Oct. 9 last day to register to vote in election

Oct. 9 last day to register to vote in election

September 20, 2001

Sanitation-district recall, rec center, school-board candidates on ballot

CORTEZ JOURNAL

Oct. 9 is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 6 elections, according to Carol Tullis, deputy clerk with the Montezuma County Clerk and Recorder’s Office.

Voters in Cortez will face three separate local elections: a possible recall of three members of the Cortez Sanitation District board; a citywide question on whether to approve a .055-cent sales tax to pay for a new recreation center; and a school election for three members of the District Re-1 board.

The sanitation-district recall and the school-board election will be conducted by mail ballots, Tullis said.

The recreation-center vote will be taken at city polling places.

"We’ll be sending out mail ballots for the school board and sanitation district," she said. "But the city will have a polling-place election for their tax."

In the sanitation district, three of the five board members are being targeted for recall: Sam Jarvis, Jim Bridgewater, and chairman Stan Pierce. Voters will decide whether to recall any or all of the three, and then whether to approve new persons to replace them in office.

Tullis said final certification of replacement candidates for the three board positions had not been submitted to her office.

The sanitation district has tightened up its voting lists to make sure only eligible persons are voting, she said. To be eligible in the sanitation district, persons have to either live within the district or to be registered Colorado voters who own property within the district under their own names, not the names of corporations or businesses.

The clerk’s office is not conducting the sanitation district’s election, Tullis explained, but will tabulate the ballots.

In the city election, voters will choose whether to hike the city sales tax by 0.55 cents — from 3.5 cents to 4.05 cents — to pay for an $8.1 million bond for a proposed recreation center.

A similar proposal failed in 1994 by a 2-1 margin.

The proposed 43,000-square-foot recreation facility would be located at Parque de Vida and include a handicapped-accessible indoor jogging track, family pool, water slide, water channel for resistance walking, six-lane lap pool and diving board, basketball and volleyball courts, multi-purpose rooms, day care, and office space.

The school-board election will allow voters to choose directors in districts D, F and B to replace three incumbents who have chosen not to run again: Sue Baacke, Peggy Blackmer, and Tina Galyon, respectively.

In District B, four candidates are on the ballot: Kip Kautz, Leon Murdock, Marci Schuster, and Helen Cumpton. Remigio Candelaria is also running as a write-in candidate.

In District D, the Towaoc district, only one candidate, Sheri Wright, is on the ballot. District D is a closed district and only persons who live within it can vote for that candidate.

In District F, two candidates are running: Armando Garcia and Steven Bloink.

Only active registered voters will receive ballots in the mail for the school-board or sanitation-district elections, Tullis said.

Active voters are those who have voted in recent elections. To check whether you are considered active or not, contact the clerk’s office. Likewise, if you do not receive a mail ballot in either the city or sanitation-district election by Oct. 22 and you want to vote, contact the clerk’s office.

Anyone who wants to register to vote, obtain an absentee ballot, or report a change of address should also contact the clerk’s office, 565-3728, ext. 4.