Local voters have received mail-in ballots, which are due Nov. 3.
The following is a breakdown of local races and ballot issues.
Town of Bayfield Question 2D:
For the third time, Bayfield town residents are being asked to approve a 1-cent sales tax increase to be dedicated to maintaining streets and storm drainage infrastructure.
If approved, the increase would bring Bayfield's overall sales tax from 6.9 percent to 7.9 percent, the same as Durango's rate. That includes county and state sales tax. Town sales tax would go from 2 percent up to 3 percent, which would raise an estimated $280,000 annually for infrastructure.
Without the sales-tax hike, the town is looking at increasing fees, including gas and electric franchise fees, and reducing town staffing. A citizens group supporting the tax hike said every dollar spent on street maintenance saves $6 to $10 spent on rebuilding streets in the future. The sales tax also would spread the costs of street maintenance among county residents and those who visit Bayfield, the group says. There is no organized group opposing the sales tax.
Bayfield School Board of Directors:
In Bayfield, four candidates are up for election for three seats: Carol Blatnick, Mike Foutz, Janie Hoover and Debbie Wilhelm.
Blatnick and Hoover are board incumbents, Foutz and Wilhelm have both served on the District Advisory Accountability Committee.
State budget cuts in education, testing and teacher preparedness are among the issues candidates discussed in interviews in the Oct. 16 edition of the Pine River Times.
Ignacio School Board of Directors:
In as crowded a candidate field as anyone can remember, eight candidates are running for three school board seats in the Ignacio School District.
Along with incumbent Agnes Sanchez, candidates are Kelly McCaw, Cindy Dale, Doug Little, Michael Montoya, Germaine Ewing, Yvonne Conley-Chapman and Jay Dee Brunson. Sanchez, Dale and Little are former educators.
Candidate profiles were in the Oct. 16 edition of the Times.
La Plata County Question 1B, Durango Question 2C, Bayfield Question 2E, Ignacio Question 2A:
Through these ballot measures, La Plata County, as well as Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio voters, can vote in favor or against lifting restrictions on providing Internet, telecommunications and cable services.
Approval would opt the local governments out of provisions of a 2005 state law, which restricts local governments from leasing out their conduit and fiber to private companies or directly providing or improving Internet service for local users.
County and municipal officials supported the ballot item, which is not a commitment to providing those services. Rather, the county and municipalities would be able to strike public-private partnerships with companies. Communities throughout the county with poor fiber-optic connections, such as Vallecito, between Bayfield and Pagosa Springs, and between Durango and Silverton, stand to gain better service through approval of the ballot item.
