Littleton 2019 General Election Results

LITTLETON, CO — Littleton voters elected four council members — one from District II, one from District IV and two from the city at-large — Nov. 5. Each member will serve a four-year term, except for one of the at-large positions.

The at-large candidate who officially receives the highest number of votes will serve a four-year term and the at-large candidate who receives the second-highest number of votes will serve a two-year term, according to the City of Littleton charter. All vote totals remain unofficial.

Combined election results from Littleton's three counties — Arapahoe, Jefferson and Douglas — were posted after 7 p.m. Tuesday.

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Littleton 2019 election results

*As of 9 a.m. Nov. 6*

District II

District IV Candidates

At-Large Candidates

City council chooses the mayor and mayor pro tem from among their members. The city council can also submit other items for voter consideration. The mayor and mayor pro tem both serve for two-year terms.

At a candidate forum hosted by the Littleton Business Chamber Oct. 18, one of the first questions asked was how the candidates would plan to tackle homelessness in the city.

"There's a perception that Littleton's homeless population has increased, but the reality is that we don't know," Mendes-Ford said in a prepared answer. "We have limited data on homelessness in Littleton, so that's why the ongoing studies from the Burnes Center on Poverty and Homelessness are so important."

Mendes-Ford advocates for informed — not reactionary — decisions based on data. Melin, Milliman, Schwanitz, Grove and Eckel also said they also support the completion of a Burnes Center study before action is taken.

While Abshir said that she too advocates for the use of data, she said that "all it takes is a trip [to certain Littleton areas] to know there's a problem." She proposed that the city test temporary shelters for the homeless called Bridge Homes, which would provide onsite mental health counseling, substance abuse programs, life skills classes and help with future housing.

Schlachter said it's important for city council to consider improving affordable housing and livable wages.

"We must work with community non-profits and faith-based groups to assist those who need it," Shlachter said in a prepared answer at the forum.

Valdes also agreed that the city should partner with organizations — particularly the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless — to combat the problem.

The Littleton City Council unanimously approved the Envision Littleton Comprehensive Plan and Transportation Master Plan in October. The council considered 18 policy questions, which include: funding a major update of the city code, creating an Economic Strategic Plan and continuing Envision Littleton efforts. Other projects include: the addition of four new employees, increased employee compensation, increased cyber security, improved disaster recovery and risk management; and expansion of the police co-responder program to help people who need mental health and substance abuse services.

More than $1.4 million was approved for extensive park investments, with almost $500,000 reimbursed from Open Space grants

The fiscally constrained 5-Year Capital Projects Fund shows little funding for large transportation investments, fleet and information technology replacement, and investment in public buildings. Deferred maintenance will lead to much higher replacement costs, the city said. The city council is looking for revenue sources to fund infrastructure needs.

"The first thing we need to do is generate a vibrant business environment, because the vast majority of income comes from sales tax revenue," Schlachter said at the Oct. 18 candidates forum. "We need to make Littleton the best place to start or re-locate a business. We must also look at the programs on which we are spending taxpayer dollars and make sure they are being spent wisely and appropriately."

Schwanitz said he believes budget shortfalls often happen when a government has been shortsighted with "insufficient planning, improper estimations or not building a sufficient reserve to cover those occasional surprises."

"We should never get ourselves in a position where we need to go to the citizens to approve a tax increase to cover our shortsightedness," he said. "However, I can envision the possibility of asking voters to approve new taxes for very specific capital improvement projects. We would specifically need to describe the purpose of the project and why the city would be better because of it."

Valdes said he advocates for increased impact fees to help fund Littleton's shortfalls. Impact fees are charges on new development to help pay for some or all of the costs of providing public services for the population growth the development brings to the area.

"As you may know, Littleton has the lowest impact fees in the Front Range," Valdes said. "I have been a leading advocate for increasing development fees to cover city costs. I'm not in favor of moving forward with the tax increase until impact fees increase and priority-based budgeting is fully implemented and an increase is clearly justified or not necessary."

While new development could provide a solution for covering city costs, population growth has also left many Littleton residents worried about the preservation of the community spirit that the city is known for.

"I think the biggest threat to our city is growth without considering the unique character of our Littleton neighborhoods and what the citizens want," Grove said. "We need to protect Littleton from re-development or development that just doesn't fit into the character of a residential area or business area when it comes to design, scale and density."

Melin said he believes some of the biggest challenges are traffic, an aging community, rising housing costs and limited financial resources.

"Littleton has a long tradition of approaching challenges with bold, creative, community-enhancing solutions," Melin said. "Our city has popsitive growth momentum right now to build on. Let's continue our tradition of bold thinking and recognize our community's capacity ..."

If elected, Eckel said one of her goals will be to boost community engagement in Littleton and to encourage residents to "start talking to their neighbors again."

"I want people to have trust that their neighbors do care about them," she said. "I want them to trust the City of Littleton, which we all hold dear to our hearts."

Results for the statewide ballot questions