The Aspen City Council will appoint a new municipal court judge and two deputy municipal judges after finalizing contracts this week.
The city council showed unanimous support for Ted Gardenswartz to fill the vacancy during a Tuesday special meeting. Gardenswartz was appointed the presiding municipal judge in September after longtime Municipal Court Judge Brooke Peterson announced his retirement. Peterson served as municipal judge in Aspen since 1981.
Gardenswartz has been the deputy judge since 2009.
Three candidates, including Gardenswartz, applied for the position. Council members decided to appoint the other two candidates as deputy municipal court judges.
“After conferring with our legal (team) and our city manager, the opportunity for two possible deputy appointments made a lot of sense for the two others in that pool,” Mayor Torre said.
Don Nottingham and Monica Groom will be appointed deputy municipal judges. Nottingham was the chief deputy district attorney in the 9th Judicial District before leaving his post in January 2024 to start a private practice. Groom is an attorney at Glenwood Springs-based Defiance Law Firm.
The city council went into an executive session Tuesday night to discuss the municipal judge contract. It also planned to discuss the contract for a new city attorney during an executive session.
During the meeting, the city council reviewed the job description and hiring timeline to replace City Attorney Jim True, who announced his retirement from the city in December. True was named assistant city attorney in 2007 and appointed as city attorney in 2012.
The city is proposing a salary range of $208,232 to $277,642 for the position. During a Dec. 9 council work session, the city council decided to seek an internal candidate to replace True. According to the city charter, the city attorney must be an attorney-at-law admitted to practice in Colorado.
Administrative Services Director Alissa Farrell said the job listing would be posted in 24 to 48 hours after the Monday meeting. The posting will be open for at least seven days.
