ARVADA —No doubt about it: A city-wide construction boom combined with the means Arvada is changing — and will continue to do so.
Whether or not that’s fundamentally altered the character of a once sleepy bedroom community and if this growth has been managed appropriately is turning out to be a core question before Arvada voters.
Because District 1 Councilwoman almost two years ago and was , residents will have a rare opportunity to select five — instead of three or four — municipal officers.
All five incumbents are running for re-election, with six challengers hoping to replace them for four-year terms in the single at-large and mayor positions and two-year terms in the District 1, 2 and 4 seats.
The role of urban renewal, city planning, citizen’s ballot initiatives and keeping residents involved in the decision-making process are among the top issues cited in the race.
Dave Chandler hopes his third run against will be successful. The self-described reform candidate ran against Williams in a failed 1999 bid for a City Council seat and the 2011 mayoral race.
Chandler founded the website and citizens group Arvada for all People and says he wants to shake up the status quo, curb the powers of urban renewal, make government more transparent and, like many of the other candidates, wants to lower signature requirements to place citizen initiatives on the ballot.
“Everybody loves Arvada, and many moved here for the suburban lifestyle that Arvada offers … we have great parks, trails, a good police force … it’s safe here,” Chandler said. “But the kind of development we’re seeing has a lot of people very concerned.”
He points to the and as “visible symbols of what’s wrong with the direction of the city.”
Williams is not one to back down from a fight. The mayor has traded back-and-forth, sometimes testy, op-ed pieces with Chandler in community newspapers and has been a vocal — and unapologetic — proponent of urban renewal’s ability to remove blight and spur economic growth.
He said during his four years as mayor he’s been able to establish a regional network of contacts and “it would really be a step backward to lose those relationships and contacts in terms of being able to get things done for our citizens and this community.”
Williams said leadership continuity is important to guide projects years in the making past the finish line.
He points to next year’s arrival of the the Gold Line and $30 million rail station, the future of the Jefferson Parkway, and the residential construction boom on the city’s northwest side that current leadership has helped put in place.
“We’re at 110,000 residents and growing,” Williams said. “We’re not going to go back to being Mayberry. We just can’t put up a moat around Arvada and say, ‘You can’t come in.’ “
The other big race, for the at-large council seat, has two candidates hoping to unseat incumbent Bob Fifer. Fifer said he wants to be on board in seeing a slate of city projects come to fruition and that many of the criticisms leveled against City Council by challengers are “off point.”
“We have to have thoughtful growth and find ways to allow the market a place to revitalize the community by bringing in housing and job opportunities,” Fifer said.
One of his two challengers, reform candidate Carl Campanella, disagreed.
“I think most of the growth has been irresponsible,” Campanella said. “I think it was the height of irresponsibility to allow construction up in the Rocky Flats area. I have a hard time with the government saying it’s cleaned up and safe. I’ve read many scientific papers, talked to many scientists … who say it’s not as safe as the government says.”
The third at-large candidate, Kathy Drulard, is running on a platform of limited government, increasing community engagement and curbing urban renewal platform.
“Although I like what council did with transitioning the Arvada Center into a nonprofit, I disagree with most of the things they’ve done,” Drulard said. “I also have serious concerns with the use of to replace Rachel Zenzinger.”
Jefferson County political consultant Jason Bane said in a low-turnout year a single issue like urban renewal can determine an election. However, he anticipates that more Jefferson County voters will head to the ballot box this year because of
“For a lot of those voters, City Council races will almost be an afterthought,” Bane said. “The recall election will be the most important factor in every political race in Jefferson County this year.”
Austin Briggs: 303-954-1729, abriggs@denverpost.com or @abriggs
Arvada candidates
Mayor
Marc Williams
Dave Chandler
City Council at-large
Bob Fifer
Kathy Drulard
Carl Campanella
City Council District 1
Jerry Marks
Nancy Ford
City Council District 2
Mark McGoff
Dave Palm
City Council District 4
Bob Dyer
David Jones
Get information about Arvada’s elections at .
