Greater Park Hill Community

Meet City Councilwoman Carla Madison

Jan 18, 2008

Councilwoman Carla Madison Blends Art and Politics
By Arthur Rosenblum

Go to a City Council meeting or tune in to one on TV, and as the camera scans the 13 council members your eye is drawn to the orange hair and glittering blouse belonging to City Councilwoman Carla Madison. Madison, the council representative from District 8 since last July, brings new meaning to the term, "art of politics."
This 52 year old Colorado native has been immersed in the arts since she was five years old and has fashioned a life of wonder, adventure, beauty and meaning. While Madison's appearance and taste suggest the avant garde, her manner, her work ethic and sense of duty would impress the most traditional observer. In many ways, a study in contrasts, Madison, whose taste in music goes from Jimi Hendrix to the Beat Farmers and whose favorite authors are Tom Robbins and Hunter Thompson, believes that zoning issues are city council's most important responsibility. This child of the 60s who says "I wouldn't be doing anyone any good if I showed up wearing a black suit," thinks taking care of her constituents' everyday problems is the other major function of a city council representative. "The Monday night thing does some good," she says, "but taking care of our constituents is what's most important."

Painted Ponies Go Up and Down
Over a cup of tea that lasted almost three hours at Satchel's Market (we are talking about alternative art forms), Carla Madison told us the story of her life and what brought her to this latest curious turn in her life's work.
By the time this activist and politician from Edgewater was five she was taking piano and dance lessons. When she was eleven she was playing guitar and making her own clothes. "Color was always important to me," explains Madison. "I was born with three inches of red hair." In a household with two brother and two sisters, Madison was encouraged to pursue the arts by her father who was in the real estate business and by her mother who was a homemaker. Carla performed precision horseback riding as a Westernnaire until she was bitten by the rock 'n roll bug. She fondly recalls long days at Red Rocks where you could hang out all day and then avoid the ticket-taker as show time approached. In the wintertime, she and friends took in concerts at the Coliseum and sat in each other's homes all night playing guitar and singing Joni Mitchell songs.

Urge for Going
Madison went up to Boulder to attend CU and, like many in her generation "dropped in and out of school." During one of her drop-out periods, Madison went to work for the Colorado Forest Service where she cleared beetle infested trees in the mid-'70s. She was one of only two or three women on a crew of 300 who fought forest fires.
After several months hitch-hiking to Alaska and back, Madison was again fighting fires, this time as part of Yellowstone National Park's Fire and Rescue Team. It was a genuine wilderness experience in which Madison was exposed to the hardest physical work of her life and to the craft of cartography. Her fascination with maps brought Madison back to CU where she eventually earned her degree in physical geography. (We told you this tale would take curious turns.)
In the late '70s Madison worked as a cartographer for the US Geological Survey. In 1980 Ronald Regan became president and appointed James Watts Interior Secretary. This was no time for someone who embodied the counter culture to be part of government. Madison wound up in the bowels of the earth, working in private industry and performing air quality tests in Colorado and New Mexico mines.
Needing fresh air, Madison came back to Colorado and became a hot air balloon pilot, flying couples around on "champagne tours" and floating above new gas stations and stores. A relationship with a balloon manufacturer landed Madison in southern California where she worked on special effects on the movie production of "Dune" and other films. An injury to her balloon-making companion exposed Madison to the world of physical therapy and she took off for Boston where she earned a masters degree in physical therapy, specializing in -what else - the performing arts.

Bolt My Wandering In
After a couple of years touring the east with a traveling physical therapy group, Madison came home to stay in 1990 when her father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. From then on Madison performed physical therapy with traveling theater companies and rock and roll acts. From the Grateful Dead to the Little Mermaid, show business acts received the skillful care of Carla Madison. Not only did Madison work the show business acts, she also helped a great many seniors in the community who sensitized her to their many needs and contributed to her awareness of the need for change in the way government treats people. Madison is still amazed that constituents who use wheel chairs live on blocks without ramped curbs.
Shortly after her return to Colorado, Madison purchased the home she still lives in on the 2100 block of York St.. A neighbor came knocking on Madison's door alerting her to the city's plans to widen York St. Neighbors were concerned about losing some their property and increased traffic. A the activist was born
Within a year Madison was president of the City Park West Neighborhood Association, she planned an expansion to her home and found someone to share the extra space, her husband Paul Weiss. Weiss, an artist of course, supported Madison's activism and ultimately her political career. They founded the City Park Festival of the Arts, which Weiss still manages. Weiss has since taken on management of the Uptown Sampler and Feast on the Fax and, and perhaps more importantly, he managed Madison's city council campaign.
As anyone involved in neighborhood organizations knows, there's no limit to the number of issues and causes that demand equally unlimited amounts of time. Madison directed City Park West's effort to get approval of an overlay district that will help preserve the historic character of the neighborhood, and she was a key player in the rezoning of East Colfax Ave. that resulted in a new city wide zoning category, Main Street Zoning.
Cancer returned to Madison's life in the summer of 2006 when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She didn't spend twenty years helping to heal people's bodies without learning the subtle and not-so-subtle messages of the body. From her own cancer Madison learned that her life needed to change, that she needed a different career, and that all her skills and experience and an open city council seat pointed her in the direction of a run for public office.
Madison surprised people when she ran for the District 8 council seat, which had been held by African Americans since Elvin Caldwell, the first black person on city council, won the seat in the 1970s. Caldwell was followed by Hiawatha Davis and Elbra Wedgeworth. Madison challenged convention and ran in what she describes as a changing district against three African American candidates (Lynn Smith, a white candidate, failed to get on the ballot because of poorly written petition rules). In a district that is now equally populated by African Americans, Hispanics and whites, Madison won in a run-off against Sharon Bailey, a relative newcomer to neighborhood politics. District 8 includes portions of Park Hill roughly west of Hudson St., City Park West, City Park North, Whittier, Curtis Park and part of downtown Denver.

There's a Sun Show Every Day
Carla Madison loves being on city council. She acknowledges that she had no idea what the day-to-day life of a city council rep was. She was well versed on the issues, but how council reps fulfilled their responsibilities came as a big surprise. Madison thoroughly enjoys the hoopla, her council colleagues, the opportunity to meet people and the chance to make a difference in their lives.
On the afternoon we met, Madison had just come from a lunch prior to the opening of the stock show. Of course she was dressed for the occasion and learned about yet another vital piece of Denver's cultural life. Madison has art in her blood and is delighted that Denver's Theater District, which will promote the theater and other arts in downtown, is in her council district.
No one is more aware than Madison of the nuts and bolts issues that often consume her days - and nights. "This district didn't need me to win," she reflected, "but I knew that if I did win, I would work hard and do a good job."

There'll be New Dreams, Maybe Better Dreams
Park Hill is not yet Madison's back yard, but she's learning about the issues here and is eager to help neighbors meet their needs and realize their dreams. She's working with neighbors who are trying to bring a grocery story to the new commercial strip at 40th Ave. and Colorado Blvd., and she would like to see some type of new senior housing in Park Hill. Madison thinks there's too little mixed-income senior housing in northeast Denver. Assisted or independent living or a three-tiered arrangement are all possibilities.
Madison is troubled that the Dahlia development is on hold, but recognizes the realities of the real estate market and agrees that new home construction should not be undertaken until there's a reasonable likelihood of timely sales.
Madison is keenly aware of the impacts of scrape-offs and redevelopment in older neighborhoods like Park Hill. Prior to her election she advised the Park Hill Smart Growth group, and helped control redevelopment in City Park West. Madison is watching the activities of the city's zoning task force closely and is hopeful that Denver's new zoning code will help control large scale demolitions. "What I really hope for," she said "is a change in mindset, so that people no longer think they need a 5,000 square foot home. And that if they do, they'll move to the suburbs."

A Rainbow on the Wall
A good deal of city council work doesn't have the "color" that defines Madison. And though Madison has given up some her more flamboyant outfits for the sake of city council decorum, she still brings color to her work. "My love of art helps me to see things in different ways," she explains. "And I bring that to my work on city council. Also, when people see me, they see can see things in a different way. Color is what I'm about."