Candidate guide for 2018 Northern Colorado elections

North Forty News is compiling a list of candidates for upcoming 2018 elections. Use this as a guide to get more information about the candidates while making your decisions for the polls/ballots in your area. Candidates may submit information for this listing. Listings are limited to information available to North Forty News based on interviews with candidates, web research and submission of information by candidates. Submit listing information to https://northfortynews.com/2018-elections-candidate-information-submission/

Larimer County

The Larimer County Primary Election polls open on June 26, 2018 from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. An updated candidate list will be available at https://www.larimer.org and provided here when available.

Poudre Valley REA Board of Directors

As a cooperative, Poudre Valley REA is governed by democratic principles. Each spring the Association holds an annual meeting and an election for the Board of Directors. Any member in good standing meeting the qualifications may petition to run for the Board. Ballots were mailed to members in March. Election results and on-site balloting will take place at The Annual Meeting of the Members of Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association, Inc. which will be held in the Embassy Suites Hotel John Q. Hammons Conference Center, 4705 Clydesdale Pkwy, Loveland, Colorado 80538, on Saturday April 7, 2018.

The following candidates are on the Ballot:

Boulder County

District B, Position B-1

• Ron Sutherland, Incumbent
• Karen Conduff

Larimer County

District L, Position L-3

• James F. Fender, Incumbent
• Adrian (Buzz) Sweeney (Editorial and election ad in North Forty News March edition) – http://northforty.news

District L, Position L-4

• Karen Stockley (Election Ad in North Forty News March edition) – http://northforty.news
• Rick Johnson, Incumbent

District L, Position L-5

• David Pierson
• Bryan Ehrlich (Election Ad and profile page on North Forty News website) – http://northforty.news

Berthoud

On April 3, 2018 the Town of Berthoud will be conducting a mail ballot election for Town Trustee Offices and Mayor. In addition, there will be two questions on the ballot. More information – http://www.berthoud.org

The following candidates will be on the Ballot:

Mayor – 2-Year Term
Jeff Hindman – http://hindmanforberthoud.com
Will Karspeck – http://karspeckformayor.com/

Trustee – 4-Year Term (Three Seats)
Maureen Dower
Heidi Short
Pete Tomassi
Patrick Dillon
Kevin Paul Pischke
Tim Hardy

Timnath

The Town of Timnath Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, April 3, 2018.  This election will be a mail ballot election conducted by the Town of Timnath.  This election will be for two (2) Town Council Member seats. More information – https://www.vote411.org

The following candidates will be on the Ballot:

Rick Collins
Rick Collins is a consultant with 30+ years experience in high level positions of trust in both public and private sectors. The Colorado native has been married for 41 years, has two children and four grandchildren. He lists these qualifications to serve as a Timnath council member: a BA in Political Science from Colorado State University; Masters in Public Administration, Arizona State University; served as Chief of Staff for Governor of Arizona and Arizona House of Representatives; secretary’s Representative, Region 7, U.S. Dept. of Labor. Collins has had a hands-on role in preparing more than ten state budgets and will use that expertise to address Timnath’s budget matters in a transparent, open manner. He will stress an open budget process and commitment to transparency, address critical needs (i.e. public safety and traffic concerns), and promote responsible and prioritized spending.

Ken Foley
Married for 39 years and a resident of Timnath for just over one year, Ken Foley recently retired from 26 years service in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. He’s an Air Force veteran with a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Iowa and a Master’s Degree from the University of Nebraska. He believes that the most effective way to better his community is through active involvement. As a career analyst, he developed the skills necessary to address tough issues. He noted that, in its 136 year history, Timnath has never witnessed the growth seen in the past six years. The Mayor and the Town Council must show effective fiscal leadership, which will require a creative and cooperative approach to paying for infrastructure. He will focus on responsibly building a safe community to be proud of and one that continues to attract positive growth; intelligent stewardship of Timnath’s financial resources; listening to input from neighbors to ensure their best interests dictate all of Council’s actions.

Lisa Laake
Lisa Laake has been a Timnath resident for six years, and of Northern Colorado for 19. With more than 12 years of experience in public service (parks and recreation, health education, and substance abuse prevention), which she is seeking to expand into the role of elected official. Because she loves residing in Timnath, she wants to keep it a great place to live. Laake was an HOA president and currently serves as secretary of the Bethke PTO. She lists the top three priorities for Timnath’s Town Council to work on as Managed growth: Services and infrastructure must be prioritzed to meet the demands of a growing community; Economic development: Bringing in new businesses would benefit all residents; Community development: Offering residents the opportunity to participate in activities and events.

Mike Morgan
Mike Morgan is a retired Assistant Fire Chief, County of Los Angeles Fire Department, Calif.; Fire Chief, City of Costa Mesa, Calif.; Fire Chief, City of Newport Beach, Calif. Qualifications to serve as Timnath Council Member: Budget management and responsibility for Fire and EMS, Training, Emergency Communications, Homeland Security, Urban Search and Rescue, Information Technology. Local, state, and federal resource coordination and management. Morgan believes the 2017 town budget, which reflected over $700,000 for town events/supportive equipment, is unacceptable. Public safety and crucial infrastructure must be be the clear financial focus. He wants to promote public safety, crucial infrastructure and transparent government.

Aaron Pearson
A business owner for 15 years, Aaron Pearson has been married for18 years, and has two children. His Bachelor’s degree is from Iowa State University and a Master’s degree from the University of Colorado. Pearson moved to Timnath in 2012, first serving on the Timnath Land Use Code update committee, followed by a year on the Planning Commission. He was elected to Town Council in 2014 and wishes to continue that public service. His priorities are infrastructure that supports rapid and inevitable growth, for the present and the future; public safety and service, including a 24/7 police force and an adequate administrative staff; and a sense of community, including parks and trails, connections with schools, and events that bring residents together.

Todd Sharpe
Todd Sharpe is a retired military man who has directed multi-billion dollar programs, led integrated teams of up to 30 working groups, conducted Cost Analysis / Project Management / Revised Technical Manuals. He feels residents are not being duly represented, he plans to be their voice. To pay for infrastructure, including water requirements, he would first seek a budget review. Council would need to evaluate and reallocate funds from other areas, for example some projects under “Economic Vitality”, in-order to focus on more critical and current issues, such as water requirements.

Wellington

The Town of Wellington has six elected trustees and a mayor. The trustees are elected at-large for a staggered term of 4 years. The mayor serves a 4-year term. April 3rd of this year, Wellington voters will vote for a mayor and four trustees. The three trustee candidates with the highest vote totals will serve 4-year terms. The candidate with the next highest vote total will serve a 2-year term.

Elections take place at the Wilson Leeper Center, 3800 Wilson Avenue in Wellington. Polling hours extend from 7 am to 7 pm. A brief description of the candidates follows. The League of Women Voters provides more detailed information on these and other candidates at www.vote411.org. Plug in your location to find candidates in your area.

The following candidates for Mayor will be on the Ballot:

Tim Singewald

Singewald, 65, is the incumbent mayor who assumed that role a year ago when the sitting mayor resigned. Singewald hopes to be elected to a full term along with Trustees Wyatt Knutson and Tim Whitehouse, who have worked with him on many town problems. Singewald said he has an action list of 20 items the town needs to address and that during the last year the Board has “brought in experts for consultation, vetted several solutions, debated the different options, and are in the negotiating phase on some of these while others are still being reviewed.”

Singewald said the town “desperately needs a redundant water supply” and additional treated water storage. He wants to see multiple I-25 interchanges for the town, a new Town Hall and a High School. He is an advocate for more parks joined by a trail system.

Singewald is retired, but his background is in banking, backcountry outfitting, and real estate investment.

More information – http://www.singewald4mayor.com/

Troy Hammon
Hammon,48, grew up in Wellington from the age of 8, attended Norwich Military College in Vermont, and has now returned here to raise his family. Hamman notes that Wellington’s rapid growth over the past few years has created a number of challenges he plans to address: allowing for more commercial and residential growth “in keeping with our small town’s heritage,” addressing the town’s water supply, quality, treatment, and conservation, new school construction and maintenance, Mainstreet development, and more.

“If approached carefully and collectively as a community,” Hamman said, “we can set an exciting path that is sustainable for future growth, while preserving Wellington’s small-town heritage/identity.”

Hamman has a BS degree in Business Administration and 25 years of commercial construction experience along the front range of Colorado. He feels his strengths are in the areas of team building, customer relations, contracts, budgeting, cost analysis, forecasting and problem solving.

Paul Willmon
Willmon, 36, is a potential mayoral write-in candidate that took part in a recent candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters. “Times are hard and individuals need to be represented with elected officials who have more in common with their community,” said Willmon, “that also have a vision and drive to help the growing town Wellington has become.” Willmon sites “welfare, safety, and growth” as top concerns of residents and wants to see businesses that will provide more local jobs.

Willmon wants to “continue to work with the Town of Wellington staff and fellow Board Trustees to move towards a self-sustaining town with better revenue sources to assist the growth, safety, and welfare demands of the community.”

Willmon is an Honorably Discharged Veteran with “small town roots, but who grew up in the big city.” He looks forward to “being here to assist the Town of Wellington to grow.”

The following candidates for Trustee will be on the Ballot:

John Jerome
Jerome has a background in sales and management. He would like to see “responsible growth, infrastructure, and economic development” that would include a community rec center/pool/Town Hall. He wants to make sure “that the water/sewer projects that have already started are finished on-time and within the budget.

More information – https://www.facebook.com/johnjeromeforboardoftrustees/

John Evans

Evans worked for water departments in California, “mainly in water distribution and a short period in water treatment.” He’s recently moved into the road construction field. Evans looks forward to seeing the new water plant operational. He wants to address further infrastructure improvements and to “hold developers responsible to do their part in improvements for future developments.”

More information – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100022315479029

Wyatt Knutson

Knutson is an engineer and business owner currently serving on the Board. He feels his engineering background will help him make effective decisions about town infrastructure and his business experience will provide insights into sound financing policies. Knutson is working on current water treatment plant upgrades and wants to be involved looking for new water sources and dealing with future water treatment issues.

Tim Whitehouse

Whitehouse, also currently serving on the Board, has a background in timber framing and has been a Journey worker in the Timber Framers Guild. Whitehouse looks to revise the comprehensive plan for future development. “We need a balanced growth of commercial, retail, and residential development. This is currently underway.”

Scott Wolfe

Originally from Wisconsin, Wolfe moved to Colorado in 1987. He has owned a business in the household goods relocation field for 20 years. Wolfe has seen growth issues for small towns in other parts of the country and believes “managing, funding, and maintaining growth” are key issues for Wellington. He will listen to the community and help solve problems by “thinking outside the box.”

Related post for 2018 Wellington election on North Forty News:
2018 CANDIDATE FORUM HELD IN MARCH – http://northforty.news

Windsor

On April 3, 2018, the Town of Windsor will conduct a mail ballot election for four Town Board Members:  Districts 2, 4, and 6 (four-year terms) and District 5 (two-year term). More information – https://www.windsorgov.com

The following candidates will be on the Ballot:
(bios are compiled by the town of Windsor)