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Basalt mayor ponders run for council seat

Scott Condon
The Aspen Times
Aspen, CO, Colorado

BASALT – Additional veterans of Basalt politics might be seeking different places in the April 3 election.

Current Mayor Leroy Duroux has taken out a petition to run for a council seat. Duroux is term-limited out after serving two four-year terms as mayor.

“I took out a petition. I don’t know yet if I’m going to turn it in,” Duroux said.



All candidates for three open council positions and the mayor’s seat have until 5 p.m. Friday to submit nomination petitions. They must be signed by at least 25 qualified town electors.

Duroux has been in Basalt politics since 1994 when he was appointed to a council position. He won election in 1996 and in 2000, then was term-limited off the council. He won election as mayor in 2004 and was unopposed in a re-election bid in 2008.




Three other political junkies from Basalt are making or pondering bids in the election. Current council members Glenn Rappaport and Jacque Whitsitt are squaring off in the mayor’s race. Former councilman and mayor Rick Stevens has taken out a petition to run in the council race.

In addition, longtime Basalt Planning and Zoning Commission member Bill Maron is running for a council seat.

Political newcomers also have been attracted to the race. Robert Leavitt and Lemuel Bolanos have taken out petitions to run for council seats.

As it stands now, there are two candidates for mayor and potentially five candidates for the three council positions.

The mayor’s race features two candidates with 22 years of cumulative experience on the council. Rappaport was elected in 1994 and re-elected in April 1998. He resigned in June 1998, then ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2000.

Rappaport won election to council in 2004, served four years then didn’t seek re-election in 2008. He was elected to his current seat in 2010 and is halfway through a four-year term. If he is elected mayor, then the remainder of the council would appoint his replacement after the April election.

Whitsitt was first elected to the council in 1996 and re-elected in 2000, when she was term-limited off the board. She ran again in 2008, and her term is coming to an end.

Stevens was elected to the council in 1994 and was soon appointed mayor by the rest of the board after Patrick Collins resigned. Stevens ran uncontested for mayor in 1996 then won re-election in 2000. He ran unsuccessfully for a council seat in 2008.

The last day for Basalt residents to register to vote in the April 3 election is March 5.

scondon@aspentimes.com