Town clerk Jackie Williamson marks petitions handed in urging the town to end EPURA.
Town clerk Jackie Williamson marks petitions handed in urging the town to end EPURA. (Walt Hester / Estes Park Trail-Gazette)

It was back to the drawing board for the group desiring to petition for the recall of four town trustees, based on their votes against the EPIC downtown theatre project. Dr. Bert Bergland, Greig Steiner and Gail Upp filed the petition with town clerk Jackie Williamson on Friday, naming trustees Eric Blackhurst, Wendy Koenig, Ron Norris and John Phipps as subjects to recall in the petition.

However, Monday, Williamson said she denied the petition in its first form, and sent a letter to Bergland about a wording change. There are certain things in the state statute that must be addressed to ensure the petition is in the right format, she said.

The filers of the petition have no formal name as a committee at this point, Williamson said, and if they want to be known as a committee, they will also have to file paperwork per the Fair Campaign Practices Act.

"We'll see where it heads," she said.

Until there is a formally approved petition, the matter is in a kind of limbo. Until the petition is formally approved, Williamson can't talk about timelines. She said she is not sure exactly how the community would hold a special election, but that it would probably be similar to other elections. The cost could run to $12,000. Mail-in ballots have increased the costs of elections, she said.


There's always the possibility that she could return the petition back to Bergland and the group would decide to do nothing about it. That possibility is slim, though, Williamson said, since they've come this far.
