Meetings To Explain Plan’s Impact Haven’t Occurred; Lowry’s Christine O’Connor Named Person Of The Year

by Glen Richardson

Community Advocate: Christine O’Connor who has led the Lowry United Neighborhoods for a decade was named INC’s Person of the Year.

Denver’s Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation or INC passed a resolution Feb. 8 to postpone bringing the city’s “Denveright Plan” to a City Council vote until after the upcoming city elections. Little more than a couple of weeks earlier on Jan. 23, the organization named Christine O’Connor INC’s Person of the Year.

The voluntary coalition of registered neighborhood organizations representing two-thirds of Denver households urged the delay because the next City Council shouldn’t be accountable for a plan voted in by a prior council. Furthermore they say that, “the process did not include all neighborhood voices.” The Plan is currently scheduled for a City Council vote on April 15.

Delay Demanded: Denver’s Department of Community Planning & Development is behind the Denveright campaign that INC wants stopped until after the upcoming city elections.

O’Connor received the Virginia Oredson Memorial Award during the 33rd Annual Awards Dinner held at the Holiday Inn Denver-Cherry Creek. For over a decade, she has led Lowry United Neighborhoods and worked with the broader east Denver neighborhoods on environmental and development issues on the former Lowry Air Force base property. In presenting the award the organization described her as, “An amazing and courageous community advocate and friend to so many.”

Daunting Documents

Delegate Dutcher: Elyria-Swansea neighborhood’s Drew Dutcher was named Outstanding Delegate of the Year.

INC declared at its February Delegate Meeting that the sheer volume of the “Denveright” plan documents has been daunting for most neighborhood organizations and interested citizens to respond to thoroughly and intelligently by City-set deadlines. The documents total more than 1,000 pages, with over 100 goals, nearly 300 policies and recommendations, and more than 450 strategies addressing development through 2040 as Denver’s population increases.

The resolution also alleges, “meetings with neighborhoods to explain impacts of the documents have not occurred throughout the city; further, the city’s official website listing information received through citizen and neighborhood comments is missing many individual comments that were formally submitted.”

Public Safety Winners: This groups’ legal win for a public health study related to environment health connected to the I-70 expansion won them INC’s Public Safety honors. They are from left: Lloyd Burton, Colorado Sierra Club; Ava Farouch from Earthjustice, an environmental law firm. Also, Becky English from the Colorado Sierra Club; Lisa Calderon and Ean Tafoya from the Colorado Latino Forum; Chaffee Park Neighborhood’s Lucas Merrigen; and Drew Dutcher from Elyria-Swansea.

Also, the group asserts, “Information identifying changes made to the plan documents for the second draft are divorced from the materials listing specific requests for changes and additions received from the public.” Finally, according to INC, plan documents continue to be incomplete and vague in terms of addressing impacts on the city’s budget and work program, especially with the more than 450 proposed strategies.

Fights For Citizens

Person of the Year O’Connor has worked tirelessly to support the needs and desires of some of Denver’s most burdened neighborhoods, such as Cole, Globeville and Elyria/ Swansea. She currently serves as INC’s representative to the Citizens Action Group to the I-70 Superfund Site.

She worked with neighbors across north Denver, and participated in litigation regarding the  Platte to Park Hill Drainage Project and Denver’s taking of City Park Golf Course to support expansion of I-70.

More recently, O’Connor became one of the leaders in initiating a 2019 ballot measure called “Let Denver Vote.” This ballot measure, if approved, will allow Denver to pursue a future Winter Olympics’ bid only if spending is first approved by Denver voters. What Christine says she values most about INC is “the powerful link it provides among neighbors citywide and the opportunity to work on issues that go beyond one neighborhood.” Her hope for INC is that the “newer members will take the helm and pour their hearts and souls into bettering our City in the decades to come!”

City Wide Awards

Drew Dutcher of the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood was named Outstanding Delegate of the Year. The honor credits him “for his outstanding representation from his neighborhood and representation on behalf of INC to Citizen Advisory Boards connected to city endeavors.”

Public Safety honors were given to four groups for their, “legal win for a public health study related to environment health connected to the I-70 expansion.” They were the Chaffee Neighborhood, Elyria-Swansea Neighborhood, Colorado Latino Forum and the Colorado Sierra Club.

Ronnie Crawford from the Overland Park Neighborhood was presented with the Sustainability Award for his efforts to work with the city to sustain the environment connected to river ways, specifically the Platte River.

Sundial Star

Sundial Star Sanderson: INC presented 10 Neighborhood Star Awards including one to Hilltop’s Denise Sanderson for her fundraising efforts to renovate the Cranmer Park Sundial & Plaza.

Hilltop resident Denise Sanderson received a Neighborhood Star Award for her leadership of the Save the Sundial Committee and the significant fundraising efforts that were necessary to complete renovation of the Sundial & Plaza.

She was instrumental in getting the Sundial & Plaza put on Colorado’s “Most Endangered Places” list, giving the fundraising project more visibility and a sense of urgency. After years of raising awareness and funding to save this historic landmark, in early 2014, the Committee turned to The Park People, who adopted the project, taking the outreach and fundraising to another level.

It took nearly a decade, but the effort came to a celebratory close last year on Oct 3 when the Cranmer Park Sundial & Plaza officially reopened after completing nine months of restoration work. Now the Denver neighborhood park with a sweeping view of the Front Range has a solid foundation for generations to come.

More Valley Stars

Nine other residents were also given Neighborhood Star Awards for their work on specific projects that impacted the community. They are in alphabetical order:

Anne Callison, Winston Downs’s neighborhood, for her balanced leadership regarding information and education for a liquor-cabaret dance license at a cemetery.

Glenn Harper of the Sun Valley neighborhood for opening his restaurant to support a food bank and education to future chefs in his neighborhood.

John Robinson in the Harvey Park neighborhood for work on the Loretto Heights redesign and neighborhood festival fundraiser.

Greater Park Hill’s Blair Taylor for her activism in representing all neighborhood voices in projects that impact her area.

Diane Travis, Uptown on the Hill (Swallow Hill) for her education of residents and city on how to efficiently save historic flagstone sidewalks and for getting her suggestions adopted into city sidewalk planning.

Michelle Valeri from the Colfax Business Improvement District for her success with the Colfax Works program that employs the homeless.

Phyllis Ward of the University Park Community for her dedication to ensuring the neighborhood newsletter was distributed.

Brooke Webb in the Virginia Village-Ellis area for her efforts to improve the public image of the Ellis Elementary School and PTA.

Ann White of Montbello 20/20 for her leadership in health awareness and representing Montbello on the WorkNow program.

Share This