9 minute read
Tuesday, Nov. 9 with Carrie Warren-Gully, Commissioner District
An edition of the Littleton Independent
VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 49
The Colorado Saints Chorale and Orchestra during a 2019 performance.
COURTESY OF LISA COMSTOCK
‘A message of hope’ for shaken community
Choirs join together for concert on teen suicide awareness
BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Arapahoe High School choirs joined with the Colorado Saints Chorale and Orchestra for a concert Oct. 23 at St. Tim’s Episcopal Church in Centennial to raise awareness of teen suicide, something that has rocked the high school for years.
Since 2013, Arapahoe High School in Centennial, a Littleton Public Schools high school, has suffered nine student suicides that included two students who took their own lives just three days apart in 2018.
For Kirk R. Schjodt, director of choirs for
SEE CONCERT, P5
Tri-County Health exit could mean big costs later for Arapahoe, Adams
But Arapahoe public health funding to stay stable for now
BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
With Douglas County setting off in its own direction on public health policy but still contracting to receive all services from Tri-County Health Department, Arapahoe County’s public health programs are likely to remain unaffected for now.
But after the end of 2022 — when Douglas County could end its agreement with TriCounty Health and when Adams County expects to move to a new health department structure — the costs of Arapahoe and Adams counties pulling away from Tri-County could be in the
SEE TRI-COUNTY, P12
Just a few days left to vote in Centennial
Residents choosing city leaders, school board members
BY MARK HARDEN MHARDEN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The last day to vote in the fall election is Nov. 2, just a few days away. If you haven’t voted yet and you want to have your ballot counted, now is the time to act.
In this year’s election, Centennial voters are choosing city offi cials as well as school board candidates in the Cherry Creek or Littleton districts, depending on where you live in the city.
Residents are voting for four city council members by district. The mayor, who is also a council member, is elected citywide. Current Mayor Stephanie Piko is running unopposed for re-election, as are candidates in council districts 2 and 3. The races in districts 1 and 4 are contested.
This week, turn to Pages 2 and 4 for Centennial Citizen Community Editor Ellis Arnold’s profi les of the two candidates in west Centennial’s council District 1.
As for school board races, if you live in west Centennial, you’re picking three Littleton board members from among fi ve candidates. In central and east Centennial, you’re selecting two Cherry Creek school board members.
To help you decide how to vote, the Centennial Citizen has information on candidates and issues online at tinyurl.com/ CentennialVotersGuide. There’s you’ll fi nd Centennial and Cherry Creek candidate Q&As on the issues, candidate profi les, coverage of candidate forums and more. For information on Littleton school board candidates, go to tinyurl.com/LittletonVotersGuide.
If you’re registered to vote, you should have received your ballot in the mail weeks ago. If you don’t have your ballot, contact the Arapahoe County Clerk’s offi ce at 303-795-4511 or email elections@arapahoegov.com.
By now it’s too late to mail your ballot back. In Centennial, you can drop it off at these locations:
SEE ELECTION, P20
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19 | SPORTS: PAGE 22 ELECTION RESULTS ONLINE
After polls close Nov. 2, visit ColoradoCommunityMedia. com for local election coverage and results.
Ex-school administrator, ‘turnaround’ leader puts focus on housing
BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
This is a profi le of one of two candidates in Centennial City Council District 1, representing the far west part of the city, encompassing most areas between South Broadway and Colorado Boulevard.
When schools in Denver Public Schools would fall behind on performance measures such as test scores and graduation rates, Fernando Branch would step in as a “turnaround” leader to help steer the ship back on track.
“It’s a very specifi c niche where you have to have a real sense of community — you have to navigate very complex situations that aren’t always black and white,” Branch said.
Branch would come to schools that landed in a worrying status on what’s known as the state’s “accountability clock.” The clock only allows schools to receive low performance ratings for fi ve years in a row.
After that, they must come before the Colorado Board of Education, which is required to direct a course of action designed to “dramatically increase student achievement,” according to the Colorado Department of Education.
Branch’s job was to prevent schools from needing state intervention, and he tackled issues such as school culture — aspects ranging from policy confl icts to challenges arising from school demographics and personalities, Branch said.
“A failing school is not a failing school because there are bad students or a failure of instruction — a failing school happens because there’s a lack” of necessary protocols, Branch said.
Branch would check on whether school staff were getting feedback from administrators, taking steps to ensure teachers had the chance to look at different strategies.
It was about “giving different opportunities for educators and students to authentically be themselves,” Branch said.
Branch said the way he navigated looking at school performance ties into how he has run his race for Centennial City Council: A leader must “be really grassroots” and give a community a voice “to really steer the ship,” he said.
“Because collectively, it’s not just one leader that’s creating all this change,” Branch said.
Branch, 41, grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, where he saw inequities in his neighborhood schools in the quality of education in comparison to other communities.
He participated in summer programs and saw that students in other schools were learning things differently than he was — they would have different textbooks with different curriculum or newer computers, Branch said.
“I knew then it wasn’t an even playing fi eld in education,” Branch said. He added: “I really, at that point, made my mind that I was going to pay it forward, similar to how my mentors and teachers really supported and went above and beyond for me. I wanted to do that same thing for students and youth that needed that extra push.”
He came to Colorado because 10 years ago, “Colorado was, and it still is, one of the most progressive and innovative states in the country around education reform, and I wanted to be a part of the solution,” Branch said.
Branch feels his experience in education would lead him to look at issues on city council from a different perspective.
“I’m going to be open minded to both innovation but, also, what works? I don’t think we should change systems if they’re functioning at a really good rate,” Branch said. But he also intends to dig into details and “ask those diffi cult questions that may not get asked right now,” he added.
Branch also worked as a teacher for 10 years and as an assistant principal for about eight years, according to him and his LinkedIn page. He serves in a philanthropic position as the senior director of partnerships and programs at the Colorado “I Have A Dream” Foundation, an organization that helps students around the Front Range get “to and through” college, Branch said.
Ideas on housing, law enforcement
Branch is passionate about the issue of housing in Centennial, envisioning change for developments such as The Streets at SouthGlenn outdoor mall, which faces a proposed redevelopment. The shopping center’s former Sears property is owned by Northwood Investors, which wants to add apartments there.
Alberta Development Partners — which controls nearly all of the rest of SouthGlenn — wants to put in apartments and offi ce space, and retail and entertainment establishments, where the Macy’s stands.
Branch wants to target certain housing toward “civil service workers” such as teachers, police offi cers and fi refi ghters, he said.
“What if we, with these (housing units) in particular, we zone 30% of them for our service providers? These are people working jobs that, you and I, they’re at work before we wake up,” Branch said.
Looking to the future, those service workers who might be in their early 20s will likely get married and have kids, and “they’re not going to leave our community — they’re just going to upgrade,” Branch said.
With bigger salaries, they could move into other areas of Centennial in single-family homes, Branch said. That trend would keep the city’s property values high, he added.
“We can’t do that if we’re expecting a 28-year-old to pay $3,000 a month for an apartment,” Branch said. He added: “We’re going to price people out, and I don’t think that’s a smart strategy for our city.”
Such a plan would also give Centennial an opportunity to think about its renters who may be living off their Social Security income, said Branch, who fl oated the idea of “taking another 15% to 20% of those units” and making them attainable for the city’s elderly population.
Branch also serves on Centennial’s Public Safety Advisory board, according to a bio page online. Branch and other residents of Centennial give feedback to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Offi ce and hear perspective from deputies on how law enforcement handles certain situations, Branch said.
He feels that “we can do a better job of ensuring that those young men and young women, or other, feel that they’re showing up as their best selves,” Branch said, saying he wants to support offi cers’ mental health.
“Offi cers, just like any other profession, need to have … their mental health and their social-emotional needs met,” Branch said.
`Radical change’
In a Sept. 29 campaign newsletter, his opponent, Robyn Carnes, referred to Branch as “far left” based on a questionnaire.
The candidates both were given a series of questions to answer from an entity called ActiVote. ActiVote is a program that provides “easy access to your elections and what candidates really stand for, while fi ltering out all the noise,” according to its website. Based on the answers, the program placed them on a spectrum, according to Carnes and Branch.
“In a nonpartisan race, I’ve done
