MOUNTAIN VILLAGE, July 26, 5:13 p.m. - Three incumbent boardmembers and seven first-time candidates are seeking four open seats on Mountain Village Owners Association’s Board of Directors in the Aug. 24 election.

Eligible voters will also decide several ballot issues that would amend the articles and bylaws of the master homeowner’s association for Mountain Village.

Along with incumbent boardmembers Andrew Karow and Jonathan Sweet, candidates Neil Hastings, Neal Elinoff and Mike Wisniewski are seeking the two open Class A Residential seats. Steve Togni, the general manager of Mountain Lodge and Eric Sather, the general manager of the peaks, are both seeking the one available Class B Hotel/Lodging seat.

Incumbent boardmember and owner of Black Bear Trading Co. Bob Franzese along with candidates Scott Leigh, regional manager of Telluride Sports, and Michael Perkins, owner of Telluride Coffee Company, are seeking the one Class C Service/Retail Business seat.

The three Telluride Ski and Golf representatives that sit on the MVOA Board of Directors are appointed by Telski and those seats are not contested in an election.

Also on the ballot, MVOA members will be asked to lengthen the term boardmembers serve from one year to two and to stagger terms in order to provide greater continuity on the board. Voters will also be asked to change the name of the owner’s association to Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association to “eliminate confusion,” according to a July 25 press release.

“The other thing we have requested of our membership is to move the annual meeting from August to December or between Christmas and New Years,” said Sweet, who is the current MVOA president. “We want to move that meeting to a time where more members will actually be in town. It will be much more of an inclusive time to have a meeting.”

Historically, the MVOA has outsourced virtually all of its activities, many of which fall under the category of “economic development,” to the Town of Mountain Village. The MVOA is funded primarily by real estate transfer assessments, a source of revenue that under the Colorado Constitution is not available to the town government.  (Telluride’s real estate transfer tax predates the prohibition and is thus permitted.)  Since last February, the association has made a concerted effort to separate itself from the town.

“The owners association needs to be its own true standalone entity and we are asking our membership to make those changes to help this transition,” Sweet said.

According to MVOA Executive Director Paul Garnett, ballots for the election will be sent out soon and need to be returned by Aug. 23 to be counted.

“The ballots will be sent out in the next couple of weeks,” Garnett said. “The key point that voters need to realize is that the ballots have to be back on the 23rd. There won’t be any polling on the 24th. There are a couple thousand eligible votes in the election and right now we are in the process of updating our database and that should be completed shortly.”

According to MVOA’s website, anyone who owns a unit of density in Mountain Village (one unit = one vote), or owns or leases and runs a business (number of votes is based on the commercial square footage of the business) is eligible to vote in the annual elections.

Once ballots are received eligible votes can be sent to Mountain Village Owners Association, 113 Lost Creek Lane, Suite A, Mountain Village, CO, 81435.