The Arapahoe County Treasurer’s office collects, invests and disburses county funds, takes in property taxes and distributes revenue to the county and other local governments and public entitites, including school districts.
Republican Sue Sandstrom, the incumbent, and Democrat Doug Milliken run against each other for the third straight time for the same office, with Milliken winning the first round in 2006 and Sandstrom taking the rematch in 2010.
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Sandstrom, Milliken face off for third time
By COURTNEY OAKES, Staff Writer
The race for Arapahoe County Treasurer in 2014 essentially marks the rubber match between two candidates that know just about everything about each other: Sue Sandstrom and Doug Milliken.
The familiar foes faced off in each of the previous two elections as well for the four-year position and Sandstrom — a Republican — and Democrat Milliken each claimed one victory, with the most recent round going to Sandstrom in 2010.
Candidates have found that citizens’ knowledge is very limited about the exact functions of the Arapahoe County Treasurer’s office — which collects, invests and disburses county funds, takes in property taxes and distributes revenue to the county and other local governments and public entities, including school districts.
Both candidates had their successes in their four-year terms in the treasurer’s office, though they faced different economic circumstances when they served.
Sandstrom — a Certified Public Accountant who spent six years on the Aurora City Council — rebounded from a narrow loss to Milliken in 2006 to take the last election by a significant margin. She is proud of the transparency she said she brought to the office and touts that not a “single penny” of taxpayer money was lost despite some challenging economic times, though her opponent has asserted otherwise.
“I don’t like to get negative. I know I’ve done a good job,” Sandstrom said. “I think we’ve done a really good job in a difficult economic environment of keeping taxpayers’ money safe. … My opponent will tell you that he made more money investing in his term than I did in mine. That’s true, but interest rates were seven times higher.”
Recently replacing an antiquated computer system with a much more modern one, Sandstrom said the treasurer’s office is more efficient and able to make more data available to constituents. She estimates that posting Public Trustee Unclaimed Foreclosure Funds online has helped the office return $500,000 to taxpayers.
Milliken, also a CPA and a tax advisor, is eager for another shot at the office as well. He won the 2006 election by a slight margin despite information that surfaced about some of his personal financial troubles and took over the post following a stint as the first treasurer for Centennial, which was in the process of becoming its own city.
With a corporate and government finance background, the Centennial resident touts $42 million in investment earnings during his four years as treasurer as an indicator of what he can do with investing taxpayer money.
“I was the first Democrat elected to the office and I think I changed it for the better,” Milliken said. “If people want to restore an office that works for them, they should carefully look and vote all the way down the ballot.”
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Doug Milliken, a Democrat, is a Certified Public Accountant and tax advisor who held the office of Arapahoe County Treasurer from 2006-2010. A former treasurer of the city of Centennial, where he resides, Milliken also has past Wall Street experience.
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Sue Sandstrom, a Republican, has held the Arapahoe County Treasurer’s office since 2010. She has been a Certified Public Accountant for 39 years and the owner and operator of a tax practice in Aurora since 1990. Sandstrom, a county resident for nearly three decades, also served six years on the Aurora City County between 2003 and 2010 and was the mayor pro tem in 2006.
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https://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/CandidateDetail.aspx?SeqID=28832
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https://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/CandidateDetail.aspx?SeqID=28832
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Speaker of the House Mark Ferrandino
Arapahoe County Commissioner Bill Holen
Arapahoe County Commissioner Nancy Jackson
Aurora City Councilmember Debi Hunter-Holen.
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Mayor Steve Hogan – Aurora
Mayor Cathy Noon – Centennial
Mayor Ron Rakowsky – Greenwood Village
Treasurer Tim Kaufman – Jefferson County
Treasurer Diane Holbert – Douglas County
Treasurer Brigitte Grimm – Adams County
Aurora City Council Members – Bob Broom; Bob LeGare; Marsha Berzins; Sally Mounier; Brad Pierce; Barb Cleland; Bob Roth.
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