YOUR AD HERE »

Vacancy Committee to name Commission appointee Tuesday

Collin Smith

Moffat County Commission District 2

Only residents living in Moffat County Commission District 2 are eligible to be appointed to the seat vacated by Commissioner Saed Tayyara.

The area in Craig is as follows:

• Everything south of U.S. Highway 40, plus:

- all 500 blocks east of Taylor Street except between Breeze Street and Yampa Ave.

- everything east of Colorado Street and south of Ninth Street.

The district includes all county lands south of that area, including Hamilton. It extends west through the county, as well, mostly along the Yampa River. It does not include Maybell or Dinosaur.

Call the County Clerk and Recorder's Office at 824-9120 for more information.

Vacancy Committee contacts

Call one of the four Moffat County Republican Party Vacancy Committee members for more information:

K.C. Hume: 629-9048

Nikki McLeslie: 826-6557

Stacy Razzano: 824-9431

Ron Danner: 824-6636

Moffat County Commission District 2

Only residents living in Moffat County Commission District 2 are eligible to be appointed to the seat vacated by Commissioner Saed Tayyara.

The area in Craig is as follows:

• Everything south of U.S. Highway 40, plus:



– all 500 blocks east of Taylor Street except between Breeze Street and Yampa Ave.

– everything east of Colorado Street and south of Ninth Street.



The district includes all county lands south of that area, including Hamilton. It extends west through the county, as well, mostly along the Yampa River. It does not include Maybell or Dinosaur.

Call the County Clerk and Recorder’s Office at 824-9120 for more information.

The Moffat County Republican Party Vacancy Committee has a big job, committee member Ron Danner said.

By state statute, the four-person panel is the only local body allowed to name a successor for Moffat County Commissioner Saed Tayyara, who died Nov. 29 after a fight with lung cancer.

The Vacancy Committee has until Dec. 9 to appoint a new commissioner by majority vote. By law, the person must be at least 18 years old, a Moffat County resident living in Commission District 2 and a registered Republican – Tayyara’s chosen party.

Residents meeting those parameters must submit a written letter expressing interest and a resume to a Vacancy Committee member by 5 p.m. Friday.

Delegates at the Republican County Assembly in March elected each of the four members.

Whoever is appointed to the Commission would serve the rest of Tayyara’s current term until January, as well as two years of his next term until the general election in 2010.

The winner of the 2010 election would serve the final two years of Tayyara’s second term, lasting through 2012. The seat will come up for election that year and be back on its four-year schedule.

If the Vacancy Committee does not appoint someone by Dec. 9, then Gov. Bill Ritter has five days to appoint someone from Tayyara’s same district and party.

Danner said he and other committee members do not want that to happen and plan to have someone take the oath of office at the Commission’s next meeting at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 9.

“There’s a clear path, at least in our minds, we’d like to have this remain local,” he said.

The committee does not have set qualifications for who they would select, Danner added, encouraging “any and all” residents with an interest to submit a resume.

Although the general public does not have an official say in who is appointed, the group has organized an open forum for potential appointees to answer questions from the committee, local media and residents.

Danner said he is not comfortable with how the law excludes public input, and he is glad the public will have a chance to hear from residents seeking the position.

The forum is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday in the boardroom at the south end of the Moffat County School District Administration Building.

Danner and the other three members plan to meet at 5 p.m. Friday to go over applications. They will whittle down who they will invite to the forum, if necessary.

Each potential appointee will be asked the same questions. Residents may submit their questions to either Daily Press Publisher Bryce Jacobson at publisher@craigdailypress.com, or to Frank Hanel, KRAI and 55 Country owner and general manager, at frank@krai.com.

Questions also may be submitted in writing to the Daily Press and KRAI offices, at 466 Yampa Ave. or in Centennial Mall, respectively.

Collin Smith can be reached at 875-1794 or cesmith@craigdailypress.com


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Craig and Moffat County make the Craig Press’ work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.