Bailey embraces district's diversity

Stuart Steers, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 23, 2007 at midnight

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When Sharon Bailey was growing up in Denver in the 1960s, the civil rights movement was in full bloom and there was a sense that anything was possible.

She recalls her student days at East High School as a time when the vestiges of segregation were falling, when it was suddenly possible for friendships to cross racial lines.

"It was an amazing, wonderful time," Bailey said. "It was a multi-ethnic school with great teachers. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything."

After graduating in 1971, she went on to Princeton University, which had been accepting women for only two years. She says that experience helped prepare her to represent District 8, which may be Denver's most diverse City Council seat.

"I had friends of all kinds there," she said.

After graduating, Bailey worked for a program based at Princeton that took inner-city youths on wilderness trips. It was there that she met her husband, John.

In 1976, she returned to Colorado. Even though she soon had three sons to raise, she started taking graduate classes at the University of Colorado, where she eventually earned a Ph.D in public administration.

She took a job working for Metropolitan State College, where she helped start the Metro on the Mall outreach program.

"Higher education has been my passion," Bailey said.

With three children, Bailey was deeply involved with the public schools in her Park Hill neighborhood.

"I was the parent who brought doughnuts to meetings," she said with a laugh.

In 1989, she ran for the school board and was elected to a six-year term. She's proud that she carried precincts all across the city.

"I learned a lot about the city and different neighborhoods," she said. "We were from at-large districts and accountable to all citizens."

District 8 is roughly one-third black, one- third white and one- third Hispanic. The district - which encircles City Park in north-central Denver - has traditionally been viewed as the "black seat" on council and played a crucial role in the rise of black political power in Denver.

But in recent years, many black families have moved to the suburbs, and they've been replaced by white and Hispanic residents. Bailey is confident she can represent all of them.

"The diversity is really a joy," she said. "I've never lived in a racially isolated situation."

Sharon Bailey

• Age: 53

• Background: A former member of the Denver school board, Bailey now works as a manager in the Denver Auditor's Office.

• Education: Princeton University, University of Colorado

• Family: Husband John

Denver runoff election

• In the mail: All voting is by mail. Voters will receive their ballots through the mail. They can return them with 41 cents postage.

• Due date: June 5

• Dropoff locations: Beginning Tuesday, voters can drop off ballots at the following locations: Denver Election Commission, 303 W. Colfax Ave.; Glenarm Recreation Center, 2800 Glenarm Place; New Hope Baptist Church, 3701 Colorado Blvd.

This week in the Rocky

• Monday: Union organizer Paul Lopez and Denver City Hall veteran JoAnn Phillips vie for council in District 3.

• Tuesday: Economist Chris Nevitt opposes former council aide Shelly Watters in District 7.

• Today: Former school board member Sharon Bailey faces neighborhood association president Carla Madison in District 8.

steerss@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2282

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