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Government By The People, Government For The People - A Balancing Act
by Paul Kashmann
Although he mistakenly thought, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here,” in his address on the battlefield at Gettysberg, Pa. some 145 years ago, Abraham Lincoln insisted that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Not only have Lincoln’s words not been forgotten, but every high school civics class, every student of American history, and every vote-seeking politician speaks nobly that the principle Lincoln so clearly laid out is still today among the critical pillars that supports our representative democracy.
While you may be unable to find anyone to disagree with Lincoln’s assertion, the question of precisely how to balance government of the people with government by the people continues to be debated. In fact, that issue sits at the heart of a thus-far gentlemanly disagreement between elements of our city administration and some of the residents it would govern. How far down the chain does representative government reach?
Denver is among a select group of American cities that has formally acknowledged the important role its residents play in the creation, maintenance and governance of our vibrant residential and business communities.
Three decades ago, Denver City Council passed Sec. 12-91 of the Municipal Code – known widely as the Neighborhood Notification Ordinance – declaring, “It is the intent of the council to increase access to the various agencies and departments of the city for neighborhood organizations; to improve the flow of information between these groups and agencies of the city; and to enable such organizations to present their positions before certain decisions affecting their neighborhoods are made by agencies and departments of the city.
“For these reasons, the council hereby intends to extend official recognition to neighborhood organizations and/or coalitions of neighborhood organizations registered with the city; to notify such organizations in advance of occasions when decisions are to be reached on certain matters affecting their neighborhoods; and to afford representatives of such organizations the opportunity to present the positions of the organizations at such times.”
The intent of the ordinance is quite clear – the empowerment of our city’s neighborhoods – but its implementation leaves much to be desired in the eyes of numerous neighborhood activists, city staff and elected officials.
Chris Nevitt was elected to City Council from Denver’s District 7 in November 2007. Nevitt thinks a little tweaking of the NNO may be in order. “I think right now there’s a lot of ambiguity regarding the role Registered Neighborhood Organizations play. The city doesn’t have a clear sense of the role the RNOs are supposed to play, hence the associations are left wondering as well. It’s a recipe for frustration on both sides.”
Nevitt would like to see the city “be more clear on expectations as to how they operate – their responsibilities to communicate with their neighborhoods in a responsible way. We also need to be clear with the RNOs with regards to decisionmaking: ‘Your input is important, but it’s not necesarily going to be decisive.’ I don’t think anyone on Council views themselves as simply a reflector of public opinion. We’re here to represent but also to help lead. You end up with frustration when people think they should be decisive and the decision goes in the opposite direction.”
District 4 Councilwoman Peggy Lehmann explains that when she makes decisions, “I start with my constituency because they’re who elected me. Then I evaluate the issue in light of the city as a whole.” In some cases, Lehmann says, she might have to vote against the will of those who put her in office.
“A couple of years ago, the City wanted to put up a communication tower for the safety agencies, which neighbors were against. We got the Mayor’s office involved and were able to work out a satisfactory solution. If push had come to shove, I would have had to go against my constituents because the issue was so important to the entire region.”
Councilwoman Marcia Johnson (District 5) would also like more responsibility placed on neighborhood groups to interact with their coverage area. “My thought is that an RNO would need to submit a communication plan for how it will reach all the people who live in the area the RNO is staking a claim to. This should make RNOs more thoughtful about overreaching.”
Nevitt points to Washington, D.C. as a city that has taken neighborhood recognition to an even greater level. The District is divided into 37 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions with volunteer leaders chosen in city-sponsored elections. Those groups are divided further into Single Member Districts of 2,000 residents. The D.C. ordinance directs that “District officals must obtain ANCs’ recommendations on (certain) matters, but need not follow the recommendations.”
“In D.C., the role (of neighborhood groups) is super clear,” said Nevitt. “There is funding for the groups – they have a budget for operations.”
Karen Cuthbertson is chair of Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation, an umbrella organization representing some 100 of the city’s 217 RNOs, that works aggressively to promote neighborhood interests in the face of Denver’s rapidly changing residential/commercial landscape. A committee of INC representatives is researching how neighborhood organizations and city administrations interface in other cities, with an eye toward suggesting some changes here.
Cuthbertson would love to see monies for RNO operations, but questions the availability of funding in today’s tight economy. “Nothing is free. I need to understand where the other cities are finding the money. Would we like a stipend from the city? You bet. But at what cost elsewhere? We have to be sensible about it.”
One of the things that Cuthbertson would like changed is the amount of time it takes for city agencies to notify the RNOs of rezoning, permitting, licensing and other activities that affect their communities.
“One of my biggest frustrations is early notification,” she stated. “As president of INC, I get almost all neighborhood notices because our boundaries are the city boundaries. I’m finding a couple of patterns I hope we can make better policy about. One is a long delay from the date of a letter and its postmark. Also, some RNOs are not receiving notification. We need to see where these holes are. Nothing says when (a letter) is dated March 1, it needs to go out March 1. We need to document the expectation.”
Longtime Capitol Hill and Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation activist Michael Henry echoes Cuthbertson’s concern. “Many important notices for Planning Board hearings for rezonings come to us with perhaps 15 days notice. That’s not a lot of time for neighbors to get together. They should send notices out soon after the city gets the information, as opposed to after staff does all the work and analysis and makes their recommendation.”
Denver’s director of Community Planning and Development, Peter Park, says earlier notification is not as easy as some would imagine. “Should we notify (the RNOs) about every wild idea we see?” asks Park. “A large percentage of them don’t go anywhere. Some things that come before us are proprietary. (Applicants) are simply doing their due diligence. Until someone submits a completed application, we don’t want to get people worked up. When we find it’s serious, we encourage outreach – to City Council and to the RNOs.”
Park defends CPD’s commitment to public involvement. “When I got here, I was puzzled by the varying types of notice required. Some things required a Planning Board hearing, and some didn’t. Some only needed a hearing by a subcommittee of three members. I didn’t like the idea that sometimes citizens weren’t hearing of rezonings until they went before Council.” Now, according to Park, “The Planning Board conducts all rezonings as public hearings, and residents are notified.”
Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz (District 2) began her career of public involvement as president of the Harvey Park Improvement Association in the 1970s. Faatz thinks it behooves the city to make earlier notification a policy. “There are times when the associations simply aren’t given enough lead time for the reaction needed. It’s important. And it doesn’t work for the mayor to simply send someone to work with INC. Most of my RNOs don’t belong to INC.”
Denver’s notification ordinance allows more than one RNO to represent a particular address or neighborhood. Multiple voices speaking for a single community can add confusion to a discussion. Nevitt is still finding his way through the muddy waters of divergent opinion. “Right now you might have three RNOs claiming to represent the same area, with no real confidence on my part – or the city agencies responsible for making decisions – which of these groups is actually communicating adequately with their neighborhoods.”
Planning director Park concurs. “You might have an RNO with 12 people voting unanimously, telling you, ‘This is clearly our will,’ – when another group with 500 members might have 300 people who feel the other way. It’s difficult to gauge.”
Veteran West Washington Park activist Gertie Grant feels it’s important to allow for multiple coverage. “I think overlapping boundaries are part of grassroots politics. If a group is not representing the interests of some of its constituents, after a while they’re going to bolt and set up their own (RNO). They need to have their voice.”
Cuthbertson understands that “administratively, (overlapping RNOs) can be difficult. But if a group of residents has a common goal that might be different than others, they have the right to pursue that common goal. One would hope we’d all sing the same tune, but that often isn’t the way.”
A greater concern to Cuthbertson is RNOs that “are not inclusive. Groups that are just a handful of people and draw their boundaries very large. We want to minimize the instances of 2 or 5 people who say they are speaking for everybody.”
At-Large City Councilman Doug Linkhart believes an active RNO community is critical to the city’s well-being. “We don’t do enough in a proactive way to help neighborhood groups. I wish we would do more. There are so many issues that could be successfully addressed by better community organizing.”
Linkhart supports block by block organizing as a tool for increased neighborhood harmony and individual participation in community issues. “In Aurora, if you want to hold a block party, you go to the Neighborhood Support Division that has five employees. They’ll not only give you a permit, but they give you the barricades to block off the street. They have a mobile playground in a truck they send out. Typically, the mayor will stop by. The fire department will come with a truck. The police will come by. In Denver, you have to pay liability insurance to get a street closure permit. You have to rent barricades.”
Linkhart names Englewood, Longmont and Westminster as cities that do more than Denver to reach out to their residents. “Creating community on the neighborhood level is the solution to so many issues. It could happen with the RNOs taking the lead. It’s my silver bullet to so many issues.”
He feels the city needs to do a better job of standing up for its lower income communities. “These areas tend to not have as many people engaged in the issues, and that’s where it’s needed most. They need support for kids and for seniors. They need an improved safety system. They need interaction among people so they can get along.”
The direction for this type of neighborhood support needs to come from the top, says Linkhart. “I have great respect for the administration, but I don’t think the Planning Office is oriented in this way. It would take people who truly believe that neighborhood groups are part of the solution, not the problem.”
One neighborhood group participant requesting anonymity offered, “This mayor just didn’t come out of a long-term working relationship with city government or neighborhood groups, whereas (Mayors) Peña and Webb did. He does have a lot deeper roots with the business community. I’ve observed, and I get so annoyed; he seems to go out of his way to put businesspeople on boards and commissions, and doesn’t do the same for regular citizens.”
A west Denver resident offered, “The Mayor’s mission is to generate revenue. While that needs to be a primary focus of any mayor, he is pursuing his mission at the cost of the quality of life from the front porches of Denver, which will end up backfiring on him.”
District 6 Councilman Charlie Brown defends the administration. “The Mayor ignoring (the RNOs)? I don’t think so at all. How do you define that? When they don’t get their way? Everybody can’t always get their way.”
Park feels the pro-business characterization of the current administration is unfair. “It concerns me that if a person is a developer, or has a business in the city and lives here – do they not count as a neighbor?”
He sees a misconception about CPD’s role in city decision making. “There is very little that we approve,” said Park. “We make recommendations. We do make decisions at the counter where the law is defined – permits, licenses, etc. Generally, we collect information. We don’t make this stuff up. We have to support the written policies – give an objective, complete analysis. We don’t climb up a 14’er and wait for divine inspiration.”
CPD is doing more planning and more public outreach than ever, according to Park. “When I came here, we were working on three plans, only one of which was ever passed. Blueprint Denver and Comprehensive Plan 2000 identified things we need to do – fix the Zoning Code and coordinate land-use and transportation planning.
“We are now working on 16 plans. We’re meeting on evenings and weekends. When we did outreach on the Decatur Station plan, we passed out flyers in Somali, Vietnamese and Spanish. These people may not be in RNOs, but they are in the community. We’re touching a lot more people than in the past. But we can’t make everyone happy.”
The search to find the true voice of the Denver community will continue, with all sides doing their best to weigh the competing agendas. The always quotable Charlie Brown gives his take on the challenge: “If I were to listen to nothing but laissez-faire businessmen,” said Brown, “nothing would be preserved. If I only listened to the neighborhood groups, nothing would ever get built.”
INC chair Cuthbertson isn’t looking for unfair advantage or consideration, but fears Denver may be overlooking one of its prime local assets. “I think RNOs have contributed untold tens of thousands of hours of voluntary service to the city. I think for the most part, the working folks in city government are grateful because it’s work they don’t have to do. I think one of the key pieces everyone needs to understand is, this is a volunteer army the city could put to better use.”
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