BY FREDA MIKLIN
GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER
On November 7, all eight seats in the four city council districts of Greenwood Village will be up for election, as will the office of mayor.
In GV, city council terms are only two years long. Council terms for every other city in the metro area (e.g., Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Englewood, Littleton, Lone Tree, Denver) are four years. The only elected official in GV who serves a four-year term is the mayor.
Members of GV’s city council are limited to four consecutive two-year terms. The mayor is limited to two consecutive four-year terms. Seven of the eight incumbent members of the city council, and the mayor, are eligible to run for re-election this year.
Mayor George Lantz told The Villager he plans to run for a second four-year term. Just prior to being elected mayor, unopposed, in 2019, Lantz served two terms on the city council beginning in 2015.
In GV district one, Council Member Paul Wiesner confirmed that he will run for a second term. Council Member Dave Bullock will have completed his fourth consecutive term in November, so he is not eligible to run again this year, creating an open seat in GV district one. As of press time, no candidate had publicly declared his or her intention to run for that seat.
Dave Kerber and Anne Ingebretsen are both in their 14th year on the GV City Council. Kerber and Ingebretsen were elected in 2017 on a platform of not allowing any new townhomes, condos, or apartments, regardless of price, to be built in the area south of the Landmark Towers. The vision was for that stretch of land, adjacent to the light rail station, to be redeveloped as new office buildings, restaurants, and retail. Very little redevelopment has occurred and the area looks much the same today as it did in 2017.
Both had previously served four consecutive terms on the city council, Kerber from 2003-2011 and Ingebretsen from 1999-2007. When we asked each of them if they planned to seek an unprecedented 8th city council term, Kerber said, “As of today, I am planning to run for my final term.” Ingebretsen said, “I haven’t really thought about it.”
In GV district three, Council Members Donna Johnston and Libby Barnacle answered with an unqualified, “Yes,” when each was asked if she planned to seek a third two-year term this November.
Judy Hilton in GV district four told The Villager that she is “thinking about it,” when asked if she planned to run for a fourth and final consecutive term later this year. Tom Stahl, the other district four representative, confirmed he is planning to run for a second term.
To run for office in Greenwood Village, one must be a United States citizen, registered to vote, and at least 18 years old on election day. A city council candidate must have lived in the district in which he or she runs for at least one year prior to the election. Candidates for mayor must have lived in the city for at least one year.
The process of running for office begins in the first week of July of the year of the election, when a candidate can get an official nominating petition from the GV City Clerk. Candidates for city council must get signatures from at least 20 residents of the district in which they live and candidates for mayor need 50 signatures from across the city. Those petitions with the required valid signatures must be returned to the GV City Clerk by a specified date in late August which is no later than 71 days before the November 7 election.
Greenwood Village was last redistricted after the 2010 U.S. Census. No redistricting was necessary after the 2020 U.S. Census because there was no significant change in the districts in which the city’s 15,691 residents lived between 2010 and 2020.
City council members in GV earn $18,000 per year. The mayor is paid $36,000 per year.
For additional information on running for election for mayor or city council in Greenwood Village, contact Susan Ortiz, City Clerk at 303-486-5752 or sortiz@greenwoodvillage.com.
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