Some Denver area residents lead grassroots effort to end general improvement district talks

Some Denver area residents first reached out to CBS Colorado to share their concern about the possibility of a general improvement district at the beginning of August. Since then, the community rallied together to remove their neighborhood from the conversation.

"This could be the most devastating program ever to hit Cherry Creek North if it had occurred," said Wayne New. He served as president of the Cherry Creek North Neighborhood Association for 8 years and also represented the area as a Denver city councilman.

"The more we learned about the advisory board and the appointment of these members, the more we realized the voice of Cherry Creek North would be gone," New explained.

He helped lead the opposition to the proposed Cherry Creek GID, which also included the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, Cherry Creek East, and a triangle just south of the area.

Together, a grassroots effort began. They created a website, posted signs outside their homes, and collected petition signatures.

"Frank ended up getting 1,180 signatures against the GID," said New, adding that they collected another 600 on their website.

Collectively, they estimate thousands of hours went into their efforts to remove Cherry Creek North from the discussion.

"We were, again, really lucky with not only a great core group of people, but enough people who were willing to get involved," said Dana Busch, who also lives in the neighborhood.

All their efforts came to a head this week during a community meeting.

"It was like a big pep rally that we just won the battle, you know, or won the game," said New. "It was really exciting to see that in action, what all these residents who had supported came together, and they heard the voice of the residents."

Jamie Giellis announced Cherry Creek North would no longer be included in the potential GID. She was hired to oversee the project and was in the process of collecting feedback on how a GID might benefit the community with the goal of presenting a final proposal at the beginning of the year.

"The very vocal opposition obviously bubbled up in Cherry Creek North in a very strong way, and on Tuesday night, came to a head," said Giellis. "I do this work because I believe in building community and in providing people with the tools they need to be successful. But that negativity had reached a fever pitch, and I think it just needed to end. There was no constructive way out of it."

As of now, discussions for a GID in the area are completely over. However, Giellis says there is the possibility of reintroducing discussions for a district for the other neighborhoods, such as Cherry Creek East, that were included in the process.

"Maybe someday in the future, it'll bubble back up with a group of stakeholder champions that really want to do it," said Giellis.

In the meantime, Cherry Creek North residents say the process has transformed the community.

"One of the Silver Linings that came out of this, with the exception of Wayne, I didn't really know any of these individuals," said Busch. "It was really the way it brought people together."

"It's changed the dynamic of the neighborhood in a very positive way that, in the almost 40 years that I've lived here, have ever seen," said resident Jim Johnson.

Residents say their work isn't done just yet. They also want to see reform and increased accountability from the city council when it comes to the process of forming these potential improvement districts.