Thirteen newcomers to transit politics are bidding to take on one of the area’s toughest tasks — keeping RTD’s FasTracks program on track.
Elections for directors of eight of RTD’s 15 districts are on the Nov. 4 ballot. Just one of the four incumbents running again faces opposition. The job of director pays $12,000 a year.
District A
In District A, Bill Elfenbein is leaving the Regional Transportation District board because of term limits, and four contenders are seeking the position.
Bill James, 62, of Denver is a commercial real-estate appraiser who says he will bring business management skills to the board. James strongly supports FasTracks and would back a sales-tax increase to get the transit expansion finished within its original schedule.
Candidate Peter Lorenzen of Denver said, “My preference is build what can be built by 2017 and build the rest by 2034.” RTD has identified that option as an alternative to raising taxes for the financially troubled program.
Lorenzen, 48, is a software writer who says he rides light rail to his job near the Mineral Station several times a week.
John Maslanik, 53, of Denver said he wants to “make RTD’s service more responsive, convenient and safe” for riders.
To do so, RTD should consider installing restrooms at rail stops, improving the placement of ticket machines and enhancing lighting at stations and park-n-Rides, said Maslanik, a partner in an investment firm.
Laura Yribia, 37, of Denver, who works on grants administration for the Colorado Health Foundation, is running “on a platform of fiscal responsibility and service development.”
On FasTracks, she said, “The option of shortening lines or extending the construction timetable has not found much popular support.”
District F
Candidate Jerry Staples, 67, said RTD must give priority to building the FasTracks light- rail line in the Interstate 225 corridor to its original destination at Peoria Street and Smith Road, where passengers could catch the Denver International Airport train.
Because of the budget shortfall, RTD officials have mentioned the Interstate 225 line as one that could be cut short initially.
“The 225 line would have some of the biggest usage and biggest importance in the metro area,” said Staples, an Aurora resident who retired from the Air Force after 26 years of active and reserve duty.
Tom Tobiassen said his mission is to get Aurora’s FasTracks rail lines built.
“I-225 corridor light rail is critical to Fitzsimons,” said Tobiassen, referring to the growing medical complex near East Colfax Avenue and I-225.
As for increasing the sales tax to help complete key FasTracks rail lines on schedule, “I’m not opposed to it if people are for it,” said Tobiassen, 56, an Aurora resident who works in computer science engineering at Buckley Air Force Base.
Incumbent Barbara Yamrick said RTD directors “should try to finish what they’ve started” with FasTracks.
She opposes an option floated by RTD staffers to build a first phase of the 225 rail line from South Parker Road either to the Aurora City Center or 13th Avenue stations, with a later phase serving Fitzsimons and linking with the airport train.
“The beauty of 225 is the connectivity directly to the airport and our hospitals,” said Yamrick, 63, a Denver and Aurora substitute teacher. “What good is a truncated line to City Center or 13th Avenue?”
District G
Justin Herrera aims to take over the director position being vacated by term-limited Neill Quinlan.
“I’m a regular user of light rail,” said the 37-year-old Herrera, a University of Denver law student now working for a downtown Denver law firm.
RTD needs to build FasTracks out completely “so the city can be considered one of the great metropolitan areas,” said Herrera, of Centennial.
Former Lone Tree Mayor Jack O’Boyle, 73, also is running and said that “the FasTracks funding gap is the main issue” confronting the board.
“A $2 billion gap is not so easily disposed of,” O’Boyle said, but the “board needs to commit to building the entire system. Don’t waffle on that.”
District H
Kent Bagley is one of three candidates trying to succeed Daryl Kinton as director. Bagley, 66, of Littleton, works in real-estate consulting and has a background in urban planning.
“I’ve been involved in issues of transportation, land use and development,” he said, adding he can bring “knowledge and understanding” on the contentious issue of eminent domain.
Arthur Miller, 43, of Centennial said his skills as a professional transportation engineer are needed to help get FasTracks completed.
Miller said voters would probably support an additional tax to get FasTracks built on time.
“The sentiment is to get it done,” Miller said. “Taking it out to 2034 is a horrible option for a system designed for 2017.”
Joe Stengel, a former Colorado legislator and House Finance Committee chairman, said RTD’s board could benefit from his experience “making tough budget decisions.”
Stengel, 54, of Littleton, is a lawyer and said his legal expertise could help RTD deal with eminent domain issues. He opposes going back to voters for more taxes for FasTracks.
District M
Matt Cohen, a 43-year-old real-estate broker from Lakewood, said he can assist RTD in promoting “smart growth and smart urban planning” as FasTracks is built out.
“I want to see it built on time, and I’m disappointed it exploded” in cost, Cohen said. Building incomplete segments of FasTracks will leave it without planned “connectivity and linkages,” he said.
Lakewood’s Ramey Johnson, another former legislator, also is trying to succeed term-limited David Ruchman as director. Johnson, 61, said she is concerned that FasTracks budget cutting means stations on the West Corridor light-rail line will be too bare-bones.
“I do not want the West Corridor to be everybody else’s learning curve,” she said, about lessons learned for future lines. “We want it done right.”
Directors Barbara Brohl, Lee Kemp and Bill McMullen are running unopposed.
