When neighbors and friends first asked Valdan Vandemark if he would be interested in running for Centennial City Council, his initial answer was no, he said.
“And then I started getting really interested in what city council really does, what they’re accountable for, how they impact the lives of, you know, all my neighbors and me,” Vandemark said. “And my ‘no’ quickly became … ‘How could I not run?’”
Vandemark is running against incumbent Council Member Richard Holt for the District 3 seat.
“I went back and listened to, you know, hours and hours and several years of city council meetings,” he said. “I started to get really enrolled and excited about the possibility of serving and making that kind of difference.”
After listening through the city council meetings, he also felt unrepresented in his district, he said.
The 31-year-old said he does not think there is anyone around his age, or who thinks about business in the same way he does.
Vandemark said he has always had an entrepreneurial way of thinking. As a teenager, he started an online coaching business for different video games. Since then, he has worked as a manager for various companies, he said.
He now runs his own ADT security business, he said.
“I have a lot of experience working with people younger than me, people older than me, people my age, in managing teams of those people that, you know, get great results and have them work well together,” he said.
Some of the main issues he believes the city faces are housing and public safety. If elected, he said he will be a public servant, make himself available to people, and be active in the community.
“I’m clear that I will be a better representative for the residents of District 3,” he said. “I’ll do that by collaborating, listening, making myself massively readily available for people.
“And I’m going to show up prepared. I’m going to be a team player,” he added. “I will take your call, I’ll listen to what you have to say, and I will work with you and anyone I have to (on a) solution, common sense solution.”
Housing
One of the main issues Centennial faces is housing, Vandemark said.
“A responsibility for city council would definitely be housing,” he said. “Housing is going to be one of the biggest influencers on the future of Centennial in the next five to 10 years.”
Most of his friends cannot afford to live anywhere near where they grew up. He has also heard from older adults that they cannot afford to downsize, he said.
Vandemark would like to see more mixed-use developments in Centennial.
“I’m a huge fan of SouthGlenn,” he said, referring to The Streets at SouthGlenn. “Now, I think the rent prices are too high to be competitive in any market with the way they did that.”
“But, having a place where there’s, like, nice retail, there’s things to do, there’s restaurants, there’s activity, you know, and there’s higher density living options for people — that is something I’m all for,” he said.
Vandemark said he sees a lot of underutilized and aging office shopping and retail spaces that he thinks could be redeveloped into mixed-use areas with higher density living options that are more affordable.
The council has been studying and discussing potential strategies it could adopt to address housing affordability and accessibility issues.
Some of those strategies include an inclusionary zoning program, permitting accessory dwelling units, implementing a land banking program and having an expedited review process.
When it comes to accessory dwelling units, also called ADUs, Vandemark said the council will need to regulate them.
“They’re going to need to be regulated in a way that … works, is safe for both the occupants and safe for the people owning them, and kind of can be an organic fit to a neighborhood,” he said.
Vandemark said he supports having public hearings on things like that, providing a chance for neighbors to share their input.
“Overall, I’m for ADUs,” he said.
Inclusionary zoning is defined as policies that require and/or incentivize residential developers to include affordable units in their development or pay a fee-in-lieu of building affordable units.
Vandemark said he is “not really for or against inclusionary zoning.”
“In general, I am more of an advocate of being in communication and working with people than, kind of, just putting ordinances and saying, ‘You need to follow X, Y, or Z,’” he said.
Public safety
In the last year or so, Vandemark said his work vehicle has been broken into, his personal car was broken into and his neighbor’s house was broken into.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office was responsive and great, but there was no follow-up about the home invasion, he said.
He said he thinks the council should have a conversation with the sheriff’s office about whether it is getting what it needs to manage things.
The sheriff’s office did recently present a 2024 budget request for Centennial that included adding five staff — two patrol deputies, two traffic safety deputies and one investigator.
Vandemark feels there is a lack of communication between residents, city council and the sheriff’s office.
He said he is someone who can help bridge that gap by communicating what residents are experiencing and what the council plans to allocate to the sheriff’s office.
If elected, he would be attentive to local homeowners association meetings and local board meetings, he said. He also gives out his cell phone number and described himself as reliable and responsive.
“I’m someone that likes to be, you know, very active in the community,” he said.
He will also listen to what the sheriff’s office says it needs and will be “a voice for both sides,” he said.
Vandemark said he has family members in law enforcement and feels for that community.
“Part of this conversation is not just to be like, ‘Oh, we’re not getting what we need.’ It’s really to look at how can we support you guys, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s (Office), as a community to make policing easier and more effective in our community?” he said.
Finances
Fiscal responsibility means spending money well on things that benefit the people who pay for it, Vandemark said.
“I think the city council does a pretty good job of being more fiscally responsible already,” he said.
The city contracts out many of its services and generally has less employees than other cities of a similar size, he said.
He thinks the council should prioritize public safety and infrastructure in the city budget.
Making decisions on controversial issues
Vandemark said he cannot promise to be an expert on everything, but he will do a ton of research when it comes to voting on issues so that he clearly understands both sides.
“I think that starts with talking to people,” he said.
When making a decision on a controversial issue, he would take a “common-sense look at things” and try to make a decision that will benefit everyone, he said.
He said he would be very transparent about why he is voting a certain way.
“When someone (is) a part of the decision making process, I think whether the decision is quite what they want it to be or not, as long as they feel heard, I would say … that’s my main goal,” he said.
“I want people to feel heard in the conversation,” he added. “That’s my approach to that — just transparency, honesty, collaboration.”
Supporting local businesses
Vandemark said he would advocate for “getting things passed quickly” for local businesses.
“If they have zoning issues or things they need to get done, that we make that a very easy, streamlined process for someone to come into Centennial and say, ‘I want to open a business,’” he said.
He said some shopping centers in the city have quite a few vacancies, and he would like to explore working with developers and property owners to potentially redevelop those shopping centers or make them more appealing.
“Overall, I think the biggest thing for businesses is just making it really easy for them … and simple for them to operate here,” he said.
Tagged: candidates from centennial city couniclcentennial city council candidatesCentennial council electionvaldan vandemark
Leave a comment
We encourage comments. Your thoughts, ideas and concerns play a critical role helping Colorado Community Media be more responsive to your needs. We expect conversations to follow the conventions of polite discourse. Therefore, we won't allow posts that:
303-952-3060
Service Areas
