The candidates for who are vying to fill two empty Parker Town Council seats have been finalized after the deadline to submit paperwork passed Feb. 8.
The special election, set for April 20, will be between seven candidates: Anne Barringon, Doug Butte, Terry Dodd, Nate Matthews, Danielle Ozaluk, Joshua Rivero and Jeeva Senthilnathan.
To be placed on the ballot, candidates needed 25 signatures from registered Parker voters, verified by the town clerk.
The winners of the election will be the top two vote-getters in the election and they will be sworn in on May 17.
The election, approved in a Dec. 7 meeting, will determine who replaces two former councilmembers: now-Mayor Jeff Toborg and Renee Williams, who resigned from the position Sept. 21. The winners will serve in those positions for the remainder of Toborg’s and Williams’ terms, which both end Nov. 8, 2022.
The council is made up of six at-large councilmembers who serve staggered, four-year terms.
About the candidates
Colorado Community Media sent out questionnaires via email to each candidate to learn more about them. The following information and quotes were obtained through the questionnaires.
• Anne Barrington, owner of Barrington Group Real Estate and Card My Yard Parker, has lived in the town for 18 years. Barrington, who ran in the November town council election, is the vice chair of the Downtown Business Alliance and co-chair of the Government Liaison Committee.
“I advocate for business owners and residents,” she wrote. “Negotiating for a living gives me the experience to bring people together, see both sides of issues and find common ground. When making policy decisions, enacting ordinances and laws, this will help me be an effective and strong leader for Parker.”
• Doug Butte, a resident for about nine years, works as an IT director and consultant, along with coaching high school athletes in the fall and spring seasons. Butte decided to run to keep an eye on the things “which can creep in and weaken communities” such as “explosive growth, financial mismanagements, unnecessary taxation, short-term vision (and) special interest influence,” he wrote.
“I want to keep energy, enthusiasm and efforts local so that people and businesses of Parker can thrive.”
• Nate Matthews, a longtime finance professional, is the vice president of wealth management at UBS Financial Services. Matthews, who has lived with his family in Parker since 2016, decided to run because of a “goal and passion” to see local residents and businesses thrive, he wrote.
Matthews, also a candidate in the 2020 town council election, learned about how the town functions as a participant in the Parker Civic Academy. He also serves with his church’s emergency response team.
“I believe in an active and healthy lifestyle,” he wrote. “I learn quickly and am a team player who believes through collaboration we can bring great ideas to benefit the residents of Parker.”
• Danielle Ozaluk, who works in hospitality management and business development, describes herself as a “fiscally conservative business woman.”
“I am an engaged town resident that volunteers and supports our local organizations and local businesses,” she wrote.
Ozaluk, a Parker resident since 2014, has connections with the local chamber of commerce, the Downtown Business Alliance and the South Metro Economic Development Partnership.
“I support an efficient government that focuses on business and economic development and always has a forward-thinking view on the quality of life that Parker provides,” she wrote. “I understand protecting our quality of life and maintaining a safe community with small, efficient government.”
• Joshua Rivero, owner of both Fika Coffee House locations in Parker, served as a town council member from 2012 to 2020, when he decided to run for mayor, finishing second to Toborg in a three-person race. He bought a home in Parker in 2006.
“I am the only candidate who can bring additional experience in leading this town through my previous eight years on town council,” the Ponderosa High School graduate wrote. “I have the experience needed to both listen, understand and then negotiate the importance of ensuring we retain funding for our nationally recognized parks and recreation and police departments as well as all our other award winning departments that now may be in jeopardy.”
Rivero’s goal is to unify Parker, which he says is “more divided now than ever.”
• Jeeva Senthilnathan, a student at Colorado School of Mines studying mechanical engineering, has lived in Parker for 17 years. If elected, Senthilnathan hopes to explore ways to improve local systems with local, youth, community-driven action. She would also like to see systems centered around those impacted most by policies.
“I am a true believer in empowering my youth peers to utilize their voice, lived experiences and their truth to create and promote the change they wish to see in their communities and beyond,” wrote Senthilnathan, who also ran for town council in the fall. “I am known for leading with integrity, ethics, critical thinking and service.”
• Candidate Terry Dodd did not respond to a request to fill out the questionnaire by press time.