3 seats on the Wellington Board of Trustees are up for election: Where candidates stand

The top three vote-getters will fill seats on the Wellington Board of Trustees for four-year terms following the April 2 election.

The candidates are Jon Gaiter, Rebekka Dailey, Ed Cannon, Lowrey Moyer and Mario Quinonez.

Gaiter and Dailey are current trustees seeking reelection. Cannon, the former town administrator, was fired without cause in March 2020 after being appointed in April 2017. He later became town administrator in Fraser, Colorado, and then retired in March 2023.

Moyer, who unsuccessfully sought a seat on the board in 2022, is currently a manager at the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity.

Quinonez did not return the Coloradoan's candidate questionnaire or complete an interview with the Coloradoan. His profile on Wellington's online elections page describes him as a "dynamic entrepreneur known for his innovative spirit and strong family values."

Here’s where the candidates stand on some key issues. Their answers below are from candidate questionnaires and interviews with the Coloradoan:

Wellington’s growth and increased water rates

In recent years, residents have experienced a series of hikes in their water and wastewater bills to catch up with growth and pay for expanded infrastructure.

“The planning commission adopted the comprehensive plan for 2021, which spells out the vision that they want the town to grow to 40,000 people in 20 years. This is a choice,” Gaiter said. “We should slow our growth as we approach 15,000 to 20,000 population to build enough reserves to handle another expansion project.”

As of July 2022, the population was approximately 12,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Candidates said the plants will not improve rates directly and that other measures will be needed to mitigate this.

“The rates will continue to increase as we work through our debt — that vote has been cast," Lowrey said. "What our plants will help us with is to prepare for the future and provide the infrastructure we need for the growth we have most recently seen and that which is inevitably coming."

Gaiter said that to reduce rates, Wellington has to reduce expenditures and allow some growth to come in. “New homes means more impact fees paying for the expansion and new residents sharing the cost of paying back the loans.”

Cannon said the town needs to “renegotiate the terms of the North Poudre contract to get costs under control.”

Candidates also agreed that the burden should not be carried by existing residents.

"Continuing utility rate hikes that put more burdens on our residents without a plan for remedy is wrong," Dailey said.

“We need to examine our fee structure to ensure impact fees bear the true cost of the expansions,” Cannon said.

Dailey said now that the expansion is near completion, "we must get Wellington on track with healthy, sustainable growth to fund infrastructure appropriately. Then, and only then, will we see impact fees contributing as they should."

Economic development

“Basically finances is one of our massive challenges,” Gaiter said. “A lot of the issue comes down to, in the past we have not had a large commercial base, so we just end up going back to the residents.”

Some candidates said the town needs to attract more businesses — and the tax revenue that comes with them.

“The money we spend in Fort Collins or Timnath is repaving their streets, building their parks and funding their capital projects," Dailey said. "As much as I want to be a friendly regional partner, we need our sales tax to stay in Wellington and contribute to our well-being."

“Wellington households are spending over $150 million each year for goods and services outside of Wellington,” Cannon said. “Wellington needs commercial business to provide jobs, expand available goods and services to our community, and generate sales and commercial property taxes to support or expand town services.”

“I think we need to be good partners and be welcoming to new business,” Moyer said.

Before spending more money on new economic development studies, the town needs to understand the challenges businesses face that cause them to leave Wellington or start in different towns, Gaiter said. “Are there regulations that we have in place, is part of our permitting process more difficult? Do we have higher fees on our businesses?”

Community recreation center

Another priority for Cannon and Dailey is the addition of a recreation center. “A community rec center is one of my passions and consistently ranks high in 100% of community surveys,” Dailey said. “A rec center builds community and a sense of belonging and provides a safe space for all while promoting physical and mental well-being.”

“Residents have been demanding a recreation center for years, but the town has done nothing in the way of exploring the feasibility or even developing basic plans, cost estimates or site evaluations," Cannon said. "We need to begin these processes so that we have a shovel-ready project when funding is available."

Gaiter said having a recreation center would be a great idea, “but I am very strongly of the opinion of that is not something we as the government should be doing. We have so many other priorities: roads, water, sewer and other things.”

Gaiter said he thinks the town doesn’t have the capacity to take on a project like that and although other people talk about different ways to fund it, “bottom line is it has to be funded through taxes.”

Instead, “what I would love to see happen is to see an actual private entity come and bring a rec center here and then just let the private market actually provide that … I think they would do a much better job than we would do,” Gaiter said.

As for Moyer, “I would love to have a rec center. I'm a mom with four kids who enjoy taking part in those types of activities. ... I do know that the town and the members of our town feel like there are more pressing issues and are worried about how we would fund that.”

“I know there's a fear about increasing taxes. That wouldn't be my first way to go. I know there are also grants available that focus on recreation, outdoor activities, fitness,” Moyer said. “I think it just takes looking at an issue and saying, ‘we want to do this,’ and then getting creative about the how.”

Establishing trust with the community

All candidates said establishing trust among board members and with the community is one of their priorities.

“Our current board is too divided, creating a win/lose roadblock for effective governance,” Cannon said. He said he pledges to write inclusive legislation to meet the needs of all residents.

“I think one of the barriers is national politics infiltrating what's supposed to be a bipartisan process," Moyer said.

Dailey said the way to fix this is through “consensus and mutual respect.”

"We have been working under majority rule for two years and that destroys our trust," Gaiter said. "The majority has made no attempt to compromise with the minority."

He said more transparency is needed to fix this, to create “a culture among staff to engage resident input before solutions are presented — and making information readily available to the community.”

“No matter what happens with the election, members of our town should be hopeful about our future because we will not be trying to be like anywhere else," Moyer said. "But Wellington has the opportunity to thrive and that's what I hope to see over the next few years."

Financial contributions

The Coloradoan checked financial contribution reports on Monday, March 11. According to the latest documents, Dailey had the most contributions with $2,039 (of which she spent $1,216.58), followed by Gaiter with $849.03 (of which he spent $816.66) and Quinonez with $360.00 (of which he spent $33.00).

Cannon filed a report for $1,255.55 in personal expenditures. Moyer filed a report with $198.57 in personal expenditures. Both filed reports for non-receipt of contributions earlier this year.

You can read more about each candidate on their Q&As with the Coloradoan:

▶ Read our Q&A with Wellington Board of Trustees candidate Ed Cannon.

▶ Read our Q&A with Wellington Board of Trustees candidate Rebekka Dailey.

▶ Read our Q&A with Wellington Board of Trustees candidate Jon Gaiter.

▶ Read our Q&A with Wellington Board of Trustees candidate Lowrey Moyer.

You can find more information about their campaigns on the town of Wellington website: https://wellingtoncolorado.gov/458/Elections.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Wellington Board of Trustees election: Where the candidates stand