People who live in cities need to get away from each other and enjoy a bit of nature. The public park, a leafy green space in the urban landscape, has provided relief for centuries. We love our parks so much that proposing changes can become heated.
But not so heated that one individual, former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, becomes the subject of a personal attack in a newspaper editorial that was so vicious I thought a response was in order. Diane is a colleague in this syndicate and a friend.
What happened is residents of an Albuquerque neighborhood debated whether to add playground equipment to Netherwood Park, described by an online reviewer as a “very large picturesque park… easily one of the biggest parks in Albuquerque,” and “a destination park for lots of pet owners and families.”
The neighborhood association polled residents about tucking in a play area. The results were 61 for and 22 against. That’s a healthy majority but not a consensus, and it was an informal survey. The association itself didn’t take a position, which is significant.
Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino got $200,000 in capital outlay approved in the legislative session for playground equipment. Denish made a call to the governor, who line-item vetoed the funding.
In her coverage of these events, KRQE anchor Jessica Garate constructed a story of the neighborhood vs. one cranky but well connected old lady. Garate has her own connections as wife of Ryan Cangiolosi, former executive director of the state’s Republican Party and former deputy chief of staff of Gov. Susana Martinez.
Interviewing playground supporters, Garate made a show of asking them if they had the governor’s phone number. They didn’t. She was warm and generous with them. Denish didn’t get the same treatment but managed to say, “This is a very unique open, unobstructed park, and it has been for 75 years.”
Next the Albuquerque Journal’s editorial page piled on in a venomous, petty personal attack that’s become the new norm in editorials since a management change last year. According to the editorial, Denish is, among other things, “a grumpy old woman” and “an Ebenezer Scrooge” who’s “had a chip on her shoulder ever since” losing her campaign for governor 14 years ago.
That’s not the Diane her friends know. Smart, gracious and level-headed, she’s spent years advocating for children and early childhood education. She has a full and busy life with friends and family. She cares about her neighborhood.
Denish isn’t wrong to defend an “open, unobstructed park.”
Public parks were originally semi-open, landscaped areas intended to allow city dwellers, especially workers, to relax in nature, according to “The Politics of Park Design: A History of Urban Parks in America.” In time, parks were used for zoos and other attractions. Then they included swimming pools, playgrounds, ball fields and buildings. While all these parks still flourish, the large, less developed parks are seeing new popularity with urbanites who want to experience the outdoors. They’re also at risk of being chipped away for other uses.
Should Denish have made the call? We haven’t heard the whole story here, but Ortiz y Pino may have jumped the gun, funding equipment without real neighborhood consensus.
Denish could have refused to be interviewed, knowing exactly whose spouse she was talking to. She looked downright uncomfortable, but she tried to answer Garate’s questions. She explained her call to the governor by citing her long public service, which has given her friends in high places. Contrary to the Journal’s opinion that “her time in the sun has long passed,” she’s still active in politics and the community.
Diane Denish spent years in the fishbowl and earned the trust and friendship of people all over the state. That’s why people take her calls.