A voice of resilience, innovation and authenticity, Mayor Christine Sweetland carries a perspective of community and service that inspires our beautiful City of Centennial.
At one point in her life, she considered moving to England. She shares, “I grew up in Southeast Denver, and then my husband’s actually British, and so, when we first met, we were trying to decide who was going to move!”
Coming from a small town in England, her husband, Andy, decided Colorado would be a better opportunity for their family. Mayor Sweetland recognizes him for leaving friends who were like brothers to him and taking a leap of faith to move to Denver and drive on the other side of the road!
“Random fact,” she exclaims, “We saw each other face-to-face 18 days before we got married and we celebrated 26 years of marriage this year!”
When they started looking for houses, they found a beautiful home in Cherry Knolls. “It’s such a great community. They’re 1965 houses and the community is really close-knit. The elementary school is within walking distance, the middle school and high school are [close by]. The pool is a big thing for the summer. So we settled there.”
Seeking flexibility in her schedule, she started her own small business, building a career as a real estate appraiser. She shares, “As the boys grew, so did my business. It gave me that flexibility so that I could still help in their school.”
From the beginning, Mayor Sweetland put her hands to serving the community. She wanted to be part of her two boys’ lives, so she volunteered in the school library, helped at field days and made sure to always be at every soccer game.
Then she started volunteering with the neighborhood association. This opened the door for her to become president of the association, and in 2019, Mayor Sweetland ran for Town Council.
She shares about the funding and programs that made a difference during the pandemic. “As a small business owner, I knew how scary it was for our small businesses. We were able to put 9.5 million dollars back into our small businesses.”
She talks about supporting the brick and mortar establishments that were able to build patios, hair stylists that were experiencing severe limitations to their work and business owners working from home. The way the Town Council was able to direct its funding made a defining difference during such uncertain times for small businesses.
“The other thing I’m really proud of being on council, we have a Centennial Home Improvement program, so if your house was built in 1985 or older and you replace the windows or get rid of a wood shed roof, we will refund your permit. We also made considerations for ‘aging in place,’ but especially ‘aging in place safely,’ so we added accessibility changes to homes. Now, accessibility adjustments, regardless of the age of your home, also get a refund on your permit. This ensures homeowners will pull a permit, so the contractor has to go through the city. It protects our senior community and the quality of the work being done in their homes. I really appreciate that we as a council put that through.”
When asked what inspires her, Mayor Sweetland shares, “The community! How we were so grassroots to form as a city in Centennial. It was just a few people who got together and said, ‘Hey, we want to be in control of our own destiny,’ and they made that happen. That is [the heart], even to this day, that we’re very innovative. The people really feel connected to Centennial. And so many people grew up in Centennial, and they’re proud to be bringing their kids back here to have the same childhood they had. I just want to make sure that we continue that. I’m inspired by it.”
She expands, “Centennial turns 25 this year. We have a great legacy and a great foundation. Now we’re asking, what will the next 25 years look like?”
Both vision and resilience define the steps Mayor Sweetland continues to take. She is also a breast cancer survivor. Celebrating 5 years in March, she says, “I’m grateful because my husband was an amazing caregiver and because we live in this amazing community. We have so many friends that brought meals, who reached out and were there for all of us. We were just so grateful for so many in our community that helped support us through that time. It makes me more dedicated to wanting to make my community better.”
She goes into detail, “The hardest part is that you spend so much time focusing on getting through the next chemo, the next radiation and then when you’re done that’s when you have time to really digest everything that you have been through. They call it the fourth treatment of cancer, but it’s that time where you realize what you’ve been through. That was the hardest part. When you’re starting to feel better and more normal, and you’re like, ‘oh wow, my body has been through a lot. I’ve been through a lot emotionally. I put my family through a lot.’ It’s a lot to process. I found a breast cancer support group and that was really good. That really helped me a lot.”
“For me, personally, I like being busy. I was working full-time, being on council and going through this. I wouldn’t say that I did all of those things well, but at the same time, I needed to feel normal and those were the things that made me feel normal.”
She encourages, “I really think it’s important to figure out how you can help your community, whatever that looks like for you, right? Whatever it is, it makes a huge difference. You might not think it’s a lot, but if everybody just does a little bit, it’s amazing how much better our community becomes.”
Through all of her experiences, Mayor Sweetland expresses, “What I have found being on city council and now mayor is this really is my outreach into the community, but people do it in different ways, whether it’s art, there’s so many other ways to do it. So find that!”
“And it’s hard, right? Everybody’s busy, but try to find that time to do a little bit of something that brings you joy. I think that’s really important. Especially in today, what we’re living through right now. However we can help people, it matters.”
She implores, “As crazy as the world seems, if I can make my little corner of the world better, then, that’s what I want to do. Great? Yeah.”
Mayor Sweetland is already in the trenches to build out midtown Centennial, create opportunities to host the Denver Summit, a National Women’s Soccer League and continue to contribute to our innovative community. If you see her at ribbon cuttings or around the community, don’t be afraid to say hi. She’ll welcome you with the most beautiful smile!
“Centennial turns 25 this year. We have a great legacy and a great foundation. Now we’re asking, what will the next 25 years look like?”