Noticias

• Paul Wisor Steps Down as Mountain Village Town Manager
• General Assembly Enters Its Final Days

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Paul Wisor Leaves Mountain Village

Paul Wisor is leaving his position as Mountain Village town manager, the town announced Friday, May 1.

Wisor went on administrative leave from the town in January as Mountain Village began an investigation into former Mayor Marti Prohaska and former Telluride Town Council member Meehan Fee’s conversations and actions regarding a proposed purchase of the Telluride Ski Resort.

During the labor dispute between Telluride Ski Resort and the Telluride Ski Patrol Union, Prohaska and Fee traveled to California to hold conversations with Telluride Ski Resort owner Chuck Horning. Prohaska and Fee said they went as private citizens. Following that visit, the ski company filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain correspondence in connection to “a purchase offer of the ski company.”

The request included a contract that indicated an agreement for Horning to sell 51% of the Telluride Ski Resort to the Telluride Ski Resort Fund — an entity controlled by Prohaska and Fee. The contract was signed by Prohaska and Fee. It was not signed by Horning.

Both elected officials have since resigned from their positions.

In January, Wisor disclosed he knew about the conversations and put Prohaska and Fee in contact with investors interested in purchasing the ski company.

In a news release announcing the separation, Wisor stated the decision to leave was difficult, but was made in the best interest of the government and community.

Wisor was not available for additional comment.

Mountain Village Mayor Scott Pearson said he is sad Wisor decided to separate from the town but respects the decision.

“Paul, for his own reasons, felt it was in the best interest of the town that he moves on now, and I respect his decision,” Pearson said. “I am extremely grateful for all the work he’s done for Mountain Village and the region.”

Wisor was initially hired as Mountain Village town attorney in 2020. He stepped into the town manager position in 2021.

Interim Town Manager Michelle Bulson said she hopes the community remains confident in Mountain Village as a government in this moment of flux for the town.

“Behind the town manager are hundreds of staff, and so I hope the community can have some trust that the staff will continue to do our jobs while we’re waiting for our next leader,” Bulson said. “We live in unprecedented times. We saw a lot of unrest. We want more harmony in our community, and more surety. That requires all of us to learn our lessons and then we all just need to play our part, and find our best selves. That’s the county, Telluride, Mountain Village, and Telluride Ski Resort, our constituents, and our business owners, and come together rather than falling apart. I hope that’s what we can do.”

Wisor is now the third official to leave their role in local government due to the fallout from the offer to purchase the ski resort. Prohaska and Fee stepped down from their respective roles earlier this year.

Pearson said he is cognizant of that impact.

“Because of this whole affair we lost three really dedicated, capable, competent public servants — Marti, Meehan, and Paul,” Pearson said. “I feel their loss every day. I certainly hope we can continue to benefit from their expertise, and their civic mindedness, and their dedication to our community. We’re just not a big enough area to throw people to the side just because they tried to do something on behalf of the community. They may not have made every one of the right moves, but I don’t think anyone believes they were in it for themselves, or did anything nefarious.”

Bulson will continue serving as interim town manager for the time being as Mountain Village begins hiring for a new town manager.

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General Assembly Enters Its Final Days

As lawmakers head into their final days of the session, bills are making their way to Governor Jared Polis’ desk, but that doesn’t mean he’ll necessarily sign them. In this installment of Capitol Conversation, KOTO’s Julia Caulfield spoke with statehouse reporter Lucas Brady Woods.

Julia Caulfield (JC): The Colorado General Assembly is in its final week and a half at this point. That means bills are starting to make their way to Governor Jared Polis’ desk. That doesn’t necessarily mean all of them are going to be signed, including the first bill I wanted to chat with you about. It’s a pro-union bill, and it’s likely that Governor Polis is actually going to veto this bill. Can you explain what is happening here?

Lucas Brady Woods (LBW): This bill is a huge priority for Colorado’s labor unions, labor advocates and Democrats in the legislature. It would repeal this rule that’s unique to Colorado. Colorado is the only state with this rule, and it was created 80 years ago. It is basically, according to supporters of this bill, a barrier to forming labor unions in Colorado.

What it does is it mandates that workers actually hold a second election after they hold a basic election to form a union. They have to hold a second election before they can operate fully. In that second election, it has a much higher threshold than the first election, not just a simple majority.

Supporters of this bill argue that the second election weakens unions’ bargaining power by giving employers additional time to delay negotiations and pressure workers. So this bill that you’re talking about that just passed the legislature would repeal that 80-year-old rule.

The reason Polis is going to veto it, or says he is going to veto it, is because he vetoed the same exact bill last year. He said at the beginning of the session when this bill was introduced that if it didn’t change significantly, the same outcome would happen — that he would veto it again.

JC: Why would lawmakers introduce essentially the exact same bill when Governor Polis vetoed it last year?

LBW: It’s interesting talking to the sponsors of this bill. They brought it back this year, but they’re really looking to next year when there’s a new governor in place.

Throughout this process, they’ve been bringing that up and appealing to whoever the next governor is going to be because Polis is in his last year. They think that if and when it gets vetoed this year, which is very, very likely, they will bring it back next year under a new governor and hopefully get it passed.

JC: I want to take a brief step away from the actual happenings at the Capitol and talk about an issue that has been very front of mind across the state, very much in southwest Colorado, when it comes to wildfire risk for this summer. Governor Polis actually spoke about this recently. What did he have to say?

LBW: As someone who lived in southwest Colorado for a few years, I am very familiar with the fire danger down there. This is something I understand, but also a problem across the state.

Polis and state officials held the 2026 wildfire briefing for the state of Colorado last week. They all said we are going to see significantly increased risk of fires in the coming months, peaking in June and July with the worst fire conditions. That’s going to be across the state, but the most significant conditions are going to be on the Western Slope and in the Front Range.

This is all being driven by significant drought conditions. Mike Morgan, who is the director of the state Division of Fire Prevention and Control, said that 95% of Colorado will be under drought in June and July. Those dry conditions are really driving this fire danger.

The governor, public safety officials and fire officials all warned of a bad fire season. Although they also said, as many of us know, it’s not just a fire season anymore — it’s a whole fire year. We’ve already seen a lot of fire activity so far, and it’s likely to just get worse, according to these officials.

JC: Make sure you have your go bag ready.

LBW: Exactly. They also stress the role that everyday people play in preventing wildfires — fire mitigation, being careful with campfires, cigarette butts, chains dragging behind cars and trucks. All of those things are serious causes of fire. Most wildfires — 90% — are human caused. So officials really urge the public to do their part, too.

JC: Jumping back into the General Assembly briefly, as we mentioned, lawmakers are scheduled to wrap up a week from Wednesday. So in just about a week and a half, what does this final bit of time look like? What’s going on at the Capitol building as lawmakers wrap up?

LBW: As always, it’s a bit of a time crunch. This happens every session I’ve been here. A lot has to get done at the end before the clock ticks the end of session on May 13 this year.

This year is a little different just because the state budget took up so much time and was completed pretty late. That’s because of the big budget deficit lawmakers were dealing with.

Not only did they finalize the budget late, which leaves less time at the end of session to focus on other bills, the deficit also means there’s really little to no funding available to support new policies and programs. That shaped all the legislation this year, and we’re still seeing it shape it. But there are plenty of bills to get through before the end.

One of those was just introduced — a long-awaited AI regulation bill — and that’s just starting its legislative journey. That’s going to be a crunch to get it through by the end. There are other outstanding bills to create new rules around immigration enforcement, regulate data centers — that’s a big one — and another big one is a bill to attempt to bring down the cost of homeowners insurance. So these are all still big, high-profile, outstanding items to get through in the next 10 days.

JC: It’s a lot of work still to do, but hopefully they’re up to the task.

LBW: They always are. They always get through it somehow.

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Mountainfilm Announces Festival Lineup

Stoke and an indomitable spirit are in the air.

The 48th annual Mountainfilm will kick off in a few short weeks, and organizers last week announced the festival’s film lineup.

This year’s festival will feature more than 120 documentaries, including 28 world premieres, with films from 22 countries and six continents.

Organizers say the films will take audiences on a “global journey,” bringing them into the lives of people making a difference around the world, from ocean conservation to journalists exposing human rights injustices to the experiences of some of the world’s most influential climbers.

Festival passes are still available, but those without passes can attend several community events, including four nights of films at Base Camp in Telluride Town Park. Additional events include an ice cream social on Main Street on Saturday and Coffee Talks throughout town over the weekend.

The festival begins May 21 and continues through Memorial Day weekend, ushering in both summer and Telluride’s festival season.

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Kathryn Winograd is May’s Bardic Trails Featured Poet

So little you know, wild-winged
and unshaken beneath a dog star,
half-grazing the pines, the bare winter
aspen I stand in the dark wash of
waiting for the tip of a yellow moon.
In Ohio, girlhood, these April stars
circled a pond bull-dozed
by my father, a raft of cattail
where the red-wings spun their nests
above the scrim of caught water.
Tonight, in this near dark, so close
my hand could circle it,
Sirius hovers above the red
factory lights of Pueblo
and the Sangre de Cristo blue-
washed in this hour.
I am cold in this wind,
in this spine of the Milky Way,
these blue white stars named
for a bear or a lyre or a woman
weeping her dead into a river.
I think I was still half-sleeping
in a field of grass, in a haze
of stars, in a far and nameless
country you care nothing
about, burying and unburying
those I love. Such quiet,
the mining trucks to the north
stalled and the little generator
of a shed where no one lives
in winter shut down.
And then, your wings, almost
against the moon. Why
must I always be alone,
searching for something beautiful?

* Kathryn Winograd / To the Three Ducks Flying Beneath the Dog Star

Kathryn Winograd is a Colorado poet, essayist and photographer. She is also the featured poet for this month’s Talking Gourds Bardic Trails Poetry Night.

At the event, Winograd will share some of her work and take questions. Participants are encouraged to bring a poem to share, either their own or someone else’s. For those seeking a prompt, this month’s theme is “the more-than-human worlds of birds.”

The May Bardic Trails Poetry Night will take place Tuesday, May 5, at 7 p.m. via Zoom. The link is available at Telluride Institute’s website.

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Bennet Seeks to Block Fast-Tracked Federal Land Sales

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., is seeking to prevent the sale of federal public lands from being rushed through the federal budget process.

The effort comes nearly a year after Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, attempted to include the sale of up to 3 million acres of federal land in a reconciliation bill. Budget reconciliation requires only a simple majority in the Senate.

Bennet’s bill would restrict public land sales from the reconciliation process and require they be debated through the regular legislative process, which carries a 60-vote threshold.

Sarah Shrader, president of the Outdoor Recreation Coalition of the Grand Valley, spoke with Bennet during the announcement of the bill. She said Lee’s proposed sell-off represents a significant threat to western Colorado’s economy.

“The mass firings and layoffs of federal agency personnel, the chronic disinvestment in land management, specifically wildfire mitigation, and the repeal of critical conservation measures, along with proposals to sell off public lands are an outrageous betrayal of the American public,” Shrader said.

Last summer’s sell-off proposal was met with bipartisan opposition, though Bennet’s bill has no Republican co-sponsors.

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World Tai Chi Day Marked in Mountain West

Tai chi originated as a martial art in China centuries ago.

Today, it is practiced around the world, especially among older adults, for its health benefits, which can include lowering blood pressure and helping prevent falls.

Last week, April 25 marked World Tai Chi Day, with events held globally, including here in the Mountain West.

For Rocky Mountain Community Radio, KHOL’s Emily Cohen spoke with one practitioner taking part in the event in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Story begins at 15:05.