MCA Meeting Recap: Q1 2022
MCA Elections: Thank You Voters
I wish to thank everyone who took part in the annual election of delegates across the community, from Bluff Lake to the North End, in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021. Resident participation is vital to maintaining a vibrant community and healthy democratic processes, and I am grateful for everyone who took the time to complete and return their household ballot, ushering in new and returning delegates across Central Park’s 11 districts.
The election process was long, for only one returning delegate across the entire community, comprised of 12 neighborhoods and 11 districts, made quorum, satisfying the minimum 10% participation requirement in the first round of voting, and it took another month for the remaining 10 potential delegates to be officially chosen, even though some won over 90% of the votes in their district. In fact, one delegate district missed quorum by a single vote, so truly every vote counts and active participation matters.
When quorum is not met, as is the case in multiple districts each year, the voting process is extended for another month, and the minimum participation number drops to 5%, which typically means the person who won the lion’s share of votes in the first round wins the second round, though this is not a given, for anything can happen during the month-long extension, making the experience fraught for those who put themselves on the line, volunteering to represent their neighborhood—their district—as a member of the MCA.
Again, I am grateful for everyone who voted across Central Park, you did a great service to your community, and I truly appreciate those who voted for me in District 11, the North End. The last neighborhood to be developed, the North End is also the largest, and consequently requires more votes than any other neighborhood to secure quorum. As your duly elected representative, I take nothing for granted, and am humbled by your support. Indeed, it is a privilege to serve you, to advocate for your interests, and to support the pools, parks, and programs that are synonymous with the MCA.
MCA Board Updates: New Beginnings
Building on the Delegate elections, I am pleased to say that my friend and fellow Community Delegate, Shalise Hudley-Harris, who represents District 10, Beeler Park, and concurrently serves as a member of the MCA Board of Directors (BOD), recently assumed the role of President, becoming the first woman of color to hold the top position on the MCA BOD.
Also, on a similarly positive note, I am pleased to say that my friend and fellow North End neighbor, Brooke Lee, a community activist, who has years of experience serving on a range of boards, is now an MCA board member, having received unanimous support from the MCA delegates, who elect the board officers.
Both Brooke and Shalise also serve on the Central Park United Neighbors (CPUN) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, which I too am involved in, bringing a heightened level of cultural awareness to Central Park via the MCA. If you would like to learn more, and or attend a DEI meeting, which takes place on the fourth Tuesday of every odd month, please visit the CPUN DEI Committee page.
Central Park Signage: Marketing a Community
Speaking of the name change, which took place a couple years ago in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, following years of protest within Central Park, the City of Denver, and beyond, the Central Park MCA is actively working with Strada, a local advertising firm that has marketed the community since its inception, to create new signage for local structures, street signs, and more, replacing the markers that once read, Stapleton, with Central Park, putting the finishing touches on a collective of 12 neighborhoods whose housing developments will be largely complete in a few short years or less, with the last of the homes in the North End wrapping up in or around 2024.
Central Park Development: Progress Afoot
While details of the Q1 Executive Board Meeting, held in February, can be found on the MCA website under 2022 Board Meetings, one important detail that could be easily overlooked is the Development Progress Map, dated July 05, 2021, in which many new developments can be seen, from a Natural Grocers, which is coming to the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Central Park Boulevard near the historic air traffic control tower opposite Central Park, to the new Pump Track park, located at the corner of Dallas Street and 57th Avenue in the North End neighborhood.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors: Project Worthmore
I recently received a message from, Keely Yang, a North End resident and Food Share Coordinator with Project Worthmore, a local non-profit that works with refugees in Aurora. Keely and her teammates at Project Worthmore are “excited to be partnering with the Fresh Food Connect app to provide hunger relief in our community through excess garden produce, as well as Denver Food Rescue.”
As Keely explained to me, “Home gardeners with extra produce from their gardens can donate their extra produce by using the Fresh Food Connect app, which gives them information on how to easily pass on donations to Project Worthmore. Every gardener that Project Worthmore has on thier platform means more healthy produce is available to hunger relief centers like theirs, and when combined, small efforts have a huge impact on food (in)security.” If you have questions about this program, please reach out to Keely at keely@projectworthmore.org.
Fresh Food Connect: Solving the Zucchini Problem
“Fresh Food Connect, freshfoodconnect.org, conveniently helps solve “the zucchini problem” by facilitating donations from gardeners and distributing it to those in need in the community. Gardeners sign up via Fresh Food Connect’s mobile app and indicate when they have extra produce, and from there, they receive all the information to make their donation easily and then it will be redistributed with a local hunger relief organization in your local community.
Central Park, often known as zip code 80238, may donate to organizations like Project Worthmore, projectworthmore.org, a non-profit that works with refugees in Aurora, or Denver Food Rescue, denverfoodrescue.org, a non-profit that increases health equity with Denver neighborhoods by rescuing produce that would otherwise be thrown away.
As gardeners, we know the power of growing our own food, and now it is our time to use our strength to support our community at large. We want to encourage you to plan and plant for abundance. Fresh Food Connect is here to connect you with neighbors facing food insecurity that could use your support. Gardeners can sign up here to use Fresh Food Connect with the mobile app.”
- Project Worthmore