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Woodward, Olson and Gillit win seats
  
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By Tom Munds
Although the results won’t be official for several days, the current tally of votes cast Nov. 3 indicates Englewood voters elected Jim Woodward, Linda Olson and Rick Gillit to serve on the city council.
Voters also approved a proposal to change the term-limit charter restriction from two terms to three terms. Also, Municipal Judge Vince Atencio, the only elected municipal judge in the state, was unopposed as he ran for his fourth term.
Additionally, the school board election didn’t really happen because one of the contenders withdrew but the withdrawal came too late to cancel the election so it appeared on the ballot. The three remaining candidates, incumbents Michelle Gonzalez, Scott Gorsky return to office and Gene Turnbull, who left the board four years ago, returns to office.
In the city council election, Woodward ran for a second term against Matt Crabtree in the race to be an at-large council representative. Woodward pledged to continue his dedicated service to the community and Crabtree sought to bring more transparency and openness to government.
The latest returns, posted just after midnight, show Woodward with 2,430 votes (55.7 percent) and Crabtree with 1,932 votes.
“I am pleased voters chose to support me in this election,” Woodward said of his apparent victory. “I am looking forward to working with our new council as we try to make all our decisions in the best interest of our community.”
There was no incumbent in District 2 because term limits prevented Councilmember John Moore from seeking re-election. Two residents, Olson and Doug Cohn, became candidates for the position. Olson is a professor and department head at the University of Denver while Cohn owns Bonnie Brae Hobbies and is active in the community.
The unofficial results had Olson leading, with 565 votes which is about 60 percent of the votes cast. Cohn had 376 votes, or about 40 percent of the total.
“I am excited about the opportunity to serve on the city council,” Olson said. “I was surprised at all the people who stepped up to help me with my campaign. We have a lot of young families in our neighborhood that I met going door to door. I hope to be able to talk to them and help them become active members of our community.”
In District 4, incumbent Wayne Oakley was opposed by first-time office seeker Rick Gillit.
The latest returns had Gillit winning the election with 774 votes or 54.6 percent of votes cast. Oakley trailed with 643 votes.
“There is a good possibility I’ll be serving on city council,” Gillit said of the results. “It was a tough race and I am proud to say I knocked on every door of the district. Now, I’m like the guy who wonders what he just did. But the race is apparently over and it is time to seek God’s guidance as I hope serve Englewood and always do what is right for our community.”
The ballot question sought voter permission to change the charter concerning term limits for members of the city council. The current language limits residents to two consecutive terms on the council. The proposal, which passed with 55.8 percent of the votes, now permits a resident to serve three consecutive terms on the council.
The results showed 2,414 residents voted yes while 1,911 residents opposed the proposal.
The voter turnout was light around the county. The partial returns showed about 30.7 percent of about 247,000 ballots were returned.
That voter turnout is the lowest voter participation in the last 10 years.
Englewood returns indicate a similar light turnout. In 2005, voter turnout countywide was about 49 percent. In the city, about 1,300 votes were cast in District 2 compared to 941 in this election while, in the at-large contest, there were 5,100 votes cast in 2005 while there were 4,372 votes cast on Nov. 3.
Voters also approved a proposal to change the term-limit charter restriction from two terms to three terms. Also, Municipal Judge Vince Atencio, the only elected municipal judge in the state, was unopposed as he ran for his fourth term.
Additionally, the school board election didn’t really happen because one of the contenders withdrew but the withdrawal came too late to cancel the election so it appeared on the ballot. The three remaining candidates, incumbents Michelle Gonzalez, Scott Gorsky return to office and Gene Turnbull, who left the board four years ago, returns to office.
In the city council election, Woodward ran for a second term against Matt Crabtree in the race to be an at-large council representative. Woodward pledged to continue his dedicated service to the community and Crabtree sought to bring more transparency and openness to government.
The latest returns, posted just after midnight, show Woodward with 2,430 votes (55.7 percent) and Crabtree with 1,932 votes.
“I am pleased voters chose to support me in this election,” Woodward said of his apparent victory. “I am looking forward to working with our new council as we try to make all our decisions in the best interest of our community.”
There was no incumbent in District 2 because term limits prevented Councilmember John Moore from seeking re-election. Two residents, Olson and Doug Cohn, became candidates for the position. Olson is a professor and department head at the University of Denver while Cohn owns Bonnie Brae Hobbies and is active in the community.
The unofficial results had Olson leading, with 565 votes which is about 60 percent of the votes cast. Cohn had 376 votes, or about 40 percent of the total.
“I am excited about the opportunity to serve on the city council,” Olson said. “I was surprised at all the people who stepped up to help me with my campaign. We have a lot of young families in our neighborhood that I met going door to door. I hope to be able to talk to them and help them become active members of our community.”
In District 4, incumbent Wayne Oakley was opposed by first-time office seeker Rick Gillit.
The latest returns had Gillit winning the election with 774 votes or 54.6 percent of votes cast. Oakley trailed with 643 votes.
“There is a good possibility I’ll be serving on city council,” Gillit said of the results. “It was a tough race and I am proud to say I knocked on every door of the district. Now, I’m like the guy who wonders what he just did. But the race is apparently over and it is time to seek God’s guidance as I hope serve Englewood and always do what is right for our community.”
The ballot question sought voter permission to change the charter concerning term limits for members of the city council. The current language limits residents to two consecutive terms on the council. The proposal, which passed with 55.8 percent of the votes, now permits a resident to serve three consecutive terms on the council.
The results showed 2,414 residents voted yes while 1,911 residents opposed the proposal.
The voter turnout was light around the county. The partial returns showed about 30.7 percent of about 247,000 ballots were returned.
That voter turnout is the lowest voter participation in the last 10 years.
Englewood returns indicate a similar light turnout. In 2005, voter turnout countywide was about 49 percent. In the city, about 1,300 votes were cast in District 2 compared to 941 in this election while, in the at-large contest, there were 5,100 votes cast in 2005 while there were 4,372 votes cast on Nov. 3.
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