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New Castle may cancel its election

Heidi Rice
Post Independent Contributor

NEW CASTLE — Four nomination petitions were returned by the 5 p.m. deadline on Thursday for four open seats on the New Castle Town Council, and unless a write-in candidate files, the April 8 election will be canceled.

The open seats are for mayor and three councilors. Current Mayor Frank Breslin is stepping down after three and a half terms since he was appointed to the board in 1988.

Breslin started mid-term as mayor when the previous mayor moved from town. Breslin was re-elected mayor for a term from 1990-1994. In 1994, he ran for a council seat and lost. But he ran for mayor again in 2006 and served two four-year terms until 2014. He is now seeking a council seat.



“I’m not seeking mayor, but I do trust everybody on my council. I’ve been allowing the council to take turns choosing the next person to chair the meeting just so everyone gets a little training and knows what it’s like. To me, [the council] is the orchestra and [the mayor] is the conductor — you control the tempo and keep order. But they get to choose the harmony and make the music. As mayor, your job is to shut up and listen.”

Councilor Bob Gordon is seeking Breslin’s seat as mayor. Gordon has served on the town council since 1998.



“I’ve always been happy to support whoever was on, but it’s time [for me to run for mayor],” Gordon said.

“There are a lot of things that are going to be happening in this town — with RFTA’s new park-and-ride, the pedestrian bridge over the [Colorado] river and the connecting trail to Apple Tree Park and the new park next to the New Hope Church. There’s a lot of activity going on.”

Bruce Leland and Art Riddile are seeking the remaining two seats on the council. All terms are for four years.

Two other petitions were picked up, but were not returned by the deadline, according to Town Clerk Melody Harrison.

Write-in candidates have until March 7 to submit an affidavit of intent with the New Castle town clerk..

If no write-in petitions are filed, the April 8 election will be canceled.

For more information about the New Castle municipal election, contact Harrison at (970) 984-2311.


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