Dolores will hold its first mail-in election this spring, even though there aren’t enough candidates yet for the election to be competitive.
The election must be held because the deadline for someone to file to be a write-in candidate falls after date for the town to start sending out ballots.
So it is possible the election could become competitive, said interim Town Manager Lana Hancock.
The conflicting dates are something the town would like to fix.
“That will also be something we will try to rectify between this election and the next election,” she said.
The town has budgeted $5,000 for the election, which the town staff hopes will attract more participation, Hancock said.
The numbers show it is generally the preferred method as well.
During the last town election, about 120 people voted by mail and only about 60 visited the polling place, she said.
The field of candidates has a lot of familiar faces.
Trustees Isabelle Boyce, James Baird, and former mayor Duvall Truelsen are all running for trustee seats, Hancock said. Robert Dobry is the only new-comer running for trustee.
Trustees Sandy Lauzon and Collette Heeney have opted to not run again. While Ginger McClellan-Swope’s term lasts until 2018.
Trustee Santiago Lopez is running unopposed for mayor.
Looking back on six years as mayor, Truelsen said he led fiscally conservative boards, that still built a shop for city equipment and maintenance and upgraded water and sewer lines.
He said the town is well prepared for the upcoming drop in severance taxes.
Taxes from C02 extraction contribute between $20,000 to $30,000 to the town’s street fund.
The town is anticipating a 50 percent drop in their taxes.
“We’ve budgeted accordingly,” he said.
Dobry, who will likely be the new face on the board, moved to town a little over a year ago from Philadelphia.
He is currently on the Planning and Zoning Commission ,and when he joined six months ago it wasn’t active.
“Someone has got to be paying attention,” he said.
He would like to see all commercial project go through the commission instead of going through the building administrator.
He would also like the town to work with businesses to help attract and retain them.
“Economic development is a big thing Dolores needs to be focused on,” he said.
