11-30-17 Villager E edition

Page 1

A PUSH FROM THE RIGHT

EXPANDING INNOVATION

VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUMS

Pro-Trump Republican wages primary challenge against Coffman

Centennial’s 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

@VillagerDenver

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 Alzheimer’s 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 city’s 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 week’s

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 District’s recent decision to separate itself from the city that bears its name, one thing is certain—the independent district would no longer have to put out the fires of confusion over its rather puzzling organizational title. “That is true. That will make it a lot easier,” said Keith Gardner, a former Centennial City Council member who serves as president of LFPD’s Board of Directors. “If I had to guess, since that ZIP code is kind of Littleton. I think maybe we inherited that.” 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 city’s official department, to extend its service into LFPD’s jurisdiction, which includes 80,000 residents of west Centennial, Columbine Valley, Bow Mar, Jefferson County’s 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, LFPD’s stations are staffed by Littleton’s 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. “It’s a big deal because we’ve Continued on page 2


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