Commerce City Council Meeting of April 11, 2011 Brings Out Many Concerned Citizens

Citizens communication is usually one or two or maybe three citizens, but this evening filled the room.

Several citizens spoke about the recent murder in southern Commerce City in a neighborhood with schools in the area. They are asking and have been asking for better lighting and also security cameras as well as traffic calming devices. It was pointed out that these requests are not new and that this is not the first murder in the neighborhood either in recent history. One city council member even acknowledged discussing these same issues with some of the families in attendance as long ago as 7 years. Some of the families have lived in the city for 30 years. A complaint was also made that the three minute time limit is not enough when a citizen is attempting to relay information of a serious nature such as the safety of the citizens, especially the safety of children.

Another large group of citizens attended and spoke from northern Commerce City from the Reserve at Buffalo Run, Buffalo Run East. They are very concerned about a builder coming to their neighborhood that they feel would lessen the building standards and lower their property values around the city owned golf course Buffalo Run. They thanked city council members for attending their homeowner's meeting a few nights ago and asked for the city to reconsider before allowing something that they referred to as "the bare minimum of standards" that this builder is asking for. The city attorney cautioned the city council not to respond to the citizens as their response could be considered prejudicial during a future public hearing and court appeals by the builder.

Two members of the community, both Hispanic, spoke on how Vietnam Veteran's were of many ethnic groups and that they should be represented in the city's Memorial Day Parade. This year is the first year that the city of Commerce City has not asked the community to nominate veterans for the honor of being the Grand Marshals of the city's parade. One of these citizens speaking pointed out that possibly this was due to the fact that the Hispanic citizens did not have a close relation to the city council or city manager.