The Nederland Board of Trustees met for a special meeting on Monday, May 23, 2022, at 7 p.m. to decide how the Town should fill the vacant Mayoral and Trustee positions. The BOT had two options from which to choose regarding the vacancies: whether to appoint individuals to the positions or to hold a special election.

Mayor Julian Taylor took the oath of office on April 19, creating a vacancy on the BOT. Mayor Taylor, having accepted a job in Rochester, New York, will be leaving Nederland and his role as Mayor. The BOT was advised on April 19 by Town staff that they must decide how to fill the Mayoral and Trustee vacancies by their meeting on June 7. However, due to time constraints involving the electoral calendar which would interfere with a special election, a special meeting was scheduled in order for the BOT to reach a decision expediently.

Mayor Taylor submitted his resignation to the BOT on Monday, May 23, officially creating the Mayoral vacancy. A special election would cost Nederland approximately $2000 and can only be held 90 days after the vacancy is created; therefore it would be held on Tuesday, August 23. Nomination petitions would be released on Tuesday, May 24, with a due date of Monday, June 13.

If the BOT were to choose to fill the vacancies by appointment, applications would be accepted from Tuesday, May 24, to Tuesday, June 14. The BOT would then review the applications and vote on the appointments at their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 21.

Mayor Pro Tem Tom Mahowald presided over the meeting. Trustees offered their opinions and directed their questions to Town Administrator Miranda Fisher and Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen. The BOT were mostly in favor of holding a special election. However, several Trustees were concerned about how Nederland could avoid such departures from the democratic process in the future.

In an effort to avoid similar vacancy issues from occurring moving forward, the BOT discussed parting from the State statutes that prohibit them from creating specific protective language in Town codes. Such governmental autonomy is referred to as “home rule.”

The BOT will further discuss the option of Nederland considering home rule status at their next regular meeting on June 21.

The BOT moved not to fill the Mayoral and Trustee vacancies by appointment, and moved to approve holding a special election. With this option being chosen, the BOT also moved to approve authorizing mail-in ballots for the election and authorizing Town Clerk Macy Caligaris as a designated election official.

TheNederland2022SpecialMunicipal Election will be held on Tuesday, August 23. Nomination petitions are being accepted now until Monday, June 13, and are available online and at Town Hall. For more information go to: https://townofnederland.colorado. gov/2022election.

The Nederland Board of Trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Their next scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at 7 p.m. and can now be attended online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. For more information go to: https://townofnederland.colorado.gov/ board-of-trustees.