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Visit www.steamboatpilot.com/election2009 for complete coverage of this year's races and issues.

Steamboat Springs — Former City Council President Kevin Bennett confirmed Tuesday that he will run for a District 1 seat in this year's City Council election.

Bennett will not face off against his neighbor, Councilwoman Cari Hermacinski, who said Tuesday that she has decided to run for the two-year, at-large seat she holds now, rather than the four-year District 1 seat representing western Steamboat and much of Old Town. The District 1 seat is held by term-limited Councilman Steve Ivancie. Another former council member, Jim Engelken, said Monday that he is considering running for the at-large seat. He would face Hermacinski if he chooses to campaign.

Bennett served eight years on the council, from 1993 to 2001, and was president of the body from 1995 to 2001. He recently distributed surveys throughout the community in an effort to determine whether there was support for his candidacy. He said the current council is kowtowing to the development community and that he would run as the "loyal opposition."

"I have high regard for anybody who serves : however, I'm running to represent the citizenry that feels : the development community has had a real grip on both our community and our council for the past two years," Bennett said. "We've seen it in a variety of ways."

Bennett cited, as an example, changes approved by City Council to allowable height and other dimensional standards at the base of Steamboat Ski Area. Among other changes, council increased the maximum allowable height by 38 feet in the area, to 105 feet.

Under its previous planned unit development, the city negotiates public benefits such as affordable housing and green building practices in exchange for increased height and other requested code variances. Critics said the process was frustrating, drawn-out and unpredictable. Hermacinski described it as a "horse-trading debacle" and said she was excited about the changes.

Bennett, however, said the changes removed future councils' ability to negotiate and have a say about what will be required of future base area developers.

"I'm up for density up there, but not carte blanche," he said. "This is a huge subsidy to those developers up there. They didn't buy under these circumstances."

Bennett said he also disagrees with council's recent decision to allow developers to replace deed-restricted affordable housing units in their developments with payments.

"Anything a developer doesn't like, he goes back in for," Bennett said. "It is a feeding frenzy going on in this town."

City Council President Loui Antonucci has defended such moves. He said earlier this year that, because of the economy, mandated city regulations have threatened the success of entire projects. "We probably have some kind of responsibility : so the whole project doesn't come down like a house of cards."

Other candidates who have confirmed their candidacy for this year's City Council election include incumbent Councilman Walter Magill, who holds a District 3 seat representing southern Steamboat; and local businessman Kenny Reisman, who said he would run for the four-year, District 2 seat representing the mountain area. Antonucci is term-limited and vacating that seat.

The last day to file nomination petitions, which can be picked up from the City Clerk's Office in City Hall on 10th Street, is Aug. 24.