Sunday’s Denver Post features the conclusion of our project “Metro Districts: Debt and Democracy.”
Last week reporter David Migoya took a hard look at the debt aspect of the equation. This week’s story is focused on democracy, specifically how board members who run the more than 1,800 metropolitan districts obtain and keep that power. You’ll learn it is harder than residents might imagine to take control of the body that determines their taxes. The people who do determine the taxes, meanwhile, don’t have to live anywhere near the districts they control.
Response from readers to the project has been tremendous (you’ll see some of that response in Sunday’s Letters to the Editor), and we are trying to answer the many questions we have received. Tomorrow we will publish some of those answers online at denverpost.com.
While this Sunday concludes the initial work on our project, we are not finished reporting on metro districts. Thank you to everyone who has sent tips and thoughts on how the system could best be reformed. David Migoya will continue to follow up on issues involving the districts and the ways people concerned about what they’ve read are responding.
— Lee Ann Colacioppo, editor
Metro district debt is decided long before residents move in, but some are trying to take back control
RELATED: Read more from this Denver Post investigation.
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Five of The Denver Post’s best stories this week
Aurora leaders make moves to replace “toothless” police review board with stronger civilian oversight system
After a series of high-profile incidents, members of the Aurora City Council are considering creating a civilian oversight agency for the police department. It would replace the current disciplinary review board, which has met eight times in the past four years.
“We don’t have to stay in the status quo if itap not working,” Councilwoman Nicole Johnston said.
Read more from Elise Schmelzer.
RELATED:
- On-duty Aurora police officer who passed out drunk while driving kept job, was never charged with DUI
- Death of unarmed 23-year-old in police custody prompts questions about increasingly common use of ketamine as sedative for agitated people
- Aurora police say man they shot through window of house knew police were outside; family calls police statement a lie
War on plastics: Denver’s proposed bag fee just the beginning
At least 13 Colorado cities have enacted fees or bans on plastic bags, and Denver seems to be on its way to following suit. And there is more to come, City Council President Jolon Clark said.
“I think (the bag fee) will pass with flying colors,” Clark said. “Next is probably Styrofoam and straws, and then things get a lot harder.”
Read more from Conrad Swanson.
Jeffco elementary will be latest Colorado school to adopt “classical” teaching model
“It’s going to look very different next year,” said Vivian Elementary principal Michael Zweifel. To fight declining enrollment, the school will be renamed New Classical Academy at Vivian and will base its teachings on a philosophy developed in ancient Greece, Meg Wingerter reports.
The Year in Photos 2019 from The Denver Post
View the best work from Denver Post photojournalists, as chosen by Senior Editor Patrick Traylor.
Editorial: Rein in the unlimited taxing powers of developers
“As it turns out, giving developers taxing and bonding authority was a bad idea,” The Denver Post editorial board writes. “Just because we’re $17 billion into this failed experiment of trusting for-profit companies with taxpayer dollars doesn’t mean itap too late to stop.”
Note: ap pieces rarely are included in this newsletter. But given the recent focus on David Migoya’s metro district investigation, we are including this editorial for additional context. The Denver Post editorial board operates separately from the newsroom and does not influence news coverage.
More of our best stories
+ Suncor oil refinery’s “operational upset” spurs call for increased state protection
+ Colorado oil production could reach record levels again in 2020, but employment could decline
+ There is little transparency for metro district fees that are supposed to benefit the community
+ Injured Avalanche star Gabe Landeskog was all about family in November
+ University of Colorado to stop funding student-run CU Independent and launch a more faculty-led news outlet
+ Former NFL quarterbacks among those defrauded of millions in Denver-based Ponzi scheme
+ Domestic violence deaths in Colorado increased in 2018, report says
+ Yeti Cycles staying stationary after inking lease for more space in Golden
+ This new SUV with a Colorado name is so hot that dealers can’t keep it in stock
+ What to do in Rocky Mountain National Park during the winter — The Know Outdoors
Photo of the week
