Basalt, Carbondale and Parachute elected new mayors, town trustees and town council members on Tuesday.
The municipalities have announced the projected winners, but the results will not be official until the elections are certified.
The winning candidates will serve four-year terms through the spring of 2030.
While many of the candidates were incumbents, some new residents have been selected to fill the local government leadership positions.
Carbondale
Erica Sparhawk — Carbondale’s new mayor — was born and raised in the town. She’s been on the Board of Trustees for nine years, including throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and other town crises.
“We're at a really critical point for Carbondale, and it's an exciting time to be part of that,” she said at the El Dorado bar on Carbondale’s Main Street on Election Night.
“You know, tackle the developments that are coming our way, but make sure that they still reflect our community and are best for our community,” she added.
It has been a decade since a woman has led the Board of Trustees as mayor.
Sparhawk is the projected winner with 1,380 votes, or 88.86%. Her opponent, Patricia Savoy, received 173 votes, or 11.14%.
Incumbent trustees Chris Hassig and Colin Laird have also been reelected. Another born-and-raised local, Kade Gianinetti, won the third open seat.
He wants to focus on development projects and partnerships that could shape the town for years to come.
“I really view Carbondale's future as abundant, and hopefully we can work together and get there,” he said.
For Carbondale’s Board of Trustees race, Hassig led with 1,232 votes, followed closely by Laird with 1,230 and Gianinetti with 1,060.
Carbondale’s newly elected officials will be sworn in at the board’s last meeting in April.
The town’s election results will be certified after April 16, allowing military voters overseas to return their ballots and the canvass board to meet.
Basalt
Basalt voters elected three town councilors on Tuesday: an incumbent, a newcomer and a returning council member.
Angela Anderson just finished her first four-year term and said she’s excited to start another one. She received 396 votes.
Among her priorities for her second term is establishing a community committee for business owners, especially to help address the impacts of next year’s planned closure of the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport.
“I've noticed that the business communities — they're very vocal,” she said. “They're active, and they show up. But I have thought, ‘We could have a more organized structure to get their input before things come to a vote.’”
Elyse Hottel was also reelected. She served from 2020 to 2024 but took the past two years off. She received 467 votes.
Hottel did not initially run for reelection because her housing situation became uncertain. She said affordable housing is a top priority of hers, as is environmental sustainability.
“Yes, bigger changes could be made at higher levels,” she said. “But it's not something that we should just throw up our hands and be like, ‘Oh, we can't do anything,’ because we absolutely can.”
Both Anderson and Hottel emphasized financing a new police and public works facility as important priorities in the next four years.
Greg Shaffran earned the most votes with 516 and secured the third open seat.
He focused on the importance of child care and elder care during last month’s candidate forum.
The three councilors will be sworn in on April 28.
Parachute
Voters chose incumbent Tom Rugaard as the next mayor of Parachute.
He won with 69 votes, beating his opponent, Levi Williamson, who received 35 votes.
Rugaard said one of his priorities for his next term includes finishing planned improvements to Parachute’s downtown area.
“Our downtown's been needing a lot of work for a long, long time,” he said. “It's an old highway. It's curved. The sidewalks aren't up to code, and it's just hard to sell a downtown when you don't have a main street.”
The end goal is to give Parachute a walkable downtown area.
Rugaard also wants to build a mountain bike trail system that connects Parachute and Battlement Mesa. He hopes both initiatives will bring more business to the area.
The mayoral race was Parachute’s first contested election in a decade, according to the town manager.
Two candidates also ran uncontested for three open seats on the Parachute Town Council — David Blair and Artemio Baltazar Jr.
The remaining seat will be filled by the Town Council through an appointment process after the election. Eligible candidates who are interested in the vacant position can apply by submitting a resume and cover letter to the Parachute town clerk.
New Castle
The town of New Castle did not hold a spring election this year. It was canceled during a council meeting in February.
By the Jan. 26 deadline, exactly four candidates had filed for the three open council seats and the open mayoral seat.
Grady Hazelton will be sworn in as mayor while Brandy Copeland, Caitlin Carey and Emily Sampley will be sworn into the three open council seats on April 21.
Hazelton currently serves on the town council. Once he is sworn in as mayor, his council seat will become vacant. The new council will then determine how to fill his position, but they do not have a process for that yet.
This will be the first time since at least 2014 that the town council will have a female majority.