It is a tragedy that people who care about our parks are excluded from the decisions to save and improve our parks. In Denver, the decisions are made by the mayor. If a decision arouses the opposition, their sole alternative is to take it to court. The citizens and Council have no legally described means to oppose, much less block the worst ideas. The courts are expensive and the media needs some variance on blood to report on such local disputes. I have been involved in these disputes for 34 years. A local argument has to attract support all across the city to change the mayor’s mind. It is easy to ignore the plight of a park on the other side of town.
I would like to see City Council remove the two-branch governance of the use of our parks from the executive branch of government where it may only be overturned by the courts. Then, return the land use control of our parks to the City’s Zoning Code where there are legal rules to make changes in our land use which include not only Council but also the people of Denver.
It is a tragedy that people who care about our parks are excluded from the decisions to save and improve our parks. In Denver, the decisions are made by the mayor. If a decision arouses the opposition, their sole alternative is to take it to court. The citizens and Council have no legally described means to oppose, much less block the worst ideas. The courts are expensive and the media needs some variance on blood to report on such local disputes. I have been involved in these disputes for 34 years. A local argument has to attract support all across the city to change the mayor’s mind. It is easy to ignore the plight of a park on the other side of town.
I would like to see City Council remove the two-branch governance of the use of our parks from the executive branch of government where it may only be overturned by the courts. Then, return the land use control of our parks to the City’s Zoning Code where there are legal rules to make changes in our land use which include not only Council but also the people of Denver.