South Metro Fire to hold spring election

4 Board Members Up

BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

South Metro Fire Rescue, a re rescue authority that serves approximately 560,000 people in the south Denver metro area, will hold an election this spring to select four members of its board of directors.

e agency will accept self-nominations through Feb. 24.

e agency covers many cities and towns, including Bow Mar, Castle Pines, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Columbine Valley, Fox eld, Greenwood Village, Littleton, Lone Tree and Parker, along with nearby unincorporated portions of Arapahoe, Je erson, and Douglas counties.

South Metro Fire Rescue is governed by a seven-member board of directors who are publicly elected and oversee an annual budget of more than $127 million, according to the agency’s website.

Each board member represents a speci c geographical portion of the overall re district, known as a director district, the agency explained in a 2020 governing body document.

Four of the directors’ terms expire

About Letters To The Editor

Colorado Community Media welcomes letters to the editor. Please note the following rules: in 2023, including Sue Roche of District 1, Jim Albee of District 3, Cindy Hathaway of District 4 and Renee Anderson of District 5. e agency announced the election will be held May 2 and it will be a mail ballot election. e director position is a fouryear term and people can nominate themselves for one of the four open seats. According to the agency’s website, all candidates must complete a self-nomination form and either email the completed form to DEO@southmetro.org or hand deliver the form to 9195 E. Mineral Ave.

• Email your letter to letters@coloradocommunitymedia.com. Do not send via postal mail. Put the words “letter to the editor” in the email subject line.

• Submit your letter by 5 p.m. on Wednesday in order to have it considered for publication in the following week’s newspaper.

• Letters must be no longer than 400 words.

• Letters should be exclusively submitted to Colorado Community Media and should not submitted to other outlets or previously posted on websites or social media. Submitted letters become the property of CCM and should not be republished elsewhere.

• Letters advocating for a political candidate should focus on that candidate’s qualifications for o ce. We cannot publish letters that contain unverified negative information about a candidate’s opponent. Letters advocating for or against a political candidate or ballot issue will not be published within 12 days of an election.

Ballots will be mailed to all eligible electors between April 11 and April 18, per the agency’s website. ere will not be an election precinct or polling place, but ballots can be dropped o at 9195 E. Mineral Ave. in Centennial, according to the agency’s resolution about the election.

Residents who are interested in learning more about the election and how to become a candidate can nd information, including the self-nomination form, at bit.ly/ southmetronom. ose who wish to check which district they live in and who represents them can visit: bit. ly/southmetromap.

• Publication of any given letter is at our discretion. Letters are published as space is available.

• We will edit letters for clarity, grammar, punctuation and length and write headlines (titles) for letters at our discretion.

• Please don’t send us more than one letter per month. First priority for publication will be given to writers who have not submitted letters to us recently.

• Submit your letter in a Word document or in the body of an email. No PDFs or Google Docs, please.

• Include your full name, address and phone number. We will publish only your name and city or town of residence, but all of the information requested is needed for us to verify you are who you say you are.

• Letters will be considered only from people living in Colorado Community Media’s circulation area in Adams, Arapahoe, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Je erson and Weld counties.

• Do not use all caps, italics or bold text.

• Keep it polite: No name calling or “mudslinging.”