Chronicle Parker 11-8-2013
Parker
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 2
November 8, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourparkernews.com
Reform slate takes race Tough battle for schools ends with voters’ decision Staff report Candidates favoring the current direction of the reform-oriented Douglas County School Board won all four races, after months of heated electioneering on both sides. Unofficial results released at 11 p.m. Election Day showed the closest race was in District E, where incumbent Doug
Benevento
Geddes
Reynolds
Benevento led challenger Bill Hodges 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent, with a margin of 3,615 votes separating them. In District B, Jim Geddes led 52.6 percent to 47.4 percent over Barbra Chase.
In District D, Judi Reynolds held a 52 percent to 48 percent lead over Julie Keim. In District G, incumbent Meghann Silverthorn held a 53.5 percent lead over Ronda Scholting’s Silverthorn 46.5 percent. In each race, about 95,000 votes were counted, with a possibility of a few thousand more remaining to be tallied. Reynolds, who was at a vote-watch gathering at the Fowl Line sports bar in
Castle Rock, was looking forward to serving her four-year term. “The majority of people like the way things are headed and want to see them implemented,” she said. Benevento saw a mandate in the results. “The voters elected a slate of candidates who have articulated a clear point of view of where it is we want to go. So we are going to move in that direction and talk to people and listen. Clearly there are a lot of voters who feel the other way and we need to understand that,” he said. Race continues on Page 7
Water rates could rise in January Decision on increase expected by board By Chris Michlewicz
cmichlewicz@ourcoloradonews.com
Rocky Vista University professor Rebecca Bowden gets her head shaved by Barb Dooley, a stage-4 cancer survivor and stylist for Floyd’s 99 Barbershop, during a fundraising event for breast cancer research Nov. 1. Photos by Chris Michlewicz
The BALD and the
BEAUTIFUL
Rocky Vista shows support for student battling cancer By Chris Michlewicz
cmichlewicz@ourcoloradonews.com There were so many bald heads under Rocky Vista University’s roof, one could have easily mistaken it as a convention for the follically challenged. Instead, it was a head-shaving event in support of Michelle Valentine, a student at the college of osteopathic medicine on Chambers Road north of E-470. Thousands of dollars were raised for the Susan G. Komen foundation, and the camaraderie among the students was further solidified Nov. 1. Valentine, 37, was diagnosed with breast cancer in June. Her chemotherapy treatments have left her completely bald, but she rocks the look with confidence.
When the school wanted to organize a fundraising event, the head-shaving event was a natural choice. Valentine elected to have the money go specifically toward research aimed at helping breast cancer patients under 40, a population she says is underrepresented. The second floor of the university, packed with supporters, buzzed with excitement, nervousness and the sound of clippers run by a handful of stylists from Floyd’s 99 Barbershop. Women lined up to get thin pink extensions in their hair and dozens of men waited to their locks chopped. Some know Valentine, and some don’t. Christopher Gilsdorf, a second-year Rocky Vista student from Fort Collins, had his hair cut by Nester Bustos, a Floyd’s 99 stylist who participates in at least one community charity event per year. Gilsdorf, who says he knows Valentine “a
Bald continues on Page 14
Parker’s water users could see higher water and sewer rates starting in January. The Parker Water and Sanitation Board of Directors was scheduled to consider a proposal Nov. 7 to raise water rates by 3.5 percent and sewer rates by 1.5 percent. A decision was expected during a meeting after the Parker Chronicle’s press deadline. The 5 percent increase would add an average of $2.56 to the monthly bill of a tier 1 residential customer. District manager Ron Redd said the rate hike is needed to cover the costs of new programs, including infrastructure needed for the district’s participation in WISE, an agreement that will send an average of 1,200 acre-feet of recycled water to Parker annually from Denver and Aurora. Additional money is also needed to fund operations at the water treatment plant under construction north of Rueter-Hess Reservoir, including more staff, chemicals and electricity. General inflation costs are also figured into the proposed increase, Redd said. “No one likes their bills to go up, but I feel like we’ve done a good job of holding costs in line,” he said. “This is a new cost and we’re passing that cost along to our customers.” Tracy Hutchins, one of five members of the Parker Water and Sanitation District board, said she is voting against the increase, partly because she says the district doesn’t have a detailed financial plan to go with its long-range master plan. “We don’t have a good handle on it, and personally, I don’t think we should be raising rates until we have a handle on it,” Hutchins said, referring to the district’s financial future. Redd acknowledged that the district needs to get a more rigid financial plan in place, saying “we’ve got a lot of work to do.” But he said the district must fund new programs approved by the board, including WISE, and obligations made by previous leadership, like the water treatment plant. Rates continues on Page 14
Nester Bustos, a stylist with Floyd’s 99 Barbershop, buzzes Christopher Gilsdorf’s head on Nov. 1 at Rocky Vista University.
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