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Clapper back on Pitkin County board

Aspen Times and Vail Daily News
From left, Patti Clapper, Carrie Tipper and Trevor Clapper watch the results come in on the Pitkin County website at El Rincon in Aspen.
Photo by Aubree Dallas/The Aspen Times |

Patti Clapper, who served three terms as a Pitkin County commissioner from 1999 to 2010, won another seat on the five-member board after defeating incumbent Rob Ittner for the District 1 seat.

Clapper had 3,971 votes, or 56.3 percent, over Ittner’s 3,082 votes, or 43.7 percent.

“I’m excited and ready,” Clapper said. “I ran a clean campaign and worked really hard. I’m ready to come back and work for the people of Pitkin County.”



For many voters, the impressions cast on the two candidates painted Ittner as the stronger business choice and Clapper as someone who is well-known and can relate more to longtime Aspen residents.



EAGLE COUNTY

Republican James van Beek is the new Eagle County sheriff — probably. Van Beek was leading Democrat Daric Harvey by 60 votes when unofficial totals were posted at 12:30 a.m.

However, Eagle County Clerk and Recorder Teak Simonton said 150 ballots remain to be counted from military personnel serving overseas, people living abroad and ballots with signature issues.

The winner will succeed outgoing Sheriff Joe Hoy.

In 2010, van Beek lost to Hoy by fewer than 90 votes.

• In the Eagle County commissioner race for District 3, which includes the Roaring Fork section of Eagle County, Eagle Democrat Jeanne McQueeney and Gypsum Republican Dick Mayne ran to replace Sara Fisher, who had served two terms. Term-limit laws require Fisher to leave office in early January.

McQueeney, currently the president of the Eagle County School Board, expanded her lead as the votes were counted.

• Incumbent state Rep. Mitsch Bush will return for another term for Colorado House District 26, which covers all of Eagle and Routt counties. She topped Republican challenger Chuck McConnell with more than 53 percent of the votes.

• Democrat Kerry Donovan of Vail led Republican Don Suppes of Orchard City by about 750 votes this morning in the race to represent Colorado state Senate District 5. District 5 includes Delta, Lake, Chaffee, Gunnison, Eagle, Pitkin and Hinsdale counties.

As of 8 a.m. today, state results showed Donovan led with 26,401 votes, or 48.64 percent of the ballots. Suppes followed with 25,680, or 47.25 percent of the votes, and Libertarian Lee Mulcahy, of Aspen, had 2,232 votes, for just over 4 percent.

BASALT

Basalt voters approved a 5 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana and an addition to the lodging tax on Tuesday.

They also OK’d a housecleaning item in the Home Rule Charter by making it consistent with the state by lowering the residency requirement needed to vote in an election to 22 days. Basalt’s charter previously set a residency requirement of 30 days.

The marijuana sales tax got 72 percent of the vote.

The lodging tax increase won 57 percent approval. The 2 percent tax provides an economic boost, Town Manager Mike Scanlon said.

“This will allow the Willits area [where a hotel is being built] to continue to be successful and be the engine that propels the midvalley area as well as Basalt,” he said.

SNOWMASS VILLAGE

Councilwoman Markey Butler will be Snowmass Village’s next mayor, outpolling Councilman Jason Haber.

In the race for Snowmass Village Town Council, Bob Sirkus was first, Bill Madsen second and Mayor Bill Boineau, who is term-limited from running for mayor again, was third. The two candidates with the most votes, Sirkus and Madsen, will fill the two seats opening up by Haber and Councilman Fred Kucker’s exits.

Butler’s election means that the new council will appoint someone to fill her vacated seat. That means all three of the council candidates could wind up on the board.


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