Celebrating 40 Years Of Neighborhood Activism

Park Hill Quintessential, Dynamic, Invested In Improving Denver, Says INC President

As Denver’s Inter-Neighbor Cooperation (INC) observes its 40th anniversary, its president Larry Ambrose says the neighborhood movement plays a key role in city government accountability.

“Because we have a nominally nonpartisan city government, the elected officials are not responsible to parties or platforms,” says Ambrose. “Through the neighborhood movement, citizens have a voice to advocate on public issues of direct impact.”

As an example of that advocacy, recent reports about the impact of recycled water on trees dying in Washington Park came directly from INC’s Parks and Recreation Committee (INC PARC). The information on the water was developed by an INC study group first formed by Friends and Neighbors of Washington Park, an official Registered Neighborhood Organization.

Although INC members have been raising concerns about the water problem for years, city officials are only now beginning to pay attention because of an INC PARC resolution.     

Operating separately, but in cooperation with INC, renowned environmental researcher, the late Adrienne Anderson, had been documenting the dangers of the recycled water in Denver’s parks –  including at City Park – for many years. Some of this information is published at www.DenverDirect.tv (search “purple pipes”).

Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation’s mission is, “to advocate for Denver citizens by bringing together, informing and empowering Denver neighborhood organizations to actively engage in addressing City issues.”

INC represents about half of Denver’s 220 neighborhood organizations. The group meets on the second Saturday each month to consider material developed in INC committees, and to be updated on city activities. INC has standing committees on parks, transportation, zoning, education, and public safety.

Ambrose says democratic government has a responsibility to recognize neighborhood organizations in the formulation of public policy. Denver’s ordinance setting up Registered Neighborhood Organizations establishes the role and obligation of citizen involvement.

“It is easy for city officials, once elected or appointed, to be unaccountable for their decisions,” says Ambrose. “By criticizing RNO activism, officials deflect accountability and the growth of INC in the direct representation of the people.”

More write-in votes than anyone

Ambrose is a former president of Sloan’s Lake neighborhood organization. He is an adjunct professor in the Hospitality, Tourism and Events Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Though he ran without a formal campaign, he garnered 2,200 votes as a write-in candidate in spring mayoral election when Mayor Michael B. Hancock was running for reelection without strong opposition. Ambrose collected by far the most ever write-in votes in the history of Denver elections.

Ambrose is known for his tireless effort to improve the diversity of INC, and to encourage participation and involvement in INC activities. He points out that any member of an RNO can be a member of an INC committee without prequalification.

Within the Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation, each neighborhood organization member has two voting delegate positions. Delegates are usually selected by the leadership within that neighborhood group. Here in Park Hill, both of the neighborhood delegate seats are currently open. Geneva Goldsby, currently chair of Park Hill’s safety committee, represented Park Hill for over two decades at INC.

“City officials have an obligation to recognize the value of neighborhood organizations, instead of disparaging their involvement,” says Ambrose. “Neighborhood representatives are energetically involved and have a wealth of knowledge that can greatly enhance the function of city government. They are opinion leaders in their own neighborhoods as well.”

In the November election, only 29 percent of voters turned out. Asked to weigh in on this – as well as an unscientific auditor’s poll showing 2-to-1 lack of belief in city government transparency, Ambrose terms it discouraging. It “strikes at the heart,” he says, of the importance of the neighborhood movement.

“Even in spite of dysfunctionality, the dynamics of the party system work to promote accountability at the state and national level,” he says. “At the local level, the line between the legislative (council) and executive (mayor) branches has been blurred and the legislative branch often cedes its oversight role to the executive”.

“Council also allows agency heads to have undue influence over the operation of government. In doing so, Council contributes to what some people see as the irrelevancy of the legislative body. Having a excessively strong mayor does not absolve Council of its oversight role.”

Never enough time

Ambrose says the founders of Denver’s neighborhood organization movement − Bernie Jones, Tom Morris, Cathy Donohue, Michael Henry, and others − recognized the importance of neighborhood leaders as an admirable and valuable asset to city governance.

The INC president cites Park Hill an example of a dynamic and “quintessential” neighborhood, noting that its leaders historically been socially and politically active. For example, at one point in recent history, five members of the City Council lived in Park Hill.

It is significant, observes Ambrose, that a neighborhood organization such as the Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. can be strong and well organized enough to have a paid (though not fulltime) executive director. The biggest disadvantage, he says, is that even in Park Hill, there are not enough volunteers and even the many who volunteer do not have enough time.

INC holds its annual members and friends awards dinner in mid-January, also observing Chinese New Year of the Monkey. Everyone is invited to attend and can register at www.DenverINC.org.

Dave Felice is an At-Large Board Member of Greater Park Hill Community Inc. He is a member of National Writers Union, Local 1981, and recipient of an award this year from the Society of Professional Journalists for news column writing. He can be contacted at gelato321@aol.com.