In a surprise announcement, Angel Fire Mayor Barbara Cottam resigns.
Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Howe steps in to run mountain town
Attendees at the Tuesday (June 25) Angel Fire Village Council meeting gasped audibly when Mayor Barbara Cottam announced, “This is my last meeting. I’m retiring on Friday.”
Several people exclaimed, “What?!” and Village Councilor Rogers Lanon declared, “Now there’s a bombshell!” Several others said, “Thank you for your service” to applause from an unusually packed council chambers.
Cottam later confirmed only a couple of her staffers and Mayor Pro Tempore Chuck Howe knew of her plans.
Howe knew ahead enough in time to present Cottam with a plaque engraved with the words, “Presented to Barbara Cottam, Mayor, for your years of service and dedication to the Village of Angel Fire, March 2012 to June 2019.”
“I thank everyone,” a tearyeyed Cottam said. “My staff. My department heads ...”
Cottam’s term was set in expire at the end of the year, but she noted in a telephone interview a move to Taos precipitated her early retirement.
“I knew I wasn’t going to run. I wanted to go ahead and move. I didn’t want to wait six months. I’ve lived in Angel Fire for 39 years. It was bittersweet but I was ready to leave. I wanted to move back [to Taos], spend more time with family, garden and enjoy the summer. A lot of my friends have moved away, and I was ready to do the same.”
Cottam was appointed to the Angel Fire Village Council in 1992 and served two terms as mayor from 1992-2000. She was elected to another term in 2012 and re-elected in 2016.
Reflecting on her years of service, Cottam said, “I truly enjoyed being mayor of Angel Fire … Most of the time, it was a pleasure. I cared about the community, the village of Angel Fire. It will always be a special place. I still have a winter job there at Wheeler Peak Ski Shop, Lodge and Hostel.”
Asked if she had a favorite high point during her tenure, Cottam said, “There’s so many. Passing the first [general obligation] bond was a big first step in improving the roads, sewer. I’d like to see that continue, if possible.
“I guess another one of the high points was helping to create the charter school [as a co-founder], seeing that grow and continue to grow.
“One of the highlights of my career was working with my village family, especially Terry and Rick and working as director for the Municipal League. I always felt that I had a good working rapport with my council. I was always proud of my community.”
And her low point? “I hate to even put it in print. I would like to have had a better rapport with the resort and a better working relationship with the chamber. I thought it was very sad that the village, the chamber and the resort couldn’t have a good working relationship, like we used to.”
A split vote on new mayor
Though no one else vied for the position, Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Howe did not take on the job as Angel Fire mayor by unanimous decree. During a special meeting Friday ( June 28), the council voted two (Bill Humber and Steve Larson) to one (D. Rogers Lanon) to appoint Howe as mayor. Lanon was appointed Mayor Pro Tem. Both will serve until the November election.
Howe has served on Angel Fire Village Council for the last 13 years (elected in 2006) and as Mayor Pro Tem since 2008.
He twice ran for mayor, and lost, in 2008 and 2012. “The first thing that we’re looking to do is just create a lot of energy in the village,” Howe said in a telephone interview. “And when I say ‘village,’ I am including everything from Black Lake to Eagle Nest. I want to reach out to everyone, whether it’s an individual, or a business or a nonprofit.
“My plan is to continue to work hard on infrastructure and economic development — getting the bond passed. If the bond passes, then we’ll be able to start getting a lot of work done. If the bond doesn’t pass, then that’s problematic because we don’t have enough money in our general fund to make much of a difference. But, either way, we’ll continue to do our best.
For Howe, economic development includes “everything from stand-alone issues like getting stand-alone electric car charging stations to working with Kit Carson Electric [Cooperative] on completing a solar farm. We’ve made a lot of progress on that. Kit Carson is actually going out for bids right now. We have the land over by the transfer station.”
Another priority? “Improving cell service. Two things: one, to fill in some of the dead spots; second, to work on ways to expand the number of phones that can be up at one time.
“Also, we need to work on some quality of life issues. For example, we’re getting ready to put a dog park here in Angel Fire at the community center. We’re starting to draw plans right now. All that money will be raised privately.”
A history of public service
Prior to moving to Angel Fire in 2004, Howe spent 23 years as a U.S. Army officer and seven years with a government contractor overseeing 120 employees and 35 million dollars in annual revenue.
In addition to his tenure on the village council, Howe has served as chairman of the Intergovernmental Council of the Enchanted Circle, vice chairman of the Northeastern Regional Transportation Planning Organization, chairman of the Angel Fire Airport Advisory board, alternate regional director of the New Mexico Municipal League, president of the David Westphall Veterans Foundation and president of the National Veterans Wellness & Healing Center in Angel Fire.
Among several other appointments and honors, in 2016 Howe was selected as a New Mexico “True Hero” for his work as a veterans’ advocate and in aiding veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder through the National Veterans Wellness & Healing Center.
Through his work with the Intergovernmental Council of the Enchanted Circle, an organization that includes local governmental entities, school districts within Taos County and the Moreno Valley, as well as Taos County, Colfax County and University of New Mexico-Taos, Howe said, “We’ll be looking at things for all the municipalities of the Enchanted Circle, like affordable workforce housing in one location, which might help other locations. For example, you could put that in Questa and have bus service to Taos and Red River.”
Council position to be filled
Howe’s vacant council position will be filled by council vote in an upcoming meeting. Until this year, by council resolution the position would have been offered to Jo Mixon, who lost the March 2018 election to Lanon and Howe (vying for two council positions, Lanon received 176 votes, Howe 162 and Mixon 150).
In 2007, the council passed a resolution that stated, “When a village council vacancy occurs, the mayor may appoint, with the advice and consent of the village council, those qualified electors who ran for office in the previous election, but were not elected, in the order of votes cast.”
However, in February this year, the council unanimously voted in a new resolution that follows New Mexico State Municipal Code 3-11-2: “In case of the death, disability, resignation or change of residence, from the municipality, of the mayor, the governing body shall appoint by majority vote a qualified elector to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term of office.”
Resolution 2019-06 simply states, “The governing body believes that the New Mexico Statue sufficiently addresses the procedures for filling of vacant members.”