Rangely says ‘no’ to limits

RBC — While county voters supported school bond initiatives in Meeker and Rangely by wide margins in the Nov. 4 general election, Rangely voters said no to eliminating term limits for the mayor and town council members.
On Referendum 2A, 731 voters opposed the measure while 201 favored doing away with term limits.
Peggy Rector, former Rangely mayor and Rio Blanco County commissioner, was pleased with the outcome.
“I was happy with that,” she said. “In this case, I believe in the term limits.”
Rector took out an ad in the newspaper opposing termination of term limits.
“I thought someone should do something about it,” she said. “I hadn’t seen anything, either pro or con.”
Rector understands it can be a challenge sometimes to attract candidates to run for office.
“I think with the last vacancy they (the town council) had they didn’t have that many applications, which is why they did that (put the term limits measure on the ballot),” Rector said. “As far as when you have resignations and have to appoint somebody, it has been hard to do that.
“There’s so much condemnation associated with being in the political arena,” Rector said. “I don’t think good people want to be put through that. I think that’s a concern for a lot of good people out there who are qualified to run. But I think it’s better to have a candidate put up for election and vote them up or down. We need our vote.”
County Commissioner Ken Parsons, who is from Rangely, said he was not surprised voters rejected the elimination of term limits.
“The school board tried it before, and it didn’t pass,” Parsons said. “In a small town there is a concern about participation, but there is also a concern you would get some people forming cliques.”
Rangely Town Manager Peter Brixius said he and members of the town council accept the voters’ decision on the term limits matter.