Dillon voters will decide whether or not to recall three members of the Dillon Town Council at a special election scheduled for Tuesday, March 4.

Current Dillon Town Council members Dana Christiansen, Renee Imamura and John Woods are facing an upcoming vote that aims to remove them from office. The election was scheduled after Dillon residents Barbara Richard, Laura Johnson, Linda Oliver, Mary Ellen Gilliland and Shannon Fausel late last year filed petitions bearing the required 17 signatures of registered town voters with the Town Clerk’s Office. 

The petitions state that the three current council members failed to listen to constituents, have shown a lack of decorum and failed to uphold the town charter’s requirements that government be responsive to the needs of citizens.

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All three Dillon Town Council members subject to the recall effort voted last year to approve a major development, known as the Branded Residence project, proposed by Developer Jake Porritt. Dillon town voters later overturned the council’s approval of that project at a referendum election.

There are four candidates running to replace any of the current town council members who are recalled in the election. The candidates include Oliver, Richard, Joshua Samuel and Claudia Pillow.

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The special election will take place by mail-in ballot. On the ballot, there will be one question for each of the council members facing recall, Dillon Town Clerk Adrienne Stuckey said. On the same ballot, Dillon residents will also be able to vote on the names of those who have been nominated to succeed anyone who is successfully recalled, Stuckey said.

If the vote is such that one of the council members is recalled, the candidate who has received the highest number of votes will be elected to serve the remainder of the term, Stuckey said. If more than one council member is recalled, then the candidate who received the highest number of votes would be elected to fill the longest remaining term, she said.

Dillon Town Manager Nathan Johnson said that the town expects to spend about $30,000 to hold the special election, between staff time, purchasing ballots and other expenses. He said ballots were mailed out Monday, Feb. 10.

Here is a look at the current Dillon Town Council members who are subject to the recall effort.

Dana Christiansen

Dillon voters first elected Dana Christiansen to the Dillon Town Council in 2022. Christiansen is a retired aerospace engineer who grew up spending time at his parent’s weekend home in Summit County and has lived in Dillon full time for the past 17 years. He previously served on the town’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee.

Christiansen defended his record on the Dillon Town Council, stating that the recall election sets a “dangerous precedent” that residents could attempt to recall council members anytime there is disagreement in town. He said he originally won election to the council because he listened to voter’s concerns about walk-up and drive-up marijuana shops, which the previous council had voted to approve.

“They’re claiming that because of the vote on the branded residences, which was much closer to 50-50, that somehow I’m not listening to my constituents, which is not true at all,” Christansen said. “I do listen to them, and I take what I hear into consideration every time.”

As a council member, Christiansen said he has worked to help “guide development so that it’s appropriate for a small town like Dillon.” He noted that Porritt originally pitched an indoor amphitheater and luxury hotel and that the council was able to get him to scale that plan down the branded residence proposal.

Asked about his achievements on the council, Christiansen said that he helped get the stalled Uptown 240 condominium project — now known as the Waterview Residences — rolling again. He also noted that when he joined the council, the Dillon Amphitheater was losing the town money each year, while now it is “revenue neutral.”

Christiansen also said that Porritt’s proposal to revitalize downtown with a parking structure, restaurant and grocery store that will replace the dilapidated Payne Building “is a huge step in the right direction for getting blight out of the Dillon town core.” He said it’s the first real investment in downtown by a developer in 20 years.

With businesses like Bed Bath & Beyond and the Arapahoe Cafe closing, Dillon has seen sales tax revenues decline and the council has a “fiduciary responsibility” to attract more businesses to increase sales tax revenues, Christiansen said. 

Christiansen said there has been a lot of “misinformation” and “lies” about the metropolitan districts the council helped establish to aid with public infrastructure associated with the redevelopment of downtown. Noting that there are thousands of metro districts in Colorado, he said that the metro districts are a necessary financial tool because Dillon does not have the money to pay for infrastructure upgrades itself.

“I would like to help guide the redevelopment of the core of Dillon,” Christiansen said. “I think there is tremendous potential there, if we do it smartly and not overly ambitiously, and provide the qualified people who have the financing to complete a project.”

Renee Imamura

Renee Imamura first joined the Dillon Town Council after an uncontested election in 2018 and was reelected by voters in 2022. A real estate broker with Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate, Imamura has lived in Dillon for 20 years and currently serves as the Town Council’s mayor pro tem.

Contrary to the claims by the recall petitioners, Imamura said that she listens to constituents. She said that she has aimed to improve the town core and strengthen the town’s tax base while maintaining the town’s character.

“My record demonstrates my commitment to working with the public on both sides of any issue. I’m proud of that,” Imamura said. “I believe that simply maintaining the status quo runs counter to providing high-quality services — that cost more to provide year over year — and Dillon’s unique recreational, education and environmental characteristics.”

Imamura said working with Porritt, who for three years has expressed interest in helping redevelop Dillon, “is something that’s going to help the town move forward.” She said the new restaurant and grocery store Porritt is proposing would help generate sales tax revenue for the town to spend on important projects like workforce housing.

Imamura pointed to the council’s decision not to bring the Ice Castles back to Dillon as one of her achievements as a council member. She said that she spoke with many constituents on both sides of that issue before deciding that she was not in favor of the Ice Castle’s return because of the damage the event caused to the Town Park.

In her time on the council, Imamura said that she has upheld the majority vote of the council, even when she was in the minority. She said she is proud of the renovations to the Town Park and the council’s decision to purchase condominium units for workforce housing.

While Imamura said she is “grateful that more people want to be on council,” she said the recall process is “flawed” because it only requires 17 signatures to initiate and the members being recalled haven’t done anything but vote in a way that some residents don’t agree with. Noting that the recall election will cost the town money and that she has only one year left on her term, she said, “I really urge voters out there to think about what they’re doing and vote ‘no.'”

“I’ve been on the council for seven years, so I understand how the government works. I understand how to do this job,” Imamura said. “When I first started, I didn’t, and so I believe it is very valuable to have someone on council that you know understands how everything works. I have nothing but the best intentions for our town, and I respect those that disagree with some of our decisions.”

John Woods

John Woods has served the Dillon Town Council after running uncontested for a vacant seat in 2022 and running uncontested again in 2024. A part-time resident of Dillon since 2016, Woods has lived full time in town since 2020. 

Woods is a retired businessman who has worked for a retail sales company, held a position as the chief marketing officer for an internet company and ran a property inspection company in Washington, D.C. He also has experience working at a LiveNation venue and working at the Dillon Amphitheater prior to becoming a council member.

During his time on the council, Woods said that he has listened to constituents but that some residents make “pie-in-the-sky” proposals that the town can’t fiscally or legally execute. He said recall elections should be reserved for when a council member has done something like stealing or lying.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve done nothing wrong,” Woods said. “I’m doing the best I can, and I’ve always said ‘If you’re mad at me, I’m sorry.’ Some people say, ‘Oh you said something that hurt people’s feelings.’ I’m doing the best I can. I’m not a professional politician. I don’t plan everything that comes out of my mouth.”

Woods said that as a council member he came up with a plan to relocate the Arapahoe Cafe that would have required the beloved restaurant to close for less than 30 days. He said despite coming up with a plausible plan, the owners of A-Cafe were not interested.

Woods also took credit for the managed parking that the Dillon Amphitheater implemented this past season that charged visitors for parking in some lots during paid shows and for the sponsorship deals that the venue has embarked on to raise additional revenue. He said the paid parking program at the amphitheater raised tens of thousands of dollars this year that helped the venue stop losing money, as it had in years past.

Woods said he has proposed having paid VIP experiences at the Dillon Amphitheater and increasing the amphitheater’s capacity to 5,000 people to generate additional revenue. He also discussed his proposals to host a boat show in Dillon to bring visitors into town and to bring a boat retailer into town that would generate sales tax revenue.

Dillon has struggled to generate sales tax revenues and attract businesses because of disincentives like parking requirements and the town’s relatively small population, Woods said. While he said that he would prefer if there were multiple developers proposing changes to Dillon, he said that he is glad that Porritt has proposed a project to replace the dilapidated Payne Building and that the town government can’t control who buys property in town.

Describing himself as a “financial guy,” Woods said that many residents don’t think about the town’s finances, but, as a council member, that is his job.

“People say that they want community and all those easy things,” Woods said. “It’s easy to say that, but the real work is looking at the numbers. What I want to do is find a way to raise more revenue so that we can provide nice things to Dillon.”