Former Silverthorne Mayor Bruce Butler said his love for serving and a need for the town to refocus on its priorities drove his interest in the vacant Silverthorne Town Council seat. 

Council awarded him former council member Kelly Baldwin’s vacant seat at an Aug. 27 meeting. Butler will be sworn in on Sept. 10. He will serve until the April 2026 municipal election, at which time he plans to run for election to retain his seat.

Butler held a position on Silverthorne Town Council from 2008 to 2014. He then served as the mayor of Silverthorne from 2014 until 2018. After a hiatus from politics, he said he felt now was the time to return.

“We had a very developed and advanced vision for what we thought we could do with the town (when I served), and I think it’s through no particular one thing or another that we’ve just lost some focus on some of those priorities,” he said. 

He said the town finds itself at a “pivotal” time where it continues on a steady trajectory of growth and currently lacks a town manager after former town manager Ryan Hyland’s departed. He said filling the town manager position will be one of the most important decisions the council makes, and it will dictate the direction the town takes over the next decade, maybe even longer, he said. 

Interstate 70’s Exit 205 and traffic in town has a spot at the top of his priority list. Exit 205 serves as a converging point many use to get back to the Front Range from ski resorts across the Western Slope, making for situations where traffic bottlenecks and causes issues during Interstate 70 closures, especially in winter. Silverthorne’s growing population, now the highest in Summit County, also puts pressure on the roads. The Colorado Department of Transportation predicts traffic will increase 45% on Colorado Highway 9 and U.S. Highway 6 in the next 20 years.

Butler said he recognizes the town can’t shoulder the necessary funds to quell the persisting traffic problem on its own, which is why he plans to push for the town and the Colorado Department of Transportation to be more in sync on the matter since the agency controls the town’s highways. He said he wants a more clear timeline on the agency’s plan, which it unveiled concepts for to the community at a Nov. 19 open house, to address traffic issues on the area’s major roadways.

Butler also hopes to revitalize the town’s Economic Development Advisory Committee and economic diversification efforts. He said he wants to take a closer look into elements fueling the high cost of living in the area because he said the middle class is rapidly diminishing.

“Some of it might be onerous fees, some of it’s policy that forces us into more expensive energy options, some of it’s building codes that make it almost prohibitive to do anything or remodel, and clearly we’ve got to keep an eye on taxes as well as time goes on,” he said.  

Additionally, he plans to refresh community conversations around making the Blue River more of a centerpiece in Silverthorne. He said he finds it more difficult than it needs to be to access and even view the river. He said he thinks there’s opportunities to tackle way-finding initiatives as Silverthorne’s arts committee works to get the town certified as a Colorado Creative District.

The town received around 10 letters of interest from candidates. Two withdrew, and on Aug. 22 the council had a special meeting to interview candidates Chandler Morehardt, Valerie Connelly, Tara Dye, Tom Erickson, Cody Mendoza, Rosemary Seiwald, Penelope TerHaar and Butler. 

“I think when you see (that many) people apply for a vacancy, it can sometimes mean that everyone thinks that everything is terrible and change should be swift and punishing,” council member Erin Young said. “But I think everything we heard was so inspiring and great ideas that inspire me as well, and I just hope that that enthusiasm finds outlets outside of a council position.”

Mayor Ann-Marie Sandquist said it wasn’t an easy decision to make given how qualified and passionate so many of the candidates were.