Hickenlooper's Good Ol' Boy/Girls Club Fumbles Justice Center

First, a comment from my prior post on architect Steven Holl withdrawing from the Justice Center design team:

Anonymous said...

Look what happens when instead of assigning an EXPERIENCED engineer or architect to be the City's Project Manager, and letting the EXPERIENCED hands in the Dept. of Public Works handle the project, the Mayor's Office grabs control of it, and hands it over to a political hack who IS NOT AN ENGINEER OR ARCHITECT and who probably has not even built a doghouse in his life. No offense to Mr. Mejia, but I submit he's in over his head here.

Every damn administration at least since Pena has tried this approach and every damn time it's blown up in their faces. You'd think they'd learn.

Yeah, well, could we really have expected more? Indeed, from Pena to the Hick, we see the usual suspects showing up time after time after time on boards, commissions, as "special assistants" to the mayor. Makes one hark back to the old hymn (which, surely, is Hick's Kumbaya mantra. Okay, all together now...) :

May the circle
Be unbroken
By and by, Lord, by and by
May the circle
Be unbroken
In the sky, Lord
In the sky.

Nope. The circle continues. The Good Ol' Boy/Girls Club persists as goose poop in the park; something that we just can't seem to excise from the oval temple of hucksterism on the third floor of the City and County Building.

Incidentally, if you've got the time, you might want to just take a look at the folks Hick placed on the Justice Center Task Force (you can read their conclusions also). You'll have to drill down a bit to see the folks appointed to each of the three subcommittees. Yes, indeed, there are some good people on those subcommittees. There are also quite a number of the "usual suspects." I mean, does Hyatt, Brownstein and Farber (Farbes) have to sit on every committee, task force the Hick appoints? Probably, yes, given the winky-wink relationship between that law firm and three successive city administrations. Surprising, the only "usual suspect" missing is Susan Barnes-Gelt. Go figure!

Ain't politics grand!

The Rocky Mountain News provides a copyrighted story this morning: Justice center design in air - Full City Council will meet after nationally noted architect's exit

You can access the story here (not sure how long they keep the stories available.)

I've got lots of questions pursuant to this morning's News article, but something that jumped out at me was that James Mejia, the mayor's "Special Assistant," coordinating the project, stated that because of the accrual of interest on money raised for the project (GO Funding - General Obligation Bonds) they've got $394Million to spend on the project instead of the amount provided originally for voter approval, $378Million. Hmmm... Can they do that? Can they spend more than what the people voted for? And, indeed, if they can, Steven Holl--the architect who told the Hick he could take this job and, well, you know--said he was over budget by only $4Million. If they've now got $16Million more to spend on the project, then what gives? Who's jammin' who here?

P.S. Lee Driscoll, CEO of Wynkoop Holdings Inc. (Mayor Hickenlooper's restaurant "blind trust") is a member of the Finance Subcommittee of the Justice Center Task Force. Driscoll was, if you recall, put on the spot after the assasination of Detective Donny Young by Raul Garcia-Gomez who was (besides being an illegal immigrant) a dishwasher at the Cherry Cricket--one of the Wynkoop restaurants--at the time of the assasination. After the assasination, Driscoll was tasked with determining how many of the Wynkoop Holdings employees were illegal. They came up with 107, current or former employees. Said Driscoll, when he had to terminate the employement of those illegals: ""Dealing with these immigration issues is the first time in my life I'm ashamed to be an American." This according to Mike Littwin writing for the Rocky Mountain News on May 4, 2005.

Huge Mistakes on Denver Absentee Ballots

The below is verbatim from Heartbroken Tiger
(Note: graphic example can be seen by clicking the above link.)

Posted by Lisa J. on Oct. 10, 2006

Backers of Ref. F should scrap plans for a victory party. And Judge Johnny Charles Barajas should start looking for a new job. The Denver absentee ballots are stacked against 'em.

Seems like everyone in Denver will be voting absentee this year, and many of us got our ballots in the mail today.

Problem is, these ballots are bound to raise serious questions about fairness.

See for yourself. Take "Card 1 of 2" of your absentee ballot and look at the front. Looks fine.

Now, turn it over and hold it up to the light. What do you see? A thick, black line printed on the front of the ballot clearly comes through the back as a "no" vote for Judge Johnny Charles Barajas.

Now, take "Card 2 of 2." The front looks fine.

But turn it over and hold it up to the light. What do you see? A thick, black line printed on the front of the ballot clearly comes through the back as a "no" vote for Referendum F.

Absentee ballots are counted by an optical scanner. It has been demonstrated that relatively translucent paper allows markings on one side of the ballot to be counted as votes when the other side is scanned. It has happened before in Denver, in the 2003 school board race.

Accordingly, ballots are supposed to be designed carefully to avoid any possibility of a mark coming through the other side during the scanning process.

Holding your ballot up to the light, you can see for yourself that the paper is translucent. The bold markings definitely come through on the "no" vote lines for Judge Barajas and Ref. F.

The paper stock itself is not to blame. The weight of the paper meets strict specifications to prevent jamming of the optical scanner/counting machines. The DEC knew how translucent the paper would be -- that's why ballot design is so important.

What's more, you'll notice that "yes" is listed as the first choice for all questions -- except for Ref. F. Call it a simple copy editing mistake, but if someone wanted to ensure the failure of Ref. F, they couldn't have designed a better ballot.

Who signed off on this Rookie Mistake Hall of Shame ballot? John Gaydeski, DEC executive director.

The Denver Election Commission could re-design, reprint and re-mail all absentee ballots at considerable expense in the short time remaining before election day. But they would never be able to ensure that voters would return the correct version of the ballot.

Incidentally, Ref. F would make it easier for voters to remove elected officials from office...like, um, incompetent election commissioners. And, thanks to Denver's poorly designed absentee ballot, the measure will likely go down in flames. Go figure.

I tried to illustrate the problem in the graphics below, but the best way to see it is by holding your own ballot up to the light.

[Update: I got a note saying that Ref. F may end up making it harder to recall local politicians. Either way, F is fated to fail.]

From Libeskind to Holl - A Passion for "World Class"

I need not repeat my dislike of the Libeskind miscreation; the Frederick C. Hamilton wing of the Denver's Art Museum. The reports on the interior of the freakish Libeskind ghoulish juts are mixed. One report likened the interior to an amusement park's fun house. Others are quite ecstatic about the au courant "art for art's sake" frigidly stark interior of the place. I'm told the exhibits within are, on one hand, themselves quite ghoulish (one exhibit, I'm told, was created using the artist's blood); while, on the other hand, there are quite wonderful pieces, both modern and traditional. Yes, I'll visit the Hamilton wing once the crush--and it was a crush of, I believe, over 34,000 folks--have had their look -see.

Wondering now if I had had $20Million to contribute to the construction of the wing, would my name be up there instead of Hamilton's? Probably not. I would have packed Libeskind's suitcase for him and sent him back home before committing a dime. But, then, I didn't have $20Million and, well, the rest is history.

Steven Holl is/was the architect chosen to provide Denver with its next "world class" structure, a new Justice Center that will be just down the road a piece from the Libeskind mess. If you want to take a look at Holls vision, you can visit his website and download a little presentation on his vision for the said Justice Center. It's a large file, but--I thought, at least--quite worth it. Holl's vision pleases. It would have been a truly classy addition to Denver's rapacious appetite for "world class" status. (This "world class" thing is, for me at least, amusing. What does "world class" mean in practical terms? Another Paris? New York? This is Denver, folks. And, I'm quite fond of cows and the accoutrements associated with cows, thank you very much.)

Back to Holl.

Seems Holl has pulled out of the design for the Denver Justic Center. Holl--designated by Time Magazine in 2001 as America's best architect--explains:

"The project managers for the city of Denver effectively rejected this design and did not permit the collaboration necessary for great public architecture," according to the posting. "Without an advocate for public architecture on the city management side, the city's process did not allow Steven Holl Architects to move forward on the project."

James Mejia, Mayor Hickenlooper's Special Assistant tasked with coordinating the entire Justice Center project responded (with Holl's partner-in-charge answering) :

Mejia bristled at the statement and vigorously defended the city.

"The design that he showed came with five options, none of which had our entire program in budget," he said.

Mejia said Holl's proposal was about $30 million over budget. Unlike museums and libraries, Denver's courthouse will have no post-budget private fundraising, he said.

"We can't do that for a courthouse," he said. "We just can't do it."

Chris McVoy, who was partner in charge of the project for Holl, said Denver officials came to Holl's offices in New York on June 26 and liked the preliminary design.

A month later, he said, "they said there was a broad consensus."

McVoy said representatives of the firm visited Denver on Aug. 10, and Holl presented further developments on the design, which he said was over budget but not by the amount the city is claiming.

The city asked to see a draft of the plans on Aug. 31 and for a presentation in Denver on Sept. 5, McVoy said.

"That's when the city said it was unacceptable and to come up with a new design," he said.

That's as far as it got, McVoy said. "We didn't feel it was a collaborative process."

Well, long story short, Holl has quit the project and, according to the Rocky Mountain News (from whence the above quotes have come):

The city of Denver will pay nearly $700,000 to an architect who quit the justice center project last week, but it will be unable to use much of his work.

Whoops! Story worth following. Indeed, will Denver ever become a "world class" city? Ever?

Sweet Sarah

Our new baby has arrived. Sarah is a rescue dog from Polaris Alaskan Malamute Rescue here in Colorado (see my links). She arrived yesterday about 2p.m.

Sarah--in spite of her somewhat menacing appearance in this photo--is a very, very sweet little girl who knows several commands, loves to play tug-of-war and chase a tennis ball over and over and over... She prefers to stay outside.

The Polaris rep I've been dealing with reports that Sarah was born in Alaska (a real native Alaskan!), purchased from a breeder and then, when she became so large that she (not intentionally) knocked down small children, was given to another family. That family moved to Colorado and, sadly--being a military family--the daddy has been ordered to Iraq. So, we are her third family in the five short years of her life.

She is a happy, loving, gentle soul who will have a good (admittedly pampered) life with David and me.

More pics to follow.

Olbermann: Bush, a compulsive liar - General Tommy Franks: ...the unraveling of our Constitution

The President ... makes things up! General Tommy Franks fears for our Constitution.

Foley - Our Salvation is in our Humor

If we could not laugh, would we surely cry? Or, maybe we'd take a look at the proposition that absolute power corrupts absolutely, which, by the way, seems to be what's happend to the GOP!

NO on 1A - Preschool Sales Tax - Inappropriate Boondoggle

Jeanne Faatz, the only Denver City Councilperson to oppose this ill-formulated, ill-advised, innapropriate raise in Denver's sales tax to fund what amounts to a "vouchering system" for pre-schools (anywhere in the Denver metro area) utilizing Denver sales tax dollars, provides a better reasoned argument than I can provide. An opion piece from the Denver Post's, David Harsanyi follows:

A Word From Jeanne Faatz

Preschool Sales Tax Increase: Just Say “No”

Mayor Hickenlooper is urging an increase in sales tax to subsidize preschool tuition for all 4-year-olds. This proposal will be on the ballot this November.

The Mayor and I agree on one thing. Early childhood education is important for children. My mother, a first grade teacher, earned her doctorate and started the first Head Start program in my home town. As a teacher myself and a former state legislator, I successfully advocated for assistance for our at-risk children through the Colorado at-risk preschool program.

For me, this debate is not about whether preschool is good. This debate is about higher taxes, the role of city government, and a flawed mechanism for program delivery.

Higher taxes

I oppose this tax increase proposal. The proposal calls for a .12% increase in sales tax. Denver’s sales tax, now 3.5%, would increase to 3.62%. The total sales tax collected in Denver, including state tax, RTD, etc., would rise to 7.72%. It will raise $12 million annually.

I am not looking for ways to increase the tax burden of our citizens. This tax will cost a family with an annual income of $70,000 approximately $50 a year. A median income family of $53,616 (2004 statistics) will pay about $33 more annually.

An increase in sales tax adds to businesses’ cost of operating. It also makes some of our retail businesses less competitive. In my Southwest Denver council district, I have a shopping center (Southwest Commons) directly across the street from Southwest Plaza in Jefferson County. This new tax would require our Denver businesses to collect 7.72%, while consumers could shop at Southwest Plaza and pay only 5.1%. The problem is already bad. This proposal makes it worse.

Expanded role for city government

Subsidizing preschool tuition isn’t the primary role of our city government. We have many responsibilities we aren’t adequately meeting now – streets, safety, parks, etc. We should take care of Job One before we even think about expanding the role of government.

Subsidies for illegal immigrants

This program provides universal coverage. All 4-year-olds with parents or guardians who are Denver residents qualify. One major problem with this approach is that it provides a benefit to residents regardless of their immigration status. This is an optional decision of the city administration and city council. It is allowed but not mandated by federal and state laws.

My constituents want non-emergency services for illegal immigrants curtailed. This proposal adds benefits. For instance, families with annual incomes below $50,000 will receive over $5,000 in subsidy for each 4-year-old.

The poor subsidizing the rich

Universal eligibility raises another philosophical issue. Subsidies are handed out on a sliding scale. There is no top income limit. The tax increase seems regressive when you consider that a poor or middle class family with older children, for example, will be subsidizing tuition for a millionaire’s 4-year-old child.

Flawed program

There are numerous technical flaws in the proposal. A non-profit corporation will be formed (incorporated by whom, the ordinance doesn’t say). Proponents call this a public-private partnership. I don’t. Why?

* This “private” concern doesn’t exist yet. It has no track record of competence to justify entrusting it with $12 million a year.
* This “private” concern has no obligation to bring money to the table for the program.
* This “private” concern will be governed by a board of directors and a board of advisors, all political appointees, appointed by the Mayor, confirmed by City Council.
* This “private” concern is supposed to be an independent contractor. Where is the “arms length” relationship if government makes the appointments to all the governing boards?

This program is not as cost efficient as advertised. While “administrative costs” are capped at 5%, many areas I’d consider administrative are outside the definition. Communication, marketing, consultants – none included in the cap. In fact, there is no guarantee of how much money will actually go to children’s tuition.

Issues raised at public hearing

One concern raised at the city council public hearing was the use of public money for private and parochial education. All licensed child care facilities – public, private, faith-based or home-based -- can participate. Another issue was the practicality of having the program’s Board of Directors monitoring the quality of facilities, another component of the program, throughout the metro area or even farther away. This program allows Denver tax money to go to preschools located anywhere in the state.

Just say “NO”

The voters should say “No” to this specific proposal. The issue is not whether we care about children or value preschool. The issue is whether we should raise our taxes, expand our city’s role, and annually entrust $12 million of our dollars to a flawed program.

Let’s ask the Mayor and his team of advisors, who stepped forward to examine children’s needs, to step back and devise a better solution to this problem. The Denver Preschool Program and the accompanying tax are not ready to become law.

Preschool doesn't need government
By David Harsanyi
Denver Post Staff Columnist
Article Last Updated:09/07/2006 03:46:06 AM MDT

One fundamental problem with government is that the only solution it seems capable of providing is even more government.

This November, Mayor John Hickenlooper's well-meaning proposal to hike Denver's sales tax to help fund preschool education will be on the ballot.

"I believe that Denver needs more quality preschools," explained Councilwoman Judy Montero.

She's right. The operative word is "quality" and it's the best reason to keep government out of the preschool business.

California voters recently rejected a universal preschool tax - which, to be fair, was a plan Karl Marx might have embraced - and Denver residents have twice in recent years said no to a preschool tax.

So why then was Jeanne Faatz the only Denver city councilor to oppose the plan this time around?

"I find a number of things I don't like in it. One is the tax implication. I was surprised that they were going after a sales tax," she explains.

"And I am very concerned about expanding the tuition subsidy. We have so many needs looming in front of us. We're still trying to catch up on the recession."

Well, we could always raise taxes again next year. Just a little ... really. Then just a little again next year - and so on.

Faatz contends that Denver is already burdened with "enormous" capital needs. And she can't recall a single constituent calling to register a complaint about preschool funding.

Faatz then proceeded to rattle off about a half-dozen programs and subsidizes available on the state and federal level for "at-risk" kids - "at-risk" a euphemism for "poor."

"Not only is it unwise to start down the path of expanding Denver government, but there are other groups operating on this level, helping kids," she explains.

Faatz also maintains that the funding mechanism for this tax hike is unfair: Why should poor people subsidize the preschool of the rich? By raising sales taxes - a tax everyone pays - that's exactly what would happen.

But a component that seems most harmful is the proposed "quality-improvement" system.

You know, there's already a brilliant "quality-improvement plan" in place. It's called parenting. And as a parent, I sure don't want a government-mandated council deciding what "quality" education entails for my kids.

We can all witness what a government-run monopoly in public education in poor neighborhoods has done in the "quality-improvement" department. Why allow the inevitable red tape and inflexibility to infect preschools?

Faatz also wonders why Denver would hand over $12 million to a group without a proven track record.

The council that will manage the money will be comprised of political appointees. And political appointees - whatever their intentions - always carry political baggage.

"Here you have a program with no track record of results, with no history. What political agenda is going to be played out?" asks Faatz. "When something isn't exactly the the way we want it, we create a new bureaucracy as treatment. If there is anything specific that needs an adjustment, a specific problem, I'm all for fixing it."

Geez, Faatz must really hate those poor little rosy-cheeked children.

"We all love children. I was a teacher. I am mom. My daughter is a mom. ... But this program is fatally flawed," says Faatz. She has other concerns, including that illegal immigrants can get stipends and the preschool subsidy can be taken to schools outside Denver.

There are positives as well. The plan calls for the stipend, like a voucher, to follow the child not the school. Perhaps one day, such vouchers will find their way into the K-12 system and poor children will be allowed to escape failing schools.

It will be interesting to see if Denverites once again see through the inevitable heart-wrenching "for-the-children" campaign tactics employed by proponents.

We're Expecting!

My water hasn't broken yet, but... Making the decision to give a "rescue" dog a home, we've been watching the Alaskan Malamute Rescue Site for some time now. And, on October 2nd, Sarah appeared on the site. If all goes well, we'll have her home Monday afternoon. Expect pictures!

Simple Gifts - The Quiet Sorrow of the Amish

Hearing of the killings of Amish children in the little school house near Georgetown, Pennsylvania, I drifted off to a recalling of the old Shaker song, "Simple Gifts," (I am listening to it now) a motif upon which Aaron Copland based much of his "Appalachian Spring" ballet. Though born and raised Catholic, the words of "Simple Gifts" haunt as essential dogma; a place to be.

From the Associated Press this morning (in part):

GEORGETOWN, Pa. (AP) -- In contrast to bright skies Thursday, horse-drawn buggies splashed along the country roads in a steady rain early Friday, headed to the funeral of a fifth victim of Monday's schoolhouse shootings.

...A sixth victim was reported in grave condition Thursday. County coroner G. Gary Kirchner said he had been contacted by a physician at Penn State Children's Hospital in Hershey who said doctors expected to take one girl off life support.

Mourners had gathered Thursday inside the fading white rail fence among small, aging tombstones to bury four of the girls killed by a gunman at the one-room school in Nickel Mines.

Farms along the road to the cemetery sprouted newly hand-lettered "posted" and "no trespassing" signs. At a house near the graveyard laundry hung out on a line in the rain.

Thursday meanwhile, had been a day for the Amish to share their grief without the intrusion of outsiders.

State troopers blocked off all roads into the village and led horse-drawn buggies and black carriages holding the girls' hand-sawn wooden coffins to the cemetery on the crest of a hill.

"I just think at this point mostly these families want to be left alone in their grief and we ought to respect that," said Dr. D. Holmes Morton, who runs a clinic that serves Amish children.

Funerals were held for 13-year-old Marian Fisher, 7-year-old Naomi Rose Ebersol and sisters Mary Liz Miller, 8, and Lena Miller, 7. The funeral for 12-year-old Anna Mae Stoltzfus was scheduled for Friday.

The girls, in white dresses made by their families, were laid to rest in graves dug by hand. Amish custom calls for simple wooden coffins, narrow at the head and feet and wider in the middle.

Amish funerals are conducted in German and focus on God, not on commemorating the dead. There is no singing, but ministers read hymns and passages from the Bible and an Amish prayer book.

Funeral processions passed the home of Charles Carl Roberts IV, the 32-year-old milk truck driver who took the girls hostage, tied them up and shot them before killing himself.

Benjamin Nieto, 57, watched the processions from a friend's porch. "They were just little people," he said of the victims. "They never got a chance to do anything."

...many Amish have embraced Roberts' relatives, who may receive money from a fund established to help victims and their families.

Roberts' wife, Marie, was invited to attend the funeral by the family of Marian Fisher; it was unclear whether she attended.

Media were blocked from the funerals and the burials, and airspace for 2 1/2 miles in all directions was closed to news helicopters.

Tragedies such as the massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado have become moments of national mourning, in large part because of satellite and TV technology. But the Amish shun the modern world and both its ills and conveniences.

Donors from around the world are pledging money to help the families of the dead and wounded. Amounts ranging from $1 to $500,000 have been received and could help defray mounting medical bills.

At the behest of Amish leaders, a fund has also been set up for the killer's widow and three children.

The pervasive egoism of our times provides the stuff of conflict, hatred, war, biases, fractious religious zealotry, the murder of little girls, the stolen innocence of little boys. There is an embracement of a haughty intolerance of otherness.

Walt Whitman wrote in "Song of Myself:"

I think I could turn and live awhile with the animals...
they are so placid and self-contained,
I stand and look at them sometimes half the day long.

They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Not one is dissatisfied...not one is demented with the
mania of owning things,
Not one kneels to another nor to his kind that lived
thousands of years ago,
No one is respectable or industrious over the whole earth.

Abraham Lincoln (a contemporary of Whitman) said: "We must disenthrall ourselves..."

And, finally, "Simple Gifts:"

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'tis the gift to be free,
'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
It will be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed.
To turn, turn will be our delight,
'Til by turning, turning we come round right

'Tis the gift to be loved and that love to return,
'Tis the gift to be taught and a richer gift to learn,
And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,
Then we'll all live together and we'll all learn to say,

'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,
'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of "me",
And when we hear what others really think and really feel,
Then we'll all live together with a love that is real.

Ah, if only it were possible...

Did I Mention GOP Sleaze (Or is it that Beauprez is desperate AND sleazy?)

This from Wash Park Prophet...something that, once again, begs the comment: Ain't politics grand!

Closets

...Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence,
Something there is that doesn't love a wall...

Robert Frost, "Mending Wall"

Dare we speak of ex-Congressman Mark Foley. Borrowing from a piece in this morning's Rocky Mountain News, by Vince Carroll, editor of the editorial pages, let me go on here for a bit.

Mr. Carroll provides (condensing his piece):

October 1: Foley declares, "I strongly believe that I'm an alcoholic and have accepted the need for immediate treatment for alcoholism and other behavioral problems." He emphasizes, however, the he takes full responsibility for the sexually charged messages he sent to underage congressional pages.

October 3: Foley's attorney announces that Foley was sexually abused by a clergyman as a teenager...but offers no excuse for his reprehensible conduct.

Carroll goes on to suggest possible future "excuses" from Foley for his disgusting behavior, with each "excuse" being qualified with a codicil that he takes full respresponsibility for his actions, that he makes no excuses, blah, blah, blah....

David and I will celebrate our twenty-fourth anniversary this November. And, as I look back over the years we've been together, I acknowledge that I've never been one to celebrate or expose or--as Good Christians often observe--flaunt my sexuality, my relationship with my partner, my friend, my love: David. Indeed--during my professional career--my private life, my castle, my heaven was not something I generally shared with my professional colleagues. My life away from the workplace was my refuge; an emotional, temporal and spiritual comfortable corner where life evolved as an ever expanding phantasmagoria of the possibilities of commitment, sharing, learning, growing, loving.

I've never sought an excuse for who I am.

If I were to recount the ups and downs, the joys and grief, the toil and trouble of these past twenty-four years, the litany would be as familiar and typical as that of Ward and June Cleaver (Leave it to Beaver). Well, maybe not that familiar and typical.

We pay our taxes, we've owned two homes, we mow the lawn once a week, we shovel the walk, we wash the car, we shop for groceries, we help our neighbors, we bemoan the state of the world, we raise children (the four-legged variety), we care about our city, our parks, our neighborhood. We're happy. We're content with the lives we've made for ourselves.

With Mark Foley, the dark and dangerous consequences of closets is exposed; and, indeed, the message resounds: "Something there is that doesn't love a wall."

Ritter vs. Beauprez Debate - A Non-Event

Very entertaining "diary" of the Ritter/Beauprez debate from Colorado Confidential. The diary is kind of a nutshell recapitulation of what was apparently a very boring evening. Good read.

Foley Videos - GOP Sleaze

From Stephen Colbert

From Jon Stewart

From ABC News

From MSNBC

From CNN (Attorney Spin)

Denver International Airport - Purchasing Fraud - Part III

Part I of this series of posts dealt with the details of the alleged purchasing fraud at Denver International Airport.

Part II of this series of posts dealt with applicable law, policy and procedure with regard to the procurement of goods and services by employees of the City and County of Denver which includes Denver International Airport.

Here are a few of the things a forensic accountant should ask when investigating this alleged fraud?

1) Was the employee allowed to order, receive and initiate payment for the items in question? If so, why? If so, why did the supervisor or Purchasing Contact Representative allow the same to occur when clearly the process was in direct opposition to all "Best Practices" protocols ?

2) Why was the employee allowed to order items from an out-of-state vendor when Central Purchasing had established Annual Contracts (with local vendors) for those items; contracts that had been competitively bid and were meant to be utilized citywide?

3) Due diligence processes and procedures are clearly outlined in Executive Order No. 33 with regard to the utilization of Delegated Purchasing Authority and, in addition, the use of the Procurement Card (a credit card issued for the sole purpose of procuring "small dollar" goods/services by agency representatives). Those Due Diligence requirements specifically identify the Purchasing Contact Representative at the agency as ultimately responsible for the proper utilization of the Delegated Purchasing Authority at their agency. Included in those Due Diligence (DPA) process/procedure requirements, is the explicit overview of purchases made utilizing DPA authority. To what degree did the Purchasing Contact Representative (PCR) at Denver International Airport follow those Due Diligence requirements? Was a random sampling of small dollar purchases made at the airport and faithfully, consistently executed by supervisory personnel? Did supervisory personnel review the readily available bank generated detail of small dollar purchases made by their subordinates? Did supervisory personnel consistently question the purchase of items from out-of-state vendors when the same items were available on Annual Contracts from local vendors?

4) If supervisory personnel questioned the out-of-state purchases, and the subordinate stated that he/she was purchasing those small dollar items at a greater discount than what was to be realized via the Annual Contract, did the supervisory personnel verify the same and, additionally, determine whether or not like items were being compared to like items?

5) How often did supervisory personnel make the effort to examine on-hand inventory and disbursements of that inventory to determine if receipts for shipments of those items were valid as to quantity and price?

6) To what degree did supervisory examine/investigate small dollar purchases prior to co-signing requests for payment generated by the employee in question?

There are, of course, a myriad of other questions a forensic accountant should ask with regard to this matter and, hopefully, he/she will do that.

A Part IV of this series of posts may or may not be forthcoming prior to any further information, findings, charges from the Denver District Attorney's Office or other sources.

Items of Note

"A Swashbuckling Spectacle of Corruption" - Bill Moyers Investigates Abramoff Lobbying Scandal


“Return of the Taliban" on FRONTLINE Tonight.

Alcohol Does Not an Excuse for Pederasty/Pedophilia Make

Dare I admit Bay Buchanan, Pat's wife, is my heroine today. (Probably not tomorrow. But, for today, You Go Girl!)

Suspect Ex-Congressman Mark Foley will find Je-hah-sus in rehab and, um, do good works on behalf of wayward boys once he's in recovery. After all, how bad can a little naughty email or two be when sent to sixteen-year-old boys?

And, here in Colorado. It's sure a Grand Old Party, isn't it.

My New Friend

Since Sweet Melissa passed, I've taken to feeding the squirrels that happen to stop by our back yard around lunch time. Actually, it started one morning about 11:30. Sitting on the little bench in the middle of the yard, I looked at one of the two by eight posts that support our fence and there, on top of the post staring back at me, was a petite squirrel, surely a little girl. She didn't reflect that wild anxiety with the world (you know, that lions and tigers and bears, oh my!, glare) that most squirrels communicate through their eyes, their body language. No, her tail danced and her head cocked a bit as I asked her, "What's up?" She didn't scoot away. She continued to study me and (yes, I speak and understand squirrel) asked me for a treat. I stood up, walked the twenty or so feet to our back door, went inside and grabbed a piece of bread (low carb wheat) and returned to the little bench in the back yard. She was still atop the post.

Tearing the bread and tossing a few pieces about two feet from my feet, she appeared to consider if this was a case of entrapment or, indeed, was it that I needed a new friend as much as she needed a snack? She opted for the latter. Unafraid, performing that upside down skelter (as agile as Spiderman), she descended the post, crossed our small deck, delicately seized the bit of bread and retook her position atop the post.

As she nibbled--such wee bites-she sat on the post, and turned full frontal toward me. Yes, it was a little girl. The propagative equipment on the little boys is, um, unambiguous.

Through an entire piece of low carb wheat bread, my little friend returned again and again, closer and closer to my fourteeners, my trail shoes (yes, size fourteen feet!) with fearless elan.

She returns daily at about the same time. I have yet to name her. But, that would be silly, wouldn't it?

Garrison Keillor wrote a piece not long ago that mentioned his perception of the doings of most retired folk: taking pictures of fowl and squirrels; trees and other nonsensical subjects like mountains and valleys. Actually, I really don't remember what his point was or if he actually provided a litany of the things retired folk take pictures of. But, you get the point. I believe he was bemoaning the slip-slide into ratcheting down, preparing for the inevitability of all of our lives.

I mention Keillor's observation only to insist that my befriending of a squirrel in my back yard is not evidence of some aging protocol that, sooner or later (it is written somewhere) we must all find as a comfortable corner in which to hunker and wait. No way. No how.

I'll be seeing another birthday soon. God, they never stop (I certainly hope they never stop, at least, for, oh, another thirty years or so). I do believe I've got good genes in the longevity department. My last uncle passed at ninety. My favorite aunt, at eighty-eight, is still organizing world tours and five day excursions to Opryland. Mom and dad? Well, their longevity was cut short (he eighty, she seventy-six) by factors that could have been avoided, mitigated if they would have seen the error of their ways. But, that's another story.

Yes, I'll visit with my new friend again tomorrow. I'll give her bread and she'll give me that little thrill I get whenever I'm able to interact with the critters, any critters. She's no dog; she's no Sweet Melissa. But, she'll do for the time being.

Berkeley Park Yesterday

Just one more shot from yesterday's neighborhood hike. Now, I guess I need another follow-up to Denver Interntional Airport's purchasing fraud series. Workin' on it.

Berkeley Park This Morning

Watercolor of fall.

This Morning's Hike - Berkeley Park

This beauty was on the lake this morning. Never seen a duck quite like this one.
Update: I'm told that this is a Goose/Duck hybrid, something that occurs in city parks where Geese and Ducks live in close proximity.

Musgrave & Allard - Mutt & Jefff, Frick & Frack of Colorado's Congressional Team

Ah, the flatlanders have done it again.

Supposedly working with Colorado's Senator Ken Salazar (D) on a bill that would provide the Rocky Mountain National Park with "wilderness" designation/protection, Colorado Senator Wayne "Potted Plant" Allard (R) and Colorado Representative Marilyn "Fear the Queer" Musgrave suddenly on Thursday submitted a separate bill that essentially provided for the same thing Salazar et. al. have been working on for over a year, thus probably guaranteeing that no bill will be passed in this session to protect this magnificent national park.

Why? Well, Senator Salazar opined that the second bill was presented so Ms. Marilyn could be noted as a sponsor to--Oh, tell me it isn't true--help her reelection bid.

Said Salazar: "When people start playing politics with Colorado's agenda and Colorado's crown jewels, it's wrong."

Seems also that Allard and Musgrave have refused to attach their names to the original bill which, as I noted, is essentially the same as the Allard/Musgrave version.

Final word from Colorado Congressman Udall: "A cynic might think that this timing is aimed at helping Mrs. Musgrave in her re-election campaign."

Oh, really?

Spokesman for Musgrave, Aaron Johnson suggested that one of the differences between the two bills was that the Allard/Musgrave version would give wilderness protection to the park WITHOUT embracing that protection within the Wilderness Act. Thus (ho-hum) assuring that if the Wilderness Act happened to be modified, Rocky Mountain National Park's wilderness status would not be affected.

Said Salazar: "The chances of the Wilderness Act being changed are about the same as putting a human being on Jupiter in the next year."

GAWD don't ya'll love election years.

Godspeed, Emily Keyes

Reports the Rocky Mountain News:

Bailey - The last communication between Emily Keys and her father was a simple txt message via cell phone. "I love you."

A few hours later, she was dead.

Keyes was killed by Duane Morrison inside an English classroom at Platte Canyon High School on Wednesday afternoon — after the 53-year-old transient took six female hostages and before he shot himself about 4 p.m.

On Thursday, Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener was still grasping for answers even as clues continued to crop up — including a male student who reported that Morrison approached him prior to the shooting and asked for a list of female students.

"Agents are following up on that with the student and we'll let you know more about that," Wegener said. "Again, we're right back into the why and the mystery and everything surrounding that."

The text message between father and daughter was one of the more emotional revelations of the day — one passed along by a family spokesman with the bittersweet note that John Keyes, who created the Infohiway in 1994 that featured Web- based yellow pages and a search engine and had plenty of computer savvy, had to find someone "under 30" to show him how to text message.

Once he was able, said spokesman Louis Gonzalez, Keyes stood at the pedestrian overpass of U.S. 285 and sent the message, "R u OK?"

At 1:52 p.m., his daughter replied with these words, "I love U guys."

A follow-up question of "Where r u?" was never answered.

Keyes was shot in the back of the head trying to flee as SWAT team members stormed the classroom less than two hours later.

From the Associated Press, not more than an hour ago:

CAZENOVIA, Wis. - Sheriff's deputies confirmed that a principal was shot in a rural Wisconsin school, and they said a suspect is in custody. All the children were reported safe.

WKOW-TV reported that principal John Klang of Weston School was shot Friday morning by a former student who entered the school armed with multiple weapons.

The district told WKOW that Klang was shot, but would not confirm his condition. The station reported that the school is in lockdown.

People who answered the phones at the Sauk County Sheriff's Department and the Weston School District did not immediately comment to The Associated Press.

Richland County Sheriff Chief Deputy Tom Hougan was at the scene outside the southwest Wisconsin school, but would not confirm the details because it was not in his jurisdiction.

"The students are safe," Hougan told the AP. "The scene is secure."

Columbine, now seven years past, not forgotten.

These times we live in: confusion, anger, irreconcilable grief. The question: Why? I don't know. I don't know.

Godspeed, Emily Keyes.

Just a Couple Pics for a Thursday

Happy Astors and my buddy chomping on my low-carb wheat bread.

Clinton vs. Wallace - Jon Stewart Reviews

I personally think it's a little refreshing to see a public figure react as a human being to the calculated ignominy of the media. But, that's just me...

The full ten minutes of Clinton vs. Wallace is here.

Denver International Airport - Purchasing Fraud - Part II

Warning! This is an esoteric post that may prove really, really boring to those who really don't have much interest in public procurement process/procedure.

Suffice it to say, within any organization, public or private, there are and forever will be those who will not hesitate to take advantage of any opportunity to "beat the system;" to exploit any weakness in established process or procedure to protect the integrity of that system. I contend that the exploitation of such a weakness in a public sector system--specifically a public sector purchasing system--where public monies (local, federal or state taxes, fees, surcharges, grants, public/private co-op funding) are expended, is a crime of higher order than those perpetrated upon private sector entities. I contend that the fiduciary responsibility to protect the best interests of "the people," rather than the best interests of the corporation, is tantamount.

Part I of this post provided an overview of the alleged fraud that occurred at Denver International Airport, presumably within the Airport's Technical Services Purchasing Section. The alleged fraud, discovered by internal auditors, appears to have amounted to $50,000 in overcharges just this year. The alleged fraud has, apparently, been ongoing for up to seven years. One employee has been placed on investigatory leave and the currently known facts have been submitted to the Denver District Attorney's Office. A forensic accountant has been brought on-board to delve further into the matter and, hopefully, to determine the chain of failed responsibility that led to the breakdown in process/procedure; where, ultimately, the buck stops.

Part I also noted that the alleged fraud involved purchases from one or more of the companies owned by Richard S. Joselit who, in 2002, pleaded guilty to Petit Larceny in connection with a similar scheme perpetrated against (and with the assistance of some employees of) the New York Mets. The fraud against the Mets amounted to $2Million. Mr. Joselit, by the way, was sentenced to "Conditional Discharge," on October 15, 2003. I am not aware of the "conditions" related to Mr. Joselit's discharge. One would think, however, that one of those conditions was that he cease perpetrating or enabling fraud.

Since these kinds of posts seem to go on and on and on (who really has that much time to read this stuff) let me confine this post to some of the basics that, I suggest, need to be understood before one can make any conclusions about the chain of responsibility for what allegedly occurred at Denver International Airport.

The City and County of Denver operates under a codified central purchasing function, that requires all agencies (except those defined as "Independent" agencies by the City's Charter) to route requests (requisitions) for goods and services (excluding some "professional" services--the definition of "professional" remaining intentionally vague) through the Central Purchasing Division of the Department of General Services. The Purchasing Division procures--via requisitions, annual or term bids, "piggy-backing" on State, Federal or Cooperative contracts--in excess of $150Million in goods and services per year. Denver International Airport is NOT an "independent" agency, as defined by the Charter, and is subject to applicable law, policy and procedure as defined in the City Charter, the Denver Revised Municipal Code (RMC) and Executive Order(s) relating to the purchase of goods and services. (Note: Denver International Airport is further defined as an "Enterprise Fund" agency, which means--in general terms--that it's operational funding does NOT come from the City and County of Denver's General Fund. It is important to note also that Denver International Airport--most management and supervisory personnel--have been foaming out both sides of their mouths for years for the opportunity to become disconnected from the City and County of Denver and the oversight/control therefrom, by becoming a Port Authority, much like Denver Health and Hospitals became an independent authority (Denver Health Medical) in the mid to latter '90s.)

Mayoral Executive Orders can be described as documents which provide the essential detail, process and procedure for Charter or RMC mandates, imperatives. For those Charter and RMC sections that related to the purchase of goods/services, Executive Order No. 33 is applicable.

Part of Executive Order No. 33 relates to what is called "Delegated Purchasing Authority (DPA)." This authority is defined in XO33 as:

Delegated Purchasing Authority (DPA): The authority provided by the Director of Purchasing to agencies under the Mayor to conduct small dollar and contract-based procurements without the necessity to requisition through the Purchasing Division.

The alleged fraud that occurred at Denver International Airport was, without a doubt, perpetrated under the DPA authority described above. Let me end Part II of this multi-part post by noting the chain of responsibility promulgated in Executive Order No. 33 with regard to DPA and the process/procedure set forth to safeguard the integrity of the DPA program:

6.1 Agency Head/Expending Authority DPA Responsibility:
Notwithstanding anything in this Memorandum, the Agency Head or the Agency’s Expending Authority shall be ultimately responsible for Delegated Purchasing Authority within their agency. DPA responsibility encompasses tracking, appropriateness of purchases, centralized documentation of purchases, reporting, due diligence reviews of all DPA purchases and the agency management and utilization of PCards in conjunction with the use of DPA . The Agency Head or Expending Authority shall be responsible for establishing clearly articulated internal processes and procedures to assure that DPA purchases at the agency are in the best interests of the City and in support of the mission of the agency.

It is the responsibility of the Agency Head to assure that utilization of DPA is administered and conducted with the utmost integrity. The practical application of that delegation of authority must adhere, without exception, to all legally mandated, policy and procedural rules and regulations established:
1. through legislative processes, or
2. mayoral fiat, or
3. established by the Director of Purchasing pursuant to this Executive Order.

Each Agency Head must develop, institute and maintain a formally documented and widely disseminated system of internal due diligence “checks and balances” for DPA. The Agency Head must assure that these processes and procedures are fully understood and faithfully followed by agency personnel who conduct or are responsible for purchasing activities.

6.2 DPA Authorization: Delegated Purchasing Authority shall be authorized for an individual only if the agency head or designee approves that individual by their signature on the Delegated Purchasing Authority document PURDIVDPA#1, Exhibit 1B. Requests for changes or deletions to those authorized to participate in Delegated Purchasing Authority must be made to the Purchasing Division by memorandum to the Director of Purchasing.

Prior to any individual being authorized to use DPA, that individual must successfully complete DPA training provided by the Purchasing Division or under the auspices of the Purchasing Division. Temporary approval of a DPA number may be granted with the written approval of the Director of Purchasing. Successful completion of DPA training shall require that the individual receive a score of at least 70% on a written examination given at the conclusion of the training session.

7.0 DPA Due Diligence:
The delegation of Purchasing Authority requires conscientious efforts by the user-agency to assure that misuse or abuse of that authority is prevented. If misuse or abuse occurs, it must be remedied appropriately. Whether an agency utilizes the traditional “vouchering” method of payment or the PCard program, the following suggested “best practices” are provided as guidance for establishment of internal Due Diligence processes and procedures.

7.1 Monthly Random Review of Transactions: Review of at least ten (10) per cent of all DPA purchases made at your agency to ensure they are proper. Some items you may wish to look for are:

a) Was the purchase of an item utilized in the purchaser’s area of responsibility?
b) Was there a second authorized signature (supervisor) approving the purchase?
c) Did someone other than the purchaser authorize payment for the purchase?
d) Did the purchase follow internal and city policy and procedure?

All persons at an agency who are authorized to utilize DPA must be made aware that a random audit can and will be conducted on their DPA transactions.

7.2 Non-Random Selected Transaction Review: Review transactions in specific area of the agency to determine if:

a) Is the purchase normally made in the purchaser’s functional (job-related) area? Example: It is expected that a mechanic will buy tires or car parts, while administrative or clerical support personnel will, most likely, not have a legitimate reason to purchase tires or car parts;

b) Is the purchase for consumables? If so, is there an Official Function Form included in the documentation? The purchase of coffee for the office, or donuts for the staff, or pizza for a retirement luncheon is not an appropriate use of DPA;

c) Does the vendor that was utilized provide what is typically needed in the DPA user’s area of responsibility. Example: A trades worker’s purchase from a hobby shop is more likely to be questioned than a Recreation Center Director making the same purchase;

d) Are the required/proper signatures on the documentation? If a PCard is being used, is someone other than the person to whom the PCard has been issued using the card?

e) Look for purchases that are consistently from the same vendor in a relatively short timeframe, with the same dollar amount. This is a good indication that the DPA user is “splitting” purchases or conducting “repetitive” purchases in violation of this Executive Order;

f) Did someone other than or in addition to the purchaser authorize payment for the purchase?

7.3 Audit of Agency Due Diligence Procedures and Transactions: The Auditor of the City and County of Denver has the authority and has been requested by the Purchasing Division to audit agency due diligence procedures and/or actual PCard transactions on a semi-annual basis.

7.4 On-Request/Quarterly Review of Due Diligence Procedures: Agencies shall be required to comply with any request for information or any request for documentation made by the Purchasing Division for the purpose of reviewing, clarifying or auditing agency due diligence procedures and/or actual PCard transactions. Additionally, agencies shall, on a quarterly basis, provide the completed Exhibit 3B to the Director of Purchasing to document their DPA Due Diligence procedures.

8.0 Suspension or Termination of DPA Authority:
If an agency has not developed, instituted and/or maintained an effective “due diligence” program to assure Delegated Purchasing Authority is being conducted according to all applicable law, policy and procedure, the Director of Purchasing may suspend or terminate the agency’s Delegated Purchasing Authority as provided in Section 12 of this Memorandum 33A.

9.0 Purchasing Contact Representative (PCR):
The Agency Head or Expending Authority shall appoint, per the requirements of this Executive Order, Memorandum 33A, Section 2 a Purchasing Contact Representative (PCR) who shall be the liaison between the agency and the Purchasing Division with regard to the administration of DPA at the agency level. The PCR shall report to the Purchasing Division any opportunities to incorporate DPA procurement of goods or services into annual bids and/or other competitive purchasing best practices. The PCR shall also be responsible for providing any necessary coordination between the agency’s PCard Coordinator and the Purchasing Division and/or the PCard Administrator. The PCR shall also be responsible for maintaining or coordinating the maintenance of justification documentation for audit review of categories of authorized DPA purchases that require a written justification as provided in Section 2.0.

Part III of this ongoing post will, most likely, concentrate on the most likely breakdown of responsibility at Denver International Airport that contributed to and provided the opportunity for the alleged fraud.

Thank you, Mister Olbermann

"Are YOURS the actions of a true American," Mr. President?


From Crooks and Liars, watch the video. The text is also provided.

Really Cute, But...

I wonder how many times daddy and mommy will be able to listen to this before they up the valium, xanax, vodka or bourbon intake? I remember tinker toys and erector sets; little red wagons and new puppy dogs. What's this world coming to!!! :-]

The Politics of Privilege (The Masses are Asses!)

A piece from the New York Times, July, 2003, entitled, "For a Shaper of Landscapes, a Cliffhanger," by Patricia Leigh Brown, former City Councilperson-At-Large Susan Barnes-Gelt was quoted--with regard to Lawrence Halprin's now defunct (erased) Skyline Park: "The park was never loved. Denverites do not warm up to modernism. We don't really get the built environment, and we for sure don't get it if it's not red brick and at least 75 years old. Against that, Halprin's esthetic [sic] was not respected or frankly, enjoyed."

Okay. So, Ms. Barnes-Gelt's perception of those not privileged to breathe the rarefied air of so-called "citizen's" committees or commissions, is clear: We--the rest of us, the taxpayers, just don't get it with regard to what's best for our city, our parks, our public buildings, our streets, our zoning issues... I could go on.

Actually beside the point, but let me point out that the old Skyline Park--which I actually liked--became the victim of city neglect and the virtually undisputed realm of the 16th Street mall rats, their skateboards, Goth nihilism, drugs, alcohol, garbage, begging. Interestingly, Halprin (the architect of the original Skyline Park) views/viewed his work as contributing to the rejuvenation of urban communities; designs that were/are, in his words, "...memorable, intense, passionate rather than pretty."

Forgive me, but I kind of like "pretty." The view of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains from Thirteenth Avenue and Grant--a high point on Capitol Hill--used to be "pretty." Now, from that vantage point, one sees Daniel Libeskind's big old beige phallic, scrotum and all, jutting through the view where once mountains reigned supreme.

Ms. Barnes-Gelt, writing in the Denver Post on September 9, 2006, (Playing all the angles - Art museum's twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity) tells us that, "The seed of the Denver Art Museum's new wing [the Libeskind abortion enshrined as the Frederick C. Hamilton Building] was really planted in 1965, when trustees of the the Denver Art Museum, at the urging of museum architect James Sudler, hired Italian architect Gio Ponti to work with Sudler on what they believed was a 'once-in-a-lifetime building project.'"

Ms. Barnes-Gelt continues:

Sudler persuaded the trustees that Gio Ponti was the right high-profile architect to use. ...[Art Museum] Board member Willaim V. Warren pointed out the advantages of hiring..."the glamour that a famous international name such as Ponti will add to our program. This should add greater saleability locally, and most certainly nationally, and could attract substantial figts from outside our immediate area."

Ponti, Sudler and museum trustees were committed to giving Denver an iconic building, a museum very different from a more predictable classic Beaux Arts jewel box or modernist white cube.

Again, okay. I really like the Ponti building. It's great. It's different. It's utilitarian and, forgive me, it doesn't really give rise to the regular guy/gal (folks who are not privileged to have received an appointment to a "citizens" committee or commission) standing there at Thirteenth and Bannock, studying the Libeskind "thingy" (as one person described it), scratching their head and wondering, "What the fuck!"

Now, here's Ms. Barnes-Gelts description of how Libeskind's "vision" was chosen by "city committee" to be the architect for the Art Museum addition:

Libeskind--cerebral, articulate and a brilliant marketer--dressed his presentation team in black T-shirts with DAM [Denver Art Museum] emblazoned in bright white. He delivered a message everyone in the room could understand. With two markers, one bronze and one silver, he drew intersecting lines on a white board to illustrate his concept, describing it as "two lines taking a walk."

Nearly everyone in the room nodded in understanding, as if thinking, "I get it. All this archi-babble really comes down to something quite simple--two lines taking a walk."

"Two lines taking a walk." What the fuck! She continues:

Perhaps it's time for Denver to concentrate its energies on strengthening the structure and character of the broader city to provide a worthy setting for the eureka moments of Libeskind, Ponti and other star architects.

"Eureka." What the fuck!

Ms. Barnes-Gelt is, I believe, infatuated with diadems like the word "iconic." If you wrap the concept, the person, the "vision," within the idolatrous cocoon of "icon," then no more needs to be said; no more needs to be studied; no more needs to be considered; regular folk need take a fucking hike, 'cause the politics of privilege have spoken.

Interestingly, shorty after the commencement of the Hickenlooper administration, I believe it was Denver Magazine that showcased hizzoner's mug on its cover with the caption--something like--"Instant Icon."

What this post is really about is Civic Center Park and the Libeskind "vision" for the rejuvenation of that space, that has become the rock upon which the city mothers and fathers--including those "citizen" commissions and committees--are making their stand.

In spite of immense and reasonable objections to shamelessly glitzing up (ala Libeskind) that venerated icon of an open space right smack dab in the middle of Denver, city mothers and fathers keep telling us to relax; the process will be transparent; citizen input will be considered but, BUT, the final decision on the fate of Civic Center will be left to the Manager of Parks and Recreation, Kim Bailey. (You remember Kim Bailey. One of the "stars" of Hick's administration who, in the name "City Beautiful" spent what was probably a veritable fortune on assuring park fountains (the kind you watch, not drink from) spew their pretty spray while the infrastructure of Denver's park system is so disgracefully neglected that it will probably take the next twenty years to even put a dent in dilapidated irrigation systems, not to mention bathrooms, recreation centers, walkways, trees, swimming pools.

I do go on.

Let me end with two lists that hint, oh, just a wee bit at the nature of the politics of privilege.

The Civic Center Conservancy (Those folks who hired Libeskind for $75,000 to provide his "vision." You might want to take a look from whence that vision comes, in Libeskind's own words.

Take a look a who makes up the Conservancy at this site. Nope, no regular folk there. But, then, us regular folk are artistically and probably intellectual lightweights who have no business being involved in this (winky-wink) public/private partnership. Oh,but Ms. Barnes-Gelt is there.

And, just for the fun of it, let's take a look at the task force that has been/will be redoing Denver's zoning code; you know, that codified mass of edicts that control the what, where, when, how; the cans and cant's that apply directly, intimately, at times oppressively, to what you may want to do with your property.

Appointed to the Zoning Code Task Force are:
Co-Chairs
Stephen Kaplan
Attorney/Partner, Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell; former City Attorney
Diane Barrett
Recently retired Attorney/Partner, Holmes Roberts & Owens
Members
Stephanie Garcia
Real estate investor and developer
Susan Barnes-Gelt
Former Denver City Councilwoman, At-Large
Brad Buchanan
Principal, Buchanan Yonushewski Group; Member, Denver Planning Board
Michael Henry
Zoning and Planning Chair, Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation
John Hindlemann
Member, Board of Adjustment
John Lucero
Board of Directors, Denver Board of Realtors; Broker, Keller Williams Realty
Rich McClintock
Program Director, Livable Communities Support Center
Peter Park
Manager of Community Planning & Development, City & County of Denver
Jeanne Robb
City Councilwoman, District #10; Chair, Blueprint Denver Council Committee
John Ross
Vice President/Denver Division., Gillis Thomas Company
Molly Urbina
Director of Governmental Affairs, Oakwood Homes
Ken Walker
Principal, Walker-Dilworth, LLC
Carolynne White
Land Use/Real Estate Attorney, Brownstein Hyatt & Farber PC
A.J. Zabbia
Principal, 68 West Engineering, Inc.

Yeah, Barnes-Gelt is there, too. No, Joe the carpenter, Jake the electrician, Marene the plumber, Al the small shopkeeper, Jules and Norma the homeowners aren't there.

The masses are asses, ya'll. Plain and simple.

P.S. Susan Barnes-Gelt has a remarkable record as a public servant and civic activist. She is one of the brightest and most articulate persons ever to serve on the Denver City Council. That said, public policy should not, must not continue to be pretty much exclusively within the purview of good people who, somewhere along the way, have lost touch with the realities, the likes the dislikes, the everyday drudge of the common man/woman who have not been "blessed" with the ability to know what's best for the rest of us.

September, 2004 - Sweet Melissa

Just curious how pics appear in my newly formatted blog. (And, of course, missing Sweet Melissa still, always.)

Yes, It's Still George

Made some major changes to the old blog. I'll be updating omissions over the next few days. Whadaya think??? Unfortunately, comments have not come across, nor my hit counter. But, hopefully I'll be able to work that out soon.

Sgt. Joe Friday's Clapper Caper

Something for us older folk...

Dubya's Speech to General Assembly - UN

If you're short on time, Happy Furry Puppy Story Time with Norbizness, has a condensed version of Dubya's speech that pretty much provides all you need or want to know.

Denver International Airport - Purchasing Fraud? Nonfeasance? Misfeasance? Malfeasance? PART I

Three things: 1) I am--for what it's worth--intimately knowledgeable with regard to public sector procurement; 2) Black's Law Dictionary: "'Nonfeasance' means the omission of an act which a person ought to do; 'misfeasance' is the improper doing of an act which a person might lawfully do; and 'malfeasance' is the doing of an act which a person ought not to do at all;'" 3) There are some very fine, intelligent, capable, honest, articulate, hard working public servants who serve at Denver International Airport and who are dedicated to providing the traveling public and the citizens of Denver with impeccable effort, untiring dedication to public sector "best practices."

This post is NOT about those good people.

Here's the story from the Rocky Mountain News of a week or so ago that caught my eye:

Audit shows DIA paid overcharges

Denver International Airport might have paid more than $50,000 this year in overcharges for toner and ink cartridges, according to initial results of an internal audit looking at discrepancies in inventory.

The airport said some purchase orders and receipts appear to have been falsified, and it has placed one employee on investigatory leave. The findings also have been turned over to the district attorney's office.

The airport said it doesn't know the full extent of the dicrepancies but that the activities may have spanned more than seven years.

DIA management said it was unaware that an employee had been transacting business with companies owned by Richard S. Joselit, who pleaded guilty to larceny in connection with a 2002 scam against the New York Mets.

In a news release from DIA on September 1, 2006, came the following information:

"'We discovered a problem. We stopped it, and took a number of appropriate actions to make sure it doesn't happen again,' stated Turner West (Manager of Aviation). 'We believe it is important that other organizations and governmental agencies be aware of the schemes and the questionable companies. To that end, we have created a watch list of these office supply companies. We will be sharing this list with other agencies and governmental entities in Colorado.'

"...In order to maintain the integrity of the investigation, the City (City and County of Denver) will not be making any additional statements."

The Airport also advised that a "forensic accountant" had been hired to assist in the investigation of the alleged fraud. Additionally, it is axiomatic that the forensic accountant--simply given the nature of work he/she is hired to do (see link)--will provide the string of evidentiary data necessary to support litigation and, presumably, to identify the lack of accountability that, I believe, necessarily led to this shameful--possibly seven-year--breakdown in a segment of DIA's purchasing process.

The alleged purchasing fraud at Denver International Airport was, as is noted in the News story above, perpetrated by an employee of the airport in sync with the self-admitted larcenous machinations of one Richard S. Joselit who, in October, 2002 was indicted by the Queens County (New York) District Attorney Richard A. Brown as part of what was described by the DA as a "...$2.0 Million ripoff of [the] New York Mets. The news release of the Queens County DA reads, in part:

"Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced the indictment of six individuals--including the former technical services director and three other former employees of the New York Mets, as well as two vendors --on charges of stealing over a six-year-period between 1994 and 2000 nearly $2.0Million from Sterling Doubleday Enterprises (SDE), the baseball team's parent company, in five separate white-collar schemes involving bribes, kickbacks and other illicit payments of nearly $600,000, fictitious companies, fraudulent invoices, phantom merchandise and inflated prices.

"District Attorney Brown said, 'The defendants are alleged to have ripped off the New York Mets organization for almost $2.0 million over a six year period. The key player in the alleged ripoff was a trusted employee of the baseball organization who was responsible for approving purchases of data processing, telephone equipment and services, office supplies and printing services. He is alleged to have traded his insider position for a windfall of bribes totaling nearly $600,000.'

"The District Attorney said that his investigation began in August 2000 when the new York Mets discovered apparent purchasing irregularities during an internal audit..."

Suffice it to say, the recapitulation of the 2002 indictments in Queens County and the story coming out of DIA are eerily similar: Internal auditors scratching their heads when digging into the books (significantly, it is NOT higher authority, management at the institutions discovering the alleged fraud); trusted long-time employee(s) allegedly involved in the so similar despicable schemes.

Part II of this post will examine how this alleged fraud could have occurred at Denver International Airport and, additionally, where, in my opinion, the buck should stop with regard to the ultimate accountability in the public procurement process.

P.S. The comments attached to this post were copied from Haloscan which I utilized prior to moving over to my new format. I include these two comments because I think--as this will be a multi-part piece--they highlight important issues. The first comment was posted by "Roger M.," my comments follow Roger's.

Ann Richards - Classy Lady - An Inspiring Legacy

Also, Suz has a nice tribute to Governor Richards on her site.

And, again from Suz's site, Ann Richards' How To Be a Good Republican .

American Heroes

Bring them home!

Rocky Mountain News - A Shameful Inclusion

Today's Rocky Mountain News includes a political cartoon on page 51A that depicts Abraham Lincoln reading the Gettysburg Address: "Four score and seven years ago..." In the lower right of the cartoon is a donkey with a "DEMS" button pinned to his chest and in the thought bubble above his head are the words, "How dare he politicize a national tragedy." I cannot read the artist's name, but the cartoon came from the San Diego Union-Tribune, Copley News Service.

The cartoon, of course, makes that wildly shameful jingoistic leap; a leap that Dubya's neocon wingnut constituency blindly gobbles up like apple pie on the 4th of July; a leap that simply ignores false premises and celebrates invalid conclusions. The Rove-inspired Neocon revisionistic history represented by the cartoon, suggests that-all things being equal--Dubya stands tall with Abraham Lincoln.

All things are NOT equal. Before you lose your last meal (this is surely sickening stuff from this morning's Rocky) consider:

Lincoln's eloquence on November 19, 1863, in dedication of the battlefield of the American Civil War where over 51,000 soldiers--Union and Confederate alike--lost their lives, consisted of two-hundred and seventy-eight words.

Dubya's address to the nation on September 11, 2006, consisted of 2,623 words.

Which address, I wonder, will stand the test of time? Do I even need to ask such a question?

Dubya's address consisted of a recapitulation of the Neocon polemic with regard to the axis of evil and what Dubya's (Rove, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz) believe a "mission accomplished" will consist of against the evildoers...although, hmmm..., didn't we already celebrate "mission accomplished." Dubya's speech was (How stupid do you believe the American people to be, Mr. President) conceptualized, designed, written and delivered to play to an ever decreasing Neocon base; it was a shameful ad campaign that hitched onto, exploited the tragedy of 9/11 for the sole, unabashed purpose of propping-up Republicans for the November elections. The immense, dishonorable failures of Dubya's reign during these dangerous, destructive times cannot be ameliorated with a plethora of words from speechwriters.

From Abraham Lincoln Online.org:

"Of the five known manuscript copies of the Gettysburg Address, the Library of Congress has two. President Lincoln gave one of these to each of his two private secretaries, John Nicolay and John Hay. The copy on exhibit, which belonged to Nicolay, is often called the "first draft" because it is believed to be the earliest copy that exists.

"Considerable scholarly debate continues about whether the Nicolay copy is the "reading" copy. In 1894 Nicolay wrote that Lincoln had brought with him the first part of the speech, written in ink on Executive Mansion stationery, and that he had written the second page in pencil on lined paper before the dedication on November 19, 1863. Matching folds are still evident on the two pages shown here, suggesting it could be the copy that eyewitnesses say Lincoln took from his coat pocket and read at the ceremony."

The Gettysburg Address ends with the words: "It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

I'm sorry, I've got to repeat: "...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Abraham Lincoln was desperately, quietly but powerfully, trying to pull a broken nation back together.

Dubya's jingoistic hoopla, his 2,623 words are rightly dwarfed by the heartfelt pleading of Lincoln's two-hundred and seventy-eight words; words that were meant to heal, not frighten, not hide the catastrophic failures of a "...bring 'em on..." cowboy who didn't ever and still hasn't got a clue what's embodied in those words: "of the people, by the people, for the people..."

And, shame on the Rocky Mountain News!

A Wednesday Smile

Patches rules!