Clayton, Gitin and Keiser win election

231 Mt. Crested Butte ballots counted

The results of the 2008 Mt. Crested Butte Town Council election are in—David Clayton, Andrew Gitin and Gary Keiser have officially won at the polls to become the next three members of the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council.

They will replace former Town Council members Danny D’Aquila, Chris Morgan and Tom Steuer. Morgan has also been serving as mayor of Mt. Crested Butte. Morgan and D’Aquila both reached the end of their term limits on April 1, while Steuer did not pursue re-election.
Incumbent Mt. Crested Butte Town Council member William Buck was appointed mayor on Wednesday, April 2.
There were six total candidates for the 2008 election. In addition to the winners, the candidates included Susan Eskew, Bob Goettge, and Jim Sharpe. The winning candidates, as well as the latter trio, ran as electoral slates—groups of candidates who support each other in hopes of taking a larger share of the available seats. 
Individually, the candidates for the winning slate received nearly twice as many votes as their opponents. Gitin was the leading candidate with 175 votes, followed by Clayton with 160, and Keiser with 144.
On the other slate, candidate Sharpe received 66 votes, Goettge received 62, and Eskew received 55.
The winning slate took 479 votes, and the second took 183.
According to town clerk Donna Arwood, there are approximately 750 residents (including many part-time residents) in the town of Mt. Crested Butte; of those, 632 are registered voters. Two hundred and thirty-one votes were cast in the 2008 Mt. Crested Butte election, with a few stray votes going to some unusual suspects (cartoon characters cannot be elected).
Clayton, who was celebrating the results with his running mates at the Firehouse Grill on Tuesday evening, is excited to have won. “I thought it was a great election. I have to give a lot of credit to my team, as well as the other three candidates,” Clayton says.
Clayton feels it’s a positive thing that the candidates won together as a slate. “Each of us brings some really good talents to the table,” Clayton says, commenting on Gitin’s business skills and Keiser’s financial background.
Gitin says, “I think it’s a great team… I can’t wait to work with these guys.” One of the things Gitin would like to pursue while on the council is, “to enhance the working relationship with the Crested Butte Town Council.”
Keiser echoed similar sentiments and said, “It’s going to be fun to be involved in all the things going on here in town in the next four years.” Keiser says one of his main interests will be the town’s five-year financial plan. “It’s important we get that finished up and know where we are from a financial standpoint.”
During a regular council meeting on Wednesday, April 2, the new Town Council members took their oaths and were sworn into office. A reception to greet the new council members and bid farewell to the outgoing members preceded the meeting.
Board positions on various civic organizations and committees were appointed during the meeting, and a new mayor was also selected. Look for further coverage in next week’s issue of the Crested Butte News.