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Phillips touts government experience

Stuart Steers, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 21, 2007 at midnight

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JoAnn Phillips can see the stages of her life unfold before her from a hill in Barnum Park.

At the bottom of the hill is the community swimming pool she and her childhood friends spent hours in during the summer. Next to the pool is the recreation center that the late City Councilman Sam Sandos helped create, a man Phillips credits with drawing her into politics.

And on the horizon is downtown Denver, where Phillips has spent years working in city government. Now she is facing Paul Lopez in the June 5 runoff election for the District 3 City Council seat.

Phillips, 58, was born in Denver's Curtis Park neighborhood. When she was in seventh grade, her mother was able to find an affordable home in the Villa Park neighborhood.

Phillips and her husband live in that house today with her mother.

She remembers the west side of her youth as a close-knit place where neighbors watched out for one another's children.

Phillips, who is Hispanic, married Jerry Phillips 34 years ago. For several years, she stayed home and raised their two children. She met Sandos during his annual Christmas basket drive, when he collected donations to help deliver food baskets to struggling families.

She remembers watching Sandos get angry with some city officials during a liquor license hearing. She was startled to see him laughing and shaking hands with them afterward.

"I said 'Sam, you were just fighting with them,' " she recalled. "He said 'That was in there, now we're outside.' He kept things separate."

She was part of an effort to clean up Lakewood Dry Gulch - then an overgrown weed patch where criminals would hide - and turn it into a park.

After Ramona Martinez was elected to City Council, she asked Phillips to become her assistant. She found it fascinating to watch politics at City Hall.

"It was great to be behind the scenes and find out how things were done," said Phillips, who now works for the Denver public works department.

She believes her background in city government will help her bring projects and services to District 3.

"You need to listen to both sides and make an informed decision," Phillips said. "We really need somebody with experience."

JoAnn Phillips

• Age: 58

• Background: Oversees contract compliance in the Denver Department of Public Works. She is a former City Council aide and past president of the Villa Park Neighborhood Association.

• Education: St. Joseph's High School.

• Family: Husband Jerry D. Phillips

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