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Voting begins in Glenwood council election

Tony Hershey
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Two contested Glenwood Springs City Council seats are on the line and one ballot question will be decided as city voters should soon receive their mail ballots for the April 7 city election.

According to City Clerk Catherine Mythen, a total of 4,899 ballots were mailed Monday to registered voters living within city limits.

Anyone who does not receive a ballot within the next week but believes they should have should contact the City Clerk’s Office to make sure they are properly registered and eligible to vote, Mythen said.



The ballot includes the citywide race for the open At-Large seat on City Council between Tony Hershey, Kathryn Trauger and Kathy Williams.

The winner of that contest will replace outgoing Councilman Dave Sturges, who is term-limited.



In Ward 1, a potential 1,040 voters (roughly) will decide the contest between Russ Arensman and Steve Davis to be their next ward representative. The winner will replace current Councilman Ted Edmonds, who decided not to run for re-election.

Ward 1 includes the area west of Grand Avenue and east of the Roaring Fork River between Seventh and 14th Streets, as well as the Midland Avenue corridor from West Glenwood to 27th Street.

Also on the ballot in Wards 3 and 4 are incumbent Council members Todd Leahy and Mike Gamba, who are running unopposed for re-election to their seats.

Additionally, city voters are being asked to decide a single ballot question regarding the possible sale or conveyance of city-owned property on the south end of Glenwood.

The ballot question seeks voter permission authorizing the city to consider selling or otherwise transferring a one-third-acre parcel located near the Roaring Fork River at the southwest corner of the larger city-owned piece of land between the river and the Rio Grande river trail near the 23rd Street intersection at Highway 82/South Grand Avenue.

City Council forwarded the question to the ballot last November, following an earlier proposal by an adjacent property owner to swap a piece of land fronting South Grand at 23rd Street for the city-owned parcel.

Council members indicated at the time that a potential land swap, if voters approve it, could work with the city’s plans to eventually improve that intersection. The decision to put the question on the ballot passed 6-1, with only Mayor Leo McKinney opposed.

“I have yet to see the value of this transaction to the city,” McKinney told the Post Independent at the time. “I haven’t been convinced that this is in the best interests of the city’s long-term plans.”

The city property is included as part of a long-range trails master plan that at one time called for a pedestrian bridge across the river at that point to what was envisioned as a trail along the west side of the Roaring Fork. However, that portion of the trails plan has never been pursued.

If voters authorize the city to unload the property, any specific proposals would have to go through a detailed review by City Council with input from the city’s transportation, trails and other advisory boards.

As for the upcoming election, Mythen said voters can either mail their completed ballots back to the address at City Hall that is included on the return envelope. Or voters can drop them off at the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall, 101 W. Eighth St., Suite 325, anytime from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Voters may also cast their ballots in person at City Hall on Election Day, April 7, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

For more information, or to update voter registration information and receive a ballot, contact the City Clerk’s Office at (970) 384-6406.


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