City elections for Dolores and Mancos brought in a new cast of town trustees and mayors, but left most registered voters sitting at home.

Mancos saw a better turnout than in past elections, with 247 total ballots cast, or 33 percent of the town’s 779 registered voters participating. Former Mancos Trustee Greg Rath was voted in as town mayor for a four-year term, garnering 108 votes, or 44 percent of the total votes cast. He beat out former appointed mayor Tony Aspromonte, who received 55 votes, Ruben Maestas and Vernon Brown, who each received 66 and 13 votes, respectively.

The Town of Dolores elected five new trustees and a new mayor, with 30 percent, or 205 voters, showing up at the polls.

Jim Moore was elected as mayor of Dolores for a two-year term. Moore won over 60 percent of the voting public, representing 135 ballots cast. Incumbent mayoral candidate Shirley Powell attracted 68 votes.

Rath said Wednesday that as mayor of Mancos, he plans to foster more open communication between members of the town board and the community, in addition to further developing the town infrastructure. He will also work toward creating a 10-year capital improvement plan for Mancos.

"This board has been very factionalized, and we have had some political problems because of it," Rath said. "But I think that we are getting over that and I looking forward to working with the new board in a more professional manner."

Mancos Town Trustee Diana Hershberger, whose seat was not up for re-election, will be joined by incumbent trustees Paul Christensen (147 votes), Ray Martinez (133 votes) and newcomer Vernon Harrell (143 votes) when the new board is officially installed on April 12.

Martinez and Christensen were appointed to vacated positions on the town board, and will now serve out four-year terms. Losing candidates Wendy Whicher, Michele Black and Mac Neely garnered 100, 97 and 54 votes, respectively.

The new board’s first item of business will be to fill two unexpired board trustee terms. Jim Verghis resigned before the election and Rath vacated his trustee seat when elected as mayor. The method of selection is up to the board, but if they take the candidates with the next highest number of votes, then Whicher and Black would take seats on the board.

"Rath won the mayor seat because he is a good campaigner," said Whicher. "It is time for the town to move forward."

Despite the fact that only 33 percent of the electorate voted, this was the best turnout for any recent Mancos municipal election.

A slate of four candidates, including Moore, successfully campaigned in Dolores on a platform of economic development, street paving and sidewalk installation, quality control and upgrades for the water and sewer system, and supporting the town’s historic district. Of that group, Richard Teel was elected for a four-year term, attracting 133 votes; Bob Hull was chosen by 132 voters for a two-year term; and Tim Webster garnered 150 votes for a four-year term.

"Myself and the others ran as a coalition because we all had similar ideas," Moore said Wednesday. "We campaigned together and will work to get things done for the benefit of the people of the town; that is our main objective."

Taz Vass, owner of the Dolores Food Market, earned a two-year trustee term, collecting 112 votes. Vass was appointed to the board after Santiago Lopez stepped down in February. Incumbent Val Truelsen, owner of the Ponderosa Restaurant, was appointed to the board in Oct. 1998 to replace Joe Juarez who stepped down. Truelsen was elected for a four-year term, with 138 ballots cast in his favor.

Two incumbent Cortez council members were returned to office for another term in the municipal election Tuesday, while a political newcomer also won a four-year seat and a former councilman was elected to a two-year term from a field of seven candidates.

With only about 12 percent of the city’s registered voters —627 out of 5,273 — bothering to make the trip to the polls, Mayor Joe Keck received the most support among the candidates, garnering 439 votes out of 627 cast. Cheryl Walkenhorst, who was appointed to fill a vacancy last spring, came in a close second with 438 votes, while retired police officer Bill Rutledge came in third with 364.

Jim Herrick, who previously served on the council from 1994 to 1998 before losing a re-election bid, won a two-year stint by capturing 321 votes, edging out Planning and Zoning Commissioner Dennis Robson by 26 votes. Steve Gates, who operates a plumbing and heating business, and John Willard, a MRI technician at Southwest Memorial Hospital, trailed the field with 277 and 222 votes respectively.

Keck said Wednesday that despite the relatively low turnout, he considered his win more a measure of citizen support than was evident in his first run for council in 1996, when four candidates for four open seats attracted only about 100 voters.

"I think it’s a little more of a mandate," he said, "[but] 88 percent of the voters still didn’t make it [to the polls].

"At least maybe you’re representing the interests of those who did show up," he added."I’m just extremely thankful, because it’s kind of a humbling process —sometimes you don’t make a whole lot of friends along the way because you have to make some tough decisions."

Keck said the make-up of the council should adequately represent the town’s diversity.

"I was real pleased that Cheryl and Bill and Jimmy made it," he said. "I think we all bring different perspectives and maybe represent a little different part of our community so that there’ll be some overlap."

Keck said his top priority would remain involving residents in policy decisions.

"I still want to work toward making sure we try our darnedest to find community-based solution on all the major issues," he said, mentioning a recent proposed ordinance that would have licensed contractors as an example of responding to citizen input. Although most local contractors supported the ordinance, it was scrapped after an overflow crowd showed up at a public hearing and overwhelmingly spoke against it.

"[The contractors] continued to meet and now have come up with recommendations for changes in the existing code without a licensing ordinance, so I think the whole community-based part of it where everybody got involved and fleshed out the issues is the way to go on most issues."

Keck said he would "reserve judgment" on a bond issue that the Cortez Sanitation District will have on its ballot next month asking for voter approval to borrow $11 million for expansion of the town’s sewage-treatment system, which is nearing capacity and, therefore, poses an impediment to economic development. The bonds would be repaid through either a hefty rate hike or a property-tax increase.

"I think they’ve probably come up with the most logical plan given the situation we’re facing," he said, "and I think we’re all going to have to get behind that, but I want to reserve judgment until we have a chance to ask some questions of the [sanitation district] engineer . . . and make sure there aren’t any other options."

Development of a business park north of Centennial Park and expansion of the Industrial Park, which will require recruiting an "anchor tenant" to obtain state grant money, are also issues that will be addressed in the near future, he said.

Keck said he would support building a recreation center, which would probably mean a half-cent increase in the 3.5 percent city sales tax, only if significant citizen support is demonstrated.

Herrick, whose previous service places him among the more seasoned board members, said improving high-speed telecommunications will be foremost among his priorities.

"I’m anxious to get up to speed on what’s happening with the fiber-optic deal —how it’s all going to get connected and when, and who we’re going to pay and how much it will cost," he said Wednesday.

"I’m also interested in working with the sanitation district to get everything straightened out on that so we can grow in a logical manner — that’s really important."

Six proposed changes to the city charter that eliminate antiquated language and provisions were also handily approved by voters, with the most significant ridding the charter of a requirement that the city attorney live in Cortez. The council was concerned that provision might result in having to choose from a small pool of lawyers with little expertise in municipal law.