Twelve candidates for Denver mayor Wednesday crowded the stage at the Denver Botanic Gardens for the biggest gathering of candidates so far.
“We were all getting used to each other and hearing each other’s views,” said candidate Michael Hancock, a Denver city councilman.
A standing room-only crowd attended the forum hosted by the Park People, which focused strictly on issues around open space, parks and recreation.
“This was good because I wasn’t familiar with a lot of the candidates and this really brought out a lot of their viewpoints and biases,” said Cappy Shopneck, a Park People board member.
Candidates gave timed answers to questions from 9News’ Adam Schrager, such as how can the city take care of existing resources while acquiring land for new parks and recreation centers?
Candidates lauded Denver’s parks, open spaces and recreation centers but acknowledged they need more attention, and batted around ideas on how to pay for that, such as creating public-private partnerships, working with nonprofits, encouraging volunteerism and getting youth sports leagues involved.
Hancock called Denver’s recreation centers the “heartbeat of Denver.”
They helped him transform from a “poor kid from Northeast Denver” to a city councilman running for mayor. “Chauncey Billups is headed to the Hall of Fame because of the rec centers. … I understand the importance of parks in the city.”
Eric Jon Zinn had the most memorable answer when he announced a major platform plank: Getting Denverites to lose 1 million pounds in 180 days.
“How can parks justify their relevancy in a city that is growing more obese every day,” he said. “That says to me that for a growing portion of the population, parks and rec are becoming meaningless and irrelevant.”
Zinn encouraged the city to let some of its parks go back to its native prairie state and restore the esplanade in front of East High School.
Candidate Chris Romer, former state senator, joked that it would be difficult for him to be part of the 1 million pound diet because he loves the Cupcake Truck too much.
Romer said the city needs to look at “efficiencies” first and should work with agencies like the Trust For Public Land, Great Outdoors Colorado and with developers to carve out pieces of open space. But he cautioned: “There are more important issues like creating jobs right now.”
James Mejia, who was Manager of Parks and Recreation under Mayor Wellington Webb, said Denver is no longer among the top 10 cities in per capita park space. The city should continue to expand the system as the population grows, that it is essential to growing the economy.
The city should consider creating a parks district to provide a separate funding source.
Denver City Councilman Doug Linkhart said the city needs to both protect and expand the park system. It needs to use volunteers and be selective about allowing fee-based events into the parks.
Linkhart said he approves of the weekly food fair at Civic Center Park but he said it shouldn’t be turned over for blatant commercial enterprises.
“The wrong kind (of solution) is to put movies and 110-foot-towers in our parks and charge people $100 to watch people snowboard,” he said.
Councilwoman Carol Boigon said she has been working on parks issues for 18 years, solving drainage problems and building joint-use and public partnerships with schools and communities.
“I love our parks and recreation centers,” she said. “The question is money. What we have to do is grow the economy so we can take care of this wonderful amenity that boosts our quality of life.”
One of her passions is that the city’s tree canopy must be maintained, she said.
“As wonderful as it is to plant 1 million trees, we have to take care of our canopy and existing trees,” she said.
Theresa Spahn said the city should prioritize parks, that they increase property values and bring in tourists. “It makes economic sense,” she said.
She urged the city to develop partnerships and encourage volunteers.
Dwight Henson offered mainly short answers.
“We need to make sure developers keep their hands off the parks,” he said.
Danny Lopez said he has been a baseball coach and believes building up the city’s ballfields will further propel investment and civic pride.
“I hope to have a team from Denver in the Little League World Series some day,” he said.
Paul Fiorino, a dancer, believes the parks system should continue to grow and is against paid events in the parks. He would like to see more theater, dance and music in the parks.
Kenneth Simpson said with the budget crunch the city should not expand the parks now.
“It’s not time,” he said. “Protect what we have. If we do, we should do it with private donations.”
Thomas Wolf said he is not opposed to fee-based events, and would have loved to have announced his candidacy with a run down the Big Air ramp in the Civic Center Park.
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
