Publish Date: Thursday July 02, 2009
Retired school teacher Corynne Hyatt was selected on Tuesday to replace Stan Hren on the Pueblo West Metropolitan District board of directors.
The vote was 3-1 with William Vickers, Steven Abel and Jeff Sloan voting for Hyatt. Board member John Van Auken voted against her.
Hyatt was one of seven individuals who expressed interest in the position. Six candidates, former Pueblo City Manager Lewis Quigley, former Lake Pueblo Director Mike French, former Fountain Sand & Gravel President Gerald "Jerry" Martin, maintenance planner Randy Linnen, and retired computer expert Phil Weber, submitted, along with Hyatt to interviews during the board meeting.
All six had submitted letters of interest to the metro board.
A seventh candidate, former Pueblo County manager Mark Carmel, submitted a letter but later withdrew because of a conflict of interest.
Hyatt replaces Hren, who resigned on June 11. Hyatt will serve until the next regularly scheduled election, which is set for May of 2010.
The selection comes amid a recall movement aimed at three current members of the board - Sloan, Vickers and Abel. Hren also was targeted for the recall.
And the recall played a significant role in Hyatt's selection.
Hren resigned as a result of the pressures of the recall. Because he did so within a five-day window of the recall petitions being certified, the metro board was allowed to select a new member, rather than have Hren's replacement decided during the recall election.
Hyatt, Weber and Linnen did not sign the recall petitions. French, Martin and Quigley did.
That factor played a key role in the selection process. All six candidates were asked if they voted for the recall.
The three who did, attempted to justify their action to the board.
French and Quigley said they signed the petition because they thought the process was wrong in the firing of former District Manager Don Saling. Martin said he signed the recall because the board's actions created divisiveness in the community.
Both Vickers and Abel said they could not vote for a person who signed the recall petition.
"We're in the situation of having to select a replacement for Stan Hren because some people in the community initiated a recall movement," Vickers said.
Abel said he wanted a candidate who would most closely represent Hren's perspective out of respect for the voters who elected Hren to office in 2006, but that he, too, was opposed to voting for someone who supported the recall.
Vickers defended his approach saying that is what the law allows.
"The law says we can do this and that's just the way it is," Vickers said. "I think the people on the other side would do the same."
After the interviews, John Van Auken, the only metro board candidate not targeted for recall, said his top two candidates were French and Martin. Vickers and Abel both chose three candidates, Hyatt, Linnen and Weber.
Sloan, saying he didn't have any animosity toward those who signed the recall petitions, chose Hyatt, French and Martin.
With Hyatt being the choice of three of the four board members, a motion was quickly made and passed, naming her as Hren's replacement.
In other action, the board deferred choosing a replacement for Gene Montoya on the Committee of Architecture. Montoya resigned because of an illness in the family. The board will accept applications for the position until July 10,.
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