Good Morning!

July is zooming bye and I can’t catch my breath. Seriously, with busy bees “Redistributing” pollen all over Overland Park, my Allergy issues, tissues and tears are blurring my sight! I can barely make out the outlines of purplish Bee Balm plants in full bloom, outside our sunroom windows.
Or, could it be that streaked and blurry old window glass… unwashed as well… which makes seeing difficult? Ah, Summertime!

There were plenty of us at our Delegates’ and various committee meetings this month. So not everyone is vacationing.

Jim and I attended as often as possible, although I regretted being forced to miss the INC Public Safety Committee meeting held at SWIC on July 28th. I know Merce Lea has been building interest in the safety meetings; with monthly visits around the Denver DPD districts in numerical order. We caught the ones at District One, Two and Three and wanted to hear from the Commander(s) at District Four, which was our police station, until the newest re-apportionment placed us into District Three. And now, with the city wide slaughter, eh, reassignments of Commanders, Captains, Lieutenants and them all down the ranks, I’ll bet Merce will have plenty to tell us….

The first meeting for me was the INC Transportation Committee on July 9th. Geneva Wooten and Joel Noble will give you details of their meeting’s speakers, led off by Jeff Dunning, the Service Planning Director at Denver RTD. Personally, I found the speakers and visuals absorbing. They led me to see how any bus route connecting to the build out of the passenger rail stations, to destinations like DIA, requires a meticulous study and careful evaluation processes. Which bus routes need increased service? What routes might be eliminated? The streetscapes and population density around the new rail stations all must be carefully considered. I am so pleased that RTD continues to update Denver neighborhoods (as well as seeking our input) using the INC Transportation committee meetings as their Vehicle. Heh.

Part two of this meeting concerned presenting us regular attendees the draft of the INC Transportation Committee’s Platform. This was discussed in considerable detail with most of the platform designers being present. We voted unanimously to send it to INC Delegation for approval. The INC Transportation committee continues to attract new neighbors. Please note that meetings occur bimonthly on second Thursdays.

The second meeting in July was our regular INC Delegates’ meeting. We were directed by Tony Hinkle of the Washington Street Community Center to their largest hall which has
every convenience, such as quick hookup to their large screen monitor and easy connectivity for our own PA system. We were hosted by the West Washington Park NA (Thanks to President Jim Jones and especially Merce Lea of WWPNA for bringing us to this fine space). Also many Baker NA residents were present with notables such as President Luchia Brown to make us feel welcome. There were home-baked goods, coffee and juices supplied by WWPNA. It is no small effort to pull together a neighborhood hosting with venue. All these RNOs and Non-profits require good communicators, organizers and neighbors who care to share. My sincere Thanks! Newly elected East Washington Park President, Tim O’Byrne was in attendance and gladdened my old heart by offering to look for a venue in his own RNO’s area for a future Delegates meeting!

After the breakfast conversations, Host(s) greetings and some INC regular business, the morning belonged to Denver Fire Chief, Eric Tade. (INC At-Large Board member, Don Tressler, had gone out of his way to recruit our featured speaker.) I swear and affirm that the Chief, engaged me and informed and stimulated us all in ways I had not even considered. Denver’s Fire Dept. it turns out is a national model in so many areas. Response times are stellar. Expensive fire engines, ladder trucks and emergency vehicles are kept running at least twenty years by the local Maintenance Dept. This talented team even manufactures parts and specialized equipment which is sold to Fire Depts. nationwide and the money earned is returned to city coffers. This revelation was particularly meaningful to me since my father had been Machine Shop Foreman at the Southern Pacific RR, during the time of steam engines and his team manufactured locomotive parts at SP’s El Paso, Texas’ machine shops.

Chief Tade explained the benefits of merging metro fire departments, like Glendale’s with Denver’s and how sharing engines, ladder trucks, other vehicles and personnel can bring more synced, efficient and cost effective service. Outreach to neighboring Cities continues to bring us all benefits with improved standards and even better response times. Eric Tade fielded questions about balancing newly designed Bike-able and Walkable Streets in Denver. Specific design features with turning and width dimensions necessary for Ladder Trucks and Engine Trucks to respond to any address were addressed frankly and openly. Certain dimensions are non-negotiable if we want a fire truck at our door. After the meeting, Chief Tade was surrounded by eager questioners and friendly citizens. It was a very positive and informative meeting.

I was forced to miss the INC Executive Council meeting of July 13th and will need to read those minutes later to know what I missed.

On July 21, President Ambrose and I both made it to the INC PARC meeting and learned more about the Gasification/Incineration plant being built in City Park. This building and it’s technology will be a health related topic at the August 8th ’15 Delegates meeting at Denver Health and Hospitals’ Rita Bass auditorium. We shall first get a much needed update from DHHS on many areas of change in their operations from the Honorable Elbra Wedgeworth and other hospital and (hopefully) environmental experts. I heartily encourage attendance at this meeting where we should learn much. Co-Chairs Katie Fisher and Maggie Price also welcomed insights from Joan Seeman of The Sierra Club, and Louis Plachowski and Bridget Walsh of City Park Friends And Neighbors, CPFAN. Joan handed out flyers urging attendance at a meeting with Dr. Paul Connett, an expert on Zero Waste and a man who has tracked Gasification plants, large and small, world wide, but especially in Italy. Please see Diana Helper’s PARC minutes.

On July 25, the INC Zoning and Planning Committee met at their usual location at the 19th floor of Number One Cheesman Place, where Councilwoman Mary Beth Susman again gathered input and comments about The Sharing Economy, with issues attendant to such business’ as Uber, Air B&B, Lyft, and the many new sharing concepts which are either being supported, challenged, or shown to be hotly contentious (some still illegal) in Denver. She answered questions, took notes and was accompanied by Abe Barge, from Community Planning and Development who also spoke. Both Mary Beth and Abe informed us of regulatory policies in other cities such as Portland, San Francisco, London, etc. Councilwoman Susman is attempting to help fashion a regulatory and taxing system for Denver which is fair to all…and enforceable.

After this segment was finished, and Mary Beth and Abe had left, we learned about SLAPP lawsuits. Michael Henry of the Denver Ethics Board gave us this acronym which all law students learn about; a type of lawsuit aimed to discourage citizens from opposing bar owners and others who seek to muzzle citizen opposition to their expansions, liquor license transfers and sometimes very obnoxious behavior at their establishments. Specializing lawyers are skilled at instigating largely frivolous, but certainly threatening lawsuits against citizens who speak out about such wrong doing and about ignoring Neighborhood Agreements. A complainant is forced into expensive litigation proceedings entailing exhaustive time requirements and money outlays designed to get the average citizen to back off and allow the bad actor(s) to escape public opposition. The goal is to intimidate and silence neighbors who dare to complain. We learned that one of our respected INC leaders has now been hit with such a SLAPP suit and we are none of us pleased. Stay tuned.

Regarding our PARC meeting: I did not know if Jim and I would be free to attend Dr. Paul Connett’s lecture, but it turned out that we had just enough “Energy” to make one more meeting on the evening of July 30th at Denver’s Ford-Warren Public Library. My Goodness! There is so much recent history we learned about Gasification plants built from Italy, to Sweden to Canada to San Francisco, California to …. They are very expensive and after many are planned and built, they are later scrapped! Hmmh….

Well, I’ll not steal the thunder of our CPFAN neighbors on what we learned from Dr. Paul Connett. This professor of environmental chemistry and toxicology is an internationally recognized expert on incineration and zero waste principles. (Professor Emeritus at St. Lawrence University) The powerpoint and talk by this proponent of Zero Waste in the 21st Century was expansive and oftentimes humorous. I’ll let those neighbors nearby City Park and the Denver Zoo tell the story at the August 8th Delegates’ meeting. However, due to this presentation occurring so late in the month, I shall hope that our Newsletter Editor, David Stauffer will permit me to be a day later with my monthly letter.

Finally, I am sorely in need of a RNO to step forward with a venue where we can meet on September 12, 2015. Some proud and noble Neighborhood Organization, willing to step forward and host our next month’s INC Delegates meeting! Help, please.

Thank you, Denver activists.

Ray Ehrenstein
V.P.