LovelandPolitics
| Loveland's Independent News Source |
| Ward I - City Council Race Jeremy Jersvig Vs. Lenard Larkin |
Loveland, April 11, 2017
Ward 1 Loveland City Councilman Troy Krenning's four-year term ends this November. He is not
seeking re-election thus former Krenning campaign supporter and longtime Loveland Planning
Commissioner Jeremy Jersvig along with Lenard Larkin are both hoping to replace Krenning.
Unlike Loveland City Council Wards II through IV, Loveland's Ward I is often a contested city council
seat with historically more sophisticated and competitive candidates being drawn from the areas
around Loveland's Olde Golf Course and homes on Lake Loveland. Loveland's Ward I has been
growing since the early 1960's and is home to many former Kodak, HP and Agilent employees. Today
it continues expanding northward and westward as new subdivisions are built where one current and
three former Mayors of Loveland now reside.
In fact, Loveland's Ward I elected two members of the city's home rule charter committee from 1996
(Ronald Weaks and later current Councilman Richard Ball). A former Larimer County Commissioner
who later became Loveland's Mayor Pro Tem, Daryle Klassen, along with Don Marostica who was
elected to a seat in Colorado's State Legislature following his resignation from Loveland's City Council
also spent time representing Ward I. Loveland's outgoing mayor, Cecil Gutierrez, got his start in Ward
I after first loosing to Councilman Daryle Klassen, later winning the seat and running for mayor only
two years into his first term representing Loveland's City Council Ward I.
Despite all the political careers ended or launched from Ward I, only 5,439 people in a city of 76,897
cast votes for either candidate in the last Ward I City Council election. In other words, a very small
number of citizens are determining who will lead the city from one of the two most coveted seats on
Loveland's City Council.
How Loveland Officials Are Elected
Loveland's City Council is comprised of eight council members representing four wards and the mayor
who is elected city-wide. Municipal elections are staggered and held every odd year to elect one of the
two representatives at the end of his or her four year term. Loveland's mayor must stand for election
every two years according to the city charter adopted by voters in 1996.
Two Candidates For Ward 1
This year voters have a choice between longtime local political activist Jeremy Jersvig or the
low-profile and largely unknown Lenard Larkin. Both are running for Loveland's City Council and
neither has previously held elected office to our knowledge.
Jersvig comes to the race with an accomplished resume as a Navy veteran, county employee and
longtime Loveland planning commissioner. He touts free market economics and a desire to rid the city
of massive incentives for more retail development in favor of attracting better paying employers while
also hoping to address rising crime in the community.
Larkin is a self-described "cable puller" who contracts work with Comcast. Like Jersvig, Larkin is
taking issue with the city's unpopular subsidies to "a few wealthy developers" while bringing city
sponsored broadband Internet access appears to be Larkin's primary issue and motive for seeking a
seat on Loveland's City Council.
The two men met once before on the night of August 10, 2015. Larkin spoke to Loveland's Planning
Commission in opposition to a plan for the Loveland Classical Schools (LCS) to lease space from Faith
Evangelical Church located at 2707 N. Wilson Avenue (corner of N. Wilson Avenue and Arbor Dr.).
Larkin spoke against LCS being given permission to lease an existing 14,737 square foot gymnasium
and classrooms for some 100 students and related faculty at the church while seeking a more
permanent campus. Among Larkin's concerns was the presence of religious symbols, the church
receiving public funds from the lease agreement and traffic issues the additional use may cause along
Wilson Avenue.
One commissioner later responded the concerns expressed by Larkin were beyond the issue the
planning commission was authorized to address and requested Larkin's remarks be removed from
consideration. The only issue before the planning commission was the impact additional traffic at the
location could create and whether the use was appropriate for the existing traffic infrastructure. The
Loveland Planning Commission not only approved LCS's request by unanimous vote but within the
next twelve months approved LCS locating their campus permanently on a parcel next to King of Glory
Lutheran Church less than one mile north up the same road off Wilson Avenue and 29th Street.
Ironically, prior to all mail ballot elections, Faith Evangelical Church which Lenard Larkin protested
having even an arms-length transaction with a government funded entity, is where voters historically
have decided who will represent them on Loveland's City Council from Ward 1.
In 2003, half of all the election day ballots cast were marked or dropped at the Faith Evangelical
Church which serves as the single largest polling station for numerous Ward 1 city precincts.
Ward 1 Loveland City Councilman Troy Krenning's four-year term ends this November. He is not
seeking re-election thus former Krenning campaign supporter and longtime Loveland Planning
Commissioner Jeremy Jersvig along with Lenard Larkin are both hoping to replace Krenning.
Unlike Loveland City Council Wards II through IV, Loveland's Ward I is often a contested city council
seat with historically more sophisticated and competitive candidates being drawn from the areas
around Loveland's Olde Golf Course and homes on Lake Loveland. Loveland's Ward I has been
growing since the early 1960's and is home to many former Kodak, HP and Agilent employees. Today
it continues expanding northward and westward as new subdivisions are built where one current and
three former Mayors of Loveland now reside.
In fact, Loveland's Ward I elected two members of the city's home rule charter committee from 1996
(Ronald Weaks and later current Councilman Richard Ball). A former Larimer County Commissioner
who later became Loveland's Mayor Pro Tem, Daryle Klassen, along with Don Marostica who was
elected to a seat in Colorado's State Legislature following his resignation from Loveland's City Council
also spent time representing Ward I. Loveland's outgoing mayor, Cecil Gutierrez, got his start in Ward
I after first loosing to Councilman Daryle Klassen, later winning the seat and running for mayor only
two years into his first term representing Loveland's City Council Ward I.
Despite all the political careers ended or launched from Ward I, only 5,439 people in a city of 76,897
cast votes for either candidate in the last Ward I City Council election. In other words, a very small
number of citizens are determining who will lead the city from one of the two most coveted seats on
Loveland's City Council.
How Loveland Officials Are Elected
Loveland's City Council is comprised of eight council members representing four wards and the mayor
who is elected city-wide. Municipal elections are staggered and held every odd year to elect one of the
two representatives at the end of his or her four year term. Loveland's mayor must stand for election
every two years according to the city charter adopted by voters in 1996.
Two Candidates For Ward 1
This year voters have a choice between longtime local political activist Jeremy Jersvig or the
low-profile and largely unknown Lenard Larkin. Both are running for Loveland's City Council and
neither has previously held elected office to our knowledge.
Jersvig comes to the race with an accomplished resume as a Navy veteran, county employee and
longtime Loveland planning commissioner. He touts free market economics and a desire to rid the city
of massive incentives for more retail development in favor of attracting better paying employers while
also hoping to address rising crime in the community.
Larkin is a self-described "cable puller" who contracts work with Comcast. Like Jersvig, Larkin is
taking issue with the city's unpopular subsidies to "a few wealthy developers" while bringing city
sponsored broadband Internet access appears to be Larkin's primary issue and motive for seeking a
seat on Loveland's City Council.
The two men met once before on the night of August 10, 2015. Larkin spoke to Loveland's Planning
Commission in opposition to a plan for the Loveland Classical Schools (LCS) to lease space from Faith
Evangelical Church located at 2707 N. Wilson Avenue (corner of N. Wilson Avenue and Arbor Dr.).
Larkin spoke against LCS being given permission to lease an existing 14,737 square foot gymnasium
and classrooms for some 100 students and related faculty at the church while seeking a more
permanent campus. Among Larkin's concerns was the presence of religious symbols, the church
receiving public funds from the lease agreement and traffic issues the additional use may cause along
Wilson Avenue.
One commissioner later responded the concerns expressed by Larkin were beyond the issue the
planning commission was authorized to address and requested Larkin's remarks be removed from
consideration. The only issue before the planning commission was the impact additional traffic at the
location could create and whether the use was appropriate for the existing traffic infrastructure. The
Loveland Planning Commission not only approved LCS's request by unanimous vote but within the
next twelve months approved LCS locating their campus permanently on a parcel next to King of Glory
Lutheran Church less than one mile north up the same road off Wilson Avenue and 29th Street.
Ironically, prior to all mail ballot elections, Faith Evangelical Church which Lenard Larkin protested
having even an arms-length transaction with a government funded entity, is where voters historically
have decided who will represent them on Loveland's City Council from Ward 1.
In 2003, half of all the election day ballots cast were marked or dropped at the Faith Evangelical
Church which serves as the single largest polling station for numerous Ward 1 city precincts.
|
| Loveland's Ward I total votes cast since 2,000 |
| Ward I City Council candidate Jeremy Jersvig |
| Ward I City Council candidate Lenard Larkin |