ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM LEADER DRAWS FIRE

Community activists in north Denver are calling for the ouster of a key
anti-drug program coordinator claiming that a cocaine conviction and ties
to his brother-in-law boss undermine his work.

Paul Roybal, 52, has run the federally funded "Weed and Seed" office in the
Highland neighborhood since 1995. That program seeks to fight crime and
substance abuse with the goal of encouraging better relationships with
police and giving kids a role model.

But Roybal who's the brother-in-law of his boss, Denver Manager of Safety
Butch Montoya, has a criminal record that includes a 1991 conviction for
possession of cocaine.

Some residents support him, but many neighborhood activists are challenging
his credibility.

Aside from his rap sheet and ties to Montoya -- which some see as nepotism
- -- many complain that he is a renegade who cooperates more with gang
members than with police or homeowners. His criminal record, they say, only
fuels concerns that he is anti-law enforcement.

"He's making friends with the bad guys. That's a big waste of tax dollars,"
said resident activist Kim Womantree.

Even Roybal's boss, Denver Weed and Seed project director Gwen Koehler,
said she's concerned that there's a perception of (Roybal) working against
the program."

The grumbling comes as fear of violent crime in the neighborhood is on the
rise. There have been six homicides in the Highland area so far this year,
compared to four in all of 1998, city records show.

Both Roybal's supporters and detractors say the controversy is raising
questions about the success of Weed and Seed and so-called "community
policing" -- pet projects both of the Clinton White House and the
administration of Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. Some say the conflict
between neighbors also is symptomatic of growing pains in north Denver,
where increasing housing values and persistent crime have created tensions
along racial and socio-economic lines.

"It's the normal flow of gentrification that those kind of tensions exist,
and what's happening is that Weed and Seed is getting the brunt of the
conflict," Koehler said.

"The program works very well in four other neighborhoods in Denver. I hate
to see that reputation smeared because the work is in question in
Highland," she continued. "With a skilled organizer, common ground could be
reached."

Many of Roybal's critics say he rarely shows up for work and isn't
fulfilling his duties. Angle Malpiede, a 23 year resident who resigned
from the Highland Neighborhood Partnership because of frustrations with
Roybal, is rankled by his $29,000-a-year salary.

"For the amount of money that this gentleman has made in the name of
community organizing, it's a joke. "It's a slap in the face to the
community," Malpiede said. "The word out on the street is that he's
untouchable because he's Butch's brother-in-law."

But Roybal dismisses the criticism, calling himself "a hard worker" who's
"100 percent pro-police."

He said his detractors are drudging up details from his past as part of a
"personal vendetta (by) newcomers" whom he described as "buy-low-sell-high
people," mostly white gentrifiers who want to run his program in a
neighborhood that he notes still is predominantly Latino. He added that he
has become a scapegoat for problems that persist despite rapid gentrification.

"They resent the people that I work with. This is a high concentration of
Spanish-speaking people, undocumented workers. Those are the people who we
really work with because those are the ones who need our services," he said.

"I've made mistakes, but I've already paid for them," he added about his
criminal record. "Why dig this stuff up now? I'm doing the job just fine."

Roybal also noted that it wasn't Montoya, but Highland's neighborhood
partnership that appointed and reappointed him to his job. That, he added,
is a sign his program is running according the U.S. Justice Department's
goal for Weed and Seed -- empowering residents to make decisions affecting
their communities.

Montoya, who is married to Roybal's wife's sister, called suggestions of
nepotism "absurd." He said he had "no role" in Roybal's hiring and has no
worries that a man with a criminal record is working for the Safety
Department. He said he and his police force stand behind Roybal.

"We have no reason for concern," he said.

Rich Navarro, president of the neighborhood partnership board, also
dismissed criticisms about Roybal.

"If the neighborhood didn't want him there he'd already be gone," he said.

And that, Koehler said, is the crux of the controversy.

"There's a (neighborhood) board that's still satisfied with Paul's work.
There's the rub," she said.

Area Councilwoman Debbie Ortega said she has passed concerns about Roybal
to Montoya, but she otherwise refused comment on this story.

"It's a personnel matter I don't feel comfortable talking about it," she said.

Weed and Seed began in Denver's Cole and Baker-La Alma neighborhoods in
1992. The two part program entails police "weeding out the criminal
element," as Koehler put it. The "seed" part comes from neighborhood store
front offices that are supposed to organize residents work with kids and
promote trust and cooperation between law enforcers and the community.

During its first years in Denver, the program received about $500,000 in
grants annually from the U.S. Justice Department. Those have dwindled to
$225,000 this year.

Highland's neighborhood partnership voted in 1995 to hire Roybal to run the
program's storefront at 32nd Avenue and Vallejo Street despite his criminal
record. That includes a conviction for possessing cocaine in 1991, while he
was working at Independence House a community corrections program in Denver.

State records also show that Roybal was arrested in 1981 for possessing
drugs and in 1980 for assault, menacing and burglary; the dispositions of
those cases were not available.

Other Roybal run-ins with the law include a 1991 conviction for driving
while intoxicated, plus another drunken driving conviction in 1996 -- after
he started working for the Safety Department -- for which he served a short
jail sentence, records show.

Roybal called those arrests "ancient history," saying they "haven't
affected my job performance."

But several Highland residents counter that Roybal's rap sheet is
inappropriate for a government worker assigned to fight crime. "

"Being funded by the Justice Department, that's crazy to me," Malpiede
said. "Its like a bad dream."

"It's just wrong for a Weed and Seed official to have any criminal past. It
usurps all confidence in the program," added Gary Gentry, who with Malpiede
helped co-found the Highland program but also resigned from the board
because of frustrations about Roybal.

Roybal's critics say they are most miffed about recent developments
concerning two buildings near North High School that are rented by reputed
gang members. Police and neighbors had worked through Denver's nuisance
abatement ordinances to encourage landlords to evict those tenants. They
say Roybal thwarted those efforts by dissuading landlords from doing so --
a charge Roybal denies. He has been ordered to meet with Montoya and police
about the incident, city officials say.

"He always goes for individual rights -- to heck with what the community
needs," Womantree said.

Critics also complain that Roybal has discouraged police from frequenting
his storefront office.

Roybal said police officers should be patrolling the neighborhood, "not
hanging around the office."

Countered Gentry, "He's missing the point, which is cooperation. He's done
nothing but obstruct our efforts."