Athmar Park

A Message from Councilwoman Rodrigueaz about Alameda Square

Mar 12, 2004

During my campaign, I promised you, the residents of District 3, that I would spend my first year on the Council listening and acting, rather than talking. I have kept that promise. By listening and acting, I have heard those who have complaints, and then have reported the complaints to the appropriate City departments, and followed up to make sure the complaints were being addressed. By listening and acting, I have heard those with questions or pleas for assistance or advice, and then have helped steer those people through the governmental bureaucracy. By listening and acting, I have heard the needs and goals of neighborhood organizations, and am working to develop a close relationship with them to try and meet their needs and achieve their goals.

Because I have listened and acted, I have also developed a close relationship with the current City administration. During the past six months, I have found the administration to be responsive and helpful, and have had measurable success in addressing the needs of our District through the City departments.

Any success I have had during my first six months on the City Council, however, is due primarily to you, the residents of my District, and the assistance and guidance you have given to me. For example, although I had the privilege of distributing more than a thousand food baskets to needy people within my District during the Christmas season, I was able to do so only because of the time and money contributed by many of you.

Another way many of you have helped me is by advising me about the most pressing needs in my District. And I am again asking for your help in that regard. Council President Elbra Wedgeworth has asked me, and each of the other City Council members, to list his or her greatest priority for the coming year. I believe Council President Wedgeworth?¹s request presents each Council member with the opportunity to identify a single pressing need that will get higher attention than the Council's day-to-day priorities.

After considered thought, I have told President Wedgeworth that the one issue that was the greatest priority in District 3, and that should be given the highest level of attention, was the redevelopment of Alameda Square. Although technically, Alameda Square, located at Alameda and Zuni, is not in District 3, the District borders it on two sides. It is nestled, so to speak, in our neighborhoods. The reason I identified this project is because so many residents have expressed concerns about it to me. I walked the District three times before the June election and Alameda Square was the priority issue for more voters in this District than speeding, than code enforcement, or than any other issue. Among other things, I heard numerous specific complaints about the condition of the Organ Grinder, which many neighbors believed should be condemned!

The redevelopment of Alameda Square would, necessarily, raise many other issues. And I need your thoughts and ideas about these issues, and how they can best be resolved. For example, redevelopment would likely result in the relocation of current businesses, most of whom are Asian-owned. I want the mostly Asian tenants who would be displaced to have an opportunity to stay in the neighborhood. I believe that the Asian business presence on the Federal and Alameda corridors gives District 3 a unique energy and diversity.

I have recently learned that there is a proposal for an Asian marketplace at Alameda and Santa Fe, and I am inclined to support the concept. It seems reasonable to me that the tenants themselves would want an opportunity to own their business, wherever they decide to relocate, and I believe that ownership would be in their best interests. Ownership is every business person's dream?‹indeed, it is the American dream. But I want, and need, your thoughts about this proposal, and about other possible proposals that would address the relocation of businesses that currently are in Alameda Square.

I believe Alameda Square offers an economic development opportunity for Denver, and District 3, both in generating revenue opportunities and in providing jobs. I thank President Wedgeworth for the opportunity to raise this issue to the highest priority, and I look forward to working with her in the coming year. And finally, I invite all of you, the residents of District 3, to call me and give me your thoughts and ideas about the many issues that will come from the development of Alameda Square. Contact me at 303-922-7755 or by email atosemary.rodriguez@ci.denver.co.us