Thursday evening was the last night of service on the Glenwood Springs City Council for Mayor Don Vanderhoof, Councilwoman Jean Martensen and Councilmen Rick Davis and Don Gillespie.

Politics aside, these four residents have worked hard serving the city and its residents.

Vanderhoof was elected mayor two years ago by his peers after serving six years as a city councilman. He brought an air of respectability and a strong sense of fiscal conservatism to the job. He led the city through the traumatic Coal Seam Fire, and helped guide the city through a series of major building projects.

Fellow council members frequently tapped Vanderhoof’s deep reservoir of knowledge about local history.

Jean Martensen delivered on her promise of four years ago to focus on the arts, historic preservation, tourism and promoting the city’s downtown. She served as a tireless advocate for and member of the Downtown Development Authority and worked hard to make sure it would be successful.

Rick Davis brought a strong sense of stewardship to City Council. His mission was to make life better for people in the city and surrounding areas, and to lighten the city’s impacts on the environment. He pushed for new development rules to trap polluted runoff from city streets and parking lots, and was a strong backer of the city’s lighting ordinance.

Don “Hooner” Gillespie, who could be relied on for funny and frank comments, made transportation his focus, from foot trails and bicycle paths to traffic congestion on Grand Avenue. His goal was to find a new route for Highway 82 so the downtown would no longer be bisected by a four-lane highway.

Gillespie achieved success on the human-scale projects, but Glenwood traffic problems remain a thorny issue that will take many more years to resolve.

Not all their decisions were correct in the eyes of voters, but they did what they thought was best for their city. When you see them around town in the coming weeks, be sure to stop and tell them thanks for a job well done.