Alec Camhi

My name is Alec Camhi, and I'm a junior at Cherry Creek High School. I have been deeply involved in politics for as long as I can remember: back in Connecticut, where I grew up, my grandmother was a member of the city board of education for twelve years, the chairwoman of the Democratic City Committee for twenty-eight years, a member of the state board of education for the final three years of her life, and a DNC super delegate for about three decades. Unsurprisingly, I have thus grown up with politics and government around me for my whole life, and I have a great deal of admiration for those who serve us in the government everyday. I have been raised to understand the value and importance of every level of government - not just the ones that are constantly in the spotlight - because I have always been so deeply involved with local races and news. The workings and activities of municipal and other local governments are often overlooked, but they often have at least as an important impact on the daily lives of those under its jurisdiction. I am excited to carry the tradition of local involvement with which I grew up in Connecticut out to Colorado!

Jun 082015
 

Alec HSFor my last entry, I will be writing about something that probably doesn’t strike many as fascinating or relevant: firehouse renovation. Right now, the firehouse at the intersection of Havana and Orchard is being considered for renovation. One plan is very elaborate, including a substantial increase in the size of the firehouse.

Residents in the nearby neighborhoods oppose this plan because, they argue, the construction of the plan would be disruptive to the community, and the end product would be too large and too bright considering its proximity to the neighborhoods.

Though I do not live in an adjacent neighborhood, that is the nearest firehouse to my home, and I certainly empathize with the concerns of the residents of adjacent neighborhoods.

  •  Posted by on June 8, 2015 at 8:53 pm
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Jun 082015
 

Alec HSOne interesting presentation at a study session dealt with noise from planes taking off at and landing at Centennial Airport. Unsurprisingly, the most complaints came from areas closest to the airport, where noise would be the loudest.

As someone who doesn’t live too far from the airport, I can attest to the fact that the planes do make considerable noise; luckily for me, I live far enough away that I do not constantly deal with it. However, households near the airport that bear the full brunt of the noise do have a significant disturbance.

However, there are efforts to mitigate the situation of the residents near the airport. For instance, there is now a website to track all planes in the area at any time. This allows residents to be more aware of what is going on at the airport and allows them to be able to have more specific complaints so that the airport can make more specific changes.

  •  Posted by on June 8, 2015 at 8:35 pm
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Jun 052015
 

Alec HSOne interesting topic at a City Council meeting I attended was that of elections for the council. As someone deeply interested in government in politics, this was the most fascinating topic I heard all semester.

The Council was discussing elections because five members will be term limited at the end of this term, which means that a lot of wisdom will be leaving the Council at once. Because of this, some members of the Council supported changing from the current process, in which every member of the Council is up for election every two years, to stagnated four-year terms, in which half of the council runs every two years.

Supporters of the proposal argued that it would result in a generally more experienced Council, while opponents argued that this year is an anomaly and that having shorter terms allows for a more representative Council. From the outside, I would oppose the proposal because it is extremely rare to have this much turnover and shorter terms result in greater accountability.

  •  Posted by on June 5, 2015 at 5:02 pm
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Jun 052015
 

Alec HSAt the second City Council meeting I attended, as with the first, the study session provided the interesting topic of park use and reservations in Greenwood Village. Some recommended changes to the current policies not allowing droppers-by to reserve parking lots and allowing residents to rent parks further in advance than non-residents. Presumably, the idea behind these changes would be to allow the taxpayers who fund the parks have the best access to them.

Because I am technically not a resident of Greenwood Village (although I do almost everything in Greenwood Village), I am naturally somewhat resistant to these changes, but I certainly understand the reasoning behind them. If I were a resident of Greenwood Village, I would certainly want greater access to the parks that I would be paying for than someone who wouldn’t be paying for them.

  •  Posted by on June 5, 2015 at 4:55 pm
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Jun 052015
 

Alec HSAt the first City Council meeting I attended, the most interesting part actually wasn’t the meeting. It was the study session before the meeting, during which the Council received results about a survey of Greenwood Village residents. The survey asked that certain things such as sense of safety, road quality, and traffic efficiency were rated on a 0 to 4 scale, with 0 being poor and 4 being excellent.

Unsurprisingly, residents thought that quality of life was mostly excellent in Greenwood Village, with scores of between 3 and 4 on every single category except one. The only one that scored below a 3 was traffic efficiency at rush hour, which still came in at a better-than-average 2.6.

Although I do not technically live in Greenwood Village, I do almost everything in Greenwood Village and live just one neighborhood over from the Greenwood Village-Englewood border. I go to Cherry Creek High School and shop at a King Soopers in Greenwood Village, among most of my other activities, so I feel that I can speak as a de facto resident and say that I by-and-large agree with the sentiments of the residents in the survey. Having lived in two different states and four different houses over the last two four years alone, I can attest in a comparative manner that Greenwood Village is one of the best places to live, and I’m glad that I’ve had the chance to grow up here.

  •  Posted by on June 5, 2015 at 4:54 pm
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