The Town of Granby has a new Trustee.

During a recent Granby Board of Trustees meeting the board appointed community resident Paul Robertson to fill a seat on the board vacated with the recent passing of Trustee Charlie LaBrake. LaBrake passed away suddenly over the New Year’s Weekend.

“Charlie was a longstanding member of the Town Board and will be missed,” Robertson said. “I have tried to be positively involved in the community since moving here nearly six years ago. I serve on the Town Planning Commission, the Granby Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and I am currently the field director for Grand County Search and Rescue.”

Prior to the appointment vote the Board of Trustees discussed who should be appointed to fill LaBrake’s seat and what criteria should be used to determine the replacement. The board considered appointing both Robertson and Granby resident Rebecca Johnson to the seat. Both Robertson and Johnson serve on the Granby Planning Commission and both Robertson and Johnson ran for the Granby Town Board in the most recent election in 2014.

Several Board members including Mayor Jynnifer Pierro and Trustee Greg Mordini recommended Robertson be appointed to the Board while Trustee Elaine Henrekin recommended the appointment of Johnson. Henrekin based her recommendation of appointing Johnson on the fact that Johnson regularly attends Granby Board of Trustees meetings to view the proceedings and was familiar with the issues that would come before the Board.

A motion to appoint Robertson was made based on the fact that Robertson was the person who received the highest number of votes in Granby’s 2014 election who is not currently serving on the Board.

The last municipal government elections held in Granby were conducted in April 2014. That year initially saw the election of Ken Coatney to the Board of Trustees, with Charlie LaBrake, Paul Robertson and Rebecca Johnson also running but not receiving enough votes for election. In the 2014 election LaBrake received 66 votes, Robertson received 65 votes and Johnson received 43 votes.

According to Granby Town Clerk Deb Hess shortly after Coatney’s election Coatney moved away from Granby and resigned his position on the Board. At that time the board requested letters of interest from members of the community who wished to be appointed to Coatney’s seat. The board eventually appointed LaBrake to the seat because he was the person who received the most votes to the board behind Coatney in that year’s election. LaBrake served as a Town Trustee from the time of his appointment until his recent death.

The board had several options to choose from regarding filling Trustee LaBrake’s vacant seat. The board exercised their ability to appoint a replacement but could also have held a special election for the seat or simply chose not to fill the seat and wait for the April election. Town Clerk Deb Hess explained that any decision regarding a replacement Trustee is entirely under the current Board’s purview and no existing statutes require municipal boards take one particular action or another.

Members of the Board pointed out Granby Trustee David Lockwood is currently attending basic training with the US military and would likely be absent from board meetings for the immediate future. This fact raised concerns about the board’s ability to have a full voting quorum if any current members of the board were absent from future board meetings and no individual was appointed to fill LaBrake’s seat.

Robertson and the other current members of the Board of Trustees will serve in their current roles until the first official board meeting after the April election, when the new Board of Trustees will be sworn in.

Originally from St. Paul Minn. Robertson lived in Indianapolis Indiana for many years before moving to Granby about six years ago. His family has vacationed and skied in Grand County for over 20 years. Robertson operates his own online marketing company from Grand County called Digital Media Storm.