| 12.A. Over many years, open space in designated parks has been reallocated by the Executive Director of Parks and Recreation to other uses, such as recreation centers, museums, and zoos. Would you support an ordinance moving OS-A zoning from the Executive Director of Parks back to City Council? Yes/No | 12.B. Please explain. | |
| MAYORAL CANDIDATES | ||
| Matt Brady | Yes | This is the basic responsibility of Council members who should be in close touch with their constituents as to their needs for using parks and recreation facilities. |
| Jim Walsh | No, I believe that this duty needs to remain in the Parks and Rec Dept. | |
| Trinidad Rodriguez | In order to effectively manage our parks assets, I believe this responsibility should remain with the executive director. I support more community engagement when zoning changes are made. | |
| Mike Johnston | I’m committed to listening to community members and getting their feedback on these projects and will direct city officials to do the same, but the City needs to work efficiently to preserve the executive branch’s ability to lead and execute on top city priorities quickly and effectively. | |
| Chris Hansen | As Mayor, I would work in a collaborative way with the City Council to make the best decisions and listen closely to the neighborhood groups. I think the power to allow recreation centers in parks is well placed in the hands of the Executive Director of Parks and Recreation. | |
| Lisa Calderón | Yes | Decisions about our communities should be made by our communities. I strongly support decision-making processes that decentralize power and allow communities to have greater representation in how those decisions are made. By moving such zoning decisions to city council, it would allow for a more democratic process and remove decision-making from a single individual to an existing governance body. It would also prevent creating permanent positions for parks and recreation appointees once a mayor’s term comes to an end. |
| Kelly Brough | There is sufficient opportunity for input through existing Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, which is appointed by members of City Council, the Mayor and Denver Public Schools. Further, the City’s budget is another place City Council can influence such priorities and decisions to ensure their voice is heard directly as well. | |
| Renate Behrens | Yes | decision together with neighborhoods. |
| Deborah “Debbie” Ortega | Yes | City Council is the body of Denver’s local government that deals with land use issues, and this is in alignment with their responsibilities. |
| PAUL NOEL FIORINO (write-in) | Yes | Parks belong to the people of Denver and the County Council has given up their power to the Citizens to vote for saving greenspace. The Executive Director is still a Mayoral appointee and maintains a strong voice for Parks, Greenspace and other forms of domain management. Council members who take campaign funds from developers are beholden. WRITE IN FIORINO for Mayor of Denver. |
| Thomas Wolf | Yes | Land use is the domain of City Council and should be handled by elected officials rather than appointees. |
| Dr. Abass Yaya Bamba | My administration will not support any ordinance which will move OS-A zoning from the Executive Director of Parks to city council. I will rather associate the most consultative body of people forum to hold the executive director make a sound decision for the wellbeing of the community. | |
| Terrance Roberts | Yes | The majority of my platform is adding more democracy to our city. This is a roll city council should have already been playing, it’s what they’re represented to do, make these types of decisions for their district constituency. |
| AUDITOR | ||
| Timothy M. O’Brien | This would be a policy decision for the next Mayor and City Council. As the Auditor who regularly audits the area of Denver’s parks, it would compromise my independence to publicly support any ordinance. | |
| Erik Clarke | I would need to do more research on this topic to provide a response, including public engagement, cost-benefit analysis, benchmarking, etc. |
