BY FREDA MIKLIN
GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER
On October 10, The Villager Newspaper, along with the League of Women Voters of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties (LWV) and the South Metro Chamber sponsored a forum for the three candidates for Cherry Hills Village mayor and the six candidates for the city council. Gerry Cummins of LWV served as moderator. LWV also provided timers to keep all the candidates on track. Kent Denver School hosted the event, for which we thank them. Villager Newspaper publisher Bob Sweeney welcomed the citizens who came out to listen and ask questions.
The forum was split into two parts, with the first hour allotted to the three candidates for mayor and the next 90 minutes spent with the six candidates for city council districts two, four, and six. Questions were answered in rotating order.
In CHV, mayoral terms are two years each, limited to three terms, and city council members’ terms are four years, limited to two terms.
Consistent among all candidates for office in CHV was the expressed belief that the residents want to maintain the city’s current status as a quiet, serene village comprised almost exclusively of single-family homes on large lots, with lots of parks, trails, and open spaces. There was no talk of adding to the minimal amount of commercial development or additional types of housing.
Mayoral candidate and current CHV Mayor Pro Tem Katy Brown talked about all those things in her opening statement, along with the importance to residents of maintaining CHV’s safety, security, and access to good schools. She pointed to her role in some of the city’s more significant accomplishments during the past ten years that she has served on the city council, including “relocating (the Department of) Public Works, rebuilding City Hall, redesigning John Meade Park, and undergrounding utilities, all with existing revenue streams.” Looking toward the next two years, Brown said she would focus, as mayor, on additional “opportunities to protect our quality of life,” including, “bringing history to life at Quincy Farm,” repurposing the High Line Canal for stormwater, and adding patrols to parks and trails to enhance safety.”
New to city government and running for mayor is CHV resident Jenn Diffendal. She told those attending the forum that her family moved to Cherry Hills Village, “to give our children an idyllic childhood.” Then, three months later, her family suffered a home invasion during which their au pair was strangled, followed by a burglary 18 months after that. As a result, Diffendal arranged to volunteer at the CHV Police Department as a crime data analyst, which she did until last year. Diffendal pledged that, with her “fresh perspective,” as mayor, she will, “Champion public safety, fix cell phone coverage, and preserve our high quality of life.” She also pledged to “increase funding opportunities without raising taxes” and “be an effective communicator,” because, she said, “We all know that our community desires effective communications ahead of major decisions, not after the fact.”
Incumbent CHV Mayor Russell Stewart, seeking a third and final term, pointed to the city being named “the best suburb in the U.S. by the Wall Street Journal a few years ago.” He named the High Line Canal and good leadership as the reasons CHV received that recognition. He pledged to keep CHV the best place to live.
To a question about the future of Quincy Farm (QF), Stewart and Brown both pointed to their years of experience on the city council and as chair of the Quincy Farm Committee, a position each held in different years.
Stewart pointed to the process the city had last year, while he was mayor, during which it requested proposals for QF. The council decided that the city could retain ownership of the property and the Cherry Hills Land Preserve would manage it, in conjunction with the residents, the city, and Colorado Open Lands. Stewart added that the most valuable aspect of QF is its conservation easement.
Brown said that QF “is symbolic of the differences between the candidates.” She said that Diffendal “supports open space…but doesn’t have the understanding and the experience with this very complex property.” As to Stewart, Brown said, “The current mayor has deeply betrayed the trust of the citizens of CHV,” having “worked to undermine the volunteers” as chair of the QF Committee. She explained that, “Last year, he (Stewart) developed a backhanded, back-door plan to give QF—17.5 acres of public open space – away. He wanted to literally ‘give away the farm.’ And now…he promises to cut funding for Open Space by 27%.” Finally, as the reason she believes that CHV should never transfer title to QF, Brown said, “QF is the only opportunity we have to preserve a slice of history of CHV. It is the only remaining property of its kind. Once it’s gone, we’ll never get it back…And if we give away donated open space, we’ll never receive any more donations, either.” She noted that she opposed the plan to give the property away and worked with the city council to keep it.
According to Diffendal, who has not served on any of the QF committees through the years, “Any city official to tout the successful management of Quincy Farm, what’s been a decade of failures, is merely hubris.” She pointed to the 22 combined years of experience Brown and Stewart have had as chair of QF committees and on the city council, noting that “Neither have been able to formally pass a master plan (for QF) through the council.” She said she agreed with having CHLP in its current role for QF, but noted that, “Much work lies ahead…to restore the buildings back to their former glory.” She offered that it is important to measure the plan approved by city council in September 2022 according to its impact on the community, particularly its closest neighbors.
To a question on the two ballot issues on which CHV residents will vote in the upcoming election, all three candidates for CHV mayor said they recommended a yes vote to both city council-referred Ballot Initiative 2A to have remote sellers collect the CHV sales tax and Citizen Initiative 300 that would require voter approval for the transfer or gift of any public trail, park, or open space. All three candidates also agreed that currently, some online retailers refuse to sell to CHV residents because of the current sales tax language in the city’s municipal code and passing Ballot Initiative 2A will solve that problem.
Brown said that she helped circulate petitions to pass Citizen Initiative 300 and, “Both my opponents refused to sign it, so any comment they make tonight supporting it is disingenuous at best.”
Diffendal said, as to Ballot Initiative 2A, “I want to make it clear, it’s a clean-up of the code, but also a cover-up…From 2006 to 2017…our city was accepting remote vendor sales tax that our city was not authorized to receive, and our leadership concealed it…Failing to disclose this information could possibly be tax fraud.” She went on to say that if 2A doesn’t pass, “We will immediately have to lay off staff, it will compromise our public safety…I am begging you, vote for 2A.”
Stewart pointed to an area in which he and Brown differed, noting that although she said, “We want to know the will of the people before we vote on anything” a statement in the 2022 CHV city budget says, “The Capital Fund will be depleted by 2027 and the General Fund will be depleted by 2032.” He continued, “That’s because we borrowed more than $11 million when I was not on council, in 2017 when (Brown) was on the council, without a vote of the people. TABOR requires a vote for long-term debt. They (the council) evaded that TABOR requirement by using COPs (Certificates of Participation) …Evading the TABOR requirements is atrocious, it’s put us in the position we are now.” adding, regarding Ballot Initiative 2A, “We’re under the gun. If we don’t pass it, we are going to default on the bonds. We are going to be in a world of hurt, insolvency.” He finished with, “What the city council did in 2017, using COPs and evading TABOR was incomprehensible, indefensible.”
We will have more to share about the mayoral candidates’ answers to questions and their closing statements next week.
The portion of the forum devoted to city council candidates began with district two candidate Earl Hoellen, who previously served on city council from 2014 to 2018 and is currently vice-chair of CHV’s planning and zoning committee, telling the audience that he decided to run after five out of six current city council members asked him to do so, “Because they respected the dedication, judgment, and leadership I demonstrated when I served with them previously.” He named “issues and challenges” upcoming in CHV as including, “Ensuring that our police force continues to have what they need in order to keep us one of the safest communities in Colorado and activating Quincy Farm so that it can realize its full potential while strengthening its conservation values.” He added his support of, “No nonsense fiscal responsibility that supports safety and security, parks, trails, and open space.”
Tory Leviton, a member of and past vice-chair of the parks, trails, and recreation commission, who is also seeking to represent city council district two, outlined his educational background, including a degree from Northwestern University with additional coursework in music composition and post-baccalaureate certification in paralegal studies from Purdue.” Outlining his values, he said, “I zealously advocate for conservation, wellness, the arts, and progress. Cherry Hills is blessed with a surprising amount of biodiversity, from owls and turkeys to deer and bobcats… My primary mission is to preserve sufficient natural character and sustainably protect lands for the wellness of future generations… I also advocate for an expansion of arts in recreational programming in our village.”
Running to represent district four is Susan Maguire, a 22-year CHV resident and former executive director of the Cherry Hills Land Preserve, talked about her focus on public safety, conservative fiscal management, and preservation and enhancement of open spaces. She pointed to her experience in having been involved in the inner workings of the city, understanding how the city council and the city operate, having appeared before the council, and having sat on a city committee, as well as working to support issues facing the city.
Also seeking to represent district four is Mark Williams, who said that CHV is a great city, but, he concluded that there is “something wrong” after reading in the 2022 city budget that the general fund and the capital fund could be depleted in several years. He said, “I wasn’t there when the COPs were passed so I’m not going to blame anyone, but for people who expect to live here for the decades to come, changes need to be made and we need to have a budget that shows solvency.”
Tom Conroy, a 31-year resident and candidate for district six, said he is concerned about our safe environment, adding, “I’ve seen what happened in Denver, Aurora, and Douglas County in some of the local elections, and I don’t want to see that happen in Cherry Hills Village… I’m committed to the existing zoning and density… I have a concern that many issues that come before the city are local to a community of maybe a block or two…and we need to place all the weight on the opinions of the people who are close to where the activity is taking place.” He added that he believes in law and order, fiscal responsibility, and transparency, noting that he “hasn’t always seen transparency” in decisions made by the city.
The other candidate for district six, Robert “Rob” Eber, pointed to his past involvement with CHV as the best indication of how much he cares about the city. A native of CHV, Eber’s father served on its city council while he was growing up. Eber is in his tenth year on the Parks, Trails, and Recreation Commission, where he has served as chair and vice-chair. He is also on the Citizens Advisory Task Force to revise the Master Plan and served on the Task Force to revise the city code. Eber said, “While practicing law and running a real estate company I still prioritize CHV.”
Later, when the moderator asked the candidates about their top priorities if elected, district two candidate Earl Hoellen, who is an attorney, named financial sustainability and maintaining the city’s “sound financial condition” as one of those. Then he turned to a statement made by Mayor Stewart in the earlier part of the forum, saying, “COPs, twice by the Colorado Supreme Court, have been indicated to be legitimate ways and not in violation of TABOR. They are not an invasion of TABOR. Anything else is a lie… With regard to the financial plan that was put in place, the financial plan is working. If anyone wants to talk about the financial plan, I’m happy to talk about it with you… When I heard (Mayor Stewart) say, if 2A is not passed, ‘We will default on the bonds,’ that is the most irresponsible statement I have ever heard from a Cherry Hills Village elected official. Quite frankly, from my view, it’s disqualifying.”
We will have more details from the forum next week. The entire videos from the mayoral and city council portions of the forum can be found on www.villagerpublishing.com. Unknown at the time, a problem with a camera at Kent Denver School caused the lighting to be less than perfect. Other than that, the entire video recordings from the forum can be seen and heard.
fmiklin.villager@gmail.com