Laemmel wins GCEA seat

“The end of an era…”

The new Gunnison County Electric Association representative for district three is Bart Laemmel. Laemmel ran against Randy Barrett in the election that ended this week. Both were running for the first time. District three encompasses Crested Butte South and essentially runs to the Gunnison City limits.

Chris Morgan squeaked out re-election in District 2 as he ran unopposed for the seat that primarily represents Mt. Crested Butte and Gothic.
This year, 1,105 ballots were cast. “That’s about an average number of ballots that we typically see,” explained GCEA Chief Executive Officer Mike Wells. “We sent out about 8,700 ballots so it’s about a 12 percent return. Bart received 644 votes. Randy received 447 and Chris received 962 votes.”
The GCEA election was concluded Tuesday and Wells said the election marked the end of an era. “Helen Allen was the longtime district 3 director and she served for 14 years,” he said. “Helen did a great job and we’ll miss her. It’s interesting that it will be the first time in 72 years that we won’t have an Allen on the GCEA board. The family has been on the board since we incorporated in 1938. It’s the end of an era.”
Laemmel said he’s excited to have won the seat. “It’s a great opportunity,” he said. “A lot of people worked to help get me elected and I’m thankful for their hard work. Hopefully I can get on the board and learn about it first of all. What I know is from the consumer end and now I have to learn the other side.
“Once I get that under my belt, hopefully I can help shape policy,” Laemmel continued. “My focus is energy efficiency and that’s where I’d like the valley to go. I’d like to see even more help to members in the efficiency realm and I’d like to promote better, more efficient buildings in the future as well.”
Laemmel will be seated at next month’s board meeting. Both he and Morgan were elected to three-year terms.