Councilman Denver Officially Begins Campaign for Re-Election

John Denver is administered the oath for his sworn statement by assistant city clerk Jennifer Allen Monday as he pulls papers to run for re-election on the Menifee City Council.

Longtime Menifee resident John Denver, the incumbent District 4 representative on the Menifee City Council, today pulled papers at City Hall to run for another term.

Denver has served on the City Council since the city incorporated in 2008. He was Menifee's mayor before the city's current mayor, Scott Mann. Prior to Menifee's incorporation, Denver served on a committee when Sun City sought cityhood about 20 years ago.

Denver said he considers his experience in local city government one of his strengths as a candidate to remain on the City Council, along with his commitment to public safety, road improvements surrounding McCall Boulevard and familiarity with the Romoland community in his district.

"Romoland is barely known in the City of Menifee," Denver said about the rural community that became the northeast portion of Menifee upon incorporation in 2008. "They consider themselves the stepchild, and we have to fix that."

Denver attends many public functions in the Romoland community and visits all the schools there to become more familiar with the needs of the residents. He said he also wants to make sure that residents throughout his district are adequately protected by local police and fire services, given the area's rapid growth.

In addition, he was a leader in the push to add the reconstruction of the McCall Boulevard freeway interchange to the city's list of road projects. McCall -- the main east-west artery through District 4 -- will receive lane expansion and on-ramp upgrades after similar projects are completed at Newport Road and Scott Road.

"It took a couple of years before I got people to vote with me on that, but we needed it," Denver said. "Street and highway improvements are a big priority."

Denver took out papers on the first day of the application period for city council and mayoral seats. Two of the city's four city council districts -- District 4 and District 2, where Tom Fuhrman is the current representative -- are up for four-year terms. No one has yet declared themselves a candidate to oppose Mann for the two-year term of mayor.

Candidates have until Aug. 8 to return completed applications for these positions.