Citizen 1
Centennial
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 51
November 8, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourcentennialnews.com
School ballot issue passes Board races remain too close to call By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@ourcoloradonews.com
At an election party hosted by the City of Centennial Nov. 5, Mayor Cathy Noon celebrates her re-election with one of her youngest supporters while her challenger, Monika Bromley, looks on. The youngster is Jager Spiegel, son of Corri Spiegel, Centennial’s Economic Development manager. Photo by George Lurie
Noon re-elected in landslide Gotto, Turley, Truhlar, Whelan win council seats By George Lurie
glurie@ourcoloradonews.com Centennial’s popular mayor, Cathy Noon, was handily re-elected Nov. 5, defeating political newcomer Monika Bromley by a more than 3-to-1 ratio. “My (vote) numbers show that people really like what I am doing,” Noon said. “I’m really excited to serve for another four years and am looking forward to working with a new council.” Bromley was gracious in defeat. “I really enjoyed the experience of running for office and having the opportunity to talk with so many city residents,” she said. “It was very energizing.” In races for four council seats, former Dish Network executive and now full-time stay-at-home dad Mark Gotto, who ran
Gotto
Turley
Truhlar
unopposed, will replace Rebecca McClelland in District 3. While campaigning, Gotto promised to concentrate his efforts on improving neighborhood roads and keeping Centennial “a business-friendly city.” Senior advocate Kathy Turley pulled 55 percent of the vote in District 1, defeating Mike Hanbery, who had the endorsements of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce and a number of current council members. Turley, who will replace Rick Dindinger, said, “I think I was the people’s candidate.
I broke through the barriers and the establishment.” “I love to be part of a learning curve that is active, so I am looking forward to joining the council and learning Whelan more about things like fiber optic networks, which I think is going to be an important issue,” Turley added. “My plan all along was to get to know my constituents and really learn about their issues so if I got elected, I could represent them well.” Garnering 53 percent of the vote, attorney Doris Truhlar defeated Theresa Martens in District 2. Truhlar, who will replace Sue Bosier, said, “I’m feeling both positive and relieved.” “I plan to rest for a while,” Truhlar added. “I never dreamed how tiring campaigning would be.” Election continues on Page 7
Voters OK telecom ballot initiative City regains local control of its fiber optic network By George Lurie
glurie@ourcoloradonews.com Centennial voters overwhelmingly supported Ballot Initiative 2G — approving, by a more than 3-to-1 ratio, a measure that will allow city officials to explore partnering with the private sector to develop faster Internet service for city residents and businesses. The outcome was a victory for the city council, which pushed hard to regain local control of the city-owned fiber optic network. Citizens for Centennial Foundation sponsored the ballot measure, assuring city residents and businesses that a yes vote on 2G could eventually lead to “more choice, faster speeds and lower prices” for Centennial Internet users. “I was concerned people might not understand the issue and just vote no,”
said Citizens for Centennial Foundation’s Thomas Kocialski. “But obviously that did not turn out to be the case and we were quite pleased with the outcome.” Councilman Ken Lucas, who led the charge for the city on 2G, was in Chicago attending a conference on telecom-related development and could not be reached for comment. But at an Election Night gathering hosted by the city Nov. 5, Mayor Cathy Noon said she “couldn’t be more pleased” about the outcome of the 2G initiative, which asked voters to restore the city’s legal right to explore opportunities to partner with the private sector to develop its existing fiber optic network. That right was taken away from cities like Centennial when state lawmakers in 2005 passed Senate Bill 05-152, which effectively stopped local municipalities from developing existing public fiber optic infrastructure. That bill was supported by the large telecom service providers, and in the runup to the Nov. 5 election, companies in-
cluding Comcast, CenturyLink and AT&T lobbied against 2G, which they argued was an indirect attack on existing service providers. But passage of 2G, Lucas said before the election, will be just the first step in the city’s exploration of “developing more opportunities to better use our existing fiber network.” With voters approving 2G, the city is now expected to draw up a business plan and conduct a feasibility study further exploring the possibilities of developing its fiber network — a process that could take six months to a year and cost between $50,000 and $100,000. In 2008, the city began installing an advanced telecom network as part of a public works transportation and streetlight optimization program to enhance connectivity between city assets, including traffic signals, weather stations and other public facilities. Telecom continues on Page 7
Most expected the Littleton Public Schools bond issue, 3B, to pass handily, which it did, but the larger mystery of who would replace three longtime board members will take a little longer to solve. As of midafternoon Nov. 6, the five candidates were neck and neck with about 20 percent of the vote each. Haley McKean, spokesperson for the Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder’s office, said there were still about 30,000 ballots left to count countywide, which Murphy could affect the results. “The voters just chose to wait until the last minute,” she said. “It could have been the political parties with a last-minute get-out-the-vote effort, but it’s hard to say.” In the race for three seats, Carrie Warren-Gully had a very slight lead with 21.33 percent, followed by Kelly Perez at 19.83 percent, Robert Reichardt with 19.65 percent, Jack Reutzel at 19.63 percent and Dallas Jones at 19.56 percent. “Hopefully we’re going to know a lot more by the end of the day,” LPS spokeswoman Diane Leiker said around noon on Nov. 6. The winners will replace Sue Chandler, Bob Colwell and Renee Howell, who are all term-limited. Warren-Gully is the only one safe from an automatic recount, which kicks in when there is less than a half of a percent difference among the candidates. Any candidate can request a recount, regardless of the margin, but would have to pay for it themselves. Whoever comes out ahead will be heading into the job with a sigh of relief that the $80 million bond issue passed with about 59 percent of the vote, as they all supported it heading into the election. “Taking advantage of lower interest rates and refinancing made good business sense,” said LPS Superintendent Scott Murphy. “We are thankful that the LPS community places a high value on education. This kind of support makes continued excellence possible. ” It keeps the amount of property tax residents pay at about a total of 57 mills. If it had failed, it would have dropped to about 55.5 mills — a difference of about $1 a month for each $100,000 of the actual value of a property. School continues on Page 7
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