Five people elected in two special district elections this week

MetRec and CB Water and San…Dave, Sharon, Jennifer, Nancy and Jonathan

By Mark Reaman

Tuesday, May 6 was election day for two regional special districts and hundreds of people cast their ballots for two open seats on the Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation District (MetRec) and three seats on the Mt. Crested Butte Water and Sanitation District boards of directors. Votes announced this week are considered “unofficial” until they are officially certified.

Two south valley residents won the MetRec election with Dave Wiens and Sharon Mills garnering the most votes out of the six-person field. Wiens received the most votes districtwide with 315 to 229 for Mills. Sheila Davis came in third with 226 votes followed by Sean Patrick with 172, Adam Shindler with 163 and Shawn Cooper with 23.

Of the 603 total ballots cast, 346 were from the North Valley while 257 were cast in the Gunnison area. Wiens and Mills will be sworn in at the next board meeting on May 28.

Over at the Mt. CB Water and San election, seven people were running for three seats with four-year terms. The election saw 210 ballots cast and Jennifer O’Brien topped the candidates with 132 votes. Nancy Grindlay tallied 126 while Jonathan Ferrell won the third seat with 88 votes. Filling out the ballot were Dave Clayton who garnered 69 votes, Peter Esselstyn with 61, Tomasz Rolleczek with 43 and Carl Tucker who got 41 votes.

A seat with a two-year term on the Water and San board will be filled by board appointment.