Oak Creek has a new mayor for the first time since 2010 after Melissa Dobbins defeated incumbent Nikki Knoebel in the town’s election Tuesday.

Dobbins — who has served as a Town Trustee since September 2021 — received 135 votes, beating Knoebel by a margin of 31 votes, according to unofficial results released Tuesday night. She takes the mayor’s position after serving as a Town Trustee since 2021.

Christopher Hedberg, Sascha Stanger and Julie D. Gregory secured four-year terms as Town Trustees in the unofficial results for the local election, which saw a 43.3% voter turnout in the town of just under 1,000 people.

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The winning candidates edged out Mary Alice Page-Allen, who previously served as Oak Creek’s Town Administer between 2012 and 2019.

The new Oak Creek mayor thanked the community Wednesday morning for giving her the opportunity to lead the town. She also thanked Knoebel for her years of service to the town.

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“I know people absolutely love her and she has done amazing things for this town,” Dobbins said. “She has really taken it from a sleepy mining town into what we see today.”

Looking ahead to her first year as mayor, Dobbins said she hoped to bring a fresh perspective to the role.

“We have a lot of really big, county-wide initiatives that will directly affect Oak Creek,” she said. “Progress and change, I am here to embrace it, but at the same time maintaining a sense of protection to the quality of living in Routt County.”

Dobbins noted transportation, affordable housing, completing upgrades to the Sheriff Reservoir and revamping the town’s water and sewer facilities as key objectives for Oak Creek.

Most immediately, she said the town will need to address how to move forward in the realm of public safety following the retirement of Ralph Maher from the position of police chief.

Maher signed a separation agreement with the town in the wake of an independent investigation that sustained allegations of unprofessional conduct in relation to his actions at an all-male entertainment show earlier this year.

“That needs to take precedent over just about anything else at this time,” Dobbin said. “A lot of groundwork has already been set in place for the other subjects, but our public safety is immediate and will be the primary focus.”

The new mayor said newly elected town board members will need to be caught up to speed before any decisions can be made.

“We have two directions we can go,” Dobbins said. “The first direction being we stay course, maintain our police department and search for a police chief, which I have heard is a very challenging and lengthy process for municipalities our size.

“Or do we decide to dissolve it and work in conjunction with Routt County? That is really going to be a discussion that is going to have to come down to the board, but I do know research is being done on both sides right now.”

In the town of Yampa, Ken Montgomery and Amy Kindsvater secured Town Trustee seats with 85 and 61 votes, respectively, according to unofficial results released by the town. The successful candidates beat out Jonathan Cave, who received 53 votes, according to the initial results.

Stacey Geilert will serve another two-year term as mayor of Yampa, according to the town’s unofficial election results. Geilert, who ran unopposed in the election, has served in the position since 2022.

The election in Yampa saw a 38% voter turnout in the town with a population of roughly 400 people.

The election results in Oak Creek and Yampa are unofficial and will be verified in the coming weeks.