The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
North Valley candidates emerging
[ By Mark Reaman ]It may feel early, but it is election season in Gunnison County. Two big elections impacting the North Valley include a Crested Butte town council and mayor’s race along with choosing the area representative for the Gunnison Watershed School District board of directors.
In the town of Crested Butte, five people have picked up petitions to consider running for council or mayor. Completed petitions must be returned by Friday in order to get on the ballot. As of this week incumbents Beth Goldstone and John O’Neal have submitted their petitions to run for one of the three open council seats on the seven-member board. Current mayor Ian Billick has submitted a petition to continue in that seat for a third two-year term.
There is still time to throw your name in the hat for council or mayor. To run, you must have been a resident and registered voter in Crested Butte for at least a year. You must submit ten qualified signatures to the town clerk before 5 p.m. on Friday, August 29.
As for the school board, two seats on the five-member board are up for election. One is the North Valley seat held by Tyler Martineau who is not seeking reelection, and the other is a Gunnison seat held by Katya Schloesser who was appointed to replace Mandy Roberts when she resigned earlier this year. Each candidate had to gather 50 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot and they are due back to the district office by Friday at 3:30 p.m.
As of early this week, two petitions have been picked up and two have been returned. Jennie Reithel submitted a petition to run for the Crested Butte seat while Schloesser has submitted a petition to run for the Gunnison seat.
If no other people submit petitions the school board could consider a resolution to cancel the election and appoint the petitioners to the board seats at the September 8 meeting.
