| New Council Sworn Into Office |
Loveland - November 8, 2011
Four new Loveland City Council members were sworn-in tonight, Chauncey Taylor, John Fogle, Ralph Trenary and Phil
Farley.
Three of the four departing councilors, Larry Heckel, Donna Rice and Kent Solt were provided plaques and their pictures that
hung in city hall as a memento by Mayor Cecil Gutierrez for their public service. Conspicuously absent was outgoing
Councilwoman Carol Johnson who awkwardly left the council chambers before the presentations were made. Johnson
attempted to retain her seat on city council but was soundly defeated by newcomer Phil Farley for the Ward II seat Johnson held
on Loveland’s City Council.
The departure of Councilman Larry Heckel ends an era of control by the ‘Old Guard’ of Loveland’s City Council. Johnson
stirred controversy last week when pointing to the five members of Loveland’s City Council who are Democrats now constituting
a majority of the governing body (Mayor Gutierrez, Joan Shaffer, Cat McEwen, Phil Farley & Ralph Trenary).
Councilman Hugh McKean nominated colleague Cat McEwen to the post of Mayor Pro Tem and was seconded in the
nomination by Councilman Daryle Klassen. Those looking for partisan wrangling would have been disappointed as the Mayor
Pro Tem vote appeared coordinated in advance especially as two Councilors considered now in the new minority faction both
nominated McEwen, considered part of the new Democratic majority, to the Vice Mayor post. Rumors last week among council
was that McKean hoped for the position but didn’t find the required number of votes. Tonight’s decorum was a far cry from two
years ago when the council was unable to decide on the Mayor Pro Tem and the position went vacant for a month after the
election.
Newly elected Councilman Ralph Trenary spoke in solidarity with a presenter regarding the one item on the agenda. A volunteer
for Colorado’s Nonprofit Associations presented information to the council to “increase public awareness” regarding what she
described as too little taxes to cover the rising costs of services. However, she struggled with answers when asked by members
of the new city council later instructing them to direct their questions to the organization’s full time staff more familiar with the
information.
Johnson's early departure aside, the transfer of power in local government was cordial as Judge Stark asked each elected official
to swear an allegiance to the constitution and their newly elected office. Mayor Gutierrez was predictably informal in the amount
of small talk and quips he made during the ceremony to lighten the mood but did an overall good job presiding over the meeting.
LovelandPolitics will be publishing an editorial titled “The End of An Era In Loveland Politics” by late tomorrow that tracks
the changes in influence on council over the last decade while exploring on the desperate events that have influenced those
changes.
| Councilor Cat McEwen is the new Mayor Pro Tem of Loveland - elected by her colleagues to serve as Loveland's new Vice Mayor. |