THE MIDNIGHT HOUR Area residents, businesses share alternative traditions for New Year’s Eve P12
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December 26, 2019
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
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LPS FACES ALLEGATIONS Group says school district not fair to charters P5
‘HIS LEGACY WILL LIVE ON’
Former Littleton mayor Debbie Brinkman has fought on both sides of the city’s development debate.
DAVID GILBERT
In the middle of it all
Former mayor wound up on both sides of development fights BY DAVID GILBERT DGILBERT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Debbie Brinkman is an organizer. Brinkman, 59, stepped down from city council in November, term limited to 12 years. After getting her start in politics at age 47, organizing neighbors against a proposed Walmart in south Littleton, Brinkman said she tried to bring the skills from her home-organization business to city government.
“Clean it up, get rid of clutter, make it functional,” Brinkman said of her approach to both messy houses and civic affairs. In her time on council — including four years as mayor — Brinkman played a role in some of Littleton’s most controversial decisions in recent memory, including the battle over urban renewal, the approval of the Vita Littleton apartment complex just east of downtown and the dissolution of Littleton’s fire department and merger with South Metro Fire Rescue. She capped her time in office with the approval of Littleton’s first comprehensive plan since the 1980s and first-ever transportation master plan. With city council in the rearview
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mirror, Brinkman said she’s not sure where she’ll go next, but she plans to be in the driver’s seat. “I’m not a good follower,” she said. Learning to lead Brinkman, a second-generation Denver-area native, grew up in Athmar Park, a working-class neighborhood in southwest Denver. Her father worked at Gates Rubber, making fan belts on the graveyard shift. Her mother worked for an insurance agency, and together they made enough to put Brinkman and her two younger sisters through private school. Later, as editor of the University of Northern Colorado’s newspaper, SEE BRINKMAN, P6
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THE BOTTOM LINE
“We can and we should celebrate hope, joy, peace and love at any time of the year and in any season of our lives.”
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Michael Norton, columnist | Page 10 SouthPlatteIndependent.net
INSIDE: VOICES PAGE 10 | LIFE PAGE 12 | CALENDAR PAGE 16 | SPORTS PAGE 18