Editor’s note: This article has been updated with a clarifying statement from City Council candidate Sean Verhoeff regarding Fountain and the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority.

Fountain City Council will see some new faces after November, with an open at-large seat. The council will also need to appoint a replacement for Councilwoman Detra Duncan, who resigned in September.

The race for the open seat includes business owners, a veteran, a school teacher and a sanitation district director.

Mayor Sharon Thompson is also running for re-election against Al Lender, a controversial former city councilman with a felony conviction.

Ballots for the Nov. 4 election were mailed to voters on Oct. 10, according to the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s Office.

City Council seats

In addition to the at-large seat, councilmembers Gordon Rick and Marcia Gieck are also running unopposed for their seats in Ward 1 and 3, respectively.

In September, the Fountain City Council indicated interest in coordinating its appointment of a replacement for Detra Duncan around the election to allow the appointee to receive trainings with newly elected members. The council did not set an official date to receive applications.

At-large candidates had a variety of priorities for the council if elected. Connie Whisenhunt, a small business owner and returning city council candidate, said that she would focus on community services.

“My focus is on the people who aren’t heard and aren’t spoken for,” she said.

Whisenhunt said as a councilwoman she would advocate for more recreational opportunities for children and outreach for the elderly. She said she supported the revitalization efforts of Fountain’s Old Town and wanted to see more effort to attract small businesses, not just development in the newer parts of the city.

She said that road quality, while an issue she recognizes as something Fountain is concerned about, was not her main focus.

“I am running because I think that there is more to our community than infrastructure,” she said.

Sean Verhoeff, an Army veteran and small business owner, said he wanted to advocate with the federal government to bring more veteran services to Fountain, including a veteran’s services office and VA clinic.

He praised the city’s efforts to expand its intergovernmental agreements with Fort Carson, in which Fountain provides services to the installation in exchange for federal dollars. He said the veteran community was “underutilized” when it came to jobs generated from the contracts.

Verhoeff said he also wanted to “reprioritize” the city’s budget to address aging roads.

“There is not a single resident that doesn’t say the roads are an issue,” he said.

He said he wanted to revisit the city joining the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority, only after all other budget and private sector options have been exhausted. The authority is a taxpayer-funded collaborative for road and public transit projects. Fountain voters rejected a 1% sales tax to join PPRTA in 2023. 

Verhoeff said he believes “the city owes it to the residents to do everything possible before considering potential tax increases.”

Verhoeff also wants to expand commercial space in the city to ease rent prices for small businesses.

Eric Gregg, a science teacher at Fountain-Fort Carson High School, said that his top priorities included public safety and transportation infrastructure. Gregg says he would advocate for annual testing for PFAS chemicals – also known as “forever chemicals” – in the city’s water supply.

The Air Force paid for infrastructure to filter PFAS from the city’s water in 2018 after findings that the chemicals leaked into groundwater from military operations. Forever chemicals have been linked to adverse health effects.

Gregg said he would promote safe “third spaces” for children to support young families, as well as dedicated childcare centers.

“I would like to see more formal childcare brought into the city,” he said.

Jim Heckman, the fourth at-large candidate, could not be reached for comment before publication. Heckman is a District Manager for the Fountain Sanitation District. According to his profile, Heckman has been with the district for over 40 years.

Mayoral race

Incumbent Sharon Thompson says her priorities for another term include improving communication between the city and residents and continuing to expand recreational opportunities.

She said that Fountain’s roads “are struggling.” Balancing new development with considerations about the city’s water use limitations was also a priority for the current mayor.

“We’re not going to over promise and underdeliver,” she said.

Lender has also put his hat in the ring for mayor. Lender was recalled from his council seat in 2005. He also faced a 2015 federal conviction for veteran benefits fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Lender could not be reached for comment.