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8 running for Craig City Council, 2 running for mayor

Noelle Leavitt Riley

Eight people will battle for three open seats on Craig City Council, and two current council members are running for city mayor.

Petitions were due Monday, and according to City Clerk Kathy Larson, the following people are running for an open seat in the April 4 election:

Running for mayor:Running for mayor:

Running for mayor:



• John Ponikvar: Councilman and owner of Napa Auto Parts – T&H Parts in Craig

• Joe Bird: Councilman, service manager at Cook Chevrolet



Running for city council:Running for city council:

Running for city council:

• Kent Nielson: Councilman and owner of Centennial Development Company, former worker at United Supply

• Andrea Camp: Co-owner of Great Divide Cleaning Services

• Bill Johnston: Retired Craig Station manager and retired chief of Craig Fire/Rescue

• Jarrod Ogden: Councilman and owner of Three Sons Construction

• Rod Compton: Former pastor at Calvary Baptist Church, also works at Yampa Valley Golf Course’s pro shop

• Tony Bohrer: Councilman and owner-operator at Ivory Tip Outfitters and pastor at Apostolic Lighthouse of Craig

• Dave DeRose: Masterworks Mechanical Estimator

• Chris Nichols: Owns and operates four McDonald’s in Craig, Steamboat, Springs, Winter Park and Granby

Former Mayor Ray Beck left the position when he was elected to the Board of Moffat County Commissioners — a seat he took this month.

Council is made up of six council members and a mayor. All positions are four-year terms with term limits capped at two terms.

The Craig city election happens every two years. In 2015, Ponikvar, Bird and Derek Duran all were elected to council and Beck was the newly elected mayor. This year’s election is April 4, and mail ballots go out on March 13.

Councilmen Jarrod Ogden, Kent Nielson and Tony Bohrer are all up for re-election and all are re-running for their seats.

“I think if someone runs for four years they need to run for four more. Your first couple years, you’re just getting a grasp of how things run. Most people don’t know how to deal with millions of millions of dollars in a budget,” Bohrer said. “When I first got on council, they didn’t have an orientation. We’re implementing that as a new council member, you’re going to have an orientation process.”

Nielson, who is acting as mayor pro tem until a new mayor is elected, opted to rerun as a council member and not mayor for a number of reasons, including the fact that his father recently passed away.

“I’m the executor of his estate, and his estate is in Dolores,” he said, adding that he and his wife would also like to travel more, especially since he resigned from United Supply in December. “Mayor, in my opinion, takes a lot of time. With my situation changing, I just didn’t feel I could devote enough time.”

He did feel, however, that he could make the time commitment to continue his role as a councilman, a role that’s not as demanding as mayor, Nielson said.

Since the two mayoral candidates currently are city councilmen, that seat will open and go to the fourth highest vote tally in the election, after the appointment is approved by council, said City Finance Director Bruce Nelson.

Contact Noelle Leavitt Riley at 970-875-1790 or Contact Noelle Leavitt Riley at 970-875-1790 or nriley@CraigDailyPress.com or follow her on Twitter @noelleleavitt.Contact Noelle Leavitt Riley at 970-875-1790 or nriley@CraigDailyPress.com or follow her on Twitter @noelleleavitt.


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