BLAZING A TRAIL: Women and girls are changing the perception about their place in math, science. P14
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April 12, 2018
ELBERT COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
Voters elect mayor, approve lodging tax Douglas Chimenti, who is involved with a program that helps transition military into local government, chats with Justin Klassen, Elbert County’s new director of administration.
Only about a quarter of ballots were returned by April 3 deadline BY TOM MUNDS TMUNDS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
JULIE A. TAYLOR
Program offers path from military to civilian careers Elbert County director of administration is big supporter of fellowship BY JULIE A. TAYLOR SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Douglas Chimenti guided 650 soldiers and their families across three countries. His annual budget was about $3 million. He knows how to calculate trajectory.
Chimenti recently applied to about 90 jobs and heard back from two. His problem is shared by thousands of military retirees, who are often young enough to establish a second career while middle-aged. “I had to account for Earth’s rotation when I shot around,” Chimenti said of his field artillery experience. “I know ballistics, but it doesn’t do me a lick of good.” He just retired from the Army at age 43. The Falcon resident signed up for a veteran transition program and the results have been positive on
multiple fronts. The Veterans Local Government Management Fellowship eases military personnel from one life of service to another. Though the inner workings may differ, the motivation in helping the general public stays the same. “We love to continue to serve the general public,” Chimenti said on behalf of himself and other veterans. “We’ve been doing it for over 20-something years. We just like to serve.
The turnout was light for the April 3 Elizabeth municipal election, with unofficial results showing that Town Trustee Megan Vasquez was chosen as mayor and voters approved a proposal to establish a lodging tax. About 800 mail-in ballots were sent to registered voters and fewer than 200 were returned. The official results were scheduled to be verified by April 11. The election results are unofficial until the completion of the “signature cure” period during which city officials try to confirm that any signature on a ballot that doesn’t clearly match the signature on the voter registration form is valid. The cure also applies to any ballot that wasn’t signed. There were three candidates for mayor: Vasquez, current Mayor Pro Tem Rachael White and Scott Walter. According to the unofficial results, Vasquez received 117 votes, while Walter received 44 votes and White got 37. Although she wasn’t elected mayor, White will complete the remaining two years of her term on the town board of trustees. Vasquez will serve two years as mayor.
SEE CAREERS, P10
SEE ELECTION, P10
THE BOTTOM LINE PERIODICAL
I definitely don’t know where the ‘quitting in college’ came from, but like I said, I’m here to play for the Broncos and do whatever I can to help this team win games.’’ Su’a Cravens | new Broncos safety | Page 6 INSIDE
VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 2 | SPORTS: PAGE 5
ElbertCountyNews.net
VOLUME 123 | ISSUE 11