TELLURIDE — As of 5 p.m. on Monday, August 24, the deadline to submit applications to run for a seat on the Town of Telluride Council, Town Clerk M.J. Schillaci had received 11 applications for four vacant seats.
Three applications came from incumbents Lulu Hunt, a full-time mother and community activist, paramedic and real estate broker Jill Masters, and pilot “Glider”Bob Saunders, who are all vying for re-election.
Another eight candidates from a variety of backgrounds hope to clinch a fourth seat being vacated by Mayor Pro-Tem Andrea Benda, who has reached her term limit.
They include: former R-1 School District superintendent Ann Brady, real estate broker and business owner Matt Hintermeister, writer Eileen McGinley, lighting designer and political activist Chris Myers, Bridal Veil Power Plant owner and operator Eric Jacobson, former councilmember and practicing attorney Jenny Russell, Wizard Entertainment general manager Jeffrey Taylor, and information technology consultant Brian Werner, who is presently a member of the Historic and Architectural Review Commission.
Town Moderator Jerry Greene will run for re-election unopposed.
Myers, who when asked by this reporter several months ago to confirm a rumor that he planned to run for council replied “categorically no,” was the last to turn in his petition.
“I was really adamant that I did not want to do it,” Myers said of his change of heart. But more recently, “It became clear that at this time now is the time for some change in the town government.”
Speculating on the number of candidates vying for a council seat, “It is most definitely a referendum on the state of the town government,” he said.
After 35 years, I think TD would be great.
Make room for TD.
It used to be the "lost people of Mtn. Village". Now it's the "lost people of Telluride".
Think 5 or 10 years from now. Mtn. Village jammin' and Telluride with brown paper on the storefronts.
It's quite possible,, and a likley prediction at this point.