Eight candidates seeking office in Timnath

By Dan MacArthur
Timnath Correspondent

Interest is intense for the April 6 Timnath town board election with two candidates seeking the mayor's seat and six candidates competing for four trustee seats.

Candidates concur that no single issue has provoked the unprecedented competition. They instead insist that the cause is general concern about the best way to guide what they regard as the town's inevitable growth. All expressed an interest in preserving Timnath's small-town character in the face of projections that its current population of 230 will increase dramatically.

Like the town, the board also is in transition. For the first time, candidates elected to the town board will serve staggered terms to encourage greater continuity. The candidate elected as mayor will serve a four-year term, as will the two trustee candidates receiving the most votes. Trustee candidates receiving the third and fourth highest votes will serve two-year terms.

Timnath's 144 registered voters can cast ballots at the elementary school from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Following are brief profiles of the candidates.

Mayor

Donna Benson hopes to restore what she regards as a lost sense of cooperation between the board and property owners preparing to transform Timnath. "I think there's been some difficulty working with the board," she said. "I really feel like we need a change."

Benson said she came to that conclusion after property owner Rodney Nelson shunned annexation to Timnath and instead applied to develop his 640 acres under Larimer County jurisdiction. Nelson's move followed a bitter dispute over whether the town should control its own sewer system or contract for service with the South Fort Collins Sanitation District. "I think it would have been better for the town to take a step back," Benson said.

She said she also wants to work with developers to establish a bypass, increase law enforcement coverage and improve drainage.

A three-year Timnath resident, she has served on the planning commission for a year. Benson, 47, is a program manager at Hewlett-Packard.

Annalee Foster is seeking re-election to continue what she considers the town board's exceptional efforts to prepare for change while preserving Timnath's special qualities.

"We're very much poised for growth, she said. "There's a town we care about very much and we want to make sure it doesn't get lost in the shuffle."

Despite the initial rocky relations, Foster said the board has made "great strides" with the South Fort Collins Sanitation District and now is drafting a service agreement with the utility. She said the board is negotiating a similar agreement with the Boxelder Sanitation District for providing sewer service to another part of the town.

While development is not the town's primary goal, Foster said some is needed to finance the amenities residents need.

A Timnath resident for five years, Foster said the four years she has served on the board and three years as mayor demonstrate her commitment to the town. She also built and maintains Timnath's web site and serves on the committee planning a new community festival.

Foster, 46, is a technical writer at Hewlett-Packard.

Trustees

Danny Byerly is outspoken in his call for changing the town board's direction under the leadership of incumbent mayor Annalee Foster. "The mayor and I definitely have a conflict problem," he said. "She is not the face I want for the town."

Byerly contends that Foster's unnecessarily combative approach has alienated major property owners such as Colorado Rockies owner Jerry McMorris. "If Annalee is still mayor, McMorris won't go forward," he said.

A proponent of smaller town government, Byerly said he shares the property owners' frustration about the needless debate whether Timnath should control its own sewer system. "This is exactly the agreement we could have had two years ago," he said. But Byerly believes "the door is still open" to restoring harmony.

Byerly, 50, has lived in Timnath a year and half and was appointed to the planning commission in February. He works as a security consultant.

John Fusaro said he is running for re-election to provide continuity and keep building the foundation for a vibrant Timnath. "It's like painting a house," he said. "You have to do all the unglamorous stuff first."

Fusaro said he wants to attract businesses necessary to make the town economically stable while preserving its character. "If enough people work hard enough, we can keep that rural feel and small-town charm," he said. "We all care deeply about Timnath. It's a real special place."

A 10-year resident of the town, Fusaro participated in the revision and review of Timnath's comprehensive plan in 1996 and '97. He has served on the planning commission and town board since 2000.

Fusaro, 47, is a rangeland management special for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Tim Gaines said he is seeking to continue his 22-year tenure on the town board to apply his experience in guiding Timnath through this time of tremendous transition. "I think everybody agrees growth is going to happen one way or another," he said. "We're trying to make it work for the existing residents."

Gaines said one of biggest issues is keeping the town functioning with the limited revenues currently available. He also wants to minimize what he believes could be a considerable cost for present residents tapping into the new sewage system.

A resident since 1980, Gaines has served as mayor for four years, as a trustee for 18 years and as a planning commissioner for more than a decade. He also currently serves on the Metropolitan Planning Organization, the North Front Range Water Quality Planning Association and the Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority.

Gaines, 48, is a former computer technician who now works as a seasonal state parks employee.

Joe Hancock believes he can bring to the Timnath town board a youthful outlook and useful experience gained as a real estate agent who recognizes quality developments. "Growth is an inevitable thing; it's all around us," he said. "The biggest thing we can get out of it is some say in the way things happen."

Hancock said he'd like to preserve Timnath's small-town flavor by working to revitalize the downtown, create a bypass and develop design guidelines to ensure new developments incorporate elements of the original town. He said Timnath also needs to attract commercial enterprises to provide a tax base.

"We don't have a lot of income," he said. "Basically we're a town living from paycheck to paycheck."

A two-year-Timnath resident, Hancock has served on the planning commission for six months. He is also organizing a September golf tournament to raise funds for the town.

Hancock, 32, is a real estate agent for Coldwell-Banker.

Rose Moon wants to bring her objective outlook and artistic sensibilities to the Timnath town board. "I think we're at kind of a critical place," she said. "In the next five years we'll see a lot of development. I believe we need to do that responsibly."

Moon believes most residents share her support for growth, providing it is accomplished with care. She advocates design guidelines to create some consistency that ties into the existing town.

A resident for three years, Moon also supports construction of a bypass to reduce noise and traffic, two of the top concerns expressed in a recent citizen survey. She also wants to ensure existing residents can afford the cost of extending sewers to the original part of town.

Moon, 48, is a part-time sculptor and currently is forming a nonprofit drug and alcohol treatment facility for girls.

Charles Snider is seeking re-election to continue making a contribution to his home of 15 years. "I have some familiarity with the people," he explained. "I'm a resident. I'm interested."

Snider said he has never seen so much interest in town government. He attributes it to the fact that more people are developing an awareness after attending town board meetings where personalities are becoming more apparent. "They don't agree with everything they see," he said.

He said the board will be dealing with a number of big upcoming concerns such as the annexation and pending development of the Turner property and the potential expansion of the town's growth management area to take in a development proposed at County Road 5 and Prospect Road.

Securing a sewer provider also will continue to be an issue, Snider said, although "we're at least talking and moving forward."

Snider, 44, is an aquatic designer.