2 new mayors win area city races

Incumbent Fountain Mayor Jeri Howells handily won re-election Tuesday and credited her victory to residents’ belief in her and in the direction she has taken the city over the past two years.

“I’m grateful, and I’m thrilled,” she said.

Howells beat challenger Darell Craighead 1,366 votes to 632.

Howells said her first order of business will be taking a close look at the recommendations that have come out of the city’s first outside audit of its management practices. She then wants to create a citizens group to advise city officials on what suggestions from the audit should be implemented.

In Fountain’s Ward 2 council race, incumbent Mary DeGroot narrowly defeated local businessman Jim Coke by a vote of 421 to 391.

In the council-at-large race, where five candidates were vying for two seats, Lois Fay Landgraf and former Mayor Harold Thompson triumphed.

Landgraf garnered the most votes, 1,011, with Thompson following at 820.

Landgraf, a member of Fountain’s economic development council, said her priority will be to better manage the growth in Fountain.

Thompson said Fountain government needs to focus on upgrading its infrastructure, including water and wastewater service, to accommodate growth.

Other contenders in the atlarge race and their vote totals were: Louis Porsia, 573; Malcolm Allyn, 532; and Ratu Solanki, 496.

Manitou Springs

In the mayor’s race, Eric Drummond drubbed Nancy Sage Barnes and Donna Ford.

Drummond, a councilman who said during his campaign he would seek outside funding to repair the town’s underground pipe system and its roads, garnered 1,068 votes. Ford received 243 votes and Barnes, 112.

In the at-large council race, in which four candidates vied for three seats, the winners were: Aimee Cox, 1,238 votes; incumbent Marc Snyder, 1,026; and Ed Klingman, 964. Jeffery Gambs trailed the others with 253 votes.

Cox, a member of the city’s parks and recreation advisory board, wants the city to complete improvements to Soda Springs Park and to Fountain Creek where it runs through the park. Klingman, board president of the Manitou Springs Business Improvement District, said he will push to redevelop the eastern entrance into the city. Snyder said he wants the town’s infrastructure fixed.

Cripple Creek

In the mayor’s race, Dan Baader triumphed over incumbent Edward Libby 171 votes to 156.

Baader had questioned the cost of the $4 million Pikes Peak Heritage Center, meant to draw visitors interested in local history.

He also urged that the city use its substantial income from gambling to improve roads and the appearance of the town and to help market the casinos.

In the Ward 4 city council race, challenger Bruce Brown trounced incumbent Dennis Peck, pastor of Cripple Creek Baptist Church, 103 votes to 52.

In the Ward 5 race, developer Gary Ledford, 60, defeated retired professor Carl Poch, 83 votes to 75.

Victor

In the city clerk/treasurer race, incumbent Shirley Beach defeated former budget director Sandy Honeycutt, 122 votes to 64.

Beach, 69, was Victor city clerk from 1991 to 1995 and Teller County clerk and recorder from 1978 to 1991. She was appointed to the job in July. Honeycutt was fired as city budget director when Mayor Serena Bielz took office this spring.

In the Ward 1 council race, political newcomer Byron “Buck” Hakes defeated former councilwoman Kandy McNeal and Ron Robb.

The vote: Hakes, 57; Robb, 24; McNeal, 12.

In the Ward 2 race, Veldean V. Petri ran unopposed, garnering 62 votes.