Centennial – The majority of City Council members with terms expiring this fall will not seek re-election, prompting a drastic change in leadership in this city that incorporated in 2001.
Three of four council members will step aside at the end of their terms. Another four are in office until 2008. And the mayor – one of the most influential proponents for incorporation – says he hasn’t decided whether he will run for a second term.
Founding Councilwomen Betty Ann Habig, Becky Lennon and Betty Wotring said it’s time for a change.
Already, some are lamenting the loss of the councilwomen’s experience.
“It’s sad that we’re losing the people that were there from the start,” said Councilwoman Susan Nix. “We had no policies, procedures – we had to create everything. There’s little institutional knowledge except for the council members who were there from the very beginning.”
Finding replacements won’t be difficult, as several residents have declared their candidacies. Nix, who was part of the incorporation effort but joined the council in 2002, will face a challenger when she runs for re-election in Ward III.
“Centennial will be well- served by whomever is elected after we leave,” said Habig, who has chosen to run for state representative in House District 37.
Mayor Randy Pye, who is director of investor relations for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., must make a decision by the Aug. 22 deadline to file.
“This job does take a lot of personal time, and I need to be sure that four more years of that at $850 a month is worth it,” Pye said.
Some believe the mayor already has decided to run again.
Andrea Suhaka, one of two remaining charter council members, wrote a letter to Pye in which she accuses him of funding a re-election campaign with city dollars.
Pye recently began a series of public forums entitled “Pye with Coffee.” The meetings are held twice a month at City Hall.
“Your Pye with Coffee and mayor’s meetings are a sham,” Suhaka wrote. “You may not have officially declared for re-election, but it is oh-so-very obvious as you waste city money on meetings you never thought to hold at any time in the past four years.”
Pye denied that the meetings are a campaign ploy, adding that he wanted to hold the sessions for almost two years but waited because of staffing shortages.
The sessions, Pye maintains, are held on nights when City Hall is open for night court. Only the coffee and temporary administrative assistant are additional costs, Pye said.
Pye said the criticism wouldn’t affect his political plans.
“There has been some friction throughout the almost five years we’ve been in existence,” Pye said. “If you’re a citizen, you should never be happy if council and the mayor are in lock step with everything they do.”
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-820-1190 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
