John Scarffe, Nederland. The Nederland Board of Trustees filled a Board vacancy and appointed two new members to the Nederland Downtown Development Authority during a regular meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 17, 2019, in the Nederland Community Center. After the resignation of James Rawsthorne, the Board had a vacancy to fill. 

On October 24, 2019, Trustee James Rawsthorne submitted his resignation letter to the Board, so the Board has the power to fill all vacancies in the board, and the person shall hold office until the next regular election which is April 7, 2020. The vacancy must be filled within 60 days after the vacancy on December 23, 2019. 

At the November 12, 2019, Board meeting, the Trustees decided they wanted to fill the vacancy through appointment. Applications were made available on November 13, 2019, and were due December 4, 2019. Thomas Lewis and Karen Blakemore submitted their applications. 

Thomas Lewis was not available to attend the meeting, but Karen Blakemore attended. 

Blakemore on Wildwood Drive, said she started attending Trustees meetings when she moved to town. “I feel like I’m up to date on the issues, and I have commented when I thought my comments could be useful,” she said. “I’ve been reading up on best practices for councils and civic dialogue. It might improve decision making and communication.” 

The Board approved Blakemore for the vacant Trustee position, swore her in and she took on a seat with the Board for the rest of the meeting. 

Earlier in the meeting, the Board approved two appointments to the Nederland Downtown Development Authority. At the November 13, 2019. regular DDA meeting, the DDA voted unanimously to increase the board from seven voting members to nine voting members and advertised to fill the vacancies. 

Applicants had to be either a property owner or business lessee operating within the Downtown Development district. Each board member serves four-year terms. The Board agreed with the recommendations of the DDA to appoint Barbara Hardt and Andrew Dewart to fill the vacancies.

(Originally published in the January 9, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)