Westminster residents will elect three city councilmembers and a new mayor during the Nov. 4 election.

Voters in the city of around 115,000 will choose from eight City Council candidates running for the open seats and three mayoral candidates, two of whom have already served on the council for years.

The mayor and councilmembers are not full-time positions. The councilmembers are not split into wards — a proposition that was declined in last year’s election — with six councilmembers representing the entirety of the city.

Mayoral candidates

Mayor Nancy McNally’s term comes to an end, with eight-year councilmember David DeMott and two-year councilmember Claire Carmelia running for the position. Bruce Baker, who has not served on the council, is the third candidate.

DeMott has more than 25 years of experience in technology, according to the city’s candidate guide published earlier this year. To him, the biggest issue he would look to tackle in the position is public safety.

“I will strengthen partnerships with law enforcement, fund crime prevention and neighborhoods feel secure,” he said.

Carmelia, an IT project manager, is taking a different approach, focusing on the economic growth of the city.

The candidate said the biggest problem facing the city is maintaining strong economic growth in times of national uncertainty. This would include working together with local businesses and attracting regional destinations to the area.

In a candidate video, Carmelia said she believes better community engagement and coordination with first responders would help lower crime.

Baker is an Army veteran and pharmacist. He has pinpointed government transparency and overspending in his campaign, often referring to the current council as “dishonest.”

For example, Baker pointed to the city spending over $1 million to redo the city hall’s front lawn.

“We cannot have four more years of lazy, easily misled, timid, passive leadership. We must have honest government,” he said.

City council candidates

Current Councilmembers David DeMott, Obi Ezeadi and Sarah Nurmela are all at the end of their terms. DeMott will not be running for re-election, instead opting to run for mayor. Ozeadi and Nurmela are both running for re-election.

Nurmela is a planning and development director by trade and has been a councilmember since 2021. To her, the biggest issue in the city is the livelihood of its residents and businesses.

Fortifying revenue and community starts with “ensuring we can provide public services by positioning the city economically to maintain a vibrant commercial and employment core,” she said.

Ozeadi is an emergency medical technician who as been a councilmember since 2021.

“Westminster doesn’t need more politics, it needs results,” he said in the candidate guide, pointing toward reducing the cost of living as his main priority.

The councilmember has also mentioned smart growth within city limitations, reducing crime and expanding housing options as priorities.

Kathy Stroud is a local business owner. She has not been elected to public office before, and said the city needs more transparency and to stop “rubber stamping” every development idea proposed.

To her, the biggest problems in the city are a mismanagement of land, water and money by the current government.

Phillip Romero is a pastor and director of facilities and campus safety and security for a local school.

Along with potential tax hikes, Romero said the most significant issues in the city are the challenges with “open space, development, infrastructure, roads and support for fire and police departments.”

Kara Hucke is another small business owner who has lived in the city since 1981. Like other candidates, Hucke wants to crack down on “fiscal responsibility” within the government and believes it’s time for “fresh leadership” in the city.

Jeremy Nuanes is a chief architect, former firefighter and software engineer. He also pointed toward a lack of scrutiny and immediate “rubber stamping” throughout the current local government, saying he will provide more of an analytical mindset to the role, especially as an architect for city hall.

Jack Johnson is a civil rights attorney who was born and raised in Pueblo. His main focus is the affordable housing crisis in the city, offering to help reduce barriers of development to lower housing costs, create incentive-based programs to get grocery stores to reduce operating costs and help lower childcare services.

Karen Kalavity is a landscape architect and site planner. Kalavity said the biggest issues in the city are poorly designed and implemented housing projects and unnecessary construction and destruction of “special places.”

Kalavity wants to work with residents and developers to ensure “financially responsible” design in building projects.

The election is on Tuesday, Nov. 4. For information on voting locations, ballot drop-off boxes and results, visit Westminsterco.gov.