Brief by Central Staff
Politics – February 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine
You may have thought the political season wouldn’t start until later this year, with spring precinct caucuses followed by county assemblies, state assemblies, summer primaries and fall general elections.
But things are moving a little faster in Park County, where all three commissioners — Steven Benninghoven, Richard Trast, and Doug Walters — face a special recall election on Feb. 23.
The commissioners had angered Park County residents by holding secret meetings and by dissolving several advisory boards. Petitions started circulating last year, and on Jan. 5, the county clerk certified that there were enough signatures and set the recall-election date.
The ballot will have two parts for each commissioner. The first will ask whether the commissioner should be recalled. If the vote is aye, then the voter can address the second issue: who should be elected as a replacement.
At our press time, ten people were circulating petitions to get on the ballot..
Chaffee County recalled two of its three commissioners in 1980, and we’ve lost track of how many mayors and trustees Buena Vista has recalled in the recent past.
One might say, though, that “term limits” are applied often around here.
