Durango City Council candidates are optimistic about their chances in the fast-approaching April 4 municipal election that will decide who among five contenders will take their places on the board, but La Plata County Clerk and Recorder Tiffany Lee said ballot returns are off to a “slow start.”

As of Tuesday, about a week since ballots began arriving in registered Durango voters’ mailboxes, 975 of 13,527 distributed ballots had been returned to the county clerk and recorder’s office. Lee said the rate of returned ballots is not a strong start and, so far, it appears the Durango City Council election is receiving a poor turnout.

She said in the April 2021 municipal election, which included a City Council race and a lodgers tax ballot question, 37%, or 5,121 voters out of 13,742 active voters, returned ballots. By contrast, she is crossing her fingers the upcoming election will spur a turnout of at least 25% (3,382 returned ballots).

Recent snowy weather and spring break vacations may have impacted early turnout this week, so it is possible more people will get their ballots filled out and delivered next week, she said.

With ballots already being returned, the clock is ticking on candidates’ ability to make their final campaign pitches.

For Carter Rogers, a Fort Lewis College student and the youngest candidate in the City Council race at 21 years old, this week and last week was marred by family tragedy.

Rogers was forced to leave town last week and is leaving town again this week after learning of his grandmother’s death.

Rogers said his grandmother was experiencing health issues in recent months and died Tuesday after being hospitalized and diagnosed with COVID-19.

After going to Oklahoma last week, he returned this week to participate in campaign events. He said he learned of his grandmother’s death on Tuesday following his last campaign appearance, and planned to return to Oklahoma on Tuesday night.

“I don’t think it’ll impact the final few weeks of this campaign,” he said. “I’m going to go home and spend a day or two with some family and see everybody and head back to wrap it up. But I’m feeling good.”

Rogers said “voter turnout is crucial,” and everybody needs to get involved in the local election process.

He said he has learned more about the distrust residents have for local government and transparency concerns since he started on the campaign trail, particularly in regard to executive sessions held by City Council.

Candidate Gilda Yazzie said she feels positive about her campaign and appreciates the support and encouragement she has received from residents.

The need for housing “in all forms” is something she has heard repeatedly from residents, she said.

“There’s a lot of our residents here who are priced out of the market or their rents are too high, that they’re barely making it,” she said.

And Yazzie remains committed to preserving the historic character of downtown Durango, which she has championed since entering the race for City Council.

The notion of creating a library district is a newer concept to Yazzie, but she said people appear to be in favor of the idea and the library is a good public service.

“I just really appreciate of all the people who want to participate in the election through their questions to me and their positive feedback,” she said. “It’s going really well for me, I believe. We’ll have to wait and see.”

Candidate Douglas Snow said his biggest concern with the city is its decision to eliminate or combine a number of city boards and commissions ahead of when the new council is scheduled to take office in mid-April.

“Politically, it’s unwise to do something on this kind of scope at the very end of the – before the next people get elected,” he said.

He said he intends to address the subject at a City Council meeting and to ask that it be tabled until the new City Council members take office.

Housing, adequate pedestrian crossings and new sidewalks for Bodo Park are also on his mind, he said. And, his public announcement at a candidates forum last week that he was diagnosed with autism several years ago was well received by attendees.

Candidate Harrison Wendt said he is feeling “really good” about his campaign, and his priorities might have just slightly shifted from where they were when he entered the race earlier this year.

He said the current City Council’s financial priorities aren’t always in the community’s best interests. The housing crisis persists and the city’s transportation department is underfunded, he said.

“When we look at funding other projects, it worries me. And so really, one of the things that has changed in my mind is that need for financial prioritization on City Council,” he said.

Wendt is confident about his campaign and the outreach it is performing, he said.

“We’ve sent over 7,000 text messages to Durango residents encouraging them to vote and we’ve knocked on thousands of doors and made some phone calls. So I feel like we’re in a good spot.”

He said some voters might be caught off guard by news of a local municipal election, having just participated in an election in November. But he hopes people get involved and cast their votes.

Dave Woodruff did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment about his campaign on Tuesday.

Ballots can be mailed or dropped off at Durango City Hall, La Plata County Clerk & Recorder’s Office, the La Plata County Fairgrounds and at the county administrative office.

cburney@durangoherald.com