‘Making a Democratic Process More Democratic’
As Denver’s Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation (INC) prepares for its annual dinner on Jan. 30, a former City Council member and a community development expert recall the leadership of the Park Hill community in the “neighborhood movement” of the early 1970s.
Former Councilwoman Cathy Donohue and INC’s first Chair and community consultant Bernie Jones say Park Hill was uniquely positioned to be part of INC’s development because the neighborhood already had an essential cohesion.
“Forming INC was part of the continuing process of making a democratic process more democratic,” says Jones, a retired community development and planning specialist now living in British Columbia.
According to Jones, “neighborhood groups were popping up all over the place” in the 1970s. Recognition of Registered Neighborhood Organizations (RNOs) later became part of the “Neighborhood Notification Ordinance of 1979.”
Donohue says that in her view, groups developed in response to widespread dissatisfaction over the administration of then-Mayor Bill McNichols, who served from 1968 to 1983.
“The mayor’s friends got what they requested, while everyone else suffered,” Donohue said. “The mayor had total control over the budget, and there was absolutely no communication between the mayor and council except those members who were ‘in his pocket.’”
Setting the pattern
Longtime INC representative Michael Henry of Capitol Hill says neighborhoods were increasingly concerned about what he terms was McNichols’ “usual failure to inform or consult with residents or neighborhood associations about issues and changes that would affect the neighborhoods.”
Jones cites the work of Jules Mondschein of Park Hill in the 1960s, when the neighborhood struggled against segregation and some real estate agents encouraged white residents to move out of the area.
As historian Phil Goodstein describes in his book Park Hill Promise (New Social Publications, 2012), Mondschein became the first chairman of Greater Park Hill Community when GPHC developed in 1970 from the Park Hill Action Committee.
Donohue, who served on council for seven years beginning in 1975, termed Park Hill a well-respected neighborhood, and one that set a pattern for others.
The year after Park Hill Action Committee formed, residents to the east organized what became known as Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods (CHUN). Others smaller groups started coming together in the Washington Park neighborhood of south Denver and in the northern and western parts of the city.
By 1975, Jones says, leaders who had “met in various ways” (this was before the Internet and e-mail), and started to talk about establishing a neighborhood coalition. “We were fellow strugglers against a city administration that didn’t care (about neighborhood residents),” said Jones. “Our first meeting consisted of 12 people in my (Capitol Hill) living room.”
Jones says the group wrote a constitution that required an initial membership of six organizations. Eight promptly joined. Henry, Jones, and Donohue say INC began working with “sympathetic” members of Council. “We had to have nine votes to sustain a mayoral veto, and that was almost impossible,” Donohue said.
She credits staff aides Jennifer Macy and Judy Gold for working closely with then-Councilmembers Sal Carpio, Sam Sandos, Bill Roberts, Paul Hentzell, and Cathy Reynolds to develop the “Neighborhood Registration and Notification Ordinance.”
“At first, the law was small and simple, focusing primarily on zoning matters which would affect neighborhoods,” said Jones. “It has become much more sophisticated now. “
Two ways to view the ordinance
The ordinance requires organizations to register annually with Community Planning and Development after meeting certain organizational criteria. It also requires city departments to send written notification to the RNOs on matters such as zoning, liquor licensing, requests to vacate streets and alleys, and, more recently, marijuana store licenses.
“There are two fundamental ways to view the ordinance,” Jones said. “One is for city officials to make a decision and encourage residents to agree. The second is for residents to be involved at the beginning of the decision-making process. The second method is clearly preferable.”
Donohue says it took two election cycles to follow neighborhood notification with a charter change in the early 80s. “Denver had the strongest mayoral form of government in the country. Council had no control over budget and appointments.” With the charter structure change, Denver still has a very powerful mayor, but only a majority of seven votes is required to override a veto.
“The charter change evolved into a more cordial operation between the mayor and Council,” she said.
While elected and appointed city representatives promise to seek citizen involvement at the beginning, that isn’t always the case, says Larry Ambrose, the current president of INC.
“Those in city government sometimes see neighborhood groups as an irritant or impediment,” he said. “Officials present a plan, make minor tweaks, and declare there has been public involvement.”
Jones, formerly a professor at the University of Denver and the University of Colorado-Denver, says that nationally, the city was just about in the middle of the neighborhood movement.
“As an academic, I looked at what other cities in North America were doing at the time we started talking about neighborhood organization. Portland [Oregon] already had an office of neighborhood services, with the mission of helping neighborhoods prosper. Dayton [Ohio] also had a very participatory process in place.”
A seat at the table
Jones says he is still concerned about citizen appointments to advisory bodies. “I wonder to what extent people get co-opted once appointed,” he said. “Citizens do have the power to represent community interests depending on the structure.”
Current Councilwoman-at-Large Robin Kniech calls RNOs “an important part of the fabric of the city and play a key role in the ongoing effort to make Denver a great place to live and work.”
“The registration process, required by ordinance, helps the city ensure that organizations remain informed about zoning changes, landmark designations, and other activities and news relating to their neighborhood,” she said.
Added Henry: “These notifications provide very valuable information to neighborhood groups and, if implemented correctly by city departments, empower neighborhoods to be informed, share information, and, ideally, sit at the table with developers and other applicants and city representatives to help shape proposed changes and communicate inclusive positions.”
As the former Council representative from District 10 in central Denver, Donohue says Mayor Federico Peña, who served from 1983 to 1991, did a good job of recognizing the value of neighborhood involvement. She says some of the newer RNOs usually formed in response to “some kind of crisis” – such as an unsuccessful one-time McNichols proposal to cut one-way roads through Cheesman Park.
According to Donohue, the RNOs continue to be a line of defense for ordinary citizens of Denver and to encourage city officials to listen and make wise decisions.
Dave can be reached at gelato321@aol.com.