Cherylin Peniston

Cherylin Naylor Peniston[2] (born 3 March 1948[3]) is a former legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. A career public school teacher, Peniston was first elected as a Democrat in 2006 to the Colorado House of Representatives. She represented House District 35, which encompasses most of Westminster, Colorado and portions of Arvada.[4] Term limited, she did not seek re-election in 2014.[5]

Cherylin Peniston
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives
from the 35th district
In office
January 10, 2007[1]  January 7, 2015
Preceded byAnn Ragsdale
Succeeded byFaith Winter
Personal details
Born (1948-03-03) March 3, 1948
Chicago, Illinois
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseW.J.[2]
ProfessionTeacher

Biography

Born in Chicago, Illinois,[3] Peniston earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of La Verne in 1970,[2] and spent her career teaching social studies and foreign languages at Scott Carpenter Middle School in Adams County School District 50 from 1971 to 1999.[3]

While teaching, she earned her master's degree in International Studies from the University of Denver in 1990, and won two Fulbright Scholarships to study abroad for six weeks in Egypt in 1987 and for three weeks in Japan in 1997.[2][6]

Between 1999 and 2003, Peniston was elected to two terms as president of the Westminster Education Association, the local union associated with the National Education Association.[2] She was also a member of the District 50 Education Foundation, and was also a substitute teacher at Scott Carpenter Middle School from 2003 until 2006.[3]

From 2005 to 2006, Peniston was Assistant Secretary of the Adams County Democratic Party,[3] and was a member of the Adams County Democratic Latino PAC and the Colorado Democratic Latino Initiative.[2] Peniston is married; she and her husband, W.J., have two children, Erin and Geoffry, and at least one grandchild.[2][6]

Legislative career

2006 election

Spurred to run for elected office because of her experiences as a teacher and union leader,[7] Peniston was elected to the state house in 2006, first winning the Democratic party primary over Jeff Vigil[8] and then defeating Republican Ruben Pacheco by a 2:1 margin, winning a predominantly Democratic district[4] in which Pacheco did not run an active campaign. Peniston was endorsed both by the Rocky Mountain News[9] and the Denver Post,[10] as well as by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.[11]

2007 legislative session

In the 2007 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Peniston sat on the House Education Committee and the House Local Government Committee.[12] Peniston's only unsuccessful bill during the 2007 session was a measure to require that school districts which make budget cutbacks cut pay for administrators as well as teachers; it was killed in a Senate committee.[13]

Following the legislative session, Peniston served on the legislature's Police Officers' and Firefighters' Pension Reform Commission.[14]

2008 legislative session

In the 2008 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Peniston sits on the House Education Committee and the House Local Government Committee.[15]

Peniston worked with elementary school students in Adams County to draft and sponsor a measure to name the Western painted turtle the Colorado state reptile.[16] After passing the General Assembly, the bill was signed into law by Gov. Bill Ritter at the students' school.[17]

2008 election

Peniston sought a second term in the legislature in 2008, facing Republican Tracy Gimer. Peniston's re-election bid was endorsed by the Denver Post,[18] and she prevailed with 67 percent of the popular vote.[19]

Peniston has also sponsored legislation to require that adopted pets be spayed or neutered,[20] to allow gifted children to enter kindergarten or first grade at earlier ages,[21][22] to create curricula for students in juvenile detention or residential treatment,[23] and to allow residential projects as part of transit-oriented development in conjunction with FasTracks.[24][25]

2009 legislative session

For the 2009 legislative session, Peniston was named to chair the House Local Government Committee and to a seat on the House Education Committee.[26]

With Sen. John Morse, Peniston plans on introducing legislation to increase vehicle registration fees by $1 to pay for rural ambulance services.[27] Peniston has also sponsored legislation to require tags or ID chips on many domestic cats.[28]

2012 election

In the 2012 General Election, Representative Peniston faced Republican challenger Brian Vande Krol. Peniston was elected by a margin of 56% to 44%.[29][30]

References

  1. "House Journal - January 10, 2007" (PDF). Colorado General Assembly. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  2. "Cherlyin Naylor Peniston - Colorado - State House District 35 candidate". RockyMountainNews.com. Archived from the original on 2007-07-29. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
  3. "Representative Cherylin Peniston". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  4. "State House District 35". COMaps. Archived from the original on 2009-02-15. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
  5. Ballotpedia. Cherylin Peniston. Viewed: 2017-01-29.
  6. Bartels, Lynn (15 February 2008). "Judge lifts lobbyist gift ban". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  7. Staff Reports (21 January 2008). "This week in the Legislature". Colorado Springs Gazette. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  8. Bartels, Lynn (20 August 2006). "Few Hispanics win in primaries". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
  9. Editorial board (12 October 2006). "Our choices for the Colorado House". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
  10. Editorial Board (7 October 2006). "State House races". Denver Post. Archived from the original on 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  11. "Brady Campaign Endorses Colorado Candidates" (Press release). Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. 18 October 2006. Archived from the original on 2008-10-23. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  12. "House Committees of Reference". Colorado General Assembly. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  13. Washington, April M. (1 March 2007). "Across-the-board school pay cuts fail in Senate committee". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
  14. "Police Officers' and Firefighters' Pension Reform Commission". Colorado Legislative Council. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  15. "House Committees of Reference". Colorado General Assembly. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  16. Davidson, Michael (23 January 2008). "'No' vote from Bruce can't derail student campaign". Colorado Springs Gazette. Archived from the original on 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  17. Davidson, Michael; Andy Wineke (19 March 2008). "Assembly glance". Colorado Springs Gazette. Archived from the original on 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  18. Editorial Board (17 October 2008). "Post's picks in Colorado's House of Representatives". Denver Post. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  19. "Colorado Statewide Cumulative Report - 2008 General Election". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  20. Brown, Jennifer (19 February 2008). "Spay, neuter mandate wins initial OK". Denver Post. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  21. Staff Reports (29 January 2008). "Under The Dome this week". Denver Post. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  22. ""Smart Start" Bill Gives Gifted Young Children a Chance to Begin School When Ready" (Press release). Colorado House Democrats. 11 April 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  23. Harden, Mark (27 May 2008). "Bill creating school counselor corps signed". Denver Business Journal. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
  24. Staff Reports (27 December 2007). "Health, education top concerns". Westminster Window. Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  25. Caccarelli, Rachel (13 December 2007). "Lawmakers talk legislation, react to chamber objectives". Westminster Window. Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  26. "House Democrats Unveil 2009 Committee Chairs & Assignments" (Press release). Colorado House Democrats. 18 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-01-03.
  27. Staff Reports (26 November 2008). "Rural Ambulance Woes Raise Talk of Statewide Fee Increase". Face the State. Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
  28. Sealover, Ed (9 January 2009). "Bills already proposed cover cats, slow drivers". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
  29. "CO - Election Results - Colorado Secretary of State". Archived from the original on 2017-03-14.
  30. "State House 2012 Election Results - Denver Post". Archived from the original on 2014-07-08. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
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