by Haines Eason

March 31, 2016

Denver Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation (INC) held its Annual Delegate Meeting March 12, and the biggest surprise during the boisterous and contentious meeting was the election of J.J. Neimann as president of the organization over incumbent Larry Ambrose. With seven abstentions, the 94 delegates in attendance voted Niemann in 45 to 42. A call to certify the vote resulted in a recount and open comment period which the INC Board of Directors will consider approving on April 5. By press time the election results had not been publicly confirmed. From the INC website: INC “is a voluntary, non-profit coalition of representatives from Denver’s registered neighborhood organizations (RNOs), city agencies and others that gather to promote responsible city change and growth.”

During a recess immediately after the vote Ambrose made the following statement:

“It’s very difficult to be an advocate in this city in this day and age. The city doesn’t like that we’ve been advocates and they’ve organized a group to oppose our advocacy, a group that was headed by people who are on boards or commissions of the city. These people feel that we’ve been too strong, and so they’re trying to weaken the organization, and all I can say is it’s kind of tragic, especially in light of what’s going on in Denver today.”

Ambrose did not name individuals or elaborate as to which specific citywide developments he was referring.

In a subsequent statement to the delegate body as a whole following the recess Ambrose added, “It has always been my fear that business development districts would somehow take control of this organization. They have different interests than registered neighborhood organizations … and at this particular election a number of brand new business improvement districts came in here and that’s what made the difference in this vote.”

In a separate statement regarding the presidential vote, INC President-elect J.J. Niemann chose to focus on turnout, saying he was pleased with the number of delegates present. “I’m really happy with the turnout; we’ve had people from all four corners and the city center. I hope we can keep attendance strong in the months to come.”

While not delving into specifics as to what his first order of business would be, Niemann did say that diversity in the membership ranks of INC was a top priority: “Diversity and inclusivity are going to be central to my presidency. Diversity of ideas, diversity of young and old, diversity of rich and poor, diversity of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I was born in Denver, Colorado, I know how diverse we are, and I want to make sure we include the people who are also brand new to the city.”

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