Denver will soon begin reviewing its landmark ordinance, which preserves buildings of historical significance in the city, for updates or changes.

The process will start with the forming of a taskforce to kickoff the review, and that’s where Denver Councilman Rafael Espinoza comes in. He wanted in on the taskforce, bad, and railed against council leadership, i.e. Council President Albus Brooks, to be formally tapped for a seat in the review process.

“There is absolutely no excuse on why this member of council could not sit on that (task force),” Espinoza said during a regular council meeting last week. “Given that it is just a decision of the president.”

He also called out the council president on social media, writing, “Please tell Council President Albus Brooks to put Denver’s people over outside developers and appoint Councilman Rafael Espinoza to the Landmark Ordinance Task Force that is looking at changes to Denver’s existing landmark ordinance.”

After Brooks responded in the comment section that he appointed council members Robin Kniech and Kevin Flynn to sit on the committee (and instead placed Espinoza on a Slot Home task force) saying he had to “spread the love,” Espinoza thanked Facebook friends in another post for “bringing attention to Council President Albus Brooks glaring omission from the task force revisiting Denver’s Landmark Ordinance.”

“The attention to this political maneuver and the flippant response ‘just spreading the love’ have been noted and memorialized in public forums,” Espinoza wrote. “This will hopefully result in pressure to bring forward to council actual improvements that fortify the ordinance or bookmark this moment in time if the changes weaken the ordinance.”

Brooks responded during the council meeting to Espinoza’s not-so veiled barbs by noting the landmark ordinance review process will be open to the public.

“We will make sure that it is an open, transparent and public process, despite what you just heard,” Brooks said.

Since its adoption in 1967, the landmark ordinance has designated 53 districts and more than 300 historic buildings in Denver like Emmanuel Shearith Israel Chapel, a Episcopal church and later a Jewish synagogue built in the 1870s, and the house of Dr. Justina Ford, Denver’s first African-American doctor.

“Historic buildings tell the story of a city, they tell the development of the people, they contribute to our city’s identity and provide a link to our past,” said Jennifer Cappeto, supervisor of Denver’s landmark preservation program, at a recent city committee meeting.

Unique in Denver, residents must submit an application to have a building designated, whereas staff can not (though the City Council or city planning manager can), said Kara Hahn, principal city planner. Designations are determined based upon historical, architectural and geographical significance. The ordinance has been updated twice before in 2006 and 2012.

Espinoza said he has been a staunch voice for protecting historic structures since joining the council. Nonetheless, despite his efforts, there has been “rampant destruction” in northwest Denver.

“If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I strongly encourage you to check out the Jefferson Park neighborhood, parts of Berkeley and now Regis and other areas,” he said.

“The one thing that sort of survives us, is our historic structures,” Espinoza said in part.