LAKEWOOD — Two camps have emerged in the upcoming municipal election.
Two of the three mayoral candidates and several City Council candidates appear to be united on issues – though not as a slate or a party.
The main friction has occurred between the Rita Bertolli camp and the Bob Murphy camp. Along with Linda Delay, Bertolli and Murphy seek the mayor’s post.
Four of five council candidates are listed on Bertolli’s website as being “resident volunteer and support team” members: Charley Able, Roger Steers, Joe Sanchez and Newt Vaughan. Current council members Doug Anderson and Vicki Stack also are on the list.
On Murphy’s side of the ledger are council members Diana Allen, Debbie Koop, Sue King and Ed Peterson, and council candidates Karen Kellan and Cindy Baroway.
According to campaign finance reports filed Oct. 11, Murphy, 56, owner of a Lakewood food brokerage firm, has raised $46,311 and has spent $38,000.
Bertolli, 26, administrator for Outward Bound, has raised $19,169 and has spent $17,500.
Murphy’s contributors “are some of the most powerful politicos in Colorado,” Bertolli said. She called Murphy’s contributor list “an egregious conflict of interest.”
“I’m very proud of the wide range of support I’ve had,” Murphy said, with contributors running the gamut from a homeowner to small-business owners to people who have major investments in the city.
Murphy emphasizes his leadership, with six years on the planning commission and eight years on the City Council.
Main issues for the city, Murphy said, are public safety – where half of the city’s general fund is spent; fiscal responsibility, with the city on sound footing after several years of budget shortfalls; and smart growth, pointing to Belmar as a prime example.
Bertolli has built her campaign – billed as “Rita vs. Goliath” – on successful grassroots efforts to overturn a land swap in Rooney Valley and to block a high-density residential development on Green Mountain.
Saying she is challenging “business as usual,” Bertolli wants a leadership centered on a City Council that takes action based on what residents want.
Bertolli also supports responsible growth that pays for itself, and sharply curtailing City Manager Mike Rock’s “decaying effect” on the city by selling out to developers.
Murphy said Rock has been on the job for 16 years “and has made a lot of money for Lakewood.”
