SUN Statement Affirming Black Lives Matter

The recent protests against systemic racism and police violence have brought a moment of clarity to our world, country, and local community. As your Registered Neighborhood Organization, it is our responsibility to foster and advocate for an inclusive community on behalf of our diverse residents. We want to make clear that we strongly condemn all forms of racism and bigotry. Our desire is to live in a community that is safe and welcoming to ALL that live here and visit. We want to take this moment in time to acknowledge that BLACK LIVES MATTER.

SUN Seeking Community Cohesion Around an Alternative Community Name

To make this community a more inclusive place for all residents, one of SUN’s actions is engaging the community to synthesize suggestions, vet options, and recommend solutions for a community-identified alternative name. In anticipation of the need for SUN to change its name, and in the absence of a clear alternative, SUN revisited this discussion as we were seeing the widespread support for anti-racism efforts in the weeks following the murder of George Floyd. After SUN’s announcement on June 12, the MCA announced support for SUN’s process on June 14. At the monthly MCA delegate meeting on June 17, delegates voted unanimously to support SUN’s process and, in August, to recommend the name that emerges to the MCA board.

The MCA board will then vote on sending this recommendation to the developer, Brookfield, which has the final authority to change the name and has said it would support the community’s choice of a new name. Mayor Hancock and Councilman Herndon also have expressed support for the community-identification of an alternative name.

In early July, a SUN-appointed Advisory Board will be working to narrow the set of community-suggested names from over 120 to a smaller set. This smaller set of names will then be voted on by the community in July. SUN is asking for help connecting with all members of the community during the month of July. During this month, adults who live (owners and renters) in the footprint of this community in Denver and Aurora will be asked to vote on the narrowed list of alternative community names. To receive this invitation from SUN, any household that does not currently receive emails directly from SUN should sign up on SUN’s website: www.StapletonUnitedNeighbors.org

SUN Bylaw Vote, 2018 and Current Procedures

In 2018, SUN was asked to remove the community name from its organization name, but without an alternative name suggested. SUN offered “Central Park United Neighbors” as an alternative organizational name for community vote. Among 452 ballots submitted, the affirmative vote (58%) fell short of the 66% affirmative requirement. As the 2018 vote was for a bylaw change for SUN, the vote was restricted to adult owners and renters in this community in Denver as SUN is a Denver Registered Neighborhood Organization (RNO).

The current community-identification of an alternative name will not exclude adults who own and rent in the Aurora part of this community, as this step is independent of a bylaw change for SUN (which would be restricted to Denver residents). After an alternative community name has been identified, the SUN board will initiate a petition to gather 100 signatures for a bylaw change for SUN’s name to align with the newly-identified alternative community name. After receiving a petition with 100 signatures, SUN would announce with at least 30 days’ notice a community meeting for a vote to take place.

This photo of wildflowers (that bear a resemblance to drawings of the coronavirus) was taken along the path around Lake Mary at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge at the moment the sun popped through, creating silver linings in the clouds.