The town of Hayden is looking for someone to serve on the Town Council following the resignation of Mayor Pro-Tem Tammi Engle last week.

Town Manager Mathew Mendisco said Engle has long planned to move out of the Yampa Valley to Missouri, where she will be closer to family.

“She raised her kids in Hayden. She and her sister were raised in the valley in Steamboat,” Mendisco said. “They have been here a really long time, and it will be a big loss.”

The resignation opened a position on the Town Council, which is made up of six members and the mayor. In a meeting last week, the council appointed council member Trevor Gann as the mayor pro-tem on an interim basis to replace Engle.

The council plans to vote on who will fill that position for the long term when a seventh member is appointed.

To seat that final member, Mendisco said the council is collecting letters of interest from people who want to fill the role. Letters must be submitted electronically to Town Clerk Sharon Johnson at sharon.johnson@haydencolorado.org by 5 p.m. July 30.

There are certain basic requirements to serve on the Town Council, such as living in Hayden for at least two years, but Mendisco said this letter is also about why a resident wants to be on the council and why they believe they would be a good fit.

A special meeting has been scheduled for Aug. 11, when council members are expected to make their final selection. At this meeting, Mendisco said the candidates should generally be available to answer questions from the council.

Mendisco said the town would begin recruiting people interested in serving on the council beginning Monday. This may include mailing a postcard to residents to ensure as many people as possible are reached.

In the past, there has been strong interest when the town needed to fill a position on its council, with four people seeking to fill a vacancy created when current Mayor Zach Wuestewald was elevated to that position.

The seat is up for reelection in 2022, which is the next time Hayden is scheduled to have an election. The council opted to appoint someone to the seat now rather than hold a special election in November in part because the cost of an election wasn’t included in the town’s budget this year.

“If people want to be actively involved in their community, there’s probably no better way to do so,” Mendisco said.

For more information, visit HaydenColorado.com/town-council.