Herald
Englewood 9-13-2013
Englewood
September 13, 2013
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourenglewoodnews.com
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 93, Issue 30
Budget public hearing on tap City council will take comments at Sept. 16 meeting By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com
Pi, a Cardigan Welsh corgi, has a sweets-loving look in his eyes as he takes a lick of doggie ice cream. Pi got the treat as he and owner Kevin Francis visited the Freedom Festival and Doggie Plunge at Pirates Cove Family Aquatic Park on Sept. 7. Photos by Tom Munds
doing what was he felt was best for the students and for their education.” Turnbull was born in Sioux City, Iowa, on Christmas Day, 1948. Turnbull was in middle school when the family moved to the Englewood area, and he graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1966. Turnbull was in the Army from 1966 to 1971. He began military service when he was drafted into the Army soon after graduation and served a tour in Vietnam. When he was discharged, he enlisted in the Army and served a second tour in Vietnam. After completing his military service, he returned to the Denver area and continued his education. He earned a bachelor’s degree in counseling from Metropolitan State College and spent a number of years working with battered and abused women. During his college years, he sold vacuum cleaners door to
Englewood proposes to spend a total of about $96 million on all the city things the city will do in 2014, and residents can voice their opinions on how the money is being spent during the budget public hearing that is part of the Sept. 16 city council meeting. The city’s entire proposed budget document is on the Internet. To view the document, go to www.englewoodgov.org/budget. Residents speaking at the Sept. 16 public hearing are sworn in and their comments will be part of the public record. The council will take no action on the budget the night of the public hearing. However, there is a council budget workshop scheduled Sept. 23 to discuss the testimony from the public hearing and make any final changes so the recommended budget can be finalized and presented to the council on first reading Oct. 7. City staff members and department directors have been working together to establish a proposed budget since February because it is such a complicated document. The preliminary budget is hundreds of pages long, detailing the revenue and spending for every aspect of city operations The budget document contains the details for 33 individual funds and budgeting information for 21 of those funds. The funds in the budget include enterprise funds like the one for the golf course and for the water utility that operate independently, the capital improvement fund to pay for city construction and repair projects and the fund to pay city debt obligations The budget also includes details for the general fund, which is the money used for day-to-day expenses. The proposed 2014 general fund budget is about $42 million and accounts for 43.5 percent of the city’s total budget. The council and staff discussed the budget at the Aug. 26 study session. In that meeting, the council asked the staff to develop recommendations to raise the estimated percentage of unallocated reserved to closer to 10 percent. In response, Gary Sears, city manager, presented recommended options at the Sept. 3 study session to increase the reserves to 9.86 percent. The recommendations included increased fund transfers, delays in hiring and allocating $200,000 from the Long Term Asset Reserves to continue to fund the police impact team. The more than $2 million in the Long Term Asset Reserves are funds from
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Canine crowd beats heat Dogs take over the waters of Pirates Cove on Sept. 7 By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com The deep big-dog barks and the higher-pitched woofs of smaller dogs blended as canines of a wide variety of sizes, colors and breeds took over Pirates Cove Family Aquatic Park for the Sept. 7 Freedom Festival and Doggie Plunge. This is the sixth year for the Freedom Service Dogs-sponsored fundraising events. Organizers expected about 1,000 canine visitors because, on Sept. 7, all the waters were open to the canines to chase balls and just splash around. However, the lap pool was set aside for dock-dog practice. Owners took turns throwing a target item far out in the pool then releasing the dog to take off down the runway and jump out into the pool as far as possible. The day’s activities also include the Freedom Festival in Belleview Park. Pet product vendors created a midway of canopies. There was a canopy urging adoption of shelter dogs, a vendor selling a variety of treats and a vendor displaying examples of pet portraits.
Heather Ratynski said her dog Kahnay wears goggles because the animal has eye problems. Kahnay took turns jumping for distance at the Sept. 7 Doggie Plunge. The festival also included demonstrations, a pet beauty contest and a dog ice-cream-eating contest. Freedom Service Dogs organizers are already making plans for next year’s event.
Turnbull succumbs to illness at 64 School board member worked as champion of children’s education By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews. com Englewood schools and its students lost a strong advocate Sept. 4 when longtime resident Gene Turnbull passed away. The 64-year-old Turnbull, a member of the Englewood Public Schools board, had been battling a number of ailments for about a year. He be-
came seriously ill and spent some time in hospice, but returned home and passed away there on Sept. 4 surrounded by family members. Services were held Sept. 11. In lieu of flowers, the family requested donations for a continuing education fund for Turnbull’s grandchildren, Imagine Moore and Isaac Medrano. The details on how to donate to the fund were still being finalized at press time. People remember Turnbull as an individual who was active in politics and deeply involved in the schools. He is the only individual to leave the
school board because of term limits, wait the required four years and successfully run to return to the board. “I was on the school board with Gene for eight years, and he Turnbull was a man who devoted all the time and energy necessary to be prepared for every meeting,” said Mary Dounay, former school board president. “He cared deeply for the children and focused his effort on
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