On May 2, the Mt. View Fire Protection District (MVFPD) and the Left Hand Water District (LHWD) held elections for their respective boards of directors.

The LHWD held elections in four of its six election districts, one of which is to fill an unexpired term.  Elections for Districts One, Two and Three will be held in 2002.

In District Three, Alice Ochs defeated Philip Haas 58 to 24. Ochs was appointed to the seat when long-term board member Frank Gould died in December of 1999.  Gould started as a board member in 1980 when the district was a private company known as Left Hand Water Supply Company.  In 1990, the company became unsurprisingly a special district with the ability to levy taxes. Gould continued to serve on the board until his death last December.

In 1998, Haas ran unsuccessfully against Gould. Ochs was elected to complete Gould’s term, which ends in 2002. 

Daniel L. Allen was reelected to his seat in District Four with 47 votes.  His opponent, James R. Erickson, garnered 38 votes in a first time bid for a seat on the board.

Two multi-term board members ran unopposed and they were, not surprisingly, reelected.  Brian Burnett received 69 votes in District Five while Craig Anderson received 75 votes in District Six.

Three candidates ran for two positions on the MVFPD board. Starr Aldrich (93 votes) and Kevin Berryhill (89 votes) were elected to fill the two vacancies. Incumbent Judy Rusk of the Brownsville Station had been appointed to the board to fill a vacancy.  In a very close election, she finished third with 81 votes.  The vote count at the Niwot Station was Aldrich 37, Rusk 11 and Berryhill 42.

Starr Aldrich was appointed to the board in June of 1998.  He served as an active firefighter at the Niwot Station for 15 years before retiring in 1998.  Kevin Berryhill has been a volunteer firefighter with the district for more than six years.  He is a Colorado State Certified Firefighter and a professional engineer.