endorsements

Dear Englewood Citizens,

I encourage you to please support and vote for Rita Russell for the At-Large Candidate Position for Englewood City Council. As an Englewood voting citizen and resident of Englewood for 65 years, I would like to share my own experience with you concerning Rita Russell.
Rita is a person of very high integrity and takes the responsibility as a council person to work for all the Englewood Citizens and does not pick and choose. She realizes the responsibility of city council persons are to be nonpartisan and she takes that seriously.
With Rita’s knowledge and experience sitting on the council for the past eight years, Rita is prepared by reading the Weekly Packet and addressing the many issues that come before council, as this is the duty and responsibility of all council members!
Rita has been excellent for our city. She knows how to deal with the issues and works collaboratively to get her point across respectfully. Rita is the best candidate to represent the interests of our city’s homeowners by regularly holding town hall meetings and also morning coffees to get citizens view points, and inputs. By participating in citizens views and input, citizens trust her and feel they have a friend that is looking out for both the citizens view and the City of Englewood.  If she does not have an answer for a specific question, she will look into it and find the answer.
Again, I encourage you to please support and vote for Rita Russell for the at-large position for the Englewood City Council election in November.

Respectfully,
Ida May Nicholl, Englewood Citizen

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I’ve lived in Englewood for half a century and have never known of a City Council member more committed than Rita Russell to finding the facts about any issue coming before the Council. Nor have I ever known anyone more courageous in making those facts known to the public.
During her two terms in office, Rita has stood alone or been part of a minority of two or three in voting against fees so high that residents have had to sell their homes because they can no longer afford to live here. She has persistently reminded the Council that the “affordable housing” laws it is striving to impose upon Englewood have been cruel jokes where enacted elsewhere. (Homes vacated by people forced out by rising fees and taxes are sold to developers for market value and are replaced by houses often selling for more than a million dollars each. What’s “affordable” about that? How does that help our residents? How does it provide homes for the homeless? Who’s profiting from this? These are the kinds of questions Rita asks.)
No matter how principled we may be, there is sometimes a temptation to go along to get along, and Rita is one of the few persons I have known who has never played that game. It has earned her justified trust and loyalty from residents in every Englewood District. She sees us all as equals entitled to respect, and she actually believes in open, transparent, honest, responsive, and responsible government.
Please join me in voting for Rita Russell and better times for Englewood. And please remember Rita cannot do it alone. Also vote for your District candidate who opposes the “affordable” housing provisions as currently written.

Gerry Allan, Englewood District 3

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Rita Russell has been one of the best City Council members I have known since I began paying attention in 2003. She reads the background information and asks questions. She really cares about our city. She has held monthly meetings with us for the whole time she has been there. She really wants all of us to know what is going on and what is proposed.
For 6 months in 2018, she was the mayor when Joe Jefferson became the municipal judge and did a good job. The meetings were orderly and efficient and good things got done. She has lived in Englewood most of her life and has seen it grow up. She cares about preserving our history and really wants thoughtful growth.

I recommend we re-elect Rita Russell in the upcoming election.
Doug Cohn, Englewood Citizen

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I endorse Rita Russell for Englewood City Council At Large with confidence. Rita works to promote openness in city governance by having meetings with Englewood residents three times a month at locations throughout Englewood. Rita also holds meetings at the Simon Center to include Englewood residents who cannot travel to her. During these meetings Rita Russell informs residents of the ongoing issues before City Council, both issues up for immediate approval by City Council and those issues that are in the works. Rita takes the time to explain the details of the issues that impact Englewood. Residents are also able to talk with Rita one-on-one and bring up their own issues.
During her term as Council Member, Rita Russell has served on several committees: as liaison on the Code Enforcement Advisory Committee and the Budget Advisory Committee. Rita Russell also serves on the Malley Center Trust Fund board and the Non-Emergency Employee Retirement Board. To keep abreast of developments in housing, Rita also attends routine meetings on the Englewood Housing Authority.
Rita also serves as Mayor Pro Tem, attending the weekly Mayor/City Manager meeting to set the agenda for City Council meetings. As Mayor Pro Tem, Rita also chairs City Council meetings and performs other official duties when the Mayor is unavailable.
For four years, Rita Russell has responded to emails and phone calls directly with researched answers and often works with people inside the Englewood government to get help for residents. Rita is respectful of resident’s concerns and she works to communicate how the process of governance in Englewood works.
I am confident that Rita Russell is committed to working to meet the changing needs of Englewood Citizens. I am also impressed with her restraint in the face of aggressive opposition to open governance.

Rita Russell does the work with integrity.
Cynthia R. Searfoss, Englewood Citizen

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Rita grew up in Englewood, as did I. She went to Maddox, Cherrelyn, Sinclair and Englewood High School. I went to Charles Hay and Flood and met Rita in high school where we became good friends. She was a very good student; she was smart, dedicated, hard-working, friendly and involved, just as she is now. Some things in life don’t change.
The city of Englewood is now benefitting from those same excellent qualities: intelligence, character and integrity. Rita always dedicates an enormous amount of time and energy working hard for Englewood and its citizens. She thoroughly reads the information provided to her about important issues facing Englewood and comes to every City Council meeting and study session prepared; she listens and communicates well and offers thoughtful questions, ideas and concerns.
In addition to the many skills that her experience as Mayor Pro Tem brings to Englewood, is the distinction of her total of eight years of experience on City Council. Experience matters, and it brings with it that much more benefit and value, more insight and vision to successfully plan ahead for Englewood’s future.

Julie Klusener, Englewood Citizen