Lower Downtown District, Inc.

ST. CHARLES NEIGHBORHOOD GROUP

Nov 17, 2000

George Martolan, a citizen volunteer, made a presentation at a recent
St. Charles Neighborhood Group Board meeting on ballot imitative #1A,
Great Futures for Denver's Kids. SCNG sent an informational email to the membership regarding this initiative, which will be on the ballot November 7th. It urges them to consider imitative #1A carefully in order to make an informed decision and to vote on November 7th.

The Great Futures for Denver's Kids initiative is designed to enhance and improve the lives of Denver's children by investing in three areas: early childhood education (ages 0-5); accessible health care (ages 0-18); and before and after school programs (ages 5-14). According to Mr. Martolan, despite improvements over the last decade, Denver's
children still rank at the bottom of Colorado's 63 counties - 41st and 59th - on the indicators for child poverty, child and maternal health, risk factors and education - related measures. It is expected that .2% sales tax increase (2 cents for every $10) will generate approximately $25-30 million annually, which will be spent for access to supervised before and after school programs; mental and dental care; and access to
quality early childhood programs. The program will automatically sunset after 9 years. It will be administered by a fifteen-member board, seven appointed by the City Council and eight appointed by the Mayor. For additional information, please contact Great Futures for Denver's Kids, 1600 Stout Street, Suite 1770, Denver, CO 80202; phone 303-313-8718: Email: Greatfutures@aol.com