Kathy Turley
Age: 69
Occupation: Licensed health insurance agent
Family: Husband, three grown children, three grandchildren
Residency: Has lived in Centennial for 40 years
Political experience: Appointed by Gov. Bill Owen to Colorado Commission on Aging, was Owens’ delegate to the White House Conference on Aging, was appointed to the Denver Regional Council of Governments Aging and Adult Supervisory Board, elected to initial Centennial Charter Commission and currently serves on InnovAge Council and Arapahoe County Council on Aging
Education: Bachelor’s degree in sociology, associate’s degree in early childhood education
Website: kathyturley4centennial.com
Why she’s running: Turley said she’s running because she has the time, expertise and experience from more than 40 years in the public and private sectors to contribute to city government. She said she also has experience working on a team that has common goals. She wants to maintain the city’s image as being the safest in the state and the most efficiently managed city in the state. She said she wants to maintain what the city is doing to protect the interests of constituents in District 1, all the while supporting the economic development happening on the eastern side of the city, which is where it should be happening since that’s the newer part of the city.
One issue important to Turley is establishing Centennial’s identity and furthering its foundation as a “virtual city.” She also wants to focus on roads and public safety, meaning more contracting and less government and making sure those services are delivered as efficiently as possible to taxpayers.
“For me, less government is good government — cut the overhead, only provide the basic essentials,” she said.
She said she’s intrigued by some of the things the county senior commission is looking at, such as a village-to-village concept, expanding social media communication access, adding benches throughout the city for the elderly to sit on, having longer light signals and increasing the number of single-level homes. She also wants seniors to have the option to stay in their homes as they age.
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