2015 Edition: Meet Your Leaders The Officers of Greater Park Hill Community, Inc.
Editor’s Note: GPHC Board members are elected during the October annual meeting of the Greater Park Hill Community. This year, members elected three new at-large members, and representatives for Districts 2, 4, 6 and 10. The new Board Chair is Tracey MacDermott, who is featured in the story beginning Page 1 discussing her background, goals and plans for the coming year. Unless otherwise indicated, the board members can be contacted via the Greater Park Hill Community office at 2823 Fairfax St. or at 303-388-0918.
Treasurer and District 5 Rep Bob Homiak
Occupation: I retired from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2010. As a DOJ attorney, I represented EPA and federal land management agencies (U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, etc.) in civil actions involving violations of federal environmental laws.
Description of what you do in your position: In the past I have held a variety of different positions on the Board, including Property Use Chair, Secretary, Chair, and now District 5 Rep and Treasurer. I view my responsibilities as acting as a liaison between the residents in my District and GPHC.
What drew you in to the GPHC? We moved to Park Hill in 1999 and I became active in GPHC sometime in the 2001 timeframe. I was impressed by the energy and commitment to the Park Hill neighborhood that was present by the Board back then and wanted to become a part of it. I stayed very active on the Board for about 10 years, before deciding to step down. In the past couple of years, I came to realize how much I missed GPHC and decided to get re-engaged.
What you love about Park Hill? I love Park Hill for its history and diversity. I also love the distinctive architecture that one finds in the various blocks. It has been a great neighborhood in which to live for the past 15 years, a great place to watch our son grow up and move off to college and, hopefully, a great place to continue to live going forward.
Secretary and Zoning/Property Use Chair Bernadette Kelly
Occupation: Project Manager for Jeffco Public Schools Facilities Design & Construction.
Description of what you do in your position: As Secretary, I take and maintain minutes for the Board and Executive Committee meetings. As Zoning/Property Use Chair, provide the dissemination of information on liquor and marijuana licenses, zoning variances and changes in Park Hill to the GPHC Board and greater community; facilitate discussions between GPHC and neighbors, property owners and developers requesting GPHC assistance with zoning issues.
What drew you in to the GPHC? In January 2008, I requested GPHC support for a zoning variance for alterations to my alley house – an existing non-conforming structure. GPHC needed a representative for my district of the neighborhood and a delegate to attend the monthly Denver Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation Zoning and Planning Meetings. I volunteered on the spot and have been actively involved ever since.
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? Continuing the legacy of the Park Hill residents who started the Park Hill Action Committee, which became Greater Park Hill Community, Inc.so that GPHC remains the neighborhood organization that takes on difficult issues and sees them through to the end via the hard work of volunteers to maintain and improve the quality of life in our neighborhood and surrounding areas.
What you love about Park Hill? Unique homes with history and character, big and small; the pockets of local businesses within walking distance; the generations of families that have made it their home; the goldmine of talent and resources and … dogs!
District 1 Rep. Roger Kilgore
Occupation: I am a water resources engineering with an independent consulting practice. I work out of my home.
Description of what you do in your position: Time will tell.
What drew you in to the GPHC? GPHC is a vibrant organization disseminating information relevant to the neighborhood as well as being a focal point for discussion on issues affecting the neighborhood. It is also a vehicle for connecting people and communities within the neighborhood. I was drawn to it so that I can do my party in continuing the tradition.
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? I hope to be a source of information to my neighbors in the district I represent and an advocate for improving our community life. Whether that is crime, parks, utilities, street maintenance or social activities, I hope to add a thoughtful voice to the discussions. And I hope to leave the organization stronger than I found it.
What you love about Park Hill? I love the diversity of many kinds in our neighborhood and I appreciate the efforts of so many to maintain a welcoming environment of all types of people. I especially like our neighbors!
District 2 Rep. Ryan T. Hunter
Occupation: Chief Operating Officer for Natural Extraction Systems Description of what you do: Try to represent the points of view of as many Park Hill neighbors as possible and do my best as a steward of our neighborhood.
What drew you in to GPHC? After helping Justin Bresler launch the inaugural 4th of July parade, I was asked to join the board by then-Executive Director Greg Rasheed. It has been a great experience and I enjoy giving back to our amazing community.
What do you hope to accomplish? Help ensure that GPHC is a voice for all of our neighborhood, and not just for a vocal minority.
What do you love about Park Hill? I love it all. We live in a diverse, vibrant, noisy and active urban community. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
District 3 Rep. Heather Shockey
Occupation: Director, Outsourced Consulting Services at Mountain States Employers Council.
Description of what you do in your position: Help neighbors become active in their community and provide resources for various engagement.
What drew you in to the GPHC? Initially zoning issues, and then the opportunity to volunteer with a larger group of people for a great neighborhood.
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? Continue to develop relationships with neighbors and business owners so that Park Hill is a vibrant community.
What you love about Park Hill? The people, the architecture, the history, and the proximity to downtown and the mountains.
District 4 Rep. Sierra E. Fleenor
Occupation: Director of College Access and Success for the Colorado Department of Higher Education
What drew you in to the GPHC? I initially became involved with GPHC, Inc. through the food access forums held this spring. The diversity of voices present, representing districts through Greater Park Hill, demonstrated to me that we have many invested participants and have the potential to make great things happen in our own neighborhood!
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? My main hope is to contribute to an already vibrant and active community, hopefully bringing more of the voices of Northeast Park Hill to the conversation of where we are headed and what matters to Greater Park Hill.
What you love about Park Hill? I love my neighbors in Northeast Park Hill, I adore the various businesses in our neighborhood, and I love that GPHC, Inc. was founded as a social justice organization. I am deeply enthused by the prospect of working with amazing people to help make the lives of everyone in Greater Park Hill better.
District 5 Rep. Bob Homiak (see bio above)
District 6 Rep. James King (photo not available)
District 7 Rep. Brian Rodeno
Occupation: Business Owner/Sales
Description of what you do in your position: Time will tell.
What drew you in to the GPHC? The opportunity to help.
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? My hope is to help create greater and more effective outreach and communication with the neighborhood.
What you love about Park Hill? I love the trees and architecture. I love what the future holds for our community.
District 8 Rep. – Vacant
District 9 Rep. Veronica D’Annibale
Occupation: I retired from a corporate paralegal position in 2010; in the same year, I earned a law degree. Since then I have volunteered for the Legal Aid Society of San Diego and the San Diego Superior Court/ Family Division. Currently, I volunteer for the Women’s Bean Project in Denver, and added one day each week at the Greater Park Hill Community office.
Description of what you do in your position: The district seat to which I was elected (The district is bordered by 29th, 19th, Magnolia & Quebec.) had not been filled since I moved here in December 2013. After meeting many neighbors, I look forward to meeting many more and representing their interests.
What drew you in to the GPHC? I lived in Park Hill, near 25th on Fairfax, from 1992 until 2000, when I moved to California to be with my grandchildren. Always planning to return to Denver’s Park Hill, I found a home in the neighborhood just east of Monaco, near 25th on Niagara. I am very happy to be back!
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? In the coming year, I would like to see more program content through GPHC. We have a large and diverse community; many of our neighbors may not realize that they are part of the community organization. It would be wonderful to bring our attention and resources to the broader base. And, I see us matching involvement from our neighbors with GPHC’s involvement with a variety of programs. Yes, I do have some ideas and hope to talk about them in the near future.
What do you love about Park Hill? The well-cared-for older homes and the feeling of community in Park Hill are the things I noticed immediately. And the diversity (family/ single, age, ethnicity) adds to a unique neighborhood. I stayed in touch with former neighbors here; they are terrific people. Fortunately, I found another Park Hill neighborhood with wonderful neighbors. So, I must say love Park Hill because of the people!
Best phone and/or email contact: gphcdistrict9rep@gmail.com
District 10 Rep. Lyle Hansen
Occupation: Retired Real Estate Appraiser
What drew you in to GPHC? As a real estate appraiser, I have always believed that neighborhood stability in terms of property values, schools, city maintenance, location to health and home services, good residential quality housing along with an active neighborhood organization is essential for good quality residential living. Park Hill has the additional amenity of being a racial, ethnic, and sexually oriented diverse community further adding to its appeal as a great place for families to live. I have found that being active in GPHC over the years has resulted in helping to maintain Park Hill as the stable and appealing neighborhood that it is.
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? Lets continue to keep the Greater Park Hill Community a wonderful place to live.
What you love about Park Hill? Location, quality of housing, friendly and diverse neighbors, great police and fire response and protection, community identity.
Best phone and/or email contact: 303-399-1733 Email: lhansen58@msn.com
At-Large Board Members
Rob Barber
Occupation: Realtor
What drew you in to GPHC, Inc.? After moving to Park Hill from the suburbs, and seeing how much pride residents take in Park Hill. I decided to get involved to help keep Park Hill great.
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? I hope to help keep Park Hill a great place to live and raise our children.
What you love about Park Hill? Where do I begin? It’s great to have so many things within walking distance. Our neighbors are great. I can honestly say that there isn’t anything I don’t like about Park Hill.
Best phone and/or email contact: 303-489-2127 robbarber.parkhill@gmail.com
Lisa Clark
Occupation: I’m a stay at home mom of two beautiful boys. I also keep busy as an assistant to a national best selling author in our neighborhood; a bookkeeper for an architect; and a consultant for an amazing skin care line.
Description of what you do in your position: I will support the District board members and also voice and address any concerns of our neighbors.
What drew you in to the GPHC? Proximity to City Park and downtown, beautiful and diverse homes, but most of all … the cozy neighborhood feel.
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? I hope to make our neighborhood a more energized community, get more people involved and excited about what we are capable of accomplishing.
What you love about Park Hill? The diversity of our community and the potential that presents is what I love about Park Hill. Meeting the challenges of developing that potential, and a vibrant community in which to raise a family, is what I love about being a GPHC board member.
Dave Felice
Occupation: I am a computer hardware technician at CenturyLink. This is my 37th year at “the phone company.”
What drew you in to GPHC, Inc.? I believe everyone has an obligation to be involved at whatever level she or he is comfortable. The Registered Neighborhood Organization is an opportunity to represent all the members of the community, similar to the “town hall” meetings of New England. In collaboration with other RNOs in the Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation consortium, Greater Park Hill can effectively represent the interests of Denver citizens. GPHC is an organization that truly serves the neighborhood needs.
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? Aside from taking care of the daily business, I will let the organization determine the objectives and goals. GPHC has many responsibilities, most of which are ably handled by Rebecca Born, one of the best and most dedicated executive directors I’ve seen. Our hard working volunteers provide a tremendous community service resource. I would like to encourage greater involvement by more members of the community.
What do you love about Park Hill? The community is very much like a small town, with a variety of ethnicities, of social interests, of commerce, and of strong residential character. In another context, Park Hill is as diversified and as large as many small municipalities.
Getabecha “Gete” Mekonnen
Your position on the board: Board at Large, Chair of Planning Committee
Occupation: Executive Director, Northeast Denver Housing Center
What drew you in to GPHC, Inc.? I’ve lived for over 30 years in Park Hill. Its mature neighborhood character, diversity and proximity to the central business district are great assets that I like about Park Hill. The new vibrancy in the commercial nods and along the Colfax Corridor and the neighborhood of Stapleton are all enriching amenities surrounding Park Hill making it a great place to live.
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? Continue to work with board members, neighbor and residents addressing the needs of the neighborhood.
What you love about Park Hill? Park Hill has stood apart from other neighborhoods in Denver because of its people, mature neighborhood, beautiful architecture and housing stock, and its proximity to many amenities within the urban core.
Louis Plachowski
Occupation: I am the Owner/Managing Broker of the local real estate company, DenverWelcomeHome.com LLC.
GPHC board position: I am an at-large representative and Chairman of the Building Committee.
Position description: Whenever something goes wrong with the building or grounds, like a roof leak, flooding, etc., I get a call from Rebecca at GPHC and rush over to assess the problem and fix it.
What drew you into GPHC? Park Hill has been very good to me both in a personal and professional way. Being involved in GPHC was one way to give thanks to the community that has been so good to me.
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? As board member, I hope to continue to serve and perhaps inspire others to do likewise.
What do you love about Park Hill? I love Park Hill’s beautiful streets and charming homes. I enjoy my friendly neighbors who are from all different backgrounds and I like to shop at the lovely, quaint shops that are not part of corporate chains. I especially enjoy the close proximity to City Park as I also serve as President of GPHC’s sister Registered Neighborhood Organization, City Park Friends and Neighbors (CPFAN.org).
Pat Quinn
Occupation: I have been retired for some time, about as long as my wife and I have lived in Park Hill. We moved here in 2000 from what is now called Centennial. Prior to retiring, I held quite a variety of positions in finance and sales, and started my own company in the floral industry.
Position description: As an at large member of the GPHC board I expect to volunteer for Park Hill events, listen constructively to the concerns and opinions of the other board members at each monthly meeting; add my own voice and opinions to the discussions.
What drew you into GPHC? My wife has been involved with the Park Hill Garden Walk for many years. It was really through her interest and efforts that I became involved. Early on, I was fortunate to meet Ann Long, and got into assisting in a minor way with some of the minor tasks related to the Garden Walk. Ann is very persuasive – she suggested that my block needed someone to deliver the papers. That led to bundling the papers each month, and that got me to this point.
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? I want to hear from and represent those residents who may not have the time to become involved in the community but want their position on ideas to come before the board. As a board member at large I can provide board access to the entire community.
What do you love about Park Hill? Park Hill is a unique community, and its citizens make it so. I have met and worked with many different people in my years here. They are positive, progressive and happy to lend their effort and support to any Park Hill project. It is very rare to find that in any community. We all are fortunate to live here.
Other Board Members & Committee Chairs
Keith Brown
Board position: Health and Human Services Chair
Occupation: Catering chef for Peoples Community Food Projects.
Best contact: 303.333.5839 or Kbtree2000@gmail.com
What drew you to the GPHC? I started with GPHC as a volunteer with the food pantry. I thought that that would be a good way to get more involved in community functions as well as a means to better understand what the community was lacking and how I could fit in and help.
Board goals: As a board member I hope to help facilitate some of the positive changes that have been suggested by so many of the groups and studies that have been conducted by dedicated students and other professionals.
What you love about Park Hill? That I have lived here for most of my life and have always found that the people stick together as a community for the benefit of the community.
Melissa Davis
Board position: Public Information Committee Chair – Provide input and make recommendations to the board about policies pertaining to the publication of the Greater Park Hill News.
Occupation: Consultant and Newspaper Manager for the Greater Park Hill News
What drew you to the GPHC? Park Hill is a large and diverse community. I enjoy attending the community meetings to learn about issues and hot topics that affect the neighborhood as well as developing new relationships with members of the community.
Board goals: I hope to foster new relationships in the community, which further the goals of the GPHC and improve the neighborhood experience. I would like to enable others to find ways to give back in their community. I want to amplify the collective voice of Park Hill residents in a manner that creates a greater sense of community.
What you love about Park Hill? Park Hill is a wonderful place to raise a family! I love the diversity, location, mature trees and overall sense of community in Park Hill.
Lynn Kalinauskas
Description of what you do in your position: As the Education Chair, I keep abreast of news and developments in education, focusing on those that specifically affect Park Hill neighborhood. I attend a host of meetings in and around Denver that pertain to education in an attempt to get a good sense of educational trends and plans.
Current occupation: Lecturer, teaching Chinese Civilization at the University of CO Denver. And, administrative consultant for the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia, an educational nonprofit that provides professional development about East Asia to K-12 teachers nationwide.
What drew you in to the Greater Park Hill Community, Inc? I came to a monthly meeting to discuss issues surrounding schools in Park Hill. I stayed engaged with GPHC, however, because of the people involved in the organization. It’s wonderful to see so many people working so hard, on a voluntary basis, for the betterment of a community. It’s a productive forum where ideas are put forth, explored and discussed. I have learned so much about the neighborhood!
What do you hope to accomplish as a board member? My first goal is to inform GPHC and the Park Hill community about schools, education policy, and educational changes coming in the future. I also want to be available to anyone in the neighborhood wanting to discuss education issues in Park Hill or the Denver area.
What you love about Park Hill? After living in different cities in a few different countries, Park Hill is home. After more than 13 years here, I never grow tired of walking the streets, admiring the diversity of people, architecture, and gardening. And now bumping into some chickens here and there! I am humbled by the majestic trees that line some of our streets and crack the sidewalks. Their roots run deep and strong, a testimony to the age and history of the place, to its struggles and triumphs.
Geneva Goldsby
Board Position: Safety Chair
Occupation: Retired from the University of Colorado
What drew you to the GPHC? Involvement in the community.
Highlight of your board experience? Support from members
What you love about Park Hill? Diversity
NOTE: Check out the December issue for an updated list of church and congregation delegates and religious institutions that serve in sponsor leadership roles with the Greater Park Hill Community, Inc.
Model Neighbor, Tireless Advocate, Stellar Friend
Heather Shockey Wins 2015 Babbs Award
By Cara DeGette
Heather Shockey has served in a myriad of roles with the Greater Park Hill neighborhood association, including Chairwoman of the Board and, currently, District 3 representative.
She has been described as the model of a great Park Hill advocate, a stellar neighbor and great friend.
This year, Shockey is the recipient of the Babbs Award, to honor her sustained contributions to Greater Park Hill. Last year’s winner, Kate Sultan, presented the award to Shockey at the GPHC, Inc. annual meeting. Here are a few highlights:
• [Heather] regularly fights against things that threaten the safety and integrity of the community.
• She led the charge in protecting our quiet single-family neighborhood from being transformed into a multi-family townhome complex by a private developer.
• She has been instrumental in gaining the support from many neighbors to form neighborhood watch blocks, signing up at least four blocks in our immediate area.
• She was involved in planning the transformation of a vacant carriage lot into a community garden.
• She embodies the spirit of the community service in that she was one of the original plaintiffs who sued the state of Colorado in an effort to bring marriage equality to the state.
• This year on June 24, five feet of water came into the lower level of her neighbor’s home. Heather was there to help them purchase and install sump pumps at 10 p.m. after giving them dinner and a place to sleep.
• Many have witnessed Heather, literally up to her elbows, sorting compost/recycle and regular old trash for the past four years at the Park Hill Street Fair.
The award honors the legacy of former Park Hill United Methodist Pastor and founding member of the Park Hill Action Committee, Dr. J. Carlton Babbs. The award is given to an individual who has contributed time and talents to make our neighborhood stronger and better.
Babbs was minister at Park Hill United Methodist Church from 1955 until his death in 1978. He helped organize the Park Hill Action Committee and was a key supporter of integration in Park Hill. On the same Sunday in May of 1956, all of the ministers in the community preached sermons on the need to eliminate all the barriers to church membership and housing on the basis of race, sex or national origin.
The Park Hill Action Committee, organized and sponsored by these churches, subsequently became the Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. (GPHC). Historically, GPHC’s impact on integration, zoning, schools, justice and legislation for the community has been widely recognized. At the time of Dr. Babbs’ death, the clergy of Park Hill met and decided that a community service award in his memory would be a fitting tribute to one of the neighborhood’s outstanding leaders.
Every May Shockey, a native of Kentucky, along, with her wife Tracey MacDermott, also hosts one heck of a fun Derby Day party.