INC Delegate Meeting Minutes March 11, 2017
iNTER-NEIGHBORHOOD COOPERATION
annual MEMBER meeting minutes
March 11, 2017
SWIC
Quorum present:
At 9:00 am, 45 voting delegates signed in, but three (3) did not vote on the February minutes approval.
By 9:35 am, there were 46 voting delegates, and two left before election. Voting delegates represented 37 different RNOs.
Welcome from Our Host
South West Improvement Council (SWIC)- Jan Marie Belle, Executive Director. Ms. Bell gave the attendance a warm welcome to their facility and spent a few moments describing the purpose, mission and activities of SWIC. Jan Belle’s purpose is empowering all that lives and gives life on the margins. The mission of SWIC is to empower people, improve the quality of their lives, and advance human rights by tackling difficult community issues at little or no costs to clients.
Quorum present (45) at the meeting call to order by JJ Niemann, President, at 9:10 am
Attendee Introductions
JJ requests all attendees to introduce themselves and the RNO they represent. Attendees and RNOs count were conducted by Jane Lorimer, Karen Taylor and Tom Mobley.
Minutes
- Motion to approve February Members meeting Minutes is passed 43 in favor, and two abstentions.
INC Secretary
- Motion to approve appointment of Bob Inman as Secretary (replacing position vacancy) 43 in favor, and two abstentions. Bob’s appointed term will end in March 2018.
- Note: It was decided later in the meeting that a nominee for an officer/director may vote for him/herself for approval.
Treasurer’s Report – Steve Nissen
The current cash in the bank is approximately $37,000 with no debts/liabilities. No material revenues are expected for the balance of the year (barring a new membership surge). The INC awards dinner yielded a net surplus of $748, with over 250 attendees.
Committee Reports
Parks and Recreation
Maggie Price, Chair; Cindy Johnstone, Co-chair
The last committee meeting was held on 2/21/17. Tom Morris (an INC founder) is cited for his efforts in zoning and park use through an amendment to the city council. Tom has reached out to Council and has met with most.
The Amendment applies the requirements of typical zoning changes to the use of our parks, requiring posting, notifications, public hearings, and requires approval of City Council to adopt proposed changes, giving citizens the ear of elected officials on votes. In short it asks City Council to take back powers that it relinquished to the Manager of Parks and Recreation during the zoning changes of 2010.
Transportation
Joel Noble, Co-chair
The latest INC Transportation Committee meeting was held on 3/9/17.
- Relevant to current citywide topics, including the “small lot parking exemption” zoning changes being discussed in ZAP, we heard from Stephen Rijo, Denver’s Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Program Admin with an engaging talk about what other cities are doing with TDM and ideas Denver might consider as we develop a TDM program over the next 18-24 months. Some of the effective ideas from Boulder, San Francisco, and Seattle were included in his talk.
- We were happy to receive an update from Councilman Paul Kashmann, a vocal advocate for one of INC’s long-time positions: finding a better way to pay for and efficiently provide sidewalk installation and maintenance citywide. He sees positive movement, and encourages all of us to keep pushing our Councilmembers and the Mayor on this fundamental and long-ignored network.
- James Waddell, the new BikeDenver Executive Director, provided introductions and an update on the local Denver bicycle advocacy group. The organization has eliminated membership fees to encourage citizens to join; see the web site – bikedenver.org – for information, membership and donations.
- Our final speaker, on the newly-announced Colorado House Bill 1242, including a $3.5 billion bond and significant ongoing funding for use within cities (such as roads, transit, bike network), was rudely interrupted by a fire alarm in the building. We’ll be following this topic as it inevitably changes through the legislative process, but it looks very promising.
- We are continuing our series of transportation related tours, including two tours of the Denver Traffic Management Center coming up in April. Look for dates and sign-up information in the Transportation Committee meeting notes
- If you’re not on the e-mail list for the Transportation Committee, or know someone else who should be, please send contact information transportation@denverinc.org. Thanks!
Questions/comments were taken at the close of Joel’s presentation. A suggestion was made to get the PS and EDU committee back together; sidewalks were again discussed with the suggestion of permeable sidewalks for stormwater, and promoting bus passes was mentioned.
Zoning and Planning
Margie Valdez, Chair
- April 27th will be the public hearing for the new excise and licenses procedures, which are quite different than current policies. A draft of proposed INC changes will be distributed at the 3/25 INC ZAC committee meeting.
- The topic of social consumption (Initiative 300) is being discussed.
- Senate Bill 184 has passed CO Senate Committee (private social clubs), which has been an issue with likely compromises and probable passage.
- The Citizens Marijuana Academy has been postponed until after summer 2017. A draft is forthcoming for the Good Neighbor Agreement for the 3/25/17 committee meeting.
- Small Lot Parking exemptions (Text Amendment 11) is supported by the INC ZAC.
The report on the INC Annual Report was tabled by JJ due to time considerations, particularly Board member nominations.
Board Member Nomination and Elections
INC has a staggered board. For 2017, seats are open for the Vice President, Treasurer, and two Delegates at Large. As delegates checked in, they were given a set of cards for voting.
- Vice President – George Mayl was nominated for the Vice President position; no other candidates were nominated. forty-three (43) ‘yes’ votes vote, 0 No, two (2) voters abstaining. Candidate left the room during vote.
- Treasurer – Steve Nissen was nominated for the Treasurer position; no other candidates were nominated. 40 Yes, 0 No, five (5) abstaining. Candidate left the room during vote
- Delegates at Large –The following people were nominated and seconded:
Hank Bootz;, Anne Elizabeth; Jane Potts, and Drew Dutcher. Jane Potts respectfully declined the nomination. Voting was conducted by secret ballots which were collected and counted by Jane Lorimer, Tom Mobley and Karen Taylor. The elected candidates were Hank Bootz and Drew Dutcher.
With Steve Nissen stepping into the Treasurer position, a Delegate At-Large opening was created to fill the one year remaining on his term. JJ encourages individuals to express their interest in this position for consideration; it is intended the new delegate will be announced at the April 9th board meeting.
A request from a meeting attendee was to identify/acknowledge all officers and delegates in attendance. JJ identified himself as President, Steve Nissen Treasurer, Bob Inman Secretary, George Mayl Vice President. The five (5) at-large delegates are Hank Bootz, Drew Dutcher, Jane Lorimer, and Ian Harwick, and one TBD.
Guest Speaker – Councilwoman Robin Kniech – Discussion of the General Obligation (GO) Bond
- Robin is one of two ‘at-large’ councilpersons in the Denver City Council since 2011. She provides an annual newsletter, which was passed out to the meeting attendees.
- At the outset of her service in 2011, Denver was in a very challenged posture (like many post-recession cities). For example, library hours were sporadic, construction was just beginning to reawaken and unemployment hovered around 10%. The environment has considerably changed for the positive today. The prior period has surfaced today in current voids in spending gaps and project delays and cancellations.
- Robin spends most of efforts with ‘big picture’ issues, although she periodically gets involved in smaller specific projects. A good example of the former is that every square foot of development in Denver pays a fee toward a low-income housing fund; the first time ever. This is particularly pertinent as HUD is cutting back on this kind of disbursements.
- The public restroom program is gaining traction and support, especially with nighttime urban population increase and tourism growth. This is also a clear benefit to the homeless community. Gender-specific restrooms is also addressing this highly-debated and visible national trend.
- Participatory Budgeting – Take a portion of a public budget to set aside for communities to decide how money is spent, many of which are one-time projects. This has proven to get the younger population engaged because it’s more locally supported. These projects are infrastructure-based, rather than more superficial or temporary fixes. Denver has successfully taken this concept up to the point of a vote by citizens. This concept and implementation has seen success in cities like Chicago.
- This participatory budgeting is part of the proposals to the Denver mayor for consideration in the GO bond. Robin asks for support by voicing your comments to your councilperson. It is likely that a pilot program may be launched to ‘test the waters’ for successful rollout and execution.
- Robin takes various questions from the audience, mostly about very neighborhood-specific topics and challenges. They include affordable housing, RNO volunteer resources, volunteers being ‘stretched’ for time and commitment, the need to find new ways to get citizen feedback (the old methods are becoming less effective), how sidewalks are and/or should be paid for, parks and rec, transportation (private and public), and the life-challenged/ homeless population.
- INC and its constituency can be most helpful by providing feedback, pro or con support to the mayor’s office; that’s the ultimate end game. Realistically, not every project will be funded or accepted, so understand possible rejection.
- Robin has no interest in running for mayor any time soon!
JJ Niemann asks for specific RNO successes and project updates. He thanks the attendees for their time and effort today and looks forward to our next meeting on April 9, 2017.
Meeting adjourned at 11:15 am
Submitted by Robert Inman
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