The COB is responsible for assessing whether the Office of the Independent Monitor is effectively performing its duties, making recommendations regarding policy and training issues, and addressing issues of concern to the community and other interested stakeholders. The COB will meet at least quarterly in public with the Manager of Safety, the Chief of Police and the Undersheriff and will conduct at least three meetings annually for public comment. The COB will also make an annual report to the public, Mayor and City Council and may furnish additional public reports as necessary.
The Members of the Citizen Oversight Board are:
Dr. Mary Davis, Chair
Dr. Mary Davis has been actively involved in civic and community-improvement activities since arriving in Denver more that 30 years ago. She began her career in healthcare as a registered nurse and moved into the education sector as an undergraduate and graduate faculty member. Davis was the Director of Administration at the Regional Transportation District for 10 years prior launching McGlothin Davis, Inc., an organizational effectiveness consulting firm in 1995. She has served on numerous nonprofit boards including the Denver Chapter of the American Cancer Society, The Denver Hospice, The Learning Source, and Goodwill Industries of Denver, serving as board chairperson of the latter two organizations. Other community-based activities include serving on school accountability committees, nonprofit scholarship committees, higher education advisory committees, and as director of Children’s Church at two churches.
Jeff Walsh, Vice Chair
Jeff Walsh is lawyer with the firm Friesen Lamb, LLP. He specializes in employment and labor law and complex commercial litigation. Before joining Friesen Lamb, Mr. Walsh was a trial attorney with the Colorado Public Defender’s Office for five years. In addition to serving on the COB, he is also a member of the board of directors at KIPP Colorado, a network of Denver charter schools.
Carmen Messina Velasquez, Secretary
Carmen is the President of Stefano’s B.E.T. (Bringing Everyone Together) LLC, a company specializing in strategic planning and community collaboration projects. She recently retired from the State of Colorado after a successful thirty-year career in juvenile justice, employment and training, emergency management, public safety, and higher education. She is a founding member of the Colorado Coalition for Minority Youth Equality and has served on numerous boards. She is currently a member of the Red Shield Community Center, Safe2Tell School Safety Initiative, the Shaka Foundation for Youth, and the Downtown Denver Residence Organization.
Pastor Paul Burleson
Pastor Burleson is the president-elect of the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance. He founded Denver’s Friendship Baptist Church of Christ Jesus in 1974 and continues to serve as its pastor. He also spent 28 years as an engineer with U.S. West Communication and four years in the U.S. Air Force. A former dean of the United Theological Seminary’s Denver Extension, Burleson is experienced in the prevention, identification, and counseling of individuals and families with substance abuse and other at-risk behaviors.
Dr. Steven E. Foster, Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Emanuel, Denver, Colorado
After receiving a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin, he went on to get a Bachelor of Hebrew Letters, Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters, was ordained from the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in 1970 and received his doctorate in 1985.
Rabbi Foster took his first position as an ordained rabbi at Temple Emanuel in 1970 and became the Senior Rabbi in 1981. He brought to his rabbinate a deep commitment to social justice, Jewish education and Jewish continuity. His work in founding the Temple Emanuel Preschool and Kindergarten, Herzl Day School, Stepping Stones to a Jewish Me (an outreach program for interfaith families) in addition to his far reaching community work such as serving on the boards of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, United Way, and Allied Jewish Federation to name a few, demonstrate his commitment to the Jewish and secular community alike. Rabbi Foster retired as Senior Rabbi in June, 2010, and now serves as Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Emanuel as well as chaplain for The Denver Hospice.
Nita Gonzales
Cathy Reynolds
Ms. Reynolds served on the Denver City Council as an at large member for a record 28 years and 21 days, as well as Chairing the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District for more that 20 years. She held the position of City Council President five times during her tenure. Ms. Reynolds spent 25 years on the board of the Colorado Municipal League, serving as president twice. She is a past president of the National League of Cities and is currently chairing the Convention Center Hotel Authority.