Windsor will not appeal a Weld District judge’s decision ruling Barry Wilson ineligible to serve as mayor due to term limits after the town board voted unanimously against filing an appeal at a special meeting Wednesday.
The vote came after about an hour of public comment and a more-than-two-hour executive session in which the town board, other town representatives and legal counsel discussed the possible appeal.
“I don’t like being put in the position we’re in,” District 1 board member Ron Steinbach said. “Where somebody who doesn’t have the best interest of the town at heart appears to have won this battle. But I think we need to move on to get a mayor appointed and the District 2 seat filled.”
In a statement Thursday afternoon, Mayor Pro Tem Julie Cline said “the decision to not appeal required much thought and deliberation, but ultimately, (the board) felt it was not in the best interest of the community to proceed. Instead, we accept the Court’s ruling on the matter and will move to fill the vacancy for mayor in accordance with the options afforded to us by the Town Charter.”
The board has two options to fill the vacancy. They can either appoint a current board member as mayor with a two-thirds vote or conduct a special election. Town officials say the board will likely discuss how to proceed at its June 10 meeting. Along with filling the mayoral vacancy, the board will also need to fill the District 2 seat Wilson vacated last month.
Wilson was elected mayor on April 2, defeating Jason Hallet with 53% of the vote.
On April 18, James Cosner filed a complaint in Weld District Court against Wilson and Town Clerk Karen Frawley alleging Wilson was ineligible to run for mayor because he had already been elected to two consecutive terms on the town board.
“I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t have the best interest of the town at heart,” Cosner said. “Why the hell would I take all this time and have my name tarnished all over the place for any reason other than just trying to make Windsor a better place.”
Windsor’s town charter states an elected official’s term of office “either as a board member, mayor or combination of board member and mayor shall be limited to two consecutive elected terms, but not more than 10 consecutive years in office.”
Frawley interpreted that to mean a board member could be elected to two terms on the board, then to one as mayor as long as they don’t exceed the 10-year limit. Kristie Melendez in 2016 was elected as mayor under the same circumstances, and another two-term board member ran for mayor in 2004.
Last week, Judge Shannon Lyons ruled that Frawley had misinterpreted the charter and Wilson was not eligible, making his election null and void.
At Wednesday’s meeting, opinion was split among the roughly two dozen residents who spoke.
Those in favor of an appeal said it wasn’t about Wilson but the people who voted for Wilson.
“I want my vote to count. I want elections to be fair,” one resident said. “I want people to know when I vote, it matters. We have to do the right thing, not just the uncostly thing. It’s not about the cost.”
For most residents not in support of appealing, it was all but entirely about the cost. The cost to the taxpayers of funding an appeal would be “a large uphill battle,” Cline said after the executive session.
But for others — including Melendez — it was about the principle. The intent of those who drafted — and voted to approve — the town’s charter back in 2003.
“Obviously, the charter has been misinterpreted for years, and the record has finally been set straight,” said Melendez, who served four years as mayor under the misinterpretation. “… The charter’s drafters, and ultimately a majority of the voters who adopted the charter, made clear their intention to limit the service of any town board member, whether board member or mayor, to two consecutive terms. It is not an injustice that Wilson must be limited to two consecutive elected terms.”
Wilson was not happy with the decision.
“This town board has let me and a majority of Windsor’s voters down,” Wilson said. “Windsor’s best days are not ahead. No town board member or senior staff member should feel safe in their position.”
