Matthew Crabtree entered the race for the at-large seat on the city council because he wants to work to make city government more transparent and more accessible to Englewood residents.

“I have attended virtually every council meetings over the last two years and I feel I have witnessed the council making some decisions that aren’t in the best interest of the people of Englewood,” he said. “That should change. I also saw a lack of transparency and worked with the grass-roots organization Englewood Citizens for Open Government to successfully bring about changes in that area but more needs to be done.”

Crabtree is a Colorado native who grew up in Lakewood. After high school, he attended a two-year program at a vocational school focused on electrical engineering. For the last eight years, he has worked as a broadcast engineer for a company that broadcasts music to subscribers via satellite. He also has been a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity for the last seven years.

He said it was five years ago when, as a first-time home buyer, he initially visited Englewood. He said he felt this was a unique community and purchased a home in the city.

He said after attending city council meetings for about two years, he feels he is prepared to be a candidate in the upcoming election.

“I feel being at those meetings has prepared me to seek a seat on the council as I have gathered a lot of knowledge about the city and the council. I have taken notes and, since last year, recording every council meeting and study session and putting that information up on the Internet for anyone who wants to review it,” he said. “I have done research and I have spoken frequently to the council, seeking to expose and change issues that impact the people of the community.”

Crabtree agrees that finances are the No. 1 problem facing the city in the near future. He said hard decisions must be made to alleviate the annual crisis-like atmosphere that surrounds creating a balanced budget.

“On possible solution is to encourage our existing businesses and attract new businesses to the city, which would increase sales tax collections that are the city’s largest revenue source,” Crabtree said.

He said, to do that, the perception that the city doesn’t work with the business community has to change. He said, for example, there are portions of the city-adopted uniform development code that have a negative impact on the business community and should be eliminated or modified.

He also wants to see the city adopt a more transparent and open policy by making as much information as possible available to the residents.

“For example, I would like to see the entire line-item budget on the Internet,” he said. “I feel people need to see where the tax dollars are being spend and 34,000 sets of eyes looking at the budget are better than just seven.”

He said, if elected, he would like to promote more fiscal responsibility by reducing needless spending so the city doesn’t continue to operate at a deficit. Crabtree also supports using available money to begin programing on public access Channel 8 as a way to establish better communications with the community.

“I am a candidate because I wish to work on issues like responsible budgeting, and protecting personal property rights,” he said. “If elected, I will support transparency and open government.”