CHAFFEE ALDERMANIC, SHCOOL CANDIDATES FILE

CHAFFEE -- It's been rather quiet - so far - around Chaffee City Hall and the Chaffee Board of Education office.

Only two candidates have filed: Ward 2 Alderman Ed Gauthier and Tom Davenport, who has filed for one of the three seats on the school board that will be filled in April.

If re-elected, Gauthier says this will be his last term on the board of aldermen. He's completing his third term in office. He was elected in April 1987.

"I am believe in term limits. I think it's time to step down and let someone else take over," Gauthier said.

"But before I retire, I have some unfinished business that I would like to tend to." Gauthier said he wants to put the city's park department on a self-supporting basis by creating a park tax to fund park projects and maintenance. Currently, the city subsidizes the park department from general revenue at a cost of around $30,000 a year.

Gauthier said when he came on the council six years ago his main emphasis was on long-range planning and goals. "During this period we've been able to start and complete many of these long-term goals, and are now working toward completing others," he said.

He specifically mentioned long-range financial planning improvements that have enabled the city to stay within its annual budget, upgrade and replacement of worn-out city equipment, upgrading of police and fire services - including two-way radio communications, improvements in the water distribution system, and passage of a capital improvements tax several years ago to help finance capital projects. Currently, the city is planning for the extension of sewers along North Frisco Street.

Gauthier lives at 123 W. Parker with his wife, Maryann, and their two daughters, Emily, 14, and Hannah, 12. He has lived in Chaffee since 1975, and for the past 15 years owned and operated the Kinderhaus Day Care Center in Chaffee.

Gauthier is past president of the Chaffee Lions Club and treasurer and past president of the Chaffee Chamber of Commerce. He serves on the board of directors of the Chaffee Senior Citizens Corp., and was its president in 1986. He has also served in a number of other civic and youth organizations.

Gauthier is a veteran of the Army.

School board candidate Tom Davenport says he has no particular axes to grind or special issues to pursue as a board member. It's his first try at public office.

"In the past I have been approached and asked to run by a number of individuals in the community and by some members of the school board," he said. "At that point, the timing was not right. Now, I feel I have the time to serve on the board."

Davenport, 46, says he wants to serve the school district that provided his education, and that of several of his children. "I feel I can bring to the board the ability to be open-minded and approachable to everyone in the district," he said. "We have a fine school district. We have made a lot of progress and I would like to see what has been accomplished continue in the future."

Davenport is a lifelong resident of Chaffee. He lives with his wife, Reba, at 611 Hubbard. They have three children, Sandra, 25, Suzanne, 21, and Debbie, 15, a sophomore student at Chaffee High School. He is a 1964 graduate of Chaffee High School.

Davenport and his family are members of the First United Methodist Church of Chaffee, where he is past administrative board president of the church, past trustee and currently chairman of the pastor-parish relations committee. He also serves as a lay speaker in his church.

Davenport is a member of the Chaffee Park Board and past president of the Chaffee Red Devils Booster Club.