Stay Away! continued from page 17 not in Evergreen where it’s so much more peaceful but too expensive. I’ve got to realize there’s nothing come for me. I don’t know what I’m waiting on or for. Life is what you can scrape out of it or pound out of it and my scraper and my pounder are broken. No dignity there anyway. I’m lacking the tools I need to make my life what I want it to be or something I can live with. I’m feeling like a fool hanging on to a pipedream. I’m out of ideas. Just watching time pass from the same view of my vehicle in a parking lot is not doing a thing for me. Pretty sad.” Later that day, Sanders shot herself as she sat in the car she’d been sleeping in over the past several months. A groundskeeper found her in a parking lot near Centennial Center Park four days later. “I was honestly in shock, and I was really upset,” Neza says. “And I couldn’t help but think how things could’ve been different. And I wish I would’ve kept in touch.” Neza might have lost touch with Sanders, but the Motel 6 remained involved with indigent individuals, work- ing with governmental, non- profi t and religious entities to provide rooms for them. A majority of those staying at the motel through these programs leave before the 29 days are up; some are simply swapped to a nearby motel in Centennial. ® But the Bharuchas are committed to fi ghting Greenwood Village’s demands for the documents. They’re now working with David Lane, the prominent civil rights at- torney from Killmer, Lane & Newman, on getting the order to produce records vacated. “Greenwood Village is declaring war on the homeless, really. That is exactly what’s happening here,” says Lane, adding that Greenwood Village has opened itself up to a lawsuit based on the 29-day ordinance and what it’s said to the Motel 6 owners. Lane cites the April 2021 letter sent by the Greenwood Village City Attorney to the Bharuchas, highlighting the section about the exception to the 29-day ordinance that states it “is not meant for individuals who have been released from jail and have nowhere to go and who are suffering from mental health and/or addiction issues.” “That’s an admission by Greenwood Vil- lage that they’re violating the ADA,” says Lane. “I’m sure a federal judge will be very Homelessness has hit the suburbs. A few end up staying past the 29 days, since Neza considers them to be families in crisis. The City of Greenwood Village does not, however. In August, the city served the Bharuchas with a court order to produce numerous records. In particular, Greenwood Village wants the names and dates of birth of all the individuals who have stayed at the motel using vouchers paid for by third-party orga- nizations. The city also wants to know how long these people stayed. And Greenwood Village wants to see any contracts that the Motel 6 has with these third-party entities, as well as any emails it has related to the SAFER program. “We, as a business, we are awfully scared of the City of Greenwood Village. It often feels like we are a small tiny fi sh and the city is a giant shark. And no matter how hard we fi ght against them, the city, given its resources, can roll us over very easily,” says Farhang Bharucha. “That’s one of the biggest fears that we have. I’m always in favor of swimming with the shark instead of fi ghting it. It angers me sometimes that we can’t run a legitimate business in the way we are supposed to in accordance with state law and federal law.” Through a spokesperson, Jackson, the 18 Greenwood Village manager, declined an interview request. Instead, he sent over a statement: “While I cannot comment on spe- cifi cs as it remains an ongoing investigation, the City remains committed to enhancing public safety for our residents.” interested to see that they are discriminating against people with mental illness.” Veatch just wishes that Greenwood Vil- lage would change the ordinance. “We’re trying to solve the problem, and everybody agrees that we need to do something,” he says, “but it’s the NIMBY problem that we always face, and that’s ‘Well, not in my backyard.’ And that’s the case that was going on with Greenwood Village, that they don’t want to be part of the solution.” Veatch, who’s become even more com- mitted to SAFER’s work since his son died of an overdose in August, did not know that Sanders had taken her own life until he learned about her death from Westword. “The bottom line is, I think that Sue walked away from help,” he says. “That’s as big a part of the story as the other. One of the things I hear in the space is you can’t want it more than they do. And that’s very true. We kind of all have to hang out and hope that they don’t die before they change their mind and are willing to accept help.” According to Megan Copenhaver, a com- munications offi cer for Greenwood Village, “John Jackson was saddened to learn of Sue Sanders’s passing, and his condolences go out to her friends and family.” Andrea Ramsdale, the assistant hotel man- ager at the Motel 6, got to know Sanders well. “She couldn’t afford to live. That’s so sad. Just so sad,” she says. “She was such a sweet lady. She had a presence with her silence.” Email the author at conor.mccormick. [email protected]. NOVEMBER 17-23, 2022 WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | LETTERS | CONTENTS | westword.com GREENWOODVILLAGE.COM
