Rick M. Garcia (DOLA Executive Director)
1313 Sherman, Rm 518 Denver, CO 80203 August 26, 2019
DEAR Mr. Garcia:
With this letter I am respectfully requesting that you exercise your authority, as specified in C.R.S. Title 32-1-710. Dissolution by administrative action, to investigate a claim “received from any source”, of Special District non-compliance with Title 32
((2) (a) The division may declare the special district dissolved if, within thirty days Three Special Districts in Evergreen of the notice provided pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, the district has failed to demonstrate to the division that the district has performed such statutory or service responsibility or will proceed to perform such responsibilities within a time period agreed to by the division and the district.),
and investigate my claim that the three Special Districts in Evergreen have delivered services but have failed to meet the statutory requirement for doing so with the degree of public safety as specified in Title 32.
(32-1-102. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly hereby declares that the organization of special districts providing the services and having the purposes, powers, and authority provided in this article will serve a public use and will promote the health, safety, prosperity, security, and general welfare of the inhabitants of such districts and of the people of the state of Colorado. )
Furthermore, if you find my claim, as described herein, to be creditable, that you notify the three Special Districts serving the Evergreen postal zip code area 80439 with a notice of dissolution unless they immediately use surplus funds or other funding and embark on a task to accomplish the public safety suggestions I have proposed herein or a better set of suggestions obtained from other qualified sources, and complete said task before year end (2019).
The failure of the three Special Districts in Evergreen to acknowledge and solve the public safety issue at the WRC and the High school, is reason alone to result in administrative dissolution by the Director of the DOLA. Add to that the litany of other public safety issues herein identified in Evergreen and the lack of care for the well being of the governed becomes shameful. Please read the enclosed claim and apply your authority toresolve these public safety issues.
Regards,
evergreensafetywatch
Claim to be investigated by DOLA
PREFACE
I believe the documentation provided herein (ATTACHMENTS) substantiates my claim of the failure to acknowledge and resolve an issue of public safety, intimately associated with the delivery of services by all three Special Districts in the postal zip code area of 80439, named Evergreen, Colorado. Officers of all three Special Districts were informed by certified letters or emails and received the graphical and textual descriptions in Attachment #5. The email and CC list in Attachment #4 JefSchool is how all information was shared with all persons who could have an impact on bringing about a solution.
I am a retired Urban Planner and systems analyst and through my professional education, have acquired a heightened awareness of public safety, and the analysis, planning, and design skills that can be applied by government to bring about a safer environment for the governed. So in addition to alerting the special district officers to the public safety issue, I applied my skills to the problem, Pro-Bono. Using narrative and graphics, I tried to show the three special district officers how to move from the current undesirable (“where we are now-2018”) circumstances to a more acceptable (“where we want to be-Sept 2018”) safer environment, to the most desirable (“where we hope to be-Post 2020”) and safest environment for patrons, employees, and first responders alike in both the Wulf Recreation Center (WRC) and in Evergreen High School (ATTACHMENT #5).
NARRATIVE
In Evergreen Colorado the North front of the Wulf Recreation Center (WRC) is separated from the South side of Evergreen High School by a 120 vehicle parking lot (see graphic descriptions in Attachment #5). The central lane in this parking lot provides access to all parking spaces. It is also a de-facto fire lane because it provides the only fire and emergency first responder access to the front of the WRC and the rear South side of Evergreen High school. Olive Road borders the entire East side of Evergreen High School and terminates in a cul-de-sac at the East entrance of the WRC parking lot. While the curb on Olive Road was painted fire lane yellow from Buffalo Park road to the East entrance of Evergreen High School it was never painted along the remaining Southeast side of the High School to the WRC parking lot. Sufficient “NO Parking Fire Lane” signs were also never installed.
When the High School is in session about 30 high school teacher vehicles occupy parking spaces in the WRC parking lot. Later arriving WRC patrons not only occupy all remaining spaces in the lot but also parked in the poorly designated but de-facto fire lane at the end of Olive Road. An event occurred frequently during May of 2018 at about 10:30 AM. Some 20 to 30 vehicles were parked on both sides of Olive Road leaving barely enough space for a Suburban type vehicle to squeeze through, and in my judgment certainly not enough space for high speed and larger fire trucks. The congestion on Olive Road continued until school closed.
On several Mondays and Wednesdays during May of 2018 at about 10:30 AM, while driving to the Wulf Recreation Center (WRC) I could barely maneuver my large Suburban vehicle between two lines of about 25 vehicles parked on both sides of Olive road and in the cul-de-sac circle. It was immediately clear to me that Olive road had been transformed into a one lane limited access parking lot that fire trucks would not be able to navigate with out collisions. At this time of day I was but one of more than hundreds of patrons (seniors, small children and babies adult patrons and WRC staff) in the building. There were also children, teachers, administrative and custodial staff in the nearby south side of Evergreen High School which could only be accessed by fire truck first responders by going into and halfway thru the WRC parking lot. There are no fire lanes providing exclusive access for first responders to the WRC or the South side of the Evergreen High School building. The center lane of the parking lot is therefore an unidentified but de-facto Fire Lane. Thus began my efforts to warn Special District Officers of this public safety issue (ATTACHMENT #5 : Where We Were May-June 2018), characterized by the lack of a painted curb on Olive Road, missing “Fire Lane No Parking” signs, and the lack of a painted fire Lane in the WRC parking lot with insufficient parking spaces.
Being aware of the huge population of teachers,students and staff at risk in the High school with no fire lane at the South side of the building. I was personally at risk and aware of the seniors, toddlers, babies and adults at risk in the fully packed WRC. In my judgment, the lack of a properly designated fire lane on Olive Road and in the WRC parking lot together with the lack of public education about fire lane safety and building evacuation, was a public safety issue that had to be addressed immediately.
So I embarked on the a fore mentioned certified letter and e-mail writing campaign to inform the officers of the three Special districts in Evergreen of the nature of the public safety issue and their part in its resolution (Attachments). Subsequently, on June 16, 2018, I was present during a fire alarm at the WRC, and after evacuating from the pool and building I used the opportunity to observe and record the evacuation and chaotic parking lot response which I shared with the Evergreen fire chief (attachment #2).
All of my communications and copies were shared with all parties with the hope of promoting collaboration and interoffice communication. The communications are in the following attachments to this document:
- (Attachment 1: Safety issue report to EFRD),
- (Attachment 2: email reports to Evergreen Fire Chief),
- (Attachment 3: Safety issue report to EPRD),
- (Attachment 4: Safety issue report to JEFFCO R1 School District),
- (Attachment 5: Graphical descriptions & evacuation procedures sent to all officers & email list),
- (Attachment 6: Cherry Creek School District news report),
- (Attachment 7: (below) Pictures of ongoing illegal parking on Olive Road).
Unfortunately cooperation has been less than notable. The school district, to its credit, agreed to one of my suggestions and has protected the Southeast side of the High school by painting the curb on Olive road from the High school entrance to the WRC parking lot and installing some no parking signs. This is a task that should have been completed when the High School was constructed years ago. The County has also installed a few no parking signs around the cul-de-sac circle that it owned. These changes are documented in the “where we are now- June 2019” graphic drawing and explanation.
THE CLAIM
As I write this narrative (more than a year later) I and other patrons, and employees, of the Evergreen Park and Recreation District (EPRD) Wulf Recreation Center (WRC) and all patrons and personnel in the Jefferson County Education District-R1 (R1) Evergreen High School remain at risk of injury from fire and exposure to the elements due to poorly conceived facility evacuation and non-existent post evacuation patron care procedures for the WRC and due to the absence of a clearly painted fire lane at the north front of the WRC and the entire South side of the Evergreen High School building, even though the center parking lot lanes are a de facto fire lane because these lanes are the only access to these critical parts of these two buildings. The risk to the public is also due to evacuation procedures which are kept secret from the public and fire lane information brochures that do not exist for distribution to the public. Also the Evergreen Fire and Rescue District (EFRD) does not advocate for fire lane protection at public buildings, in spite of the added protection and safety that exclusive access would provide for first responders. Likewise the EFRD does not act to reduce risk to the community and first responders by collaborating with the JEFFCO Traffic Engineer to design and install on-the-fly coordinated traffic signal control between fire houses and public buildings and commercial centers (a technology that is decades old).
This is why, after extensive communications and detailed proposals, all that has been achieved is a panted curb and a few no parking signs to protect the South East corner of the High School on Olive Road. A task that should have been completed more than 40 years ago with all the other fire lane painting around the North, East, and West sides of the High School. This limited accomplishment was attained because it satisfied JEFFCO cul-de-sac needs and a school district unfinished task.
As I write this desperate plea for assistance, these three non-governmental organizations have caused serious public safety issues to materialize and yet have failed to coordinate, collaborate, and cooperate to produce and deliver their services with a high level of public safety as mandated by law.
As a result there are/is no:
- OSHA approved evacuation and post evacuation procedures for the WRC prepared collaboratively by the EPRD and the EFRD and published for public awareness.
- Fire lane awareness educational brochures published and distributed through mass mailing annually and to the public visiting all public facilities.
- A Fire lane painted in the center of the WRC parking lot for dual exclusive first responder access to the WRC and High School buildings during fire alarms, and for the added safety of patrons who must exit these buildings and avoid the fire lanes, and for first responders that must access these buildings.
- A Fire lane painted in the parking lot and in front of the Buchanan Park Recreation Center (BPRC) ( a de-facto fire lane)
- A Fire lane painted with signs on the access road and parking lot and at the removable fence sections in front of the Lake House facility ( a de-facto fire lane)
- A Fire lane (or curb installed) painted with signs on the access road between North Turkey Creek Road and the front parking lot at Marshdale Elementary.
- Published educational/informational brochures customized for each facility distributed to the public explaining fire lane safety and required behavior.
- On-the-fly “real-time” coordinated traffic signal controlled fire lanes from fire houses to public facilities, large commercial centers and large residential subdivisions.
- Parking lot level audible and visual fire alarms to alert drivers in closed vehicles at the WRC, the BPRC, the Lake House an all other public facilities.
This lack of action demonstrates that I have been unable to significantly move these three FAKE governments to resolve a significant public safety issue to safeguard citizens of Colorado living in the postal zip code area identified as 80439 (Evergreen). The reason is because Title 32 procedures do not create real government. The procedures produce private organizations, created by local voters, acquiring no charters from the Secretary of State, and receiving a declaration of “organized” by a local District Court judge. They behave like private corporations and that have no regard for the due process and equal protection clauses in the Colorado Constitution or the FEDERAL 14TH AMENDMENT.
Make no mistake about it. The root of this problem is several fold:
- Vehicle parking space is insufficient at the WRC and the High school, and the school district has no incentive to solve the problem, and the quality WRC recreation programs will continue to draw more participants so the parking issue will not go away by itself.
- The insular nature and private corporate like specialized behavior of Special Districts precludes the “out-of-the-box” thinking required to perceive, acknowledge and resolve public safety issues. The wider perspective of real government is absent.
- The school district has grown too big to fail and too big to control. It is “the elephant in the room” and has absolutely no incentive to remove 30 teacher vehicles from a parking lot situated on property that it owners. Especially when it would require elimination of other parking spaces on High School property. and it clearly does not want to spend program tax dollars on a parking garage (Attachment 5: WhereWeHopeToBe Post 2020) that would solve several problems.
Options
1. Metropolitan district Consolidation
32-1-602. Procedure for consolidation.
“If two or more districts are to be consolidated and if the consolidated districts are to assume metropolitan district powers, the court shall order that the eligible electors vote separately on the question of consolidation and the question of granting the consolidated district the powers of a metropolitan district.”
2. 32-1-602.5. Consolidation and review by administrative action
- Consolidating the three special districts into one metropolitan district is not possible because Title 32 does not include school districts as a component of a metropolitan district.
- Consolidating the EPRD with the EFRD and an added Safety District is a valid Title 32 Special District approach option. However, it makes no sense to keep adding Special District components each with board members and executive directors to a metropolitan district to serve the approximately 9,000 souls in the Evergreen area, when even better service can be achieved with a simpler, more understandable Democratic government structure.
3. Consolidation by installing Democratic government
Or skip consolidation altogether or any attempt to fix bad social policy that has created FAKE government, and force the special districts, under threat of dissolution, to commit funds to paint fire lanes on all de-facto fire lanes to all public facilities in Evergreen, and produce the required documentation. In other words assist the DOLA administrator to accomplish the following;
- Form a collaborative Special Project Action Group with members from DOLA and the three Special Districts who are authorized to commit resources and manage tasks and consultants. All members will plan and schedule the project, assign tasks, share all information, and report on problems and progress.
- Hire a qualified expert independent contractor to identify all the singular access de-facto fire lanes to all public facilities in Evergreen, and all multiple access routes that may require fire lane designation.
- Have the contractor prioritize the list based on possible/probable magnitude of harm that could occur to Evergreen souls for each facility.
- Hire an independent qualified expert contractor to design OSHA aprovable evacuation and post evacuation procedures, publish and print the necessary copies for distribution and web site display for all public facilities for in district and out of district patrons and visitors and employees. Insure that all special district employees receive evacuation and fire lane safety training
- Hire an independent qualified expert contractor to design educational brochures and literature about fire lane safety and rules and regulations and laws to enforce behavioral adherence.
- Share with Jefferson county commissioners proposed rules and regulations and laws to enforce behavioral adherence, for translation into County laws with appropriate penalties for violation.
- Request that the jeffco Traffic Engineer work with EFRD personnel to develop a proposal to design on-the-fly coordinated traffic signal routes between all evergreen fire houses and all public facilities, prioritize the routes for implementation with a cost for each route and an estimated time for implementation. Then package the proposal as a ballot measure for voter approval at the 2020 election cycle.
Finally
I do not wish to divert any attention from the main task of getting a fire lane painted on the center lane of the WRC parking lot. However there is another Special District problem that goes to the heart of the statutory mandate to “promote the health, safety, prosperity, security, and general welfare of the inhabitants of such districts.”
ATTACHMENT #6 holds a Denver Post news report describing how the Cheery Creek School District purchased liability insurance but limited the liability of the insurer to only $2,000,000. So when a Federal Court awarded 11.5 million dollars to 5 Cheery Creek plaintiffs the School District found itself “on the hook” for 9.5 million. This was a surprise to taxpayers to whom such decisions by special Districts are not transparent. A subsequent report informed readers that the Cheery Creek School District would pay the 9.5 million from a “reserve fund.” I’ll believe it when I see it. Until then what I do believe is that the Cheery Creek School District will claim that it’s status as a “public subdivision” of the state of Colorado obligates the state to pay the 9.5 million dollars.
Am I cynical to suspect that, perhaps on the advice of the trade association, Special districts are saving program dollars by securing lower insurance premium payments by limiting insurer liability? I also suspect that this same decision is being made with regard to property and causality insurance covering the physical plant that we taxpayers have paid for, all without informing taxpayers. It does not appear that these types of transactions are required in the financial reports.
Last election cycle the JEFFCO School District requested $20,000,000 in uncommitted funds from taxpayers who denied the request. No reason was given for the request. I find this highly suspect. It suggests that the JEFFCO School District, like the Cheery Creek School District, is seeking to build a “reserve fund“, that will enable the District to self insure and to spend less program dollars on insurance premium payments. Yes, this is but speculation yet to be substantiated or not by examination of the public record.
These kinds of hidden decisions do not go to the heart of the statutory mandate to “promote the health, safety, prosperity, security, and general welfare of the inhabitants of such districts.”
So, I hope your investigation will also involve an examination of the public records of the three Evergreen Special Districts. Barring administrative roadblocks that Special Districts have installed, I expect to attempt to examine the public records in the near future.
Thank you for your time and attention devoted to these matters. You may contact me at any time if you require further clarification of facts and suggestions. Hope to hear from you soon about your investigative findings and problem resolutions.
Sincerely,
evergreensafetywatch
ATTACHMENT #7
Explanation of Pictures
These pictures were taken after the EPRD posted a warning to patrons. The warning stated that vehicles illegally parked would be towed. The posting remained at the front desk for about a month. Once removed illegal parking resumed because there is no other place to park when the lot is full. Pictures were taken on the following important dates:
Pictures/Img01_02-13-2019.JPG
Several vehicles parked in signed “NO PARKING” South East side of Olive Road.
Pictures/Img01_02-25-2019.JPG
Two vehicles parked in signed “NO PARKING” South East side of Olive Road.
Pictures/Img01_02-27-2019.JPG
Two vehicles parked in signed “NO PARKING” South East side of Olive Road.
Pictures/Img01_04-01-2019.JPG
Two vehicles parked in signed “NO PARKING” South East side of Olive Road.
Pictures/Img01_04-03-2019.JPG
East entrance of WRC parking lot with two vehicles parked in signed “NO PARKING” South East side of Olive Road.
The Pictures document and demonstrate that the parking problem that is forcing WRC patrons to park illegally on Olive Road is ongoing and will not miraculously disappear.
The pictures also show that:
- Patrons learn very quickly that the County police will not ticket on local streets,
- Also that the painting of Fire lanes and the installation of “NO PARKING” signs is a futile effort without an accompanying program to educate the public about Fire Lanes, their own public safety, and penalties for violations.