{"id":2456959,"date":"2020-04-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=324003"},"modified":"2020-04-09T08:21:39","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T14:21:39","slug":"coronavirus-economy-will-force-new-basalt-council-to-hit-ground-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/coronavirus-economy-will-force-new-basalt-council-to-hit-ground-running\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus, economy will force new Basalt council to hit ground running"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"933\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/electionfollow-atd-040920-933x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/electionfollow-atd-040920-933x1024.jpg 933w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/electionfollow-atd-040920-273x300.jpg 273w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/electionfollow-atd-040920-768x843.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/electionfollow-atd-040920-1400x1536.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/electionfollow-atd-040920-1866x2048.jpg 1866w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 933px) 100vw, 933px\"><figcaption><strong>Jacque Whitsitt<\/strong><br \/><em><\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">Tuesday\u2019s election provided an extensive overhaul for the Basalt Town Council, although the winner of one seat remains in the air.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The board is losing incumbents Jacque Whitsitt as mayor and council members Auden Schendler, Katie Schwoerer and Jennifer Riffle. Whitsitt could not run again due to term limits. Schendler and Schwoerer didn\u2019t run for re-election. Riffle fell short in her bid to return for another four-year term on the council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Mayor-elect Bill Kane and council-elect members Glenn Drummond and David Knight <a id=\"N0x1fcd3a0N0x203a150:N0x1fcd3a0N0x202a908\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/bill-kane-wins-basalt-mayor-election-drummond-knight-lead-in-race-for-3-council-seats\/\">are replacing them<\/a>. Votes are still being counted in the race between Elyse Hottel and Dieter Schindler for the third open council seat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">All four additions to the council are new to politics. They will be sworn into office April 28.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/at-banner-paypal.jpg)\" class=\"col-xl-8 p-3 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/donate\/?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=donation&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=mid-article\">Donate<\/a><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote p402_hide\" readability=\"1.5\">\n<blockquote readability=\"6\">\n<p>\u201cI think we\u2019re going to work well together because the times are going to require us to work well together.\u201d \u2014 Mayor-elect Bill Kane<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Kane said he feels the new members will learn quickly on the job, in part because they have to, with the one-two punch of the coronavirus and its economic impacts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think we\u2019re going to work well together because the times are going to require us to work well together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The four newcomers will join Gary Tennenbaum, Ryan Slack and Bill Infante, who lost a bid for mayor but has two years remaining on his council term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In the outstanding race for a council seat, Hottel leads Schindler by four votes but there are 56 outstanding ballots that may figure into the outcome. Of those, 36 ballots were mailed to Basalt residents who are overseas. Any of those ballots received by the close of the day on April 15 will be counted, according to Town Clerk Pam Schilling. There were questions regarding signatures on another 20 ballots, she said. A letter will be mailed to those voters asking if they indeed filled out a ballot. They will have a chance to respond and their vote potentially counted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hottel said that with all the uncertainty in the world right now, it seems fitting that the council race has uncertainty, as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI trust the process and have adopted a zen attitude, yet am looking forward to the official results next week,\u201d Hottel said via email. \u201cI am more hopeful than ever that I can bring my sustainability experience to the town of Basalt and balance what will otherwise be an all-male council with some female leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Depending on the outcome of the final race, Basalt could be without a woman on council since at least the mid-1990s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Kane said it is desirable to see the council reflect the community and workforce in gender diversity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think it\u2019s a little unfortunate, but the voters have spoken,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Whitsitt, Basalt\u2019s third female mayor, said she would like to see gender balance on the board but feels all the candidates\u2019 hearts are in the right place and it will be an effective board.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI am very excited about the make-up of the council,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a diverse, smart group.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Whitsitt said any philosophical differences on issues such as growth would be overshadowed by the need for the board to work together during a tough time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe council has much bigger fish to fry,\u201d she said. \u201cThe coronavirus and economy will be on the front burner for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Like Kane she said the newcomers to political office would learn quickly from the veterans and town staff. Nevertheless, they have a lot to absorb.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s definitely drinking from a fire hose,\u201d Whitsitt said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:scondon@aspentimes.com\">scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/coronavirus-economy-will-force-new-basalt-council-to-hit-ground-running\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jacque Whitsitt Tuesday\u2019s election provided an extensive overhaul for the Basalt Town Council, although the winner of one seat remains in the air. The board is losing incumbents Jacque Whitsitt as mayor and council members Auden Schendler, Katie Schwoerer and Jennifer Riffle. Whitsitt could not run again due to term limits. Schendler and Schwoerer didn\u2019t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2456959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 05:19:44","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2456959"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2456971,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456959\/revisions\/2456971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2456959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2456959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2456959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}