New Neighborhood Association Formed

A group of Jefferson Park residents opted to form a new neighborhood group rather than attempt to revise the Jefferson Park Neighborhood Association (JPNA), which has been plagued by a variety of problems and has not held regular meetings for at least the past year.

At a neighborhood meeting on August 15^th, those present voted overwhelmingly to form a new organization, tentatively called Jefferson Park United Neighbors Many of those present felt that there had been a lack of leadership by the officers and directors of the Jefferson Park Neighborhood Association. Lucille Bloom, who had served as the association's president for the 1998 and 1999 terms, was prevented from continuing in that role by term limitations imposed in the association's bi-laws. The remaining officers had not been elected and several were unaware that they held officer positions, leaving the Association without effective leadership. Pursuant to the Association's bi-laws, an election of new officers and directors could not take place until December, with those elected assuming office in January 20001.

Some of JPNA's problems stemmed from the association's loss of its regular meeting place. As a result, the Association has not held regular meetings and no membership dues have been collected in the last few years.

A proposal to amend the JPNA bi-laws was rejected as the bi-laws only permit association members to vote on the proposed amendment, and since no membership dues had ben collected, only three members were present in the group of nearly 100 residents in attendance.

After the majority of those present expressed support for the formation of a new neighborhood association, Bill Murphy of The Denver Mediation Service conducted the election with the following results:

Officers

President: Mason Lewis

Vice President: Brian Nelson

Treasurer: Andrew Martinez

Secretary: Sharon Healey

Board Members

*Aubrey Scully,

*Augustine Dionieio,

*Linda Torres, Dale Chandler,

*Elena Thomas,

Jeremiah Attridge,

Pat Mead,

Christine Shupert,

Ray Vasquez

(* denotes bi-lingual Spanish/English)

The elected officers and board members will hold these positions through 12/31/2000, at which time there would be another election for these positions to be held through 2001

Meetings of Jefferson Park Neighborhood United Neighbors will be held on the first Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the Riverside Baptist Church Fellowship Hall located at 2401 Alcott.

Do you know of something happening in the Jefferson Park neighborhood? Please e-mail information about neighborhood events or your comments to:

Jefferson Park United Neighbors: [email protected]