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Steamboat Springs councilman considering move

Jim Engelken said move to Front Range ‘up in the air’

Mike Lawrence
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— Steamboat Springs City Councilman Jim Engelken said Thursday that he and his family are considering — just considering, he emphasized — a move to the Front Range, potentially opening up a seat in Centennial Hall.

“It’s up in the air,” Engelken said. “My wife’s commuting, and it’s been a challenge for us. … No decision has been made.”

Engelken was elected in November to his second stint on City Council. He previously served from 1995 to 2001. Were he to resign his current seat, the City Council would appoint a new member by a majority vote. City attorney Tony Lettunich co­­­­­nfirmed that because Engelken holds the two-year, at-large seat, a replacement could live anywhere in the city.



Lettunich said City Cou­­ncil likely would solicit app­lications for the vacancy, should it occur. A replacement would finish Engelken’s term and the seat would be up for election in November 2011.

Engelken’s wife, Nancy En­­gelken, left her position as the city’s community housing coordinator at the end of last year. She became the new executive director of Housing Colorado, a Denver-based nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing services statewide.



Jim Engelken moved to Steamboat Springs in 1979 and has worked since then as a Safeway employee in a variety of positions.

He said leaving Steamboat would be a very tough decision.

“I’ve gotta do what I’ve gotta do,” he said. “I don’t really want to give up anything I have going on in Steamboat, including City Council.

“I’m not going to say we are moving, and I’m not going to deny we’re thinking about it,” he said.


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