BY DAVID GRANT LONG

So far six Cortez residents have taken out nominating petitions to become council candidates in the April 4 municipal election, according to City Clerk Linda Smith, and at least one other hopeful is expected to enter the race.

Four seats on the seven-member governing board —those of Mayor Joe Keck and members Bob Diederich, Darlene Denison and Cheryl Walkenhorst —are up for grabs, and only Keck and Walkenhorst have indicated they will seek re-election at this point. Diederich has announced he will not run again, and Denison, first elected two years ago, has not yet indicated whether she will seek another term.

The deadline for returning nominating petitions is 5 p.m. on Friday, March 3. The petitions must include at least 25 signatures of registered voters who will have lived in Cortez for a minimum of 30 days by the day of the election.

Along with the two incumbents, former councilman Jim Herrick and Planning and Zoning Commissioner Dennis Robson have taken out petitions, Smith said, as well as MRI technician John Willard and Steven Gates, the owner of a plumbing and heating business. Bill Rutledge, whose wife Lois serves as a director of the Montezuma County Hospital District, also is considering a run, Smith said.

Council candidates must be 21 years of age and have been a Cortez resident for at least one year by the time of the election, according to the city charter. The three candidates receiving the highest numbers of votes will win four-year terms, and the candidate getting the fourth-highest vote total will get a two-year term.

Along with choosing the majority of the new council, voters will be deciding on seven proposed amendments to the charter, mostly housekeeping measures intended to update and clarify its language.

The proposed amendments would:

• Give the municipal judge authority to impose restitution on defendants who are convicted in cases involving property loss or damage and give victims the right to ask for a restitution hearing if restitution hasn’t already been contemplated.

• Allow the council 60 days rather the present 30 to fill a vacancy created by the death, resignation or relocation or removal of a board member.

• Clarify the responsibilities and duties of the city manager and department heads.

• Eliminate the requirements that the city attorney must live Cortez and have practiced here for at least three years. (Practicing in Colorado for at least three years prior to appointment will still be a prerequisite.)

• Eliminate a provision that requires any new allocations or transfers of excess or unused funds be done only by ordinance or resolution any time after eight months of the fiscal year have passed.

• Change references to the "Division of Purchase," which no longer exists, to "Department of General Services," which now performs that function as well as additional roles.

• Change all references to "councilman" in the charter to "council member," since not all of them are male.