Former Eagle County Commissioner Tom Stone dies
Former Eagle County Commissioner Tom Stone died July 4 in Carson City, Nevada. He was 67. Little other information was available.
Stone, at the time a real estate agent in the Vail Valley, was first elected in 1998. He was re-elected in 2002. During those eight years, the county purchased and worked on various agreements for the Berry Creek property in Edwards, home of the Miller Ranch deed-restricted housing neighborhood, Freedom Park, Battle Mountain High School and Colorado Mountain College.
In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington D.C., Stone helped bring a piece of limestone from the Pentagon to Freedom Park.
Stone helped negotiate a deal with the Vail Valley Jet Center for the county to build the current, publicly-owned commercial passenger terminal at the Eagle County Regional Airport.
The county in 2002 purchased the Golden Eagle senior apartments. Stone was also a member of the board of commissioners that approved a new grandstand at the Eagle County Fairgrounds and paved the way for construction of the Eagle River Center pavilion there.
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Peter Runyon served with Stone for two years, from early 2005 to early 2007.
Runyon acknowledged that he and Stone had numerous policy disagreements in those years.
“It’s not surprising,” Runyon said, noting he’s a Democrat and Stone was a Republican. But, he added, “Our relationship was always cordial.”
That wasn’t the case with the commissioner Arn Menconi, the commissioner with whom Stone spent the most time, from early 2001 through early 2007.
Stone and Menconi clashed often during their time together on the board. In a 2007 interview, Stone, expressed regret for his role in the conflicts.
“I could have been — I should have been — more of a statesman about how I represented some of my positions,” he said.
Vail Daily Business Editor Scott Miller can be reached at smiller@vaildaily.com.