A PUSH FROM THE RIGHT
EXPANDING INNOVATION
VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUMS
Pro-Trump Republican wages primary challenge against Coffman
Centennialâs Innovation Pavilion goes national
Having a ball for the Colorado Ballet
POLITICS | PG 2
CORRIDOR | PG 7
HOLIDAY | PG 24
S O U T H
M E T R O
VOLUME 36 ⢠NUMBER 2 ⢠NOVEMBER 30, 2017
Since 1982
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TheVillagerNewspaper
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Painting for a cause
Local artist Mary Alice Fullerton donated the proceeds from a sale of her paintings Nov. 18 at Glenmoor Country Club to the Rocky Mountain Alzheimerâs Disease Center on the Anschutz Medical Campus. Photo by Bob Sweeney
Greenwood Village swears in Proposed fire-district merger could signal more consolidation new councilmembers tracted with the similarly named Incumbent pays for recount in too-close-to-call District 4
With an election vote recount requested and paid for by incumbent District 4 Greenwood Village City Councilmember T.J. Gordon underway, the final makeup of the cityâs new council was still unconfirmed at press time. Gordon and challenger Thomas Dougherty had come in just three votes apart in the Nov. 7 election. The recount will be completed Dec. 4, officials said. The first order of business at last weekâs
meeting was the swearing in of new members, following an informal dinner with city officials, family members and guests. The five newly elected councilmembers are Dave Bullock and Jerry Presley, District 1, Dave Kerber and Anne Ingerbretsen, District 2, Steve Moran and George Lantz, District 3, and Judith Hilton, District 4. District Judge Gary Kramer, a former councilmember himself, conducted the ceremony, showing a photo of the council during his tenure in office. Following the swearing-in, the council voted unanimously to elect George Lantz as mayor pro tem and then adjourned to a brief executive session.
Littleton Fire Protection District leaves city for South Metro
Regardless of what one thinks of Littleton Fire Protection Districtâs recent decision to separate itself from the city that bears its name, one thing is certainâthe independent district would no longer have to put out the fires of confusion over its rather puzzling organizational title. âThat is true. That will make it a lot easier,â said Keith Gardner, a former Centennial City Council member who serves as president of LFPDâs Board of Directors. âIf I had to guess, since that ZIP code is kind of Littleton. I think maybe we inherited that.â Despite a nearly 60-year-old name that might imply otherwise, LFPD never did provide fire-protection service in the city of Littleton. Instead, the sort of virtual fire department has con-
Littleton Fire Rescue, the cityâs official department, to extend its service into LFPDâs jurisdiction, which includes 80,000 residents of west Centennial, Columbine Valley, Bow Mar, Jefferson Countyâs Chatfield Reservoir and a sliver of northern Douglas County. Although the district owns three fire stations and shares ownership of a fourth with the city, LFPDâs stations are staffed by Littletonâs city firefighters. At least, that is the way it has worked so far. On Nov. 17, LFPD announced it would vacate the arrangement effective Jan. 1, 2019, as part of a deal that could eventually collapse the Littleton-associated fire district into the neighboring and larger South Metro Fire Rescue. For the initial period, LFPD will keep its name, but will contract with SMFR for actual service, much as it did for decades with Littleton. âItâs a big deal because weâve Continued on page 2