On Tuesday, April 2, Carbondale will elect three new members to the Board of Trustees, each for four-year terms. They will take the places of current trustees Marty Silverstein, Lani Kitching and Luis Yllanes. There are no incumbents in this race.
If you would like to submit a question for our candidate forum, March 20 at 6pm, please email news@soprissun.com with “Candidate Forum” in the subject line.
In the meantime, here are candidate responses to a few simple questions.
Questions:
1. Who are you? What makes you a good fit to represent Carbondale?
2. Please describe the moment you decided to run for trustee.
3. Are there any actions by the current board of trustees that you disagree with or would have voted differently on?
4. What’s a fun fact most people may not know about you?
Christina Montemayor
1. My name is Christina Guadalupe Montemayor. I am a resident of Carbondale and I have lived in the Town of Carbondale for 22+ years. I am an enthusiastic person. I have a love and passion for Carbondale. I am a mother of three children and support a local small business.
I am a good fit to represent Carbondale because I have utilized and served the community. I am ethical. I have integrity, clear communication, critical thinking skills, and am committed to making decisions that benefit the overall wellbeing of the town and its residents. I am a common-law full-time employee, and this has given me a solid understanding of fiscal management, leadership, and acknowledgement of government operations. I have a willingness to listen, learn, and collaborate with community members. I am Hispanic and I will bring a unique perspective and lived experience to the role, which can be valuable in understanding and addressing the needs of a diverse community.
2. I was discussing civic responsibilities and opinions I had about a local small business concern, and this motivated me with a desire to make a positive impact on the community. Housing, environment, and preserving small town character is important to me. I want to be a voice to support our ethically and culturally diverse community.
3. I appreciate the time and dedication the board of trustees devote to making Carbondale a wonderful place to live. Diversity matters and it would be valuable to see a woman, minority serving on the board.
4. I love to laugh. I was Student Council treasurer in high school.
Ross Kribbs
1. My story may be similar to yours: I arrived in the headwaters of this valley a few decades ago, eventually made my way downstream, and finally found my place — and my purpose — in Carbondale.
Wanderlust and a job offer brought me from Pennsylvania to the Aspen Times in 1999. Twenty-five years later, after stints as a newspaper photographer, gallery owner, marketing director and graphic designer, I’ve returned full circle to my musical roots: playing professionally, teaching violin to a full studio of impressive young humans, and co-directing the Roaring Fork Youth Orchestra. I credit karma and Carbondale in equal measures: I can’t imagine a town with better opportunities for collaboration, better support for performers and learners, better spaces to create, or better public enthusiasm for the arts, the outdoors, and the wellbeing of its citizens.
I also know that those qualities are fragile. Very.
Our small-town community vibrancy can’t be maintained without deliberate effort, persistence, and determination. I promise to bring those qualities — along with a healthy dose of creativity and a very strong backbone — to the trustee table.
If I thought Carbondale was on the right track, I’d stick to the fiddle, but I’m running for this office because I know we can do better. I don’t look at windowless Wal-Mart-sized self-storage buildings and think, “nailed it.”
With Aspen as the valley’s economic driver, we will always be a bedroom community to some extent, but we should never risk becoming the valley’s closet. As to buildings that people do live and work in, we need to raise the required affordable-housing percentage from 20% to something significantly higher — a 50% affordable housing project proposal in Basalt shows it can be done.
Fortunately, this town has gobs of talent, creativity, and a big bucket of success stories to help us find a path forward. Let’s focus on those and learn all we can from them. I’m heartened by the public outreach and creativity poured into the Town Center parcel and the Carbondale MAP plan. Efforts at community engagement and town updates have improved dramatically through the new website and notification options. Third Street Center is a hub of energy that optimizes its small footprint, while teacher housing nearby has created homes for some of our most important community members. Carbondale Arts continually reminds us that organizations with a fiery spirit need not sell out to create sell-out events. And our little library is bursting with opportunities and bustling with activity.
If you agree that we should look closely at what we’ve gotten right — and even closer at what we haven’t — I hope to earn your vote.
2. Because I value history and big trees (and good architecture if you can’t have the first two) I took an early interest in the Forest Service’s project on Main Street. Over the last few months, I spent considerable time neck-deep in NEPA regulations, trying to understand why public outreach about the project was minimal and why even the most basic information was so hard to find. (Spoiler alert: it was deliberately categorized as a “Repair and Maintenance” project for over three years. If that doesn’t seem reasonable to you, we agree.)
When the Forest Service presented at a standing-room-only trustee’s meeting, it became clear that the mayor and some on the board were creating their own narrative for the project, strongly implying that the new building was inevitable, that the town was powerless to persuade, and that the project met the town’s development guidelines anyway. Federal and municipal code would argue otherwise, but the general public was only allowed to make case in two-minute segments.
I attended that meeting expecting to be frustrated with the federal government, but I left disappointed with our local government’s response. Our mayor and trustees could have pressed Forest Service representatives for answers to serious questions about the project’s effect on our cultural and environmental fabric, but did not. In the end, an opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate community spirit instead became an example of how to dismiss it.
I think this was the moment I realized it might be more productive to be on the other side of the table. I’ll always be a well-informed citizen, but given the option to ask challenging and engaging questions on behalf of my community — or to sit on my hands and hope that others will instead — I’ll take the former.
3. I do have concerns with specific recent votes, and two come to mind most readily: 1) approval of a futsal court near City Market that remains closed to the public after multiple broken promises from the developer, and 2) an allocation of an additional $1.5 million for a new pool, when we still don’t have operable bathrooms at many of our increasingly popular parks.
More concerning, however, are a number of pivotal decisions made recently outside of board meetings. The biggest decision regarding the new pool project was its location — the public supported a location near the recreation center by a 2-1 margin — yet I’m not aware of a trustee vote on that specific element. Likewise with a decision to exclude any mention of the Town Center parcels from the Comprehensive Plan, a serious and deliberate omission. In both cases, the final proposals were put to a vote, but key decisions that should have guided their creation were not.
When the town’s business is conducted this way, it’s tough for any individual trustee to raise concerns without fear of rocking the boat or dismissing the hard work of staff or consultants. It’s governing by inertia, and it’s the exact opposite of deliberation. When I see “update” instead of “discussion” on the agenda I often wonder what major policy decisions have already been made, and by whom. Even more fuzzy is the process to designate selected community members as “stakeholders” with early access to focus groups and paid consultants. In a town this size and citizens this concerned, everyone is a stakeholder.
And finally, an admission. I would have voted differently on the WE-cycle approval … and I would have been wrong. The program appears to be serving a valuable role in public transportation, and I’d like to see how it might be optimized. However, I’d like to earmark a percentage of the WE-cycle allocation to bike maintenance and repair opportunities for those utilizing their own bicycles for transport, or modest subsidies for those needing help to purchase them. The Carbondale Bike Project could play a key role here. There’s a messy vitality component that starts to get lost when every bicycle is identical and bears an advertisement, but is reborn when folks get creative and get dirty.
Maybe that’s the larger lesson here: we can embrace the benefits of progress — and certainly argue over the definition of that term — while still being mindful of what keeps Carbondale Carbondale.
4. I’m one of a few people to have paddled the entire length of the Susquehanna River, the longest river on the East Coast. It’s 444 miles long, starts as a trickle and ends a mile wide, but you could walk across it in most places without getting your shorts wet. Until a few years ago, I used to say that the Susquehanna passed by my hometown, but I’ve realized recently that’s no longer the case. That river would be the Crystal.
Susan Rhea
1. I was raised an Army kid, and that means we moved around a lot. I lived in eight places before I was 17, and since then lived in three places in Colorado, the last 14 years in the valley. I was married to a wonderful man for over 30 years, and not long after we retired and moved here, he contracted cancer and died. We raised one son; he is happily married, and has two children. He chose sailing over skiing, and is now enjoying the traveling family show while serving in the Navy.
I worked as a research geophysicist and science communicator for the earthquake hazard reduction program in the U.S. Geological Survey, located in Golden, Colorado. I was fortunate enough to be able to live within two miles of work for all 35 years of my career, biking to work over 10 months of the year. That was important to me because I love physical activity and I could minimize my energy footprint. I was active in community action, helping preserve lands for open space, bringing in recreational opportunities including two pools, and also serving as a hospice volunteer. My husband and I were the first in town to have solar installed (during the Jimmy Carter years), first in town to have a xeriscape yard, and in the Roaring Fork, we were the second in the valley to use geothermal heat pump heating in a residential property. Environmental protection and energy conservation have been a focus in my life.
I care about Carbondale as a place, as a people, as a community trying to do the right things, to be the best place to live for a generous, openhearted, environmentally responsible, physically active small town. I believe my personal and professional history, experience, and training give me insight into finding solutions to the many challenges and desires of our Town. I have opinions about many issues, but also know I don’t know everything and welcome info from others. I am not wedded to my opinions and will change my mind if information indicates there’s a better decision than I’ve thought of. My experience confirms diverse contributions make for a better result.
You might notice my responses are long. That’s because the more I learn, the more I know issues are complicated, rarely is something simple, and it takes a person willing to dive deep into issues and consider many perspectives to find good solutions. I think I am one of those people.
2. One of my core principles is to try and leave a place better than you found it. If that means picking up the trash someone dropped, or the poop they didn’t see their dog drop, or clearing deadfall from a trail, I do it. If it means raising funds or awareness for preserving land, I’m there. If it means helping gather and analyze data and make recommendations for improving walkability and bike-ability around town, I’m in.
I came across a statement last year that prompted me to step up. That statement is: if you’re complaining and not offering solutions, you’re just whining. I decided to stop whining, and to step up. I offer my service to help solve Town challenges like housing for all, clean energy for all, safe and accessible non-vehicle movement for all, a pool for all, arts for all, while somehow maintaining our small town character and values. I want to help us manage the next phase of growth and still recognize people on my walks about Town. To grow and change is inevitable, and to do it while holding dear to our values and character is vital.
3. I am very impressed with Town leadership, elected, voluntary, and employed. We are a small town; sometimes people forget that when they come here from larger cities. We have a small staff and they step up to the enormous tasks we give them. I think our mayor has done an excellent job of navigating difficult decisions after listening to many points of view. And as one of the trustees said to me, know you’ll please half of the people. It can be a hard task to find balance in competing interests. We want affordable housing; that means accepting dense, multi-story multi-family housing, and that conflicts with small town appearance. We want to provide apartment and condo complexes, but we don’t want to look and feel like a city. We want to limit growth, but we don’t want property values to go to the moon. What do we compromise, and how much?
One error I think the BOTT made was to proceed with the new Marketplace/City Market before installing the traffic management infrastructure we all knew was needed. I believe it is a planning and development best practice to install infrastructure that supports pedestrian and cyclist safety, and the expected traffic increase, before development. Chasing development with improved infrastructure later is more costly and painfully disruptive. The lack of timely CDOT collaboration was a missed opportunity that has caused expected problems on 133.
Another area of concern is an instruction given to the architects for the Artspace project downtown, inviting them to explore designs that exceed our current height limit. There is an energy issue — residences with high ceilings are more expensive to heat and cool. And there is an aesthetic issue — raising the height limit impacts the heart of downtown and unnecessarily challenges the historical feel I value. I know we want to create more affordable housing and promote a vibrant downtown art scene, but we must do it in a way that blends in with our existing Main Street.
4. I was with my son and family this Christmas, and my son and I did our first ever New Year’s Day polar plunge, in Puget Sound. Brrrr!
April Spaulding
1. Where to start? I’m a wife, mother, avid volunteer, gardener, KDNK DJ, outdoor enthusiast and more. I love Carbondale and enjoy the many opportunities that are available to become involved with local events and nonprofits that are integral to our way of life in this unique community we have.
I have served on executive boards for KDNK Community Radio, The Sopris Sun, the Women’s Auxiliary of The American Legion, and I’m a supervisor for Mountain Fair. I served on the Town Board of Adjustments and have helped organize countless fundraisers for local charities and nonprofits.
2. It wasn’t exactly a precise moment, more of a thought process that lasted a couple of weeks, but once I made the decision it felt right. I feel I have a lot to offer as a Town Trustee and would be honored to serve the community. Being married to a five generation plus Carbondale local has given me the chance to learn so much about our town and the history of Carbondale.
3. WE-cycle has been operating in Carbondale for close to a year and has proven to be beneficial to many residents. I see the bikes being utilized by a cross-section of our population. I have to be honest and admit that I wasn’t a fan of the idea and am so happy that our current board of trustees saw the benefit of this opportunity for our town. Great job!
4. I’m a DJ that can’t keep a beat! This has become evident as I have been rehearsing for my first spin on the catwalk for the Green is the New Black Fashion Show. At this point I just hope I don’t fall!
Jessica Robison
1. I was raised in the Roaring Fork Valley. I attended public schools in Basalt from Kindergarten through twelfth grade. After college, I returned to the valley and settled in Carbondale with my family. I am a Carbondale homeowner and business owner, raising two children with my local spouse. I have spent years volunteering for local organizations and have over a decade of board experience. I own a local construction business and I’m passionate about how to solve development and land use challenges. Carbondale is my home, and this community holds my heart.
My heart has always been called to public service and a local position seemed like the best way to make an impact. I am running for local public office because I want to serve my community. I hope to encourage a political environment in Carbondale that fosters engagement, moderation, equity, and inclusion. I have watched politicians pack up their personal agendas and sell them to the public to get elected. This doesn’t make sense to me. Our democracy was built on a foundation of public service, not personal agendas. My goal is to be a conduit from the public that I serve, to the government that serves them.
2. When I was in third grade, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I immediately answered that I wanted to be the first female President of the United States. Even though that is not my answer anymore, I knew from a young age that I wanted to serve. Being of service to the people around me has been part of my character since I was very young and still holds true today. When I heard that we were 10 days out from the deadline for turning in petitions to run and not a single petition had been pulled, I immediately went to Town Hall. Democracy requires participation and it is our job as citizens to contribute in any way we can.
3. Anyone who lives in Carbondale who goes to City Market has cursed the infamous transformers that completely block the view of oncoming traffic at the cross streets of Main and Hendrick. When the board of trustees reviewed and approved the development at that location, they either didn’t notice the transformers on the site plan, or didn’t know to ask about them, or both. As an experienced contractor, I’m someone who pays attention to details like that. I understand construction documents and site plans and will play a valuable part in review of developments. I would be able to play a role of catching details like these transformers, long before completion so that future projects do not have critical problems such as these.
4. A fun fact about me is that I manage the Roaring Fork Swap on Facebook with two other admins. I took over the admin role when the Swap had less than 3,000 members in 2013. The group now has over 46,000 members and has become one of the most well-known, local groups for our community. We get more than 50 member requests each day and we sift through them to decide if they are spam or real people who live here. The group is an integral part of the community, especially during emergencies.
Katie Tabor
1. Hi, my name is Katie Tabor. I’m a Leo pescatarian and I resonate at the same wavelength as a citrine crystal. Last week I saw Kate Hudson at Lululemon and talked her out of a truly heinous pair of yoga pants… ALL kidding aside, I’m a 12-year resident of the Valley and I work in landscape architecture and planning. I have a passion for design, planning and public projects. I previously worked as a parish (county) planner in Louisiana and have a lot of applicable knowledge from this experience as well as my work in the private sector here in the Valley. I currently serve on the board of the Keator Grove HOA and have a tremendous amount of interest in affordable housing policies.
I think I’m a good fit to represent Carbondale because I’m open-minded. My idea of a good representative is someone who actively listens to the public and doesn’t come to the table with a preconceived idea of what is right or not for the community. Recently, Carbondale has received a ton of feedback from the public for the Comprehensive Plan Update, the Mobility and Access Plan update, various public projects, etc. and these data points are all good ways to inform board decisions.
2. I’ve always wanted to participate in some capacity on a municipal board because I really enjoy that part of the public process. A couple of years back my partner and I were able to buy a deed-restricted housing unit in Carbondale — yay affordable housing! Our roots are now firmly planted, so I felt the timing was right. Also, one of my goals this year is to give more time and energy to my community, and I think this opportunity aligns perfectly. If I’m not elected to this position, I will find some other way to give back!
3. I truly think they’ve been doing an outstanding job. When the community is disgruntled about a project or something that’s happening in town, it’s usually the fault of old codes and regulations that haven’t been updated quickly enough to capture current sentiments. The BOTT can work with Town Staff and other commissions to ensure that any updates reflect our values.
4. I worked as an environmental educator at a public zoo. I taught groups about the importance of species survival and habitat conservation and helped raise funds for wildlife conservation efforts. I also trained animal ambassadors to participate in these presentations.