Newly elected board members of the Cortez Sanitation District voted to re-instate board member Jim Candelaria during a special meeting Tuesday.
Candelaria was ousted by the previous board after they passed a controversial ordinance prohibiting him from serving his board term while a candidate for the Montezuma County Commission.
A motion to revoke the ordinance passed 3-1, with newly elected board members Ryan Griglak, Tim Robinson, and Ray Fox voting yes, and board member John Stramel voting no.
“It is hard to find people who want to serve, and I don’t want to discriminate against someone who wants to be on the board,” Robinson said.
The now defunct resolution claimed a director holding another public office “may inhibit” the board member’s “time and attention” and “may lead” to conflicts of interests.
It also forced board members to relinquish their post if they refuse to subscribe to an oath of office, are convicted of a felony, submits a written resignation, ceases to be qualified, fails to attend three consecutive meetings without board approval or dies.
Candelaria was the lone opposition to the ordinance against him, describing it as arbitrary and “childish.”
“I never resigned, and I felt the resolution was illegal,” Candelaria said. “I accept re-instatement.”
He was given the oath of office, returned to his seat on the board, and got down to business analyzing a bid for concrete services.