Jeffco Commissioner Meeting Recap
Reminder: the PV Metro District board meeting is Tuesday!
I attended the June 10th county commissioner meeting online as well as the study session afterward. Here’s a quick recap! After that, an update on what I’ve been up to in my first month as a board member. The next meeting is Tuesday so please let me know if you have questions or concerns!
Quick definition: A study session is a meeting of a board without any votes on official business. Boards can discuss official business, but can’t take votes. They can give feedback. The public can attend but there is no public comment section.
Jeffco Commissioner Meeting
Pride Month Proclamation
The meeting began with a proclamation recognizing Pride Month in support of our LGBT+ community. I know that is a lot of letters and acronyms if you’re not familiar. Another quick definition: LGBT+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Plus other gender identities. You may also see LGBTIA+. The proclamation began with an explainer for the acronym and other helpful information. Here’s another one: https://www.sfgmc.org/blog/lgbtqia-meaning
Pride Month is important because even today, members of the LGBT+ community face discrimination or even physical violence simply for being who they are. Recognizing pride and creating an accepting environment is even more important for our kids. LGBT+ kids have double the suicide risk of straight teenagers. The Trevor Project has lots of resources if you’d like to learn more.
Rock Rest Rezoning Approved
I did a recap on the zoning meeting for the Rock Rest development a few months ago. You can read it below:
As a reminder, the Rock Rest itself is staying, but the surrounding area will be redeveloped into housing and retail for businesses. The most helpful insights are in my recap post. Let me know if you have other questions!
RTD/Public Transit from Denver to Red Rocks
Our County Commissioner, Andy Kerr, reported that he is working with Denver, Jeffco, and the City of Golden to pilot better public transit options to Red Rocks. If that’s also something important to you, please let me know! I’d like to do a better job advocating for Pleasant View with the county, so I want to I know what matters to you.
Commissioner’s Study Session
After the public hearing, the commission hears from various county departments. These departments can ask for feedback and permission to move forward, but the commissioners don’t vote on any final approvals.
The study sessions are public, but do not include public comment. It’s generally a less formal gathering of the board to discuss official business without voting.
Safe Land and Safe Homes (SLASH) Program
The county is investing more in the SLASH program. It’s run by Jeffco and helps mitigate wildfire risk at homes.
You can safely dispose of natural debris through SLASH. The closest location is the Tin Cup Slash Yard on Rooney Road. Find out more here: https://www.jeffco.us/2493/Slash-Collection
Medicaid
The department of Public Health is investing $40,000 to improve customer service for Medicaid patients, acknowledging the department needs to improve responses and processing times.
South Table Mountain Trails
Open Space is working on a trail project to formally connect the Montrachet condos to Tertiary and Welch Ditch trails. This is outside of Pleasant View, but as someone who runs that direction often, I thought I’d include it in case this was of interest. The project will also make sure the trails are more sustainable, meaning they are redesigned so the hillside won’t erode and the trail itself is also not going to erode.
If you’ve ever tried to hike to the statue on that side of South Table, there will also be formal access to that as well. I’ve gotten lost trying to get to it a few times, so this will be a nice improvement.
This project is totally separate from the development of trails that was part of the land swap in Camp George for the GLO Park. I’m not sure where those trails stand now, but it’s on my list to address with Open Space.
What I’ve done in the last month as a board member
I took my oath of office in mid-May, and the June board meeting is on Tuesday. The last month I’ve focused on learning more about how the district works, how the board can best support the district employees, and what the district’s relationship is like with county departments. I met with all the other board members and the district manager so far, but I have a long list of other people I need to meet with to get up to speed!
At the beginning of June, I attended Pleasant View’s fire academy graduation. I was in their shoes just a year ago and it was so wonderful to help all the new firefighters celebrate their achievement. Fire academy is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and the real work only begins when you graduate! I love that firefighting is a lifelong learning opportunity and am excited for all our new volunteer members to learn from our department.
In the last month, I’ve also met with neighbors to learn more about their concerns at their local parks. And I’ve heard from neighbors frustrated with law enforcement and trying to find out more information about how that works in Pleasant View.
What questions or issues do you have that I should learn more about?
Tuesday June 17 is the next Metro District Board Meeting
I’d love to see you there at 4 p.m. at 955 Moss Street!
If you can’t make it, please email/text/call me to let me know if you have questions or things you’d like to learn about.
lauraforpleasantview@gmail.com
720-675-8093