll connect you.

Sewing. If you are able to do some sewing, there is also a need to make more masks. The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum and the Golden Civic Foundation have been coordinating an effort in Golden that is quite easy to plug in with.

Bill Fisher also has a really nice run-down on his website about the how and why of wearing and making masks.

3. Some New and Updated Resources

Golden Emergency Loan Program. The Golden Civic Foundation just launched an emergency loan program for businesses and nonprofits in downtown Golden. There are more emergency loan programs in development, so if you aren’t downtown you may still have opportunities. And for all of the challenges with the rollout, it sounds like the federal SBA programs can be really helpful as well.

StayAtHomeColorado. A new Colorado site which includes free resources to support Coloradans while they are at home, from wellness, to services, to education, to entertainment and more.

Golden. The City updated its resource page.

Jeffco Public Health. Another useful site for Golden folks.
 
4. The View from Here

It goes without saying that this has been a challenging time for everyone. Many have lost jobs and income or are at risk of losing them. Anyone whose economic circumstances were tenuous before the pandemic is likely facing daily struggles to hold the pieces together now. Quite a few folks in Golden are sick, and the actual COVID-19 infections are almost certainly higher than the official counts indicate given how few people are able to get tested. If we haven't been directly impacted by the virus then we probably know people who have. I feel very grateful that my family remains healthy, but while one close friend recovered after more than two weeks of running fevers her kiddo remains quite sick. Terrifying for everyone involved. For me, John Prine's death was a particularly hard gut punch, and most everyone I know has been deeply impacted by the deaths of other people we might not know personally but who have been intensely important to our social and cultural fabric.

In the face of all that, it’s been deeply heartwarming to see our community’s response. Nothing reveals a person’s or community’s true character quite like a mortal crisis, and Golden’s character is shining through. We know our most immediate challenges right now are to protect people from the virus, get the best care possible to those who need it, and to take a wide range of emergency measures to help individuals and businesses keep their head above water for a while longer. The federal relief legislation should help (hopefully to be followed later by actual stimulus legislation after we turn the economy back on), along with all of the high intensity efforts by local organizations like the Golden Civic Foundation, the Backpack Program, and the City of Golden. And there is some evidence – with a lot of folks doing their part and a bit of luck – that we might be nearing the infection peak in Colorado. If that’s true, then we’ll be able to breathe a small sigh of relief while understanding that we’ll need to sustain our response as we navigate subsequent (although hopefully smaller) infection resurgences and then pivot to what is likely to be a difficult period of stabilization and then a lengthy and also quite difficult period of recovery.

I am deeply grateful that I’ve been able to make a home and a life in a community as exceptional as Golden. I hope you are all able to take care of yourselves through this mess, since we still have a long way to go, and thank you all for taking care of your families and your neighbors as well.

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Feel free to share this email with anyone you think might find it useful and reach out anytime with suggestions, questions, or other thoughts.

Jeffco Rescinds Its Stay-At-Home Order In Favor of the State of Colorado's Order

The orders were similar but not identical, and Jeffco (along with the other counties that all acted in unison) rescinded their order for the benefit of having a single, consistent set of rules. The state’s order is in effect through April 11 but of course could be extended. It’s been amended once already to include bike shops in the “essential businesses” category so that folks trying to get around or exercise by bike have access to bicycle repairs.

Jeffco Issues Stay-At-Home Order

On my quick skim the order seems to be more or less what folks were expecting, meaning basically we are now required to stay at home but excluding some specific exceptions:

• Buying food

• Getting medical supplies or medical care

• Caring for a family member or friend in another household

• Exercise (but not in a group and not in more confined areas like park playgrounds or basketball courts)

• Essential businesses are asked to maintain operations

• All other businesses are asked to stop operating except for what the order defines as “Minimum Basic Operations”

You can check out the press coverage (e.g., Denver Post “More than 2 million more people across metro Denver will be under stay-at-home orders starting Thursday”) and read the order itself to get more details.

Jacob's Golden Update: COVID Resources, Staying Connected, & More (March 24, 2020)

1. COVID Community Response Fund Launched in Golden

2. Virtually Golden "Lunch & Learn" Series Launches

3. What To Do If You Are Exposed to COVID-19 or Have Symptoms

4. COVID Resources

5. Staying Connected in Golden

6. Golden City Council Ward 4 Virtual Candidate Forum: April 7

7. Future of the Astor House

8. Props to Jeffco Schools

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1. COVID Community Response Fund Launched in Golden

I'm very excited to share news about the new COVID-19 Community Response Fund, a partnership of the Golden Civic Foundation, the City of Golden, and local nonprofits including the Golden Backpack Program, the Christian Action Guild, and the Neighborhood Rehab Project.

If you want to contribute generally to the critical community support work happening here in Golden, this is a powerful, centralized way to do so. The Civic Foundation will then allocate grants to the nonprofits doing the work. Of course if you want to contribute to any particular individual organization, you should, but if you want to help the overall effort this is an efficient and effective option.

Donors can make tax-deductible donations online through the Golden Civic Foundation or mail checks (including from Donor Advised Funds) to Golden Civic Foundation, Attn: C-19CRF Fund, P.O. Box 1538, Golden, CO 80402.

2. Virtually Golden "Lunch & Learn" Series Launches

Golden United today launched a virtual lunch & learn series, hosted on Zoom and scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays. Barb Warden kicked things off as the inaugural speaker today, offering a fascinating tour of Golden’s early settler history. City Councilor Paul Haseman is slated to be Thursday’s guest with a talk on “Golden - The Stolen Capital of Colorado.”

You might use this as an excuse to order takeout or delivery lunch from a local Golden restaurant. Anything you can do to support local businesses right now will give them a fighting shot at surviving the downturn.

To participate in the Lunch & Learn, join the meeting via Zoom (if you haven’t used Zoom before, it’s fairly self-explanatory but it takes a few minutes to set up so I’d suggest giving yourself a little extra time). You can also skip the computer and just call in to one of the numbers below.

https://zoom.us/j/187269193
Meeting ID: 187 269 193

Or call:
669-900-6833 (call ID: 187269193#)
or
346-248-7799 (call ID: 187269193#))

3. What To Do If You Are Exposed to COVID-19 or Have Symptoms

One question I heard in response to last week's newsletter is what to do if you think you might have been exposed to COVID-19.

What to do if you think you might have COVID-19:

According to CDPHE, if you have symptoms that might be COVID-19 (potentially including a combination of cough, body aches, fatigue, and chest tightness, with or without fever), you should self-isolate and use over-the-counter medications to treat your symptoms -- like you would for a cold or other respiratory illness.

If your symptoms become more severe or more definitively COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath) you should self-isolate, use over-the-counter medications, and contact a health care provider (consider a telehealth visit or nurseline advice before seeking in-person care).

What to do if you think you might have been exposed to someone with COVID-19:

If you don't have symptoms but think you have been in close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or has symptoms (fever, coughing, shortness of breath), you should quarantine yourself.
 
4. COVID-19 Resources

I put together a list of resources for folks who want to track the latest information, folks who might need some support, and folks who want to offer support. Bill Fisher is maintaining a very similar list as well.

Here are a few new resources since my newsletter last week:
 
If you need some help:

Golden resident Koko Cragg put together a spreadsheet connecting folks who are available to help out and those that could use some help. Text Koko (720-628-2901) directly if you have any needs (picking up groceries, errands, etc.) or are available to help with any of these.

If you are currently uninsured or have lost coverage due to COVID-19 you can now get health insurance on the exchange. The special enrollment period is open through April 3rd.

Colorado Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) provides assistance for energy costs and equipment repairs for individuals and seniors. Call 1-866-432-8435 for more information.

The Colorado Restaurant Association and the Bartender Emergency Assistance Program may be able to help if you work in the restaurant and bar world.

Colorado was approved for the Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, which means a wide range of resources are now available for small business owners. Visit the SBA website or call 303-860-5881.

If you can offer some help:

You can donate through the new COVID-19 Community Response Fund I described above.

The spreadsheet I mentioned above, coordinated by Golden resident Koko Cragg, is for helping connect folks who are available to help out and those that could use some help. Text Koko (720-628-2901) or are available to help with any of these.

If you are looking for information:
 
RTD information.

The Colorado COVID-19 Business Resource Center has resources for state and federal COVID-19 announcements, programs, and information relevant to Colorado businesses and workers.

5. Staying Connected in Golden

I started this newsletter when I ran for City Council the first time back in 2005, and I’m pleased that so many people continue to subscribe and find it useful. I generally try to stay focused on bigger picture and higher profile issues, and I expect as we navigate our way through this crisis I’ll scale back to once a month or so.

Barb Warden has a great daily email that is focused primarily on the events happening in Golden and the more day-to-day work of the city and City Council, with a regular healthy dose of Golden's colorful history.

At least three other folks have email newsletters I want to mention: City Councilor JJ Trout (representing District 1, also known as roughly the southern half of Golden), Mayor Laura Weinberg, and former City Councilor (and current candidate for City Council) Bill Fisher. These are a good way to see what your elected officials (and aspiring elected official, in Bill’s case) are thinking about, their priorities, and their reasons for voting the way they do. [Disclosure: I’ve endorsed Bill in his special election race for the open City Council seat. I’ll write more about that later.]

You can sign up for several of the city's email newsletters as well.

Finally, the Mayor and City Manager Jason Slowinski will be hosting a second virtual community briefing tomorrow (Wednesday) 3/25 at 6pm. You can ask questions during the briefing if you are participating via Facebook Live, or you can email your questions in advance (by 5pm tomorrow) to COVID19@CityofGolden.net.

6. Golden City Council Ward 4 Virtual Candidate Forum: April 7

Golden United and Leadership Golden are hosting a virtual forum for the two Ward 4 City Council Candidates - Bill Fisher and Stacy Fowler. City Council elections are always important, but this seat has now taken on added weight as the impacts of the pandemic continue to grow and as we slide into what may be a protracted economic downturn.
6:30pm – 8:30pm
April 7

If you have a candidate question or two you think would be great for the forum, submit them by March 31 for consideration (benioffron@gmail.com).

You’ll have the option to participate by computer or phone. You can get the details for calling/logging in by registering.

Ward 4, which Laura represented until she was sworn in as Golden’s mayor, generally includes the northwest quarter of Golden. Here is more information about the special election and a map of the wards and districts.

7. Future of the Astor House

I think Barb Warden did a nice job of summing up the Astor House situation:

“The Astor House ceased to be a museum several years ago. The building was closed for structural work, which was followed by asbestos remediation and in the end the building was left empty, wall-less, bathroom-less and uninhabitable. City Council is at a loss as to what to do with it, and have asked the public for ideas. The Golden Landmarks Association, which saved the building from becoming razed 50 years ago, has offered to solicit ideas from the public.”

If you have ideas or opinions, the city's current survey would be a good opportunity to share them.

8. Props to Jeffco Schools

I’ve been hearing a consistent theme from Jeffco Schools parents that I wanted to share: They have been doing a terrific job under very challenging circumstances. They were one of the first (maybe the first?) to have their online school up and running. Their well-designed and extremely useful coronavirus landing page was up quickly, and Superintendent Glass and other school district representatives have been doing a great job of communicating frequently with parents and students. And if you haven't seen it yet, check out their terrific Jeffco Makes page.

How to Donate Blood

One way folks can help is to donate blood – the American Red Cross is reporting that widespread blood drive cancellations are leading to critical shortages. Here are some options:

 1) You can schedule an appointment at the Vitalant blood donation center at 13952 Denver W Pkwy #335 in Golden.

 2) You can make an appointment at the Children’s Hospital Colorado blood donor center. Call: 720-777-5398

 3) I’m having trouble with the American Red Cross website, but it says you can use the Blood Donor mobile app to schedule your appointment or call 1-800-733-2767.

More Pandemic-Related Info & Resources

Jacob's Golden Update: Coronavirus Update (cont.)
March 18, 2020

Given the likely severity of the pandemic and the economic downturn we have very quickly fallen into, I’m keeping this issue of the newsletter entirely focused on COVID-19 news. I’ll start to cover other issues again soon, but for the time being this feels like the most important information to share.

First, a quick survey-ish question: Are you getting the information you need as we all navigate through all of this? And if not, what are you not getting?

I’ll try to track down and share good resources for whatever the gaps are.

Second, a quick editorial comment: The City of Golden is doing a lot behind the scenes and has been communicating more frequently (including last night's online presentation by Mayor Weinberg and the City Manager), I know Jeffco is working hard, and Governor Polis and the state agencies seem to be doing a really solid job as well. I’m grateful for all of this. And in a turn of events that might have been tough to predict, Republicans and Democrats at the State Legislature have been collaborating to an impressive degree in figuring out their part of the state’s response to the crisis. Deep bipartisan collaboration isn’t the norm for them, and they seem to be rising to the occasion (and thanks to Golden’s State Representative Monica Duran and State Senator Tammy Story for their roles in this).

And now some updates:

1. Volunteering to Help Out During the COVID-19 Pandemic
2. Supporting the Groups Doing Critical Work During the Pandemic
3. What We Know and Don't Know Yet about COVID-19
4. Resources for Folks That Need Help or Support
5. Information Resources on COVID-19

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1. Volunteering to Help Out During the COVID-19 Pandemic

There is a multi-organization effort coming together here in Golden to help coordinate volunteers and make sure our vulnerable neighbors have the support they need. Stay tuned on that.

In the meantime, Governor Polis just launched a statewide volunteer coordination effort including a volunteer signup page. In his press conference today, he specifically called out the need for help with food delivery, childcare, mental health support and organizing. He also called out the importance of donating blood; it’s safe to do so and hospitals are facing potential shortages at a time when they can’t afford to run low. If you can donate blood, money, or time, please do.

It’s been wonderful to see so many offers to help on Nextdoor, and I want to call out one specific effort to create a community spreadsheet of people who are able to help and those who need some. If you want your name added, you can contact Koko at 720-628-2901, and if you are on Nextdoor you can also check out the thread, which began with Koko’s post late last week called “I'll be making a spreadsheet for those that can help others.”

2. Supporting the Groups Doing Critical Work During the Pandemic

The coordinated effort here in Golden will include a fundraising component, since a lot of what folks need now and will need for a while is help with basics like food. And the number of kids, families, and elderly facing financial challenges is likely to escalate quickly as unemployment numbers grow. I’ll help spread the word on this coordinated fundraising as soon as they launch, but in the meantime if you can help here are a couple of great options:

Golden Backpack Program helps make sure kids have enough to eat, especially on non-school days when they don’t have access to school breakfasts and lunches (which right now means every day). They need financial support (to pay for food and meals), bags (reusable totes, plastic and paper bags), and food. You can donate online or drop off bags and food at the 14th street entrance to the Calvary Church in Golden (10am-6pm). They will also pick up donations if you call or text 720-443-5708.

The Golden Civic Foundation supports a wide range of Golden nonprofit organizations and is playing a key role in coordinating Golden’s response.

The Family Tree supports families escaping unsafe domestic situations in Jefferson, Denver, Adams and Arapahoe Counties.

Golden's Christian Action Guild is asking for help with non-perishable food donations. At the moment they are accepting donations from 9am-4pm daily through March 20.

3. What We Know and Don't Know Yet about COVID-19

The Colorado Independent published a nice wrap-up on what state health officials know and don’t know about COVID-19.

4. Resources for Folks That Need Help or Support

Rent and Utilities

• Energy Outreach Colorado is a statewide nonprofit organization that helps Coloradans pay their utility bills during hardship.

• Xcel Energy has agreed not to disconnect residential customers until further notice.

• The City of Golden announced that for the time being they will not cut off anyone's water for failure to pay.

• Comcast is increasing internet speeds for all customers and offering 60 days of free internet services to low-income families.

Unemployment

• The Governor has ordered up to four days of paid sick leave for certain workers experiencing flu-like symptoms and awaiting COVID-19 test results.

• Anyone who has lost their job or had their hours cut due this pandemic may be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits.

• For employers looking to avoid layoffs, CDLE's Work-Share Program allows eligible employees to work fewer hours and collect partial unemployment benefits.

Food Assistance

• If you or someone you know needs help with meals, here’s a map of Denver area meal distribution sites.

• Here in Jeffco, “Grab and Go” meals should be available for collection for breakfast (8:00-9:00a) and lunch (11:30a - 12:30p) at a number of schools around the district. I think the closest to Golden at the moment is Welchester Elementary. This is currently scheduled to run through Friday, March 27.

• Hunger Free Colorado has set up a Food Resource Hotline for anyone who needs help locating food. Call 855-855-4626, M – F (8 am – 4:30 pm) to find school meals, food pantries, and SNAP and WIC enrollment.

Child Care

• The newly established Colorado Emergency Child Care Collaborative will provide emergency child care on a sliding scale to essential workers with children ages eight and under, including; health care providers and staff, public safety officers, and those supporting at-risk populations.

Homelessness

• Metro Denver Homeless Initiative offers critical services to the those weathering this pandemic without stable shelter.

5. Information Resources on COVID-19
 

COVID-19 Resources

The Colorado Sun has a useful overall resource page, including a map of COVID-19 cases in Colorado.

City of Golden’s COVID-19 page.

Jefferson County Public Health.

Bill Fisher's "Staying Healthy in Golden (during a pandemic)" blog post: A really nice list of suggestions and tips.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Colorado: Contains a wide range of links and CDPHE’s media releases regarding COVID-19.

COVID-19 Facts for Coloradans: The fact sheet includes information about the disease, how to avoid spreading it, and other actions to take to remain safe.

COVID-19 Recommendations: This link leads to recommendations from CDPHE in consultation with the CDC for how to handle COVID-19 in regard to high risk populations, public events, workplaces, and schools.

CO-HELP is Colorado’s call line for general questions about the coronavirus: 303-389-1687 or 1-877-462-2911, (multiple languages supported) or email questions at COHELP@RMPDC.org for answers in English.

COVID-19 Testing: This link will take you through all of the proper steps surrounding how and when someone should go about getting a test for COVID-19.

Centers for Disease Control coronavirus website.

Some Twitter accounts you can follow: @COHealth, @CDPHE, @COEmergency, @CDCGov

Some Facebook pages you can follow: https://www.facebook.com/CDPHE/, https://www.facebook.com/COEmergency/, https://www.facebook.com/jaredpolis/

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Feel free to share this email with anyone you think might find it useful and reach out anytime with suggestions, questions, or other thoughts.

A Coronavirus Update for Goldenites

We are all obviously in a situation that is both unprecedented and evolving quickly. This is a crisis, but it’s not like the Arapahoe Gulch flooding in 2004 or the Indian Gulch Fire in 2011 where the most significant impacts were condensed into a few days. This is likely to last a while, and the worst of it may still be well ahead of us. And those impacts, while they certainly include the Golden residents who may become ill in the coming weeks and months, also include the many Golden residents who will face severe hardships because of the considerable social and economic disruptions that have already started.

I’ve been hearing from my bank, my insurance company, my frequent flier programs, and even my coffee shops. I would love to start hearing more from the city now as well, which has shared some CDPHE and JCPH updates but not much else. This would be a really good time for city leaders to start talking frequently with us – the Golden community – sharing their progress and their setbacks, asking for help where they need it, and helping to connect resources with needs. If there is ever a need for our city leaders to be front and center with information, leadership, and compassion, it’s during a time like this, especially because we expect that the pandemic itself will be accompanied by a significant and potentially long-lasting economic downturn.

A few of the most important immediate questions:

• What steps is the city taking to protect city staff, volunteers, and community members?

• What steps is the city taking to minimize the spread of the disease?

• What steps is the city taking to identify and help our community members who are most vulnerable to the disease and most vulnerable to a loss of services (e.g., kids who depend on being in school for regular meals, elderly Goldenites who depend on community center facilities to stay healthy)?

If you know of any great resources that might helpful to Golden residents, please send them over and I’ll share them on this email list and on my website. I’m including below a list of the best resources I know about so far.

Similarly, I know that a lot of folks, in addition to taking care of themselves and their families, want to help their neighbors and community as we all navigate the very challenging days ahead. What organizations and other opportunities do you know of for Golden residents that want to help? I’ll share a list in my next email.

Incidentally, this is most useful explanation (from the New York Times) I've seen so far of why slowing the spread of the virus is so critical now, even if the total number of infections is ultimately comparable. If it peaks quickly, it will severely exceed the capacity of our health care system to treat patients.

Time and time again, when faced with crises like this, people in communities come together in powerful ways. That’s especially true in Golden. We look out for one another, we figure out solutions to get us by until the crisis abates, and we take special care to help the most vulnerable members of our community. This one might go on for a long time, but I know here in Golden we will do what we always do, coming together and getting through.

COVID-19 Resources

Colorado Sun resource page: Quite useful and includes a map of COVID-19 cases in Colorado.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Colorado: Contains a wide range of links and CDPHE’s media releases regarding COVID-19.

Bill Fisher's "Staying Healthy in Golden (during a pandemic)" blog post: A really nice list of suggestions and tips.

CO-HELP. Colorado’s call line for general questions about the coronavirus: 303-389-1687 or 1-877-462-2911, (multiple languages supported) or email questions at COHELP@RMPDC.org for answers in English.

City of Golden’s COVID-19 page.

COVID-19 Facts for Coloradans: The fact sheet includes information about the disease, how to avoid spreading it, and other actions to take to remain safe.

COVID-19 Recommendations: This link leads to recommendations from CDPHE in consultation with the CDC for how to handle COVID-19 in regard to high risk populations, public events, workplaces, and schools.

COVID-19 Testing: This link will take you through all of the proper steps surrounding how and when someone should go about getting a test for COVID-19.

Centers for Disease Control coronavirus website.

Jefferson County Public Health.

Some Twitter accounts you can follow: @COHealth, @CDPHE, @COEmergency, @CDCGov

Some Facebook pages you can follow: https://www.facebook.com/CDPHE/, https://www.facebook.com/COEmergency/, https://www.facebook.com/jaredpolis/

Another "Gut Punch" for the Jefferson Parkway

When I was first elected to the Golden City Council, the fight over a proposed high-speed superhighway through Golden had already been ongoing for decades, and protecting Golden from this developer’s fantasy was a major priority during my time serving on the Council and as mayor. Marjorie, after she became mayor in 2012, ultimately negotiated a peace accord with Arvada, Broomfield, and Jefferson County, the promoters of this “every great city has a giant beltway surrounding it” vision. The city’s agreement is a gamble, since there are still some circumstances where CDOT would be allowed to widen the highway through Golden, but so long as those circumstances don’t come to pass we should be much better off for it, and the reconstructed intersection of US6 and 19th Street is almost everything we envisioned it would be for all of those years, leaving Golden safer, quieter, and less polluted.

Golden’s core strategy was a combination of advocating for sensible transportation improvements while simultaneously fighting the superhighway vision in whatever ways we could. We were betting that even if we couldn’t kill the plan outright, we could stall it out long enough that the reality of the economics and the flaws of its archaic transportation logic would eventually catch up and sink it.

These days, the City of Golden is largely a non-player in the ongoing attempt to build something, even if it’s just a short new highway stretch between Highways 93 and 128. But Golden’s strategy of fight-it-off-until-it-eventually-dies just got a huge boost this week when Broomfield announced its withdrawal from the highway authority established to build the project (the Denver Post called it a “gut punch” to “the long-stalled Jefferson Parkway”). The politics in Broomfield have clearly shifted a great deal, with their City Council voting unanimously to back out of the effort.

The proposed highway was always a bad idea unless you owned land that would suddenly be worth a lot more or you are a local government addicted to building new suburban sprawl in order to balance your books. It wouldn’t have improved congestion, it would have intentionally sabotaged local arterials to force traffic onto the toll highway, and it would have resulted in more pollution and carbon emissions. And by building the highway through someone else’s town (the narrow valley that Golden sits in) instead of through your own town (down Indiana or Wadsworth, for instance), you shift the worst of the impacts onto someone else. I understand the appeal for the small number of people who would benefit, but for most people across the region it was mostly downside, and for Golden it would have been devastating.

The beltway promoters’ fantasy of a new toll highway probably isn’t dead yet, but it did indeed suffer a body blow and we are perhaps one step closer to figuring out an actual solution to the Denver region’s considerable mobility challenges.

Jacob's Golden Update: The Election Edition (October 13, 2019)

Before every election I publish an issue focused exclusively on election endorsements and recommendations. For those interested in my thoughts on this year’s election, here you go. For those who aren’t interested, you can skip this email and tune back in with the next issue of the Update.

If you haven't registered to vote here in Golden, or you've changed your address since the last time you registered, it only takes a few minutes (the Post Office will not forward your ballot!). If you aren't registered under the right address you won't get your ballot. You should be able to confirm that you are registered and get any other questions answered on Jeffco’s election page.

Mayor: Don Cameron
I'll start by saying that we are fortunate to have two qualified candidates running for mayor, both of whom are knowledgeable, experienced, and genuinely committed to Golden. I personally like Laura, and I respect her intelligence and hard work. The same is true for Don. And on some issues I think their perspectives are pretty similar. But I'm supporting Don because I think he is more likely to provide the kind of leadership Golden most needs right now.

I think sometimes a community is best served by a mayor focused on maintaining things as they are (a more "managerial" approach to the role). But at other times a community needs bigger adjustments with a more energetic and proactive type of leadership that articulates a vision and works hard to achieve it. The issues I'm most concerned about now, that I think Golden most needs to tackle, are those types of issues. We've seen a long string of inappropriate developments that threaten to take Golden down a very different growth path than the one we've fought so hard to establish. Yes, making the city's zoning code more understandable would be helpful, but the central reason we've got so many inappropriate developments is that our code allows them, and until City Council fixes those actual zoning requirements they are going keep happening. I think it's terrific that the City Council is starting to tackle zoning code updates, but it took a really long time and a bunch of inappropriate developments happened that could have been prevented. Other issues that are high on my list of Golden's most pressing challenges include housing affordability (we've heard talk for a long time but haven't seen much action or success), the city's financial health (in the midst of a relative boom economy we are hearing the city talk about declining financial reserves and cutting important programs), and the continued loss of open space around Golden (the undeveloped properties around Golden's perimeter that keep getting turned into housing developments).

I want to know what a candidate believes our future should look like. I want to know what a candidate is willing to fight hard for, and what battles they are willing to take political risks on. I share the view that doing the process well is important, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of also offering a clear vision and commitments.

Politicians tend to be cautious by temperament, avoiding saying things that might offend or taking positions that some people won't like. Don is not a natural politician. I know he can sometimes come off as very direct or even brusque. And of course I don't always agree with him. But I do agree with him often, I know what his vision is, and I know he's willing to fight hard to move us in that direction even when it can sometimes mean disagreeing with city staff or with the political establishment. I'm supporting Don because I think he is more likely to effectively tackle Golden's most important challenges.

Sometimes I think the differences between candidates are so stark that the wrong candidate winning could be truly dangerous for a community's quality of life and economy. I don't think that's the case here, and if Laura wins I'm sure she'll be competent and thoughtful. But I think Don is more likely to really take on the hard challenges that we need strong leadership on right now.

City Council District 1: No Recommendation
I like both candidates a lot. They are knowledgeable and competent and they both care a great deal about Golden (and they are both friends).

City Council District 2: Casey Brown
Casey is running unopposed, so this is an easy decision from that perspective. I also think Casey has been doing a really strong job on City Council. He worked hard behind the scenes, for instance, to make sure the City Council adopted what I believe were crucial updates to the zoning code, and I know he is committed to making sure the city completes the other key zoning updates that are on the table. I don't always agree with Casey but I agree with him much more often than not. He's willing to listen and explore and change his mind, and he has made clear that he supports reducing the amount of inappropriate development. And the fact that he is taking the campaign seriously despite not having an opponent - that he is working hard to earn votes even though he doesn't have to - is a good example of the type of leader he is. He has earned my vote.

Jefferson County School Board
District 3: Stephanie Schooley
District 4: Joan Chávez Lee
I don't know much about these two School Board races, but folks whose judgment I trust (who are themselves strong public schools supporters) are supporting Stephanie Schooley and Joan Chávez Lee.

Proposition CC: Yes
This is Colorado's so-called "debrucing" ballot measure. Under the state constitution, government spending is limited and that limit slowly ratchets down over time. The result is that the State of Colorado is unable to keep pace with the cost of providing services to their constituents as our population grows over time and as inflation drives prices up over time.

Proposition CC would eliminate this ratchet effect for the State of Colorado (which many local governments, including Golden, have already done). Voting yes on Proposition CC would not change the current requirement that voters get to decide on any proposed tax increase. Any proposed state tax increase would still have to go to the voters for approval.

For those interested in a bit more detail: Because the limit on growth in spending each year is closely tied to spending the prior year, when population and the economy are growing at modest rates then spending can sometimes sort-of keep up with the needs and expectations of voters. But when the economy is growing quickly, the spending limit prevents spending from keeping pace. Economic downturns are especially problematic because the ratchet sets the lowered spending as the new baseline, preventing the government from bringing services back up to their earlier levels even as the economy recovers. The result is that the state budget shrinks over time relative to the size of Colorado's population and economy. We keep asking our state and local governments to do a better job providing more services - maintaining streets, providing police and fire, plowing the snow, preventing flooding, preparing our kids for the 21st Century economy, offering a safe and supportive environment for our youth and our elderly - but this ratchet effect ensures that state and local government have fewer and fewer resources with which to do all of that.

Proposition DD: No
This would legalize sports betting in Colorado and allocate a portion of the new tax revenues to water projects. It sounds tempting because we know Colorado will face increasingly difficult water challenges in the years to come, and creating a new tax stream sounds like easy money. But it would make Colorado's ability to tackle our water issues dependent on persuading ever-growing numbers of people to spend and lose ever-increasing amounts of money on gambling. Adding yet another large, powerful industry (sports gambling) to the mix - whose purpose is to persuade more people to spend more money gambling - seems likely to distort Colorado's politics even more than they already are.

Issue 1A: Yes
This is Jefferson County's so-called "debrucing" ballot measure. The ratcheting effect described above applies to Jefferson County in the same way that it applies to the State of Colorado. Issue 1A would suspend this ratcheting effect in Jefferson County for seven years. Just as with Proposition CC, voting yes on Issue 1A would not change the current requirement that voters get to decide on any proposed Jefferson County tax increase. Any proposed tax increase in Jeffco would still have to go to the voters for approval.

Waking the Sleeping Giant Jumps to Amazon Prime

Our award-winning documentary film Waking the Sleeping Giant: The Making of a Political Revolution just made the jump from on-demand to streaming - we’re pysched! If you haven’t had a chance to watch yet it’s even easier now. And of course it’s still available on iTunes, Amazon Video, and a bunch of other on-demand platforms, plus you can still get it on Blu-ray or DVD if you prefer.

It’s especially interesting to us looking at the film now realizing just how relevant it is to this moment compared to two years ago when we released it. The political left is still grappling with the same challenges … the establishment left in tension with the progressive left, and the various parts of the progressive left still struggling to build something bigger.

In any case, we are pleased the film is now even more available than it was and hope that means more folks will have an opportunity to watch and, hopefully, find themselves moved and inspired.

Jacob’s Golden Update: February 20, 2019

Jacob’s Golden Update: February 20, 2019

1. A Modest Proposal for Tackling Golden's Redevelopment Challenges

2. Council Updates Sustainability Goals

3. City Council Considers Fate of Astor House

4. Golden Pushes Back Against RTD Proposal to Cut Light Rail Service

5. Open Space and Housing Affordability

6. City Council Awards City Manager $24,500 Raise

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1. A Modest Proposal for Tackling Golden's Redevelopment Challenges

For many of us living in Golden, it's not news to point out the growing gap between our community vision and what's actually happening on the ground. A decade or so ago, we went through an extensive process to create Golden Vision 2030, and since then we have used that vision to inform the new neighborhood plans we started adopting around town and to inform a thorough update of the city’s Comprehensive Plan. Between all of those documents, we detailed a vision for Golden that acknowledged and even welcomed change while still preserving the character of our downtown and other neighborhoods.

Yet despite all of that work, and despite these many documents that are supposed to ensure that development and redevelopment are compatible, many of the projects that have appeared in recent years are genuinely at odds with the scale and character of our individual neighborhoods and our community.

In my view, the issue here is straightforward. If there's a gap between our community vision and the reality on the ground, City Council's job is to fix the city code so that we steer back toward our vision instead of away from it. Every time we end up with a development that doesn't fit in Golden – due to architecture, size, or tall canyon-like walls up near the property line – City Council's first response should be to ask what went wrong and how do we fix the code to prevent it happening again. And their second response should be to actually adopt those code changes.

This isn’t about City Council’s commitment to Golden. They work hard, take their roles seriously, and make what they believe to be the best decisions for their constituents and for the community. And reasonable people can disagree about the right direction for Golden or the appropriate role for Council in achieving that vision. But there is a great deal of frustration about this across much of Golden, and it seems to be growing with every passing year. Meanwhile, we haven’t seen much in the way of code updates and the incompatible projects keep happening. This is all the more frustrating because most of the neighborhood plans made specific code recommendations, most of which remain unaddressed.

Developers will build to whatever parameters we give them. If our code allows massive square-roofed boxes pushed up close to the property line in our older neighborhoods, that's what they'll do. If we change the rules so that their projects have to be more compatible with existing neighborhood character, they'll do that instead. I support redevelopment when done well, but City Council and staff's job is to ensure that it advances the vision of our residents, instead of someone else's.

Zoning and site development code is complex, and there are limits on what Council can do, but there is a lot they can and need to do if we are going to protect our community’s character. I encourage Council to bring the sense of importance and urgency to this challenge that I think so many across town believe it requires.

To that end, I support City Council immediately adopting a moratorium on major construction (including all scrapes, rebuilds, and renovations that add significant square footage). This pause on major projects should last however long Council needs - perhaps six months or nine months? - to expeditiously adopt the code changes that will steer the reality on the ground back toward our community vision.

I strongly encourage you to weigh in with City Council whatever your views on this are. If I'm wrong, and it's just a handful of people whose hope is to prevent any additional redevelopment, it's important for Council to know this (and if I'm wrong in this way, I would welcome having a better sense of our community's sentiment). If it's accurate to say that many folks across town are frustrated about how development is occurring, it's critical for Council to know that also.

What you can do:

1) Send an email to City Council expressing your views (cityofgolden@cityofgolden.net).

2) Submit your thoughts on the Guiding Golden survey.

3) Attend the February 28 City Council meeting and express your views during the public comment period, or simply attend to learn more.

2. Council Updates Golden's Sustainability Goals

There are some things I think Council is getting right, and their update of Golden's sustainability goals last week is one of them. Kudos to Council and to the Sustainability Advisory Board for the effort they put into crafting a thoughtful, forward-looking revision. The updated goals include achieving 100% renewable electricity by 2030, aligning greenhouse gas emissions reductions with the Paris Accord by 2050, and a 40% reduction in our landfill waste by 2030. You can see the entire list on the resolution. These are both ambitious and achievable, and in addition to significantly reducing carbon pollution the results will also include Golden families and businesses saving money, breathing less of the air pollution that puts ozone and other pollutants at dangerous levels in our valley, and making our electric grid more resilient to outages and other disruptions.

2. City Council Considers Fate of Astor House

Last autumn the city began soliciting proposals for the future of this iconic and historic building in downtown Golden. A City Council subcommittee is reviewing the five submitted proposals and I imagine will make a recommendation to the full Council on next steps. The city hasn't made the proposals public but the Golden Transcript acquired them by filing a Colorado Open Records Act request ("Determining the future of Astor House underway," Golden Transcript 2/15/19 - you may need a subscription to access this). The proposals include turning the building into law offices, private office suites, food vendors, a hostel, and a "Museum of Interpretation." If you've got opinions on this, I'd suggest you send City Council an email (cityofgolden@cityofgolden.net) and perhaps show up at the March 21 study session, which is currently slated to include a discussion on this topic.

H/t to Barb Warden for calling this out (and if you don't receive Barb's terrific 'What's happening in Golden today?' daily emails I strongly recommend them).

3. Golden Pushes Back Against RTD Proposal to Cut Light Rail Service

RTD has proposed a series of changes to Golden’s light rail service, including cutting service on Saturdays from every 15 to every 30 minutes and placing the Golden station in a different fare zone than Red Rocks, meaning that you’ll pay $5.25 instead of $3 to ride. RTD handicapped Golden’s light rail service from the beginning, limiting service frequency and building only one line instead of two. That it takes as long as it does from the Golden station to downtown doesn’t help, either, and now RTD wants to make the light rail line an even less appealing option. Golden is opposing these changes. You can learn more about the proposed service changes and share your thoughts with RTD (service.changes@rtd-denver.com).

4. Open Space and Housing Affordability

There are a number of groups having conversations about bringing an initiative to the ballot in November to support our open space and housing affordability ambitions. Despite the ongoing encroachment of Denver’s sprawl, protecting a greenbelt buffer on the city’s borders hasn’t been much of a priority. And despite a lot of effort on housing affordability from the city, mostly what we have is a small handful of projects. These are useful, but they haven’t done much to make it possible for the people who serve our community in less than-lucrative careers - our teachers, police officers, streets department crews, and others - to afford to live here if they wish. For me these two issues are linked. Protecting as much as we can of the undeveloped greenbelt buffer around Golden will help us protect our quality of life, but can also have impacts on housing affordability efforts. They both matter, in my view, and to do a good job on either will require political will and a source of funding. The lodging tax that then-Councilor Bill Fisher proposed years ago seems to be getting the most attention lately. I’ve been keep tracking of folks that have told me they’d like to be involved, and I’m happy to include anyone else in that if you let me know.

5. City Council Awards City Manager $24,500 Raise

City Council last week awarded the city manager a 13.7% raise, amounting to $24,500 and bringing his salary up to $203,000. The proposal passed unanimously.

The Presidential Tough Mudder is Under Way ...

By my count - and it’s a moving target so by the time I hit ‘publish’ on this post the number will probably already be off again - there are at least 44 folks who are apparently or overtly considering a presidential run on the Democratic ticket in 2020. There may be more lanes than there were in 2016, but there are a lot of folks trying occupy each of them, and the lanes this time don’t break nearly as sharply and cleanly as they did, with Bernie owning the progressive lane (which Martin O’Malley tried and failed to compete for) and Hillary owning the Democratic establishment lane.

The 2020 Democratic Presidential field-of-mostly-daydreaming-hopefuls as I see it:

Progressive Progressives

• Bernie Sanders

• Elizabeth Warren

Regular Progressives

• Jerry Brown (California governor)

• Sherrod Brown (Ohio senator)

• Bill De Blasio (New York mayor)

• Jay Inslee (Washington governor)

• Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota senator)

• Jeff Merkley (Oregon senator)

• Chris Murphy (Connecticut senator)

• Michelle Obama (the most popular Democrat on this list)

• Martin O’Malley (former Maryland governor)

The Progressive-ish Liberals

• Michael Bennet (Colorado senator)

• Cory Booker (New Jersey senator)

• Steve Bullock (Montana governor)

• Julian Castro (former HUD Secretary & San Antonio mayor)

• Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii Congressional rep)

• Eric Garcetti (Los Angeles mayor)

• Kristen Gillibrand (New York senator)

• Kamala Harris (California senator)

• Eric Holder (former Attorney General)

• Beto O’Rouke (TX Congressional rep)

Establishment Centrist Liberals

• Joe Biden (former Vice President)

• Hillary Clinton (former Secretary of State)

• Tim Kaine (Virginia senator)

• John Kerry (former Secretary of State)

• Terry McAuliffe (Virginia governor)

• Seth Moulton (MA Congressional rep)

Business Centrist Liberals

• Michael Bloomberg (former New York mayor)

• Andrew Cuomo (New York governor)

• John Delany (retiring MD Congressional rep.) - DECLARED

• Bob Iger (Disney CEO)

• John Hickenlooper (Colorado governor)

• Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook COO)

• Howard Schultz (former Starbucks CEO)

Not Entirely Clear What They Are

• Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks owner, Shark Tank star, and businessman)

• Dwayne Johnson (actor)

• Richard Ojeda (former West Virginia candidate for Congress) - DECLARED

• Tom Steyer (hedge fund billionaire turned climate activist)

• Oprah Winfrey (media mogul)

• Mark Zuckerberg (that guy)

I Don’t Know Anything About Them

• Peter Buttigieg (South Bend mayor)

• Mitch Landrieu (former New Orleans mayor)

• Tim Ryan (Ohio Congressional rep)

• Eric Swalwell (California Congressional rep)

And Michael Avenatti (the bombastic attorney who represented Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against President Trump) and Deval Patrick (the former Massachusetts governor), both of whom floated the idea, have both announced their decisions not to run.

This is going to be a chaotic 23 months.

Waking the Sleeping Giant is Now Available for Pre-Order on iTunes

After starting work on Waking the Sleeping Giant: The Making of a Political Revolution in the summer of 2014, we are finally at the point of being able to share the film widely on iTunes and a bunch of other platforms. Most important, as of right now, it’s available for pre-order on iTunes (through November 5). The pre-orders all count as first-day sales, and first-day sales make a huge difference in its visibility in the iTunes store, so if you’ve been thinking about getting it, right now would be a fantastic time to do so.

It goes on sale widely on November 6 (election day!) on a bunch of platforms including iTunes, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google TV, Direct TV, InDemand, Comcast and Dish Network.

P.S. It’s also available on iTunes in Canada.

Chasing Rabbits: Now Available On Streaming

It's been a while since I’ve had Chasing Rabbits news to share, but movies often have a long life, and we're excited to say that Chasing Rabbits now has its first online streaming home!

Check out Chasing Rabbits on KweliTV!

KweliTV is a new streaming platform that, as they put it, “shares the African Diaspora experience through dope, undiscovered documentaries, films, web shows, children’s programming, news and more.” They were looking to expand their family-friendly offerings and decided to pick up Rabbits for their streaming service.  

You can do a free trial to get access to Chasing Rabbits, and if you decide you want to subscribe you can also take advantage of a 50%-off for six months deal as well (discount code: kweliBDAY18).