All twelve candidates on Palmer Lake’s November ballot — two for mayor, ten for trustee — have been invited to a public forum on Saturday, Sept. 19, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the EcoSpa Annex, 350 Highway 105. Each candidate gets a three-minute opening statement, all of them answer the same set of questions, and residents’ questions begin at 5:45. The organizers bill it as voters’ first chance to see and hear the field in person.
Who has been invited
The two candidates for mayor are Kent Hutson and Atis Jurka. The ten trustee candidates, in ballot order, are William Bass, Beth Harris, Tony Beltran, Dennis Stern, Rebecca “Becky” Albright, Karla Kerstner, Roger Moseley, Kathy Keeley, John Marble and Eric Alan Burton. Voters will choose up to five.
According to the press release announcing the event, nearly all of the candidates have said they will attend. The release does not say which have not.
Who is organizing it
The forum is a grassroots event rather than a town meeting. The release, dated Sept. 17, lists Jurka — a sitting trustee and one of the two candidates for mayor — as its media contact, and states that no third parties are participating as organizers or sponsors.
Six of the board’s seven members are on the ballot: Mayor Stern and four sitting trustees are running for trustee, and Jurka is running for mayor. The release anticipates the question. The sitting mayor and trustees who are candidates, it says, are not hosting the forum as members of the board; it is not a meeting of the full board, no board business will be deliberated and no board action will be taken.
The flyer says campaign-material tables will be set out for candidates, that media will be invited, and that audio and video recording is “being evaluated.”
The ballot
Palmer Lake’s mayor serves two years. Five trustee seats are up, and the town is using this election to restore staggered terms: the two trustee candidates with the most votes serve four years, the next three serve two. The Independent reported the certified ballot in full when the town clerk drew the order on Aug. 27.
Ballots go to every active registered voter in El Paso County on Oct. 5. They must be in the county clerk’s hands by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3; Colorado does not accept postmarks.
If you go
Where: EcoSpa Annex, 350 Highway 105, Palmer Lake
Open to: The public and the press
Schedule: 4:00 welcome · 4:15 three-minute candidate statements · 5:00 standard questions put to every candidate · 5:45 residents’ questions to individual candidates · 6:30 meet and greet
Bring: Organizers say seating and refreshments will be provided and invite attendees to bring a dish to share.
Calendar: Meet the Palmer Lake Candidates on the Independent’s community calendar
Getting there
The organizers give the venue’s address as 350 Highway 105. The map below is pinned to that street address.
Sources & further reading
The Independent’s own coverage: Palmer Lake’s November Ballot Is Set: Two for Mayor, Ten for Five Trustee Seats — the certified ballot, the ballot order and the staggered-term rule · Kent Hutson Chaired Palmer Lake’s Master Plan. Now He Is Running for Mayor. — profile of one of the two mayoral candidates.
Event: Press release, “Palmer Lake Board Election Candidates To Hold Public Citizens Forum,” Sept. 17, 2026, issued by Atis Jurka and distributed by email to newsrooms · Event flyer, reproduced above.