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Dwayne Romero sworn in

Rebecca Kruth

The Aspen City Council has finally filled the seat vacated by Mayor Steve Skadron following his election this May. Last night (Mon., 7-8-2013), the council swore in its newest member. Aspen Public Radio’s Rebecca Kruth reports.  

The fifth city council seat is no longer empty.

The council wasted no time in making its newest member, Dwayne Romero, official. Municipal Court Judge Brooke Peterson was there to do the honors at last night’s meeting.

“I, Dwayne Romero, do solemnly affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Colorado and the ordinances of the City of Aspen.”

Romero took the time to thank Mayor Skadron for changing his vote when choosing the new city council member. The mayor decided to support Romero to make the selection more intentional. And to avoid leaving the choice up to a dice roll.

"I'm thrilled to be back here on the table, and I look forward to being a vital member of problem solving. That's the essence of our role."

“I thought that was tremendous leadership on the mayor’s part to demonstrate consensus and to push through and make a decision together for the betterment of the community,” Romero said.

The former city councilman says he’s humbled to once again be a sitting member.

“I’m thrilled to be back here on the table, and I look forward to being a vital member of problem solving,” he said. “That’s the essence of our role.”

Now that all its seats are filled, the city council can tackle some of Aspen’s most pressing issues. Mayor Skadron says members will soon meet for a yearly goal setting session to determine the council’s plan of action for the months ahead.

“I’m guessing those top things we’ll be addressing are some deficiencies in our affordable housing program. [Also] we’re going to get really excited up our upcoming bicycle classic, the big international bike race that comes. [And] we have some budget issues, we get into budget in the fall, and we’re going to focus on some key issues there,” Mayor Skadron said.

The mayor says he hopes to see low wages make the final list.

“If, in fact, our employee wages are static, it infringes on their ability to purchase the very affordable housing units the city’s investing in, so there’s an equation there I hope we focus on over the summer,” he said.

Mayor Skadron says that meeting will take place sometime in late July or early August.

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