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Barz elected mayor of Mancos; Internet issue passes

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Wednesday, April 6, 2016 2:53 AM
Six candidates for Mancos Board of Trustees and two candidates for mayor discussed issues at a forum March 14.
Baskin
Becker
Benally
Brooks
Hallam
Roberts

Ellen “Queenie” Barz is the new mayor of Mancos.

Barz won 169 votes in Tuesday’s election, while her opponent, Will Stone, took 75 votes.

Ed Hallam, Matthew Baskin, Craig Benally, Lorraine Becker and Fred Brooks are the winners of the race for the Board of Trustees.

Hallam earned 177 votes, while Baskin took 173. Benally had 170 votes. As the recipients of the three highest numbers of votes, Hallam, Baskin and Benally will serve four-year terms on the board.

Becker and Brooks will serve two-year terms on the board. Becker earned 151 votes and Brooks took 145.

Gina Roberts, a write-in candidate, missed out on a Board seat, taking 19 votes.

A total of 265 votes were cast in the Mancos election.

Voters also weighed in on a ballot issue on whether or not the town can opt out of Senate Bill 152. The issue passed in a landslide, with 214 “yes” votes and just 36 “no” votes.

Opting out of the bill will give Mancos more opportunities to use its 3,300 feet of fiber optics line, town officials say.

The five Board of Trustees winners join Trustee Michele Black on the six-member board. Neither current Mayor Rachael Simbeck nor Mayor Pro-Tem Todd Kearns sought another term. Ballots could be dropped off Tuesday at Mancos Town Hall until 7 p.m. The ballots for the mail-in election went out March 14.

Baskin, a long-term care ombudsman, has lived in Mancos for 12 years and was appointed to the board in 2014. Becker, a retired government worker who has lived in Mancos since 2005, was appointed to the board in January after board member Darrel Ellis passed away in November 2015.

Bennally is a customer service manager for a temporary employment agency. He is a lifelong resident of southwest Colorado and has spent the past two years in Mancos with his wife and two children.

Brooks worked as a registered nurse for 36 years in the Four Corners region before retiring and moving to Mancos in 2014.

Hallam worked as a sales representative for Grand Junction Pipe and Supply and has lived in Mancos for almost 40 years. He previously served as mayor of Mancos from 1988 to 1999, resigning when he built a house outside town limits.

Roberts has been involved in various aspects of the town. She sits on the town Planning and Zoning board and is a former Girl Scout leader. She coordinates entertainment at Mancos Valley Distillery and helps set up music acts for Mancos Days each year.

Mayoral candidates are current trustees Queenie Barz and Will Stone.

Barz grew up in Mancos and previously worked for the Cortez Journal, as well as for car dealerships and insurance agencies. She moved back to Mancos in 2000 and now works for Hospice of Montezuma. She has served on the Board of Trustees for the last eight years.

Stone has lived in Mancos since 1987 and is co-owner of Mancos Livery. He has served on the board for two years.

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