Lantz and Moran endorse different candidates in GV district 3

BY FREDA MIKLIN
GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER

George Lantz and Steve Moran were both first elected to the Greenwood Village City Council in 2015 and ran for re-election as a team in 2017. Now Lantz is running unopposed to replace term-limited GV Mayor Ron Rakowsky and Moran is retiring from elective office.

Both have issued endorsements for their replacements on the GV city council, but neither is endorsing any of the same candidates as the other. Lantz, unlike the mayor he is replacing who had a policy of not making endorsements in contested city council races, has endorsed only one candidate out of the four running for the two open seats in district 3. When we asked Lantz who he was endorsing, he said, “I am supporting Libby Barnacle.” Barnacle is a member of the city’s planning and zoning commission.

Moran has endorsed two other candidates, Donna Johnston, current chair of GV’s board of adjustments and appeals, and Brian Strandes, current chair of the city’s planning and zoning commission. In a letter to the editor in last week’s Villager, Moran said, “I’ve known and worked with both Donna Johnston and Brian Strandes on city matters for several years and I am confident they will be strong advocates for district 3. They will be accessible, approachable, and great stewards of the needs and desires of their constituents. I invite you to join me in voting for Donna Johnston and Brian Strandes to represent district 3.”

Mark Wilson, a local attorney with offices in Greenwood Village, is a newcomer who is also running for city council in district 3. Our interview with him appears in the October 17 issue of The Villager.

The only other contested city council race in GV is in district 2, where marketing executive Jill Burbary is challenging five-term incumbents Anne Ingebretsen and Dave Kerber. Burbary’s interview appears in the September 11 issue of The Villager.

Election ballots, which allow residents to cast their vote for either one or two candidates in their city council district, must be returned by 7:00 p.m. on November 5 to be counted.

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