Council cooperates to fill board vacancies

    COMMERCE CITY – There was no friction or strife involved with the council appointments to boards and commissions Nov. 21.

Rick Teter

    Working with polite deferment and without forcing any votes, the nine members of council quietly and efficiently divvied up the responsibilities for representing Commerce City on wide-ranging groups throughout the city and region.
    “Mr. Mayor, I’m only speaking for myself, but there were about six boards I was on, and you’ll hear reports from some of them tonight, that I would like to stay on as a participant. One of them is the board of adjustment,” Councilman René Bullock said.
    Mayor Sean Ford asked council if any other members desired to sit on this board, and seeing no other interested parties, Bullock retained his position.
    Next was the Derby review board, where Mayor Pro Tem Dominick Moreno also retained his seat.
    On the liquor licensing authority board, the council vacancy was filled by Rick Teter, with Moreno as alternate.
    For the Parks and Recreation advisory committee, Moreno stepped down allowing Steven Douglas to take his seat. Councilwoman Jadie Carson holds the other seat representing council.
    Both Douglas and councilwoman Crystal Elliott expressed interest in filling the vacancy on the police pension board, which meets quarterly, but Douglas conceded the position for Elliott.
    “See, we’re all getting along up here,” Ford said about the amicable decision.
    There was also cooperation on seating for cultural council. When Elliott, Moreno and Carson all expressed interest in the two seats, Moreno deferred, giving up the seat he held for the last term.
    Carson then relinquished her spot as an alternate on the housing authority to allow Douglas to serve as an alternate for Moreno.
    Ford took a moment midway through the appointments to warn council members not to sign up for too many responsibilities.
    “It’s important to council, and Mr. Bullock just brought this to my attention, a lot of these boards consume a lot of time,” Ford said. “And the members currently seated realize that, but we do have some new council members, and I want them to understand the commitments that they are taking on are pretty deep.”
    Moreno concurred, saying he learned this lesson first hand.
    “Just fair warning, as a newly-elected council member in 2009, I signed up for, I believe, nine or 10, and just be cautious,” Moreno said.
    
Contact Ben Wiebesiek at 303-659-2522, ext. 206, or email bwiebesiek@metrowestnewspapers.com.