Why some Englewood residents are trying to recall four city council members

Although the Englewood City Council has tabled its consideration of permitting two-to-four-unit residences in single-family zoning, the effort to recall four council members is still underway. 

On April 17, resident Kurt Suppes announced that a group of Englewood residents filed affidavits with the city clerk seeking to recall Mayor Othoniel Sierra and Councilmembers Joe Anderson, Chelsea Nunnenkamp and Cheryl Wink.

In the affidavits, the residents allege the four members are derelict in their duties representing their constituency. 

Among the listed claims is that the four members support zoning changes contemplated in the CodeNext project including permitting “multiplex housing” in R-1 zone districts, which are areas that have single-family homes. 

CodeNext refers to an ongoing effort to update Englewood’s development code, called the Unified Development Code. The city is still in the drafting phase of the project. 

The Englewood City Council unanimously agreed to indefinitely end the conversation of potentially permitting two-to-four-unit residences in R-1 zone districts during the April 17 meeting. 

Although this discussion has been tabled, Suppes said he is not aware of any residents who have changed their mind about pursuing the recall. 

“The initial issue that came up was CodeNext, but really, when we started getting down into it, we realized there’s more than just that. It’s not a one-issue type of situation. It’s a general concern, I think, that a lot of people share regarding just the lack of leadership that exists currently … at the level of the city council,” Suppes said. 

Anderson and Nunnenkamp spoke about the need to increase housing supply in Englewood during the Feb. 23 town hall.

The recall process

Filing the recall affidavits is the first step in the recall process. The residents have until May 4 to submit recall petitions for each council member to the city clerk, Englewood City Clerk Stephanie Carlile said via email. 

Once that is done and the petitions are authorized, the residents can circulate the petitions for 60 days to get signatures, Carlile said. 

Each petition may be circulated and signed by registered Englewood voters “who would be entitled to vote for the successor of the incumbent sought to be recalled,” according to the Englewood Home Rule Charter. The number of signatures must equal at least 25% of the voters who voted in the last general election for that office.

Carlile said the required signatures needed to proceed with the recall process are: 458 signatures for Sierra, 342 signatures for Nunnenkamp, 583 signatures for Anderson and 1,426 signatures for Wink.

“If the petitions are timely filed and deemed sufficient, council will set an election date not less than 60 days nor more than 120 days from the filing of the petitions,” Carlile wrote.

A large group of attendees gathered at Englewood Civic Center the night of Feb. 23 for the affordable housing town hall.

Suppes: ‘We’ve essentially been ignored’ 

Although he did not sign any of the filed affidavits, Suppes said he participated in drafting and putting together the affidavits themselves. This was done in collaboration with a group of about 20-25 people, he said. 

“The lack of leadership and the inability of those four individuals to be attentive and responsive to the people in the city is a significant concern for all of us,” Suppes said. “We’ve essentially been ignored.” 

Some similar allegations in each of the filed affidavits include claims that the council members vote favorably for high-density housing projects, as well as ignore resident concerns such as inadequate infrastructure and financial resources necessary for supporting increased density. 

Suppes said the residents think that “these folks are more interested in pursuing their own personal agendas” than they are with representing their constituency. 

“There are a lot of issues in the city that need to be addressed. We have crime, and we have drugs, and we have all kinds of issues with the businesses that are trying to survive in the city,” Suppes said. “And there hasn’t been any attention to really speak of. We don’t see the city council and/or the city — the management of the city — attending to these issues.” 

A large crowd of residents gathered for the March 2 town hall regarding Englewood CodeNext.

Mayor addresses CodeNext, R-1 zoning 

Sierra said he is surprised by the recall effort. He noted that the conversations council had regarding potentially allowing two-to-four-unit residential development in single-family areas had “really energized the community.” 

“We’ve done all the things that you would expect a good council to do … in terms of, you know, realizing that housing is a big issue across the metro area,” he said, adding that the council started looking at what it could do. 

“One of the ideas was to potentially allow that multifamily within single-family lots, and so we then went to the citizens and started requesting feedback on the plan. And obviously … it didn’t go anywhere,” Sierra said. “So we tabled having those discussions about adding multifamily to single-family areas.”

“To me, it’s just been a surprise because, you know, you would expect a good council to look at the major issues impacting, but then also taking the input from citizens and making the best decision for what’s right for Englewood. And I felt that we did that as a council,” he added. 

Regarding council’s decision to no longer consider the zoning change, Suppes asked, “Well, why are they not gonna do it now? Because they’re being recalled?

“It was coincidental that they decided to drop the R-1 issues on the same night that I got up there and announced the recall,” Suppes said. “If it takes that to try to get their attention, that’s not appropriate.”

However, Sierra said the recall effort did not play a role in the council’s decision to table the consideration. 

“We went in there looking at how we can solve some of the affordability issues, attainability issues within the city. And so there’s a multi-prong approach that we’re taking,” Sierra said. 

After digging into the issue, Sierra said he views allowing multifamily developments within R-1 zones as more of a “situation of last resort.” 

“I don’t think we’re there yet,” he said, adding that he thinks the city should consider other steps first such as development within the CityCenter area that stretches east from the light rail platform. 

“To me, it was like, (it) doesn’t make sense at this point to go down that route. But, obviously, we needed to find out the information. We needed to see what we can do as a city to kind of fix these issues.

“We received the information as part of the housing assessment plan, we heard from our citizens. And I think, you know — this is something the council does. We look at the issue and then we come to a decision on what’s best for Englewood, and I think we did that,” Sierra added. 

Englewood City Council member Othoniel Sierra, left, shakes hands with Englewood Associate Judge Vincent Atencio June 4 after being sworn into office …

Mayor: ‘It’s just an unfortunate issue’ 

Sierra joined the city council to look at the big issues, he said, such as environmental concerns, infrastructure and emergency management, and housing. 

He said the council needs to talk about these big issues, as well as involve citizens to get their input on any type of change that may happen to the city.

“We can always communicate a lot better — there’s always room for improvement in anything that we do. But we did involve the citizens, we looked at it, and then we felt that, you know, this was the right approach,” Sierra said. 

“It’s just an unfortunate issue that some, you know — there’s a minority of citizens that do feel that we’ve went too far with our discussions. Again, discussions and not necessarily with any type of changes,” he added. “It’s just unfortunate the way that that all played out.”

However, Suppes said he feels the quality of leadership on the city council is lacking, and he thinks a “lack of experience may be contributing to that.”

“This is just an effort by people that are watching what’s happening,” Suppes said. “There’s just a void where we would like to otherwise see strong leadership.” 

Considering the impact of density

The affidavit requesting to recall Sierra claims that, as part of CodeNext, he supports “the prolific use of accessory dwelling units throughout the city.”

According to the CodeNext website, Englewood’s Unified Development Code Steering Committee has discussed reducing barriers and accommodating accessory dwelling units in more districts. 

Sierra is a fan of accessory dwelling units but the majority of council would have to approve any changes, he said. 

When it comes to increasing density, Suppes spoke about the importance of considering impacts such as traffic, parking and the environment.

The recall affidavit for Sierra claims that he disregards concerns voiced by residents such as inadequate infrastructure to support increased density. 

Sierra said infrastructure has been a major consideration of the council, and the council is looking at modernizing the city’s infrastructure. 

“We’ve been really, really concerned about infrastructure across the city,” he said. “We made it a priority.” 

Rendering of what the proposed 395-unit development could look like in Englewood, as of Aug. 10, 2022.

Development, referendum regarding Sam’s Automotive lot

One of the claims in the affidavit is that Sierra avoids conducting impact studies such as traffic, water, sewage and environmental issues. 

In the cases where the council votes on whether to approve a planned unit development (PUD), Sierra said matters such as traffic studies are conducted beforehand and that information is provided to the council. 

Suppes noted that the council recently decided, in a 6-1 vote, to approve a multifamily development near West Oxford Avenue and South Navajo Street, where the former Sam’s Automotive business was located. 

“They demonstrated pretty much the same disregard for the people that live in and around that area. And in fact, there is a referendum that is being circulated right now, as we speak, because people are unhappy with the decision that the city council made,” Suppes said. 

The Englewood city clerk confirmed via email that a referendum petition protesting the approval of the development has been authorized for circulation. That petition would need to gather 1,466 signatures by May 4. 

“That should demonstrate that it’s not just the CodeNext issue,” Suppes said, adding, “We shouldn't have to be forced to respond to the city council by way of referendums.” 

Regarding the development of the former Sam’s Automotive lot, Sierra said the developer considered public input and even delayed its city council public hearing “so they could get more public input.” 

He noted that the water, sewer and stormwater requirements for the development were captured by public works in the application process. 

“I felt that in that case, the developers did all the right things and met the (city’s) comprehensive plan,” Sierra said. 

Crime, drugs and finances

In the recall affidavit for Sierra, the residents claim he “fails to provide the necessary leadership to overcome issues plaguing the city” such as crime rates, drug issues and fiscal management.

“This includes his failure to focus on issues related to a declining business community, choosing to support efforts to increased density,” the affidavit states. 

Regarding crime and drug use, Sierra said, “As part of the budget that we passed in October for the 2023 year, we added six additional police officers to the budget.”

He noted that the majority of Englewood voters approved increasing the city’s sales tax in November 2022 to create a dedicated funding source for alternative policing services to address homelessness, mental health and addiction. 

“So, we have been looking at crime and drug use and, you know, just those issues that are plaguing our city,” Sierra said. “We’re taking this all seriously.”

In terms of fiscal responsibility, Sierra said he thinks the city is in a better spot now than it was when he first joined the council. 

“We’re forecasting revenues at $64.3 million for 2023,” he said. “When I joined council back in June of 2018, our forecasted revenues were $47.3 million, so that’s quite a jump, and it’s because of the great community that we have, the great businesses that are part of this.” 

He said the council is trying to make it easy to do business within the city, and he thinks the council is moving in that direction. 

“I feel that this council works really well together,” Sierra said. 

Timing and cost of the recalls 

Sierra called the timing of some of the recalls interesting, given that both his and Councilmember Joe Anderson’s terms will expire in November.

When asked why the residents felt the need to recall them now as opposed to waiting for the November election, Suppes said, “When we looked at it, we just felt as though, ‘Let’s just do this all at once.’”

“If we’re gonna go through all of the effort that we need to go through in order to conduct a recall, it just makes sense to just do it all at once,” Suppes added. “We have the same concerns about all four of them, so there’s no reason to, you know, try to pick two out of the group.” 

Suppes said the residents have asked for the council members to be more responsive to them and the council members have not, so “we’ve made the decision that we’ve made.”

If the recalls are done in all four districts within the city, the potential cost of the recall elections could be tens of thousands of dollars, Sierra said. 

Regarding the potential cost of the recalls, Suppes said, “They don’t seem to care about spending money on other things.”

Suppes added that he thinks the city can recoup the money by getting “a more responsive and more experienced leadership team in place.” 

Overall, Sierra said he is happy to be a part of the council because they are tackling the big issues. 

“That is the role of council, to look at these issues before they become a bigger issue than they already are,” Sierra said. “We’re doing our duty as council members.”

Suppes said the group of residents pursuing the recalls intend to do so “vigorously.”

“I’m not somebody that runs around wanting to do stuff like this, you know. I want to be a member of the community and I want it to be a thriving community,” Suppes said. “And I want to have a leadership team in the community that is responsive to the concerns of the people that live there. And we just haven’t seen that.”