40 WEST ARTS DISTRICT Final 2017 District Art Walk, Sip n’ Paint Coming Up Page 6
NEIGHBORHOOD FILM Do You Want Food With That Film?
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HEALTHY EDGEWATER The Krick Family Talks About Healthy Living Page 9
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Gazette NEIGHBORHOOD
EDGEWATER
| SLOAN’S LAKE | WEST COLFAX | TWO CREEKS
September 19 – October 16, 2017 • ngazette.com • FREE
Elections Shape Up for November Races C
andidates running on the November 2017 ballot were required to file paperwork with their respective city clerks or school board offices by close of business Aug. 28. The following week, the Neighborhood Gazette emailed questionnaires to the hopefuls, along with a request for a high-resolution headshot photo. In this edition we published responses from candidates running for Edgewater mayor (page 5), Lakewood City Council Ward 2 (page 4) and Jefferson County Board of Education (page 7); responses from candidates running for Edgewater City Council will be published in the October issue due to space limitations. We asked each candidate: • How long have you lived at your current address? • How long have you lived in Jeffco? • Current occupation? • Previous occupations? • Previous public service experience, if any? • Community involvement and experience? Continued on page 5
MORE THAN 2,100 PEOPLE took part in the ninth annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Sept. 11, to remember the first responders who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 – see story on page 8. PHOTO BY WEST METRO FIRE RESCUE.
10 Candidates in Edgewater City Election: What’s in The Water? ■ by
Jennifer LeDuc
W
hen Edgewater residents cast their ballots in November they’ll be deciding between not just two candidates for mayor but four, and choosing among six candidates for three council seats (one council member is running for a second term). In a town with a population just over 5,300, that works out to about one in 500 residents running for a seat in city government. In Lakewood, a city about 30 times larger than Edgewater, there are 11 candidates, or about one in every 14,000 residents campaigning. In Wheat Ridge, a town with a population of approximately 32,000, again, 11 candidates, or one in 2,800 residents. Arvada has seven candidates for three positions, two of which are unopposed, and that works out to about one candidate per 16,700 residents. So what is going on in Edgewater that is drawing out such a disproportionately high number of candidates compared to its larger neighbors, you might ask. Surely there are some angry, fed up folks with pitchforks and torches ready to take on Edgewater city hall, right? Not exactly. “What I think is going on is Edgewater is growing in a positive direction and when residents see that it draws you to want to get involved,” suggested council candidate Cory Reid-Vanas. Indeed, when asked about their thoughts on what such a disproportionate number of residents getting involved says about the state of Edgewater, the sentiments expressed by Reid-Vanas quite succinctly summarized the sentiments of other current council members and some of this year’s candidates. For Councilor Kate Mulcahy, it was the feeling that she really could make a
difference in her community that spurred her decision to run in 2015. “I know noone is ever 100 percent happy,” Mulcahy said. “But I know for me when I ran there was no animosity, it was purely ‘I love this city’ and I wanted to be involved, and this is a city I thought I could make a difference in.” “It’s great when the city can generate so many candidates who honestly have a love for the community rather than because the local government isn’t doing their job,” said Councilor Todd Riddle, who is also one of four candidates for mayor. Having lived in other Colorado communities before settling in Edgewater, like other residents Reid-Varas sees the city optimally sandwiched between Denver and the foothills, although not just in terms of prime access to amenities, but socially. “My experience in Edgewater,” he
said, “is you have room for very diverse population and citizenship. I know people highly involved and engaged, and people who are very private, and Edgewater supports that, and each individual gets to decide what they need and can experience that in Edgewater.” Councilor Myra Keeble recalls several elections where candidates ran unopposed, and recognizes issues have changed since she was first elected, but so has public interest. “There’s a lot of interest in what we’re doing now,” Keeble said, and like her peers cited the planned civic center as a particularly magnetizing project in the community. “I think because things are going pretty well, people want to be a part of that process. They like our city, it feels lively, and we’re doing exciting things and they want to be apart of it.”
Outgoing mayor Kristian A. Teegardin isn’t surprised at the number of candidates on the ballot, nor is he surprised to hear such positive and cohesive sentiments echoed amongst current and prospective council members. Why? “I think over the last three or four years we’ve made concerted efforts to engage our citizens and people are becoming more involved,” said Teegardin, reflecting on his tenure and collaboration with city council. “As mayor I've made concerted efforts to have citizens involved and at the very least have citizens informed as to what’s going on.” Originally from a small town in Indiana, Teegardin, who is a candidate for state House District 24, said those small town Continued on page 2
W E ST C O L FA X S K E TC H E S
Oliver’s Army: A Cartoonist’s View of a Forgotten Battlefield ■ By
Kris Autobee
O THE WORK OF LAKEWOOD CARTOONIST Oliver Pedigo and his fellow artists were captured in "Windblown and Dripping" from 1945. COURTESY KRIS AUTOBEE
liver Pedigo spent most of his adult life within a few blocks of the intersection of Wadsworth Boulevard and West Colfax Avenue. His participation from June 1942 to October 1945 in the second world war was the reason for his long absence from Lakewood. He created his best known art during that time. In 1915, Joseph and Mildred Pedigo moved to Yuma, Colo., with their sons, Merrill, Farland, Oliver, Raymond and Willie. The Yuma Pioneer reported on April 9, 1915, “J. E. Pedigo and family arrived Continued on page 2