Window 11-7-2013
November 7, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwestminsternews.com
Adams County and Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 69, Issue 3
Atchison clinches mayoral election
ELECTION COVERAGE
By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ourcoloradonews.com With the unofficial votes tallied, the next mayor of Westminster will be Herb Atchison, earning 41.41 percent of the vote. Coming in second was Bob Briggs earning 30.88 percent, followed by Mary Lindsey earning 27.71 of the votes. As for the number of actual votes, Atchison received 8,750 votes, Briggs received 6,524 and Lindsey received 5,856 votes. The city of Westminster requires all mayor candidates to earn at least 40 percent of the vote. If that percentage isn’t met by a candidate, a run-off election is required. But in this case, Atchison earned Atchison just over 40 percent. He was first elected to city council in 1997 and served two terms before leaving because of term limits. After the release of the unofficial results, Atchison said his biggest relief is the fact that the city will not be facing the added expense of a run-off election. Going forward, a top priority for Atchison is seating the new city council members and getting them up to speed as quickly as possible, but said he’s also excited to continue his work in Westminster. “I’m looking forward to the next four years, and I’m hoping to get some movement forward,” he said. “We are starting to see things happen at the former mall site, and I’ve already reached out to several people to set up meetings to start to work together and grow those relationships.” Briggs said he’s disappointed with the results, but accepts that fact that voters are always right, saying “it’s up to them to hire who they want as mayor and this election they chose Herb.” Briggs, who still has two years on council, plans to make a difference in the city with the time he has left focusing on the rail system. “We need rail beyond 72nd Avenue and Irving Street, and I still think I’m the one who can make that happen,” he said. For Lindsey, this is the end of the line for her time on council. Her term ends this month. She said it’s been an honor serving the city for the past eight years and the know knowledge and experience she’s gained will provide new opportunities for her in the future. “I’m very proud of my city and its accomplishments over the years,” she said. “I will remain involved and I congratulate my new board of councilors and the mayor and hope they will keep my city a great place to live, work, play and raise a family.”
Adams County School District 50 school board members Dino Valente and Bob Landgraf and superintendent Pam Swanson, holding granddaughter Sophie, watch as votes come in for Question 3B Tuesday night at Ciancio’s Restaurant. The unofficial results indicated 60 percent of voters opposed the District 50 mill levy override in the south Adams County portion of Westminster. Photo by Pam Wagner
Voters deny mill levy override By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ourcoloradonews.com With an unofficial total of 11,450 votes, the Adams County School District 50 mill levy override effort to bring in more district funding didn’t make the cut. By Wednesday morning, 60 percent of voters voted no on the 3B issue. The total of votes amounted to 6,878 against the measure and just 4,572 for the measure. At this time, all results are not official. Taking the loss in stride, superintendent Pam Swanson said she believes the no vote is not a reflection on what the district is doing, but part of the overall statewide trend in terms of educational funding with taxpayers not having an appetite for tax measures this time around. “We will probably have some tough decisions down the road, but the sil-
ver lining is that we put a lot of communication out to our community during the campaign, so if we find ourselves having to make some difficult decisions, the community will understand what brought us to this point,” she said. “But I truly have a heartfelt gratefulness for all the people who supported District 50 and their effort.” If approved the mill levy override would have raised $5.25 million, which equates to an increase of $6.63 per month and $86 per year on a home valued at $100,000. Although the measure wasn’t passed, it was backed by two major entities: the city of Westminster and the Hyland Hills Park and
Recreation District, who both passed resolutions supporting the mill levy override before the election. This is the first mill levy override put before the voters since 2002. The ballot language focused on objectives: providing student with instruction and basic skills for success in college, and the work place, keeping highly qualified teachers and staff in the classroom, providing each child access to comprehensive education and providing funds to implement the necessary improvements which are conductive to the health and wellbeing of students. Bill Christopher, co-chair of the Invest in Success Committee supporting the mill levy override, urged voters to support 3B saying the money would have basically taken the place of the cash reserves used this year to balance the budget.
Pinter, Baker, Garcia elected to council By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ourcoloradonews.com Three Westminster residents can now call themselves city councilors with un-
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official election results released Tuesday night. Emma Pinter, Bruce Baker and Alberto Garcia earned the most votes for Westminster City Council. Pinter came out on top, receiving 8,911 votes, followed by Baker who received 7,036 and Garcia who earned 6,321 votes. David DeMott received 5,860 votes, Suzanne Ramirez received 5,822 votes, Debbie Bergamo received 5,090 votes, C. Michael Litzau received 4,947 votes and A.J. Elserougi received 3,128 votes. Pinter, Baker and Garcia will be elected to four-year terms. Upon her victory, Pinter thanked the Westminster voters.
Pinter
Garcia
Baker
“I am looking forward to a lot of great things for our city in the next few years,” she said. Current city councilors whose terms will end this month are Mary Lindsey, Mark Kaiser and Scott Major. All results are still unofficial at this time.