Denver Direct: Association Baton Proves Sticky


Sunday, June 17, 2007

Association Baton Proves Sticky

Having used the City Park Neighborhood Association presidency as a stepping stone to City Council, Madison now needs to pass the baton to someone else. Finding a new president for the Association is proving to be difficult.

email from Carla:

Hello Neighbors!
For those of you who may not have heard – let me announce that I have won the City Council District 8 seat!
Good news, bad news – that also means that I will be resigning as City Park West neighborhood president. We are going to have a meeting this coming Wednesday night, 6/13, and the meeting will center around the next steps for the association. Dave Webster who is our vice-president is also the Chair of the Inter-Neighborhood Cooperative so his plate is pretty full. We need others to step up, co-chairs are a possibility, and we are going to entertain the possibility of changing nights if that makes it easier for some others to attend. If that is the case, and you can’t come on Wednesday, please email me back!

At the monthly meeting on June 13, not enough people showed up to establish a quorum. Apparently (I was not there) no one stepped forward to assume the mantel of leadership. Webster, who shows up only when a vote is needed, has a full plate.

With the Association books in such disarray, who would want the job? Madison agreed with me (during our “parking lot” interview) that an audit of the books “would be a good idea”, but who would perform such an audit?

Not the City Auditor. (Gallagher’s pre-election slogan: “Audit the hell out of ‘em”).

From: Gerald Trumbule
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 11:11 AM
To: Wibbens, Richard L – Auditor’s Office
Subject: City Park West Neighborhood Association Audit

Dear Sir:

Can the Auditor’s Office do an audit of a Denver Neighborhood Association?

Ever since the resignation of the Financial Chair of the City Park West Neighborhood Association last August, some members have been asking for an audit of the financial records. The current President of the Association, Carla Madison, has agreed that it would be a good idea to have an audit, but the Association does not have funds to pay for an audit.

Can your Office instigate such an audit?

Thanks for your assistance in this matter.

Gerald Trumbule

From: Wibbens, Richard L – Auditor’s Office
To: Gerald Trumbule
Cc: Sulley, Dawn – Auditor’s Office, Berckefeldt, Denis – Auditor’s Office

Gerald,

Thank you for your inquiry noted below about whether we could perform an audit of your neighborhood association. Although the City as a whole certainly has interest in neighborhood associations for the value they add to our City, we have no direct financial oversight responsibility for these organizations. This is demonstrated by the fact neighborhood associations are not included within the City’s financial statements.

Accordingly, based on the City’s lack of oversight responsibility for neighborhood associations we are unable to grant your request for an audit. Please feel free to call me if you have any other questions.

Dick Wibbens
Audit Manager
Office of the Auditor
Phone: 720-913-5028
Fax: 720-913-5026