| 09/13/2007 |
| Phelps for 'new' Ward 1 direction |
| Peter Jones , Staff Writer |
"If you're looking for someone who will come in and go along with the head dogs and leaders of the council, maybe I'm an underdog," Phelps said. "But if you're looking for someone who will get in and take things head-on and be transparent with constituents, that's the role I'm in." Despite his dark horse status, the Web trainer and project manager has won the coveted top ballot placement in western Centennial's Ward 1. In the 2005 election, every top-line designee on the city's ballot - from mayor to city clerk - won his respective race. Habig and Moon follow Phelps on the ballot, respectively. Phelps has no comment on Habig, but is critical of Moon. "I don't think he's been a leader on council, for one," he said. "As the incumbent, he needs to answer for his record, and his record has been a mismanaged redevelopment of Streets at Southglenn and a mismanaged city budget." Moon had not returned calls seeking comment by press time.
"Ward 1 is where the battleground is going to be," he said. "But I think Vorry got lucky in that there are three people in the race. The more people you have in the race, the more chance you have that the incumbent will come out on top because you split the vote." Pye has endorsed Moon's campaign for re-election. Among Phelps's top agenda items, if elected, is to try to improve the city's oversight of Streets at Southglenn, a project that saw little activity over the summer. "The city council has not held the developer accountable," Phelps said of Alberta Development Partners, the firm that is running the project on the site of the former Southglenn Mall. "The vision that was presented to the citizens had to do with luxury condominiums and had to do something that would revitalize this area." In March, Alberta announced its decision to abandon plans for 300 condominiums and build 200 less-expensive rental units instead. Due to the mixed-use project's potential to generate substantial sales-tax revenue, the city has taken an active role in Streets at Southglenn. Among other actions, the council has created a special taxing district to pay for related infrastructure and an urban redevelopment authority to help facilitate the $310 million "new urban" project. "When I ask citizens how they feel about the Streets at Southglenn, I haven't heard anyone say anything positive about it," Phelps said. "Streets at Southglenn is in my backyard and I very much care about that - not just for property values in my neighborhood, but also because it's going to be fundamental to the city's financial health. If you ask most current council members, they can't even tell you why some of these decisions have been made about Streets at Southglenn." Phelps believes that the council has also mismanaged the city's finances. He cites a report from the city finance department that includes projected budget shortfalls, but only if certain proposed public works projects receive approval. "The city finances are a mess," the candidate claims. "Having reserve funds for emergencies is good, but I don't think that's a way to balance the budget." Phelps serves on the Southglenn Civic Association's Board of Directors and is a representative on the Centennial Council of Neighborhoods. After attending college and serving in the U.S. Air Force for 10 years, Phelps began his career developing computer-learning programs. A designer and developer of adult-learning programs, he is a presenter on the Web-based training circuit. Phelps has lived in Ward 1 for four years with his wife and five kids. As the least known of three candidates, Phelps plans to run a low-budget campaign with "a lot of footwork." "I'm going to meet people and let them get to know me," he said. "I'm going to have to campaign pretty hard and, hopefully, my message will come through that Ron Phelps has a vision for new leadership in Centennial." Contact Peter Jones at 303-566-4109 or pjones@ccnewspapers.com. | |||||||
