In April, Mancos voters will pick a new mayor, make a decision on Internet rules and select how long the new trustees will serve.
Five open Mancos Town Board seats will likely be filled by five candidates. Lorraine Becker, Ed Hallan, Craig Benally, Matthew Baskin and Fred Brooks are all in the running. Both Becker and Baskin are incumbents, who were appointed to the board.
Hallan has previously served on the board, while Benally and Brooks are newcomers to town.
It’s a somewhat smaller field compared with 2014, when nine candidates ran for four seats, but town clerk and treasurer Heather Alvarez was still pleased.
“I think it’s a good balance between historical knowledge and new ideas,” she said.
Depending on how many votes each candidate receives will determine the length of their term.
The top three in the April election will serve for four years, and the bottom two will serve two year terms, said Heather Alvarez town clerk and treasurer.
Unless a write candidate enters the race they are all guarantied seats.
“Technically, as of now, you are all elected,” she told them Tuesday.
The group will be joining Trustee Michele Black, whose term expires in 2018.
They will be making $200 a month in their new positions, after the current board decided to increase the salaries by $50 a month. The change was effective for the incoming board.
Trustees Will Stone and Queenie Bars are competing for the mayor’s seat.
While traditionally the mayor in Mancos only votes to break a tie or to ensure there are enough voting members to hold a meeting, that could be changing.
The town code gives conflicting direction on whether the mayor should vote and the board is researching the issue to clarify it, said Town Manager Andrea Phillips.
Voters will also be asked to decide whether or not the town should have the right to lease out Internet infrastructure that it owns to companies who can use it to provide faster service for businesses and residents.
A 2005 state law, known as SB 152, prevents local governments from directly providing Internet or leasing out a substantial amount of its infrastructure to private providers.
Across Colorado, towns and counties including Durango and La Plata County have opted out of the law.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
