By Anya Kaats
In a surprise appointment, Town Trustees voted Benjamin Byer to serve as mayor. Dana Oglesby will fill Byer’s empty board seat.
Town of Crestone residents voted to elect four board members, on April 2. On the ballot were incumbents Kim Martinez, Benjamin Byer, Armando Mendez and Dennis Posluszny, in addition to newcomer Dana Oglesby.
Residents voted in all four incumbents to join Adam Kinney and Kizzen Laki, who were not up for re-election. Mayor Kairina Danforth chose not to run for re-election after her third term as mayor, and there was no new mayoral candidate on the ballot.
“Shortly after my re-election as Mayor for a third consecutive term in 2020, I announced that would be my last term as mayor of the Town of Crestone, and that I would not be a candidate for re-election in 2024,” Danforth explained in a statement to The Crestone Eagle.
A previous article in The Crestone Eagle stated that the mayor resigned. This was misstated based on misinformation provided by the town. Danforth clarified that she did not resign, but instead chose not to run again after the completion of her third mayoral term. “After eighteen years working to enhance the development of our town and the broader community, I spent my last day as mayor at the April 8 regular monthly Board of Trustees meeting as chair presiding over the appointment of a new mayor as my term then ended.”
Due to the lack of a mayoral candidate, the board voted to appoint a new mayor. Trustee Laki made a motion to appoint Trustee Kinney to serve as mayor. “Adam has spent many years on the Board of Trustees, and I feel like there was a lot of community support for Adam in the last mayoral election. I have found him to be well informed, he has very unbiased opinions, and he does the research. He also listens to the community which I feel is probably one of the most important things toward being mayor,” Laki explained. Trustee Armando Mendez seconded Laki’s motion to appoint Kinney as mayor.
After Kinney’s nomination, Trustee Posluszny nominated Byer to serve as mayor, and Trustee Martinez seconded his motion. Trustee Kinney was surprised by Byer’s nomination and asked the board for clarification.
“For discussion’s sake, it sounds like you guys have been talking about (Byer) stepping in as mayor?” Byer responded by saying “Not necessarily,” but added that this was not the first time it had been discussed. “I felt like you had a chance to actually run for mayor, and you turned that down so you could run for another position, which is a little bit of a notch against the town that you’re trying to get another position, but you still want to be mayor,” said Byer, referring to Kinney’s run for Saguache County Commissioner.
Kinney responded with disappointment that Byer had not initiated a direct conversation with him about his desire to serve as mayor. “It would have been a little bit more honorable if you had talked to us or me before today so that this would feel a little less divisive.”
Ultimately, in a 4-3 vote from the board and the mayor, Byer secured the mayoral appointment, and was sworn in as mayor to serve until the next election in two years. “It was a 4/3 vote to appoint me or Adam, after which I got full verbal support from the whole board and much congratulations. I’m excited to serve our community and will be offering hours at some point soon,” Byer said in a statement.
Following the meeting, despite his initial surprise and disappointment, Kinney expressed his support for Byer.
“Benjamin Byer is a dedicated and caring community servant. The town of Crestone is fortunate to have him in the lead during these unprecedented times, and I stand behind him with hope and optimism that this new era of community development will be a great example of transparency and integrity. Our wider community has been through a lot of changes and challenging times over the past few years. I believe our new leadership and trustees will help us remember the joy, collaboration, and celebration that made us all fall in love with this place we call home. Maybe we can have fun again.”
After Byer was appointed, Dana Oglesby was appointed to fill Byer’s empty board seat with a consensus vote from the board. She expressed cautious excitement in a statement.
“Being a trustee is a huge responsibility. I feel nervous about it, but I know I don’t have to know everything, and I have a community of brilliant people to collaborate with. I will hold this position with transparency and integrity in the hopes that those guiding principles will bring the board in closer unity with the people it serves at the pleasure of.”
At the board’s April 15 special meeting, Byer addressed the board, town staff, and local residents.
“I’m asking each trustee to take our responsibility to the next level. I, as mayor, will do the same with hopes of going above and beyond our expectations. Our town governance has very important responsibilities and implications when it comes to our foundational commitment to service.” Byer also added that the town’s main responsibility is financial, and implored the board to do whatever it takes to get the town’s finances in order.
Byer committed to hosting office hours one to two days per week, and updating the town’s digitized calendars with important dates, deadlines, elections, and meeting schedules for reference by town officials and the general public.
“In general, our process as board members is refining and executing our collective visions to better our community,” Byer explained.