Unique city government needs in Council District 3

Stuart Steers of the Rocky Mountain News offered a lengthy look into the Council District 3 race that focused on the people and the issues as much as the candidates, providing a window into a world that most Denver voters don't even know exists.

A casual visitor to west Denver might wonder if he was still in the Mile High City.

Deserted homes lost to foreclosure seem to dot every other block. Graffiti is splashed over garage doors and on fences. Cars are parked on front lawns and a few houses even have boarded- up windows.

Former City Councilwoman Rosemary Rodriguez sees the area as "on the brink. It could stay the way it is, slide backwards, or really become vital."

What frustrates Rodriguez is that west Denver has real advantages that should make it appealing: easy access to downtown, affordable single-family homes, and some of the best Mexican and Asian food in the city.

Because the district is 72% Hispanic, it represents an awful lot of folks either unfamiliar with or excluded from the process of Denver city government. Rodriguez quoted a most shocking statistic, indicating that "Half the district is ineligible to vote because of citizenship status or age."

Each candidate for City Council in District 3 is then briefly profiled. A good paragraph is all that the crowded, 7-person field can be spared.

We invite you to read their comments directly in the article entitled "Denver's West Side Home of Frustration."