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Eagle County’s election, Vail Town Council vote wrap up Tuesday, Nov. 7

Signs for those who are running, and those who aren't, line spaces in Vail Monday, Nov. 6, in Vail. The election will determine Vail's Town Council.
Chris Dillmann | cdillmann@vaildaily.com |

More information

• To view Eagle County’s sample ballot, and for more information on the Tuesday, Nov. 7, election, go to the elections page on the county’s website, http://www.eaglecounty.us.

• To learn more about the town of Vail’s election, go to http://www.vailgov.com/elections.

• To learn more about the Vail Recreation District’s election, go to http://www.vailrec.com/elections.

This story has been corrected. In the only contested election for a seat on the Colorado Mountain College Board of Trustees, District 3, Randy Winkler and Peg Portscheller are running for an open seat.

EAGLE COUNTY — For most valley voters, today’s election is pretty simple. But voting in Vail is fairly complicated.

Starting outside of Vail, Tuesday, Nov. 7, is the last day to submit ballots. Those ballots must be delivered no later than 7 p.m. to one of several dropoff locations. Moving from east to west, there’s a ballot dropoff box outside The Grand View room atop the Lionshead Village parking structure in Vail. There are also drop boxes outside the county’s offices in Avon, Eagle and El Jebel.



Voters can also use the Eagle County Clerk & Recorder’s offices in Avon, Eagle and El Jebel to get replacement ballots, pick up a ballot or even register to vote on Election Day.

If you have a ballot and haven’t yet mailed it back, then you’ll need to drop it off at one of those locations.

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Eagle County Clerk & Recorder Regina O’Brien said 7 p.m. Tuesday is a hard deadline for dropping off ballots. Ballots postmarked but not delivered won’t count, and office employees will lock the office doors and lock up the drop boxes at 7 p.m. sharp.

“Getting there at 7:01 won’t do it,” O’Brien said.

A fairly simple ballot

The county ballot is fairly simple this year.

The proposal that’s drawn the most attention is Ballot Question 1A, which proposes imposing sales and excise taxes on recreational marijuana retail and wholesale transactions. The first $1.2 million generated by the taxes would go toward mental health services.

The county ballot also has a race for the Eagle County Schools’ Board of Education. There are four seats on the board up for election this year, but only one of those seats is contested, with incumbents Kate Cocchiarella, Inga Causey and Melisa Rewold-Thuon running unopposed. In District G, Matthew Kock is running against incumbent Shelly Jarnot.

There are three seats up for election on the Colorado Mountain College Board of Trustees. Trustees Charles Cunniffe and Doris Dewton are running unopposed for re-election. In District 3, Randy Winkler and Peg Portscheller are running to replace term-limited trustee Mary Ellen Denomy.

The six-county college district is also asking voters for a mill levy increase, although that increase is more of a keep-up measure in order to maintain roughly the same property tax revenue in the face of state-mandated mill levy decreases. Ballot Issue 4B asks for a revenue increase “not to exceed” $50,000.

The county’s consolidated ballot also has ballot questions for most county towns.

The town of Red Cliff is asking voters to lift term-limit restrictions from town board members, as well as for a use tax on building materials purchased outside of town.

The towns of Minturn, Avon, Eagle and Gypsum, as well as the county, are asking voters to exempt those jurisdictions from a state law prohibiting government involvement in providing high-speed internet and similar services.

There are no current plans by any of those jurisdictions to have local governments involved in those businesses.

Also on the county ballot is a property tax increase request from the Eagle Cemetery District.

Vail gets complicated

While the county’s consolidated ballot covers most of the county, things get a little complicated in Vail. Vail voters have three separate places to drop their ballots for the town of Vail, Vail Recreation District and Eagle County, all separate elections.

• The Vail Town Council election this year has 10 people seeking four seats. The town is also asking for an exemption from the state’s prohibition on government involvement in the broadband business. Town residents could have cast absentee ballots by mail, but the Tuesday, Nov. 7, election is largely a polling-place affair, with voting done at the Vail Municipal Building. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

• You can’t drop off your county ballot at Town Hall, but must instead go to the drop box atop the Lionshead Village parking structure.

• The Vail Recreation District this year is asking voters for a property-tax increase to cover a backlog of maintenance and improvement projects at the town-owned facilities it manages.

The recreation district is a separate entity from the town. That means its voting base is a bit different. While it still mostly covers Vail, it also includes the Intermountain neighborhood. The recreation district also includes property owners in its voter base.

Again, it’s too late to send in ballots. Voters instead must drop off ballots at either the VRD office adjacent to the Vail Tennis Center or at the Edwards office of Marchetti & Weaver, the firm coordinating the district’s election.

Marchetti & Weaver is also coordinating a small, special district election for the Red Sky Metropolitan District. That district, which has about 40 voters, covers the Red Sky Ranch neighborhood and golf course. District officials are asking voters for a small sales tax to help pay for road and other infrastructure repairs. Ballots for that election can be dropped off at the Marchetti & Weaver office in Edwards, 28 Second St., Suite 213.

Vail Daily Business Editor Scott Miller can be reached at 970-748-2930, smiller@vaildaily.com or @scottnmiller.


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