Voters favor incumbents in special district elections

LAKEWOOD – Voters in the West Metro Fire District and Green Mountain Water and Sanitation District went to the polls this week and favored incumbents vying to return as board members of the districts.

In the West Metro Fire District, which comprises about 110 square miles and serves about 265,000 residents in Lakewood, Golden, Littleton, Morrison and the Roxborough neighborhood in Douglas County, voters elected one new director and returned four incumbents to the seven member board, according to the unofficial returns.

The results must be canvassed before they are declared official.

Incumbent board members Jim Kullhem (District 1). Randy McConnell (District 2), and Joe Margotte (District 3) ran without opposition.

In the two contested West Metro races, District 5 incumbent Pam Feely outpolled Pete Roybal 183-33 and newcomer Mike Munden defeated Paul Wencko 92-80.

Munden and Wencko were campaigning to fill McConnell’s District 4 seat, which he vacated in order to seek the District 2 seat left vacant by Paul Koller, who decided not to seek re-election. McConnell has property in both districts, according to a West Metro spokeswoman.

West Metro’s Board oversees the expenditure of the district’s more than $50 million in annual revenues, 75 percent of it derived from property taxes.

Tuesday’s West Metro voter turnout was a bit better than expected and a bit above average, said Melissa Staab, the fire-rescue district’s designated election official.

West Metro crews responded to more than 23,500 calls for emergency assistance in 2008, the latest available figures. Of those calls, 15,500 were for medical assistance and 7,950 were fire-related.

Green Mountain Water and Sanitation District voters elected two incumbents and a former board member to four-year terms and ousted the current board president on the Board of Directors in an at-large race.

The three winners – incumbents David B. Anderson (275 votes) and Douglas N. Beck (267 votes) and former board member Thomas R. Malone (183 votes) – outpolled Donald B. Ferega (128 votes) and incumbent board president Michael P. Lantz (89 votes), according to unofficial results.

The voter turnout was “a little better than we expected,” said Dave Hartkopf, district manager.

Green Mountain provides water and sewer service to about 9,500 residences and 673 business accounts in its 9.5 square-mile service area, which is about 95 percent developed. It relies on revenue received from water and sewer user fees to fund operations.