To appeal or not to appeal? Cost is the question. At least, that is the question weighing on Barry Wilson, who despite winning the recent election to be Windsor’s mayor, isn’t allowed to be Windsor’s next mayor.
A Weld County District Court judge recently ruled the April election of Wilson as Windsor's mayor is null and void because it violated the town charter on term limits.
KUNC’s Programming & Operations Manager Desmond O’Boyle recently sat down with Chris Wood, editor and publisher of BizWest, to discuss the situation in Windsor.
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“Barry Wilson was halfway through his second four-year term as a member of the Windsor town board when he was elected mayor in April. He won, handily defeating fellow town board member Jason Hallett by more than 550 votes,” said Wood. “But then a town resident, James Cosner, sued Wilson and the Town Clerk Karen Frawley, arguing that Wilson's election violated the town charter.”
The lawsuit was filed in Weld County District Court on April 18. Windsor’s town charter imposes term limits on elected officials, stating that, “The term of office for an elected official, either as a board member or mayor or a combination of both, shall be limited to two consecutive elected terms.” Weld County District Judge Shannon Lyons agreed to declare Wilson's election null and void, ruling the town clerk had misinterpreted the town charter when she certified Wilson's candidacy to serve as mayor.
Wilson expected the town board would appeal the ruling, but after a two-hour executive session, the board decided unanimously not to pursue an appeal.
“That didn't sit well with Wilson, who told BizWest that he had spoken to at least three of the five board members and believed that they would appeal the ruling. He said he was shocked that they went in the opposite direction” Wood said.
Wilson has explored paying for the legal costs of an appeal out of his own pocket, but those costs would be high. Wilson said his attorney estimated an appeal would cost $10,000 to $20,000 just for prep work for the case.
Wilson told BizWest in an interview Friday, that’s “a lot of money considering that the position pays only $12,000 per year.” He did say he was exploring raising the funds himself to pay for an appeal, but he’s not sure how far he plans to pursue that.
Assuming there’s no appeal, Windsor’s town board still needs to fill the position of mayor and there are a couple of options. A special election is an option, or they could appoint a town board member to serve as mayor.
“That latter approach will require two-thirds vote of the board. And it's not just the mayor's position that needs to be filled. There's also the seat from which Wilson resigned to take the reins as mayor in the first place. So, they would have to fill that as well,” Wood said.
Until a decision is made by the council, Mayor Pro Tem Julie Cline will be acting mayor.
