Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PRE-HEARING STATEMENT
pursuant to the Order of Hearing Officer Honorable David Ramirez, and the
Permittee Miguel Lopez reiterates and incorporates his original appeal dated
Violation issued May 19, 2017, with the exception of withdrawing any alleged
withdrawn the alleged violation for Noise and agrees the appeal shall proceed on
1. Trash
3. Health Violations
permit for the event since this penalty only applies to a fifth violation by the
Permittee.
1. Since the founding of the City and County of Denver in 1858, the
three-year ban and loss of Priority Status assessed against Permittee in this matter
constitutes the most severe penalties ever assessed against an event permittee.
19, 2017) was submitted to the City and County of Denver by Permittee in advance
of the event, approved by the City and County without alteration, and reflects the
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end of the live event, speeches, and entertainment to be 10:00pm on April 20,
12:00 am on Thursday, April 20, 2017, and Extensive Park Clean Up power
washing, etc. from Friday, April 21, 2017 8:00am 5:00pm. The Permit itself
gives the Rally possession of the park until 11:59pm on April 21, 2017.
organizers and staff in advance of 11:59pm on April 21, 2017, and returned in the
same or better condition that received. None of the cleanup required City resources
or expense.
May 19, 2017) reflects that the Permit ends, all streets and sidewalks must be
establishes a park curfew from 11:00pm through 5:00am. That Policy expressly
applies said curfew to permitted events unless the conduct of the Event during
curfew hours is expressly authorized in the Event Permit. The Event Permit in this
case specifies that the Event itself is to occur 4/20 from 9am to 9:00pm.
6. Parties agree that the alleged issues with noise should not be
considered a violation, and thus should not be considered the first of five alleged
violations. Four alleged violations remain, as detailed above and in each partys
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respective submissions. Parties disagree whether the remaining four alleged
7. All individuals and entities associated with the Denver 420 Rally and
Permittee Workers as defined under Denver Parks and Recreation, Public Event
Policy, adopted October 25, 2016 2.37, page 10 of 57, and consequently any
violation by a Permittee Worker are enumerated at 8.4.5 and involve only fines
and not loss of Priority Status nor denial of permits for any time period.
levels between 8:00am and 10:00pm, page 6 of 12 reflects sidewalk closures and
420 Rally.)
reflects permit duration from 12:00am (midnight April 19, 2017) through 11:59pm
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on April 21, 2017, for Civic Center Park, Entire Park, further reflects a Breakdown
under the Colorado Open Records Act, pages 1-978 (Supplied separately on CD
Any Witness Identified by the City, or who becomes necessary due to subsequent
disclosure or investigation
Miguel Lopez
The Permittee and sole Appellant in this case; will testify to all matters
raised in the appeal, including statements in the original appeal dated June 2, 2017
and his supplement dated July 7, 2017, not repeated herein for the sake of brevity.
Santino Walter
Policy 2.37, page 10 of 57; and Permittee Worker violations 8.4.5, page 52 of
1. The security plan, approved by the City, was fully complied with and
was executed above and beyond all permit requirements. The correct amount of
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staff and security were present, and the contractors executed the security plan in
full. Ben Martch and his staffing company, and Maurice Lucky of JCJ Security
2. Tom Wright and the Wright Group were paid in full in advance of the
event for fencing, S&B and Commercial Janitorial were also paid in full in
advance of the event for their cleaning activities, and all performed in full. All
contracted workers were paid for cleanup, trash receptacles were paid for in full
before the event, and the plan approved by the City of Denver was substantially
complied with, including the delivery of the proper amount of trash receptacles,
except for a two-hour delay in actual placement of trash receptacles, due to the
contractor, who had delivered on time the receptacles, but had not placed them
immediately.
3. Mr. Walter requested the City multiple times in the previous two
years, and for the 2017 event, that the same street closures that are allowed for
other similar events be granted due to safety concerns and to allow more entrances
to safely and efficiently process people into the Park. The City denied the request
for 2017 and previous years, and the 420 Rally is the only similar event in Civic
Center Park which has limited street closures. If more entrances had been allowed,
the event could have processed more people more quickly, and minimized any
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4. The event has worked with the City of Denver and its agencies
including the Denver Police Department, and has agreed to unprecedented security
measures that are far in excess of any other similar event at this or similar
and individual searches, it is unfair for the City to now complain about long lines
and allegedly obstructed traffic, when it was the Citys own demands that in part
5. The Run of Show was approved by the City in advance and the Rally
6. After concerns raised on April 21, 2017 the rally separately contracted
above and beyond the agreed permit conditions including power washing.
April 22, 2017 and stated that the Park was left in pristine condition with the
promptly paid and settled all issues, as referenced in the Citys Attachment 9 to the
8. The Rally has spent over $2,000,000 over the past four years to
comply with the Citys demands and requirements, and also to bring nationally-
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recognized talent and stimulate extensive economic growth and create good wage
Mark Jordan
Permittee worker, will testify consistent with her signed affidavit, included
herewith.
Ben Martch
Permittee worker, will testify as to compliance with staffing and health and
licensure requirements.
Works for Denver Parks and Recreation, will testify that by the time the
Denver 420 Rallys permit ended at 11:59pm on April 21, 2017, the Denver Civic
Center Park was professionally cleaned to an acceptable level. Mr. Flanigan will
further testify that Denver Parks and Recreations initial only resolution of the
Denver 420 Rally was a bill for $190.00 for a broken sprinkler head caused by a
third party not affiliated with the Rally, which was promptly paid and satisfied by
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Permittee Worker, responsible for fencing set up and breakdown,
experienced in event management and can offer testimony based upon training and
Will testify as to being the owner of JCJ Security, LLC, personally attended
and worked on the Denver 420 Rally on April 20, 2017. The Invoice JCJ Security
provided for the permit was accurate, and provided extra for the national talent
stage. The company complied with the invoice and the security plan in full, and
provided four secure points of the entry for the duration of the event. The two
eastern most entry points were located on the park, to allow lines to build up away
from Colfax and Broadway. Each entry point was staffed with a minimum of two,
maximum of four, security guards who used metal detectors. In addition, each
entry point was staffed with a minimum of four event staff. Hazardous materials
and trash were located by my company workers before the event began during set-
up. On one occasion, a fence was knocked down by unknown individuals, and my
company responded immediately and put the fence back into place.
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Was paid for and performed additional cleaning on April 21, 2017 and was
paid to do so. The park was completely cleaned up in advance of 1159 pm on April
21, 2017.
Led and held an event in Civic Center Park on April 22, 2017, First
Amendment Assembly: March for Science, and commented that the Park was in
Justin B. Fine
Permittee Worker, assisted the event and staff in compliance with all permit
requirements.
Works for Office of Special Events in Mayors Office, can testify that this is
noted to be a large impact event and can also confirm historic compliance with all
requirements.
Yadell Mulugeta
Permittee Worker, assisted the event and staff in compliance with all permit
requirements.
testimony from Mr. Walter, one hour of testimony from Mr. Lopez, and a half hour
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each from other witnesses, plus cross examination of City witnesses, opening and
closing statement and argument, for a total of approximately one full day with a
United States and of the State of Colorado, as well as D.R.M.C., and the Denver
Respectfully submitted,
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CERTIFICATE OF MAILING
I hereby certify that on September 12, 2017, I e-mailed a copy of this Notice of
Hearing to melvin.thompson@denvergov.org for further distribution to all parties:
David Ramirez
Hearing Officer
P.O. Box 11766
Denver, CO 80211
adear6@gmail.com
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