Cherry Hills Village has accomplished a lot over the last few years, but much work remains. In asking for your vote, here is what I plan to finish in my final term as Mayor:
Fiscal Responsibility. I promise to continue to assure that the Village has a viable plan to maintain solvency of the General Fund through 2032, retire the $11.5 million in Certificates of Participation by 2042, and maintain comfortable reserves for unanticipated financial challenges. I support forming a Citizens' Committee of Financial Experts to make recommendations for sustaining the long-range fiscal health of our Village.
Property Tax Relief. I will honor the City’s 2002 promise to taxpayers that part of the revenue realized from withdrawing from South Suburban Parks and Recreation District – 7.422 mills – will be used to reduce property taxes. I support returning to taxpayers 2 of the 7.422 mills of restricted revenue (about $286 annually for a two-million-dollar home) that the City has been receiving since exiting SSPRD. Unlike sales tax revenue, these restricted revenues cannot be transferred to address shortfalls in the General Fund.
Public Safety. I support increasing the number of on-duty officers and providing our department with the resources necessary to maintain our Village as the safest community in the metro area. I support initiatives to increase video monitoring of traffic on public streets and integration of public and private (HOA) video systems. I applaud the new Cherry Hills Police Foundation and its first President Mark Griffin in providing much appreciated financial support.
State Legislative Fix to Law Enforcement Integrity Act (LEIA). I promise to use my position on the Policy Committee and Executive Board of the Colorado Municipal League to support legislation to amend the LEIA to place limits on damage awards against municipalities, limit the definition of "contacts" for purposes of required police data collection, and confine municipal liability to circumstances involving the use of physical force.
High Line Canal. I promise to continue working with Denver Water and the High Line Canal Collaborative on eventually transferring to the Village the responsibility for maintenance of the 150-foot wide and 3-mile long section of the Canal passing through the Village. This includes the analysis being performed by consultant ICON Engineering, which has prepared plans, drawings, and estimates for constructing capital improvements called for by the Master Stormwater Engineering Plan. I also promise to support improvements that will increase pedestrian, cyclist, and equine safety at the Canal crossings at Quincy Avenue and Colorado Boulevard.
Under-grounding Utility Lines. I promise to continue the work of under-grounding overhead power lines and in securing financial transparency from Xcel for existing and future under-grounding projects.
Hampden Avenue Improvements. I promise to continue to use my position on the Hampden Avenue Mobility and Safety Citizens Advisory Committee assure that Hampden Avenue improvements address safety concerns, reduce congestion, improve performance, and discourage cut-through traffic through the Village.
Sanitary Sewer Lines Consolidation. I promise to continue the next phase of work to repair and rehabilitate Village-owned sewer lines, with the objective of consolidating and transferring those lines to established special sanitation districts.
2022 Master Plan. I promise to begin implementing the 2022 Cherry Hills Village Master Plan recommendations. This 2022 plan was the product of hundreds of hours of public meetings and hard work of the Citizens Advisory Committee, the Planning and Zoning Commission, and staff. The recommendations and priorities described in the Master Plan will guide Council decisions for the next decade.kyle
Citizen's Home Rule Charter Review Committee. I support the creation of a citizens committee to review and propose updates to our Home Rule Charter. The current Charter contains old provisions that are no longer best practices and are at variance with current organizational charts and operations of the Village. I also support the suggestion to consider change the composition of Council from 6 at-large members, to 4 true district representatives and 2 at-large members.