WEEK OF JUNE 22, 2023
VOLUME 103 | ISSUE 19
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Englewood police cleared in 2022 fatal shooting BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Englewood City Councilmembers Joe Anderson and Chelsea Nunnenkamp held an “Affordable Housing Town Hall” at the Englewood Civic Center Feb. 23. PHOTO BY TAYLER SHAW
Nunnenkamp recall efforts move forward BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The petition to recall Englewood Councilmember Chelsea Nunnenkamp has gotten enough valid signatures to move forward, meaning that a special election for District 2 is likely to happen and voters will decide whether to remove Nunnenkamp from the council, unless a valid protest to the petition is filed. Nunnenkamp, who was elected to represent northeast Englewood’s District 2 in 2021, is among four councilmembers facing possible recall, along with Mayor Othoniel
Sierra and Councilmembers Joe Anderson and Cheryl Wink. The recall effort was largely driven by anger over the four members’ consideration of possibly allowing multifamily residences in singlefamily zoning, a proposal that has been shelved for now. The petition to recall Nunnenkamp, which needed 342 valid signatures, was submitted to the Englewood city clerk’s office on June 8, Clerk Stephanie Carlile said via email. “As of today, June 15, the recall petition is determined to be valid and sufficient,” Carlile wrote. “I have sent
the certification of sufficiency to City Council and have notified the recall committee members and Council Member Nunnenkamp.” No other recall petitions have been turned in as of June 15, Carlile said. The deadline for the other three petitions is July 6. Carlile said via email that there is a 15-day protest period for the petition. According to the City of Englewood’s Rules and Regulations for Recall Elections, any registered elector entitled to vote for a successor to
VOICES: 14 | LIFE: 16 | CALENDAR: 19 | SPORTS: 22
After nearly a year, the 18th Judicial District ruled Englewood police officers Dirk Smith and Aaron Jarrett were legally justified in the fatal shooting of Matthew Mitchell on July 24, 2022. The final investigation was prepared by Vicki Klingensmith, senior chief deputy for the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. In her findings, Klingensmith said both Jarrett and Smith were reasonably justified in their use of force to defend themselves and fellow officers. According to the investigation summary, around 7:39 p.m. on July 24 last year, dispatch received a 911 call from Kimberly Mitchell who said her son, Phillip Blankenship, was drunk and shooting a gun inside the house, located at the intersection of Grove Street and Bellewood Drive in southwest Englewood. She also told police, according to the documentation of the call, that her other son, Matthew Mitchell, was, at that moment, in possession of the weapon. SEE SHOOTING, P15
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SEE RECALL, P2
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