{"id":42428,"date":"2022-02-02T03:10:43","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T10:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/meet-the-cortez-city-council-candidates\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:07:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:07:22","slug":"meet-the-cortez-city-council-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/meet-the-cortez-city-council-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Cortez City Council candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cortez
Cortez will have an election June 8 to ask voters to opt out of state telecommunication law SB 152. (Journal file photo)<\/span>Journal file photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Ten candidates who are vying for four positions on the Cortez City Council introduced themselves at a ballot drawing Monday evening.<\/p>\n

Jay Balfour, chief of the Cortez Fire Protection District, drew the candidate ballot positions.<\/p>\n

Mayor Mike Lavey, who was elected in 2018, and Orly Lucero, who has served two four-year terms beginning in 2014, will vacate their positions. Councilors Robert Dobry and Matthew Keefauver will seek reelection.<\/p>\n

Councilors Rachel Medina, David Rainey and Arlina Yazzie remain in their positions with two years left in their terms.<\/p>\n

The municipal election is April 5, and the newly elected officials will take office April 26.<\/p>\n

Three four-year terms and one two-year term are open.<\/p>\n

The three candidates with the most votes will be elected to four-year terms, and the candidate with the next highest number of votes will serve two years.<\/p>\n

Ballots will be mailed to registered voters in Cortez the week of March 14.<\/p>\n

The council will choose the mayor and mayor pro tem April 26.<\/p>\n

A meet-and-greet will be held Feb. 15 at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers.<\/p>\n

Each candidate filled out a biographical information form as part of their candidacy.<\/p>\n

The candidates are:<\/p>\n

William \u2018Bill\u2019 Banks<\/div>\n

Banks, 65, was the only candidate not present at Monday\u2019s drawing, because he was still driving a bus for Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1.<\/p>\n

A resident for 46 years, he has served on the Cortez Church of the Nazarene board for seven years and on the church\u2019s budget committee for four years.<\/p>\n

Banks has an associate of arts degree from Pueblo Community College, was in Phi Theta Kappa and on the national dean\u2019s list, according to a biographical information form.<\/p>\n

Banks can be contacted at BillBanksforCortez@gmail.com<\/a> or at (970) 560-3297.<\/p>\n

Lydia DeHaven<\/div>\n

DeHaven, 34, is an archaeologist for the federal government with a master\u2019s degree in cultural resource management.<\/p>\n

Originally from Pittsburgh, she has lived in Cortez for 4\u00bd years and in Montezuma County for nine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI chose to live here because I fell in love with the values, and I would really like to help out as the city develops and to create more economic development and affordable housing moving forward,\u201d she said at Monday\u2019s drawing.<\/p>\n

DeHaven is on the board and executive committee of The Bridge Shelter and volunteers at Grace\u2019s Kitchen at St. Barnabas of the Valley Episcopal Church.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing involved with my community and assisting people in need is a core value that has been instilled in me from my family, which includes multiple Baptist preachers and a strong line of community service. I believe we need to support all of our neighbors in order to have a safe, healthy and thriving community for everyone,\u201d the form reads.<\/p>\n

DeHaven can be contacted at lydiadehaven@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Robert Dobry<\/div>\n

Dobry, 41, a Cortez resident for six years, is director of corporate support and digital projects at KSJD public radio station.<\/p>\n

He replaced the late Sue Betts on City Council in October 2020.<\/p>\n

He has also served on the Montezuma County Hospital District since 2018, and was elected as treasurer\/secretary in 2020. He served on the Southwest Memorial Hospital foundation from 2016-2021, on the Dolores Town Board from 2016 to 2017 and on the Dolores Planning and Zoning Board from 2015-2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy main interest is in kind of the financial accountability and making sure that we\u2019re stewarding the money of the taxpayers of Cortez,\u201d he said Monday.<\/p>\n

Dobry can be contacted at robert.dobry@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sean Dolan<\/div>\n

Dolan, 31, is unemployed and has lived in Cortez for four years. He was previously a reporter at The Journal <\/em>and in Utah and has worked in the marijuana and hospitality industries.<\/p>\n

On his biographical information form, he wrote: \u201cI support the interests of the working class. I am tired of workers not receiving a fair share of profit from their labor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really passionate about trying to support the working class here in Cortez and building wealth among our workers,\u201d he said Monday.<\/p>\n

Dolan can be contacted at sdolan.cortez@gmail.com<\/a> or at 202-329-9117.<\/p>\n

Houston Frizzell<\/div>\n

Frizzell, 43, is a sales manager at Steve Keetch Motors. He has lived in Montezuma County his entire life, and in Cortez for 20 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I can make the time to just kind of give back to the community,\u201d he said at Monday\u2019s drawing. \u201cSo here I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has served on the boards of the Montezuma County Partners, the Four Corners Child Advocacy Center and the High Altitude Steel Car Club.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe chose to raise our family in Cortez despite having job offers in other towns,\u201d he wrote on his biographical information form. \u201cOur family is here, and this is where we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frizzell can be contacted at hfrizzell2000@yahoo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Matthew Keefauver<\/div>\n

Keefauver, 52, is a seventh grade math teacher in Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1.<\/p>\n

He replaced Amy Huckins on City Council in June 2021 when she resigned.<\/p>\n

A Cortez resident of 19 years, he also has served on the boards of the Four Corners Child Advocacy Center, Cortez Cultural Center, Willowtail Springs and CARS.<\/p>\n

He served as mayor pro tem for eight years, and was selected as Best Educator of Montezuma County for the past three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really dig races, I really seriously love this kind of stuff,\u201d he said Monday.<\/p>\n

Keefauver can be contacted at matthewkeefauver@aol.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rafe O\u2019Brien<\/div>\n

O\u2019Brien, 32, is a welder, mechanic and laborer who has lived in Cortez his entire life.<\/p>\n

He previously ran for City Council two years ago.<\/p>\n

He describes himself as an \u201coutdoor man\u201d who loves politics, dirt track racing, ATV riding and cooking.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery part of this is my community,\u201d he said at Monday\u2019s drawing. \u201cI just want to be here to give back, and when I was in school, a lot of our teachers told us at the time, \u2018You guys need to give back and be a part of it,\u2019 and this is what I want to be part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien can be contacted at bikr1234545@gmail.com<\/a> or at 970-739-1970.<\/p>\n

Dennis Spruell<\/div>\n

Spruell, 64, owns Cortez Animal Bed and Breakfast, is a retired law enforcement officer and has lived in Cortez his entire life.<\/p>\n

He served as the Montezuma County Sheriff for four years and spent 30 years with the Cortez Police Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been out of sight for about five years, and I decided \u2018Hey, it\u2019s time to get back in it,\u2019\u201d he said Monday.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s done work with The Bridge Shelter, U.S. Police Canine Association and Fraternal Order of Police.<\/p>\n

Spruell can be contacted at 970-565-4814 or at dspruell3@msn.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

George Tripp<\/div>\n

Tripp, 63, is a retired engineer who has lived in Cortez for 49 years.<\/p>\n

He also served on the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Advisory Board, TriCity Soccer Board and Pi\u00f1on Project board.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m more than happy to get involved with the community and try to help out as much as possible,\u201d he said Monday. \u201cI think the best way to serve is to listen to people and see what their concerns are and try to figure out solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a Navy veteran and holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a strong advocate for education and love to see someone learn something new or different for the first time,\u201d he wrote on his biographical information form. \u201cI have a \u2018hands-on,\u2019 adventurous and analytical personality that helps me explore new experiences or find sound solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tripp can be reached at 970-560-8747 or at webtripp@msncom.<\/p>\n

Justin Vasterling<\/div>\n

Vasterling, 50, is general manager of the Holiday Inn Express and oversees the Retro Inn at Mesa Verde and the Destination Grill.<\/p>\n

A Cortez resident for 19 years, he has served as president of the Mesa Verde Country board and as director of the Grand Circle Association board, a destination marketing organization focusing on the Southwestern states.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love government and politics and running in local government,\u201d he said at Monday. \u201cI\u2019m kind of like a City Council junkie, I like attending, and I think it\u2019s very interesting. I\u2019d like to help out more.\u201d<\/p>\n

He enjoys painting, writing stories, traveling the area and cooking, according to his biographical information form.<\/p>\n

He is a centrist and \u201cgreat listener\u201d who regularly attends City Council meetings, he wrote.<\/p>\n

Vasterling can be reached at 714-904-6640 or justin@coloradoholiday.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The candidates will appear on the ballot in the following order:<\/p>\n

Dennis Spruell Bill BanksMatthew KeefauverGeorge Tripp Robert Dobry Rafe O\u2019Brien Lydia DeHaven Houston Frizzell Justin Vasterling Sean Dolan <\/div>\n

City Clerk Linda Smith can be contacted at 970-565-3402 ext. 1128 or at lsmith@cortezco.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

candidates vying for four open seats <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,28,167,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-42428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-local-news-lead","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42428"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85335,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42428\/revisions\/85335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42428"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=42428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}