In the Stapleton vote, Question #1 asked if the name Stapleton should be removed. Stapleton property owners voted no. 3,590 ballots were cast. 2,282 (65.2%) voted to keep the name. 1,216 (34.8%) voted to remove the name.
Under state rules for governance of a planned urban development, when districts in the community reach the required quorum of votes, delegates for those districts are required to vote just as their districts voted. On Wednesday, August 21, the delegates cast their votes at the Master Community Association Board Meeting.
Question 2 asked if the vote to change the name passes, should there be a special assessment to cover costs of a name change? The vote was 2,769 opposed (79.2%), 728 voted in favor (20.8%).
Question 3 asked if the Community Declaration should be amended so any future name change could only be made by a full vote of the owners (and not by the delegates recommending a name change to the board). A majority of the votes cast were in favor, but to amend the community declaration, 5,400 votes would need to be cast. With only 3,398 votes cast, the vote didn’t count. The numbers were 1,850 (54.4%) in favor and 1,548 (45.6%) voted no.
Rename St*pleton for All is a registered non-profit organization with a passionate group of supporters. Board Chair Liz Stalnaker says they will be identifying individuals and groups, including Brave Coalition, that they can partner with to “truly make our neighborhood welcoming and inclusive.” In addition, members of the Rename group are already working with Stapleton United Neighbors’ diversity and inclusion committee on programming that builds up community and promotes understanding. She disputes that the group is trying to erase history. On the contrary, they don’t want folks to forget that Benjamin Stapleton was a high ranking member of the KuKluxKlan. There should be programming, she says, about “grappling with that history and the legacy that we still live under today in Denver. And the group will be participating in broader efforts to live up to the highest ideals of the community.”
