Seibert Jr., Coggin, Davis, Staufer land Vail council seats; Avon recall fails

Two sons of Vail pioneers will be serving on the Vail Town Council following Tuesday’s election, with Peter Seibert, Jr. the top choice at 827 votes, according to preliminary unofficial results as of midnight. His father, Pete, Sr., founded Vail Mountain with Earl Eaton in the late 1950s and opened it for skiing in 1962.

Jonathan Staufer, whose father Josef is another Vail pioneer, received 646 votes as of midnight, enough for a two-year term.

Joining Seibert, Jr. in landing four-year terms are incumbent Travis Coggin with 676 votes and council newcomer Barry Davis with 655 votes.

Results will still change, according to the Eagle County clerk and recorder, who put out this statement at 2 a.m.: “Preliminary unofficial election results for the Nov. 2 coordinated election are expected by end of day Nov. 3. Election judges were dismissed at 1:45 a.m. with about 1,000 ballots remaining to be scanned. Judges will return on the morning of Nov. 3 and will resume scanning ballots. Final results will be posted by the end of the day Wednesday, Nov. 3. Final results will be updated at https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/CO/Eagle/111077/web.278093/#/summary.”

Ten miles west of Vail on Interstate 70, two Avon Town Council members handily fought off an ill-conceived recall effort.

Avon Mayor Sarah Smith Hymes and council member Tamra Underwood kept their seats by an overwhelming 76% to 23% margin, putting an end to a costly and divisive process.

In the heated and often ugly Eagle County School Board race, a slate of candidates fighting off Republican attempts to politicize public schools won decisively.

The Vote Smart x5 candidates, including two incumbents, crushed a group of challengers who formed their own right-wing coalition, some of whom campaigned with controversial congresswoman Lauren Boebert, whose role in the Jan. 6 insurrection has made her a deeply polarizing figure on the national stage.

The school board candidates winning on Tuesday included Kelly Alter (63% to 36%), Lelia Conlin (67% to 32%), Juan Peña (64% to 35%), Michelle Stecher (100%) and Dan Reynolds (70% to 29%).

Here’s a press release from the town of Vail, which also passed a sales tax to be used for housing initiatives:

2021 Town Council Election

Per the Vail Town Charter, the three candidates receiving the highest number of votes are elected to four-year terms:

• Pete Seibert, Jr. with 827 votes
• Travis Coggin with 676 votes
• Barry Davis with 655 votes

The candidate serving the fourth highest votes is elected to a two-year term:

• Jonathan Staufer with 646 votes

The remainder of the field finished as follows according to the unofficial results:

• Brian Stockmar, 614
• Kim Newbury Rediker, 601
• Kathryn Middleton, 592
• Kirk Hansen, 414
• Niko Sayag, 395
• Jermaine A. Wates, 207

The election fills the terms of four of the town’s seven council positions. Of the four open seats, two were held by Dave Chapin and Jenn Bruno who are term-limited, the other seats were held by Travis Coggin and Brian Stockmar who ran for re-election. Terms of the remaining council members, Kevin Foley, Kim Langmaid and Jen Mason, run to November 2023. Swearing-in ceremonies for the newly elected members will take place after the election results have been certified at which time the mayor and mayor pro tem will be selected, each will serve two-year terms. These activities will take place Dec. 7.

 Ballot Issue 2A
The unofficial results of Ballot Issue 2A, which authorizes an increase of 0.5% in the town’s existing sales tax, other than on food for home consumption, to fund housing initiatives, housing developments and housing programs:

898   Yes   54%
773   No    46%

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