Felicelli, Brooke-Hitching Confirm Interest

TELLURIDE – Citing a desire to spend more time with her family, San Miguel County Clerk Peggy Nerlin will not seek re-election to that position this fall.

“I have four grandchildren I’d like to spend more time with,” she said, describing the position she handily won in 2007 as “a huge commitment” often requiring her to work six days a week and some nights.

Nerlin said that she is not officially retiring, but that she plans to take life a little easier.

“I just won’t have so much on my plate,” she said.

During Nerlin’s tenure, the Clerk’s Office has computerized its operations, digitized 120 years of county records and implemented its first all-mail ballot in the November 2009 election.

“I’m just really, really proud of the team and what we’ve been able to accomplish,” said Nerlin, adding that the remainder of her term, which ends next January, holds exciting challenges of its own including two big elections.

“I’m not done by any means,” she said. “I’m excited about this year.”

Two candidates, Democrat Rube Felicelli and Republican Harley Brooke-Hitching, have confirmed their interest in the position, although whether either becomes their party’s chosen nominee in the November election still remains to be seen.

“Peggy put [the Clerk’s Office] on a modern path and I want to continue that,” said Felicelli, who is a broker with the Telluride Real Estate Corporation, currently sits on the San Miguel Power Association board of directors, and served on the Mountain Village Town Council for eight years, part of that time as mayor.

With a background in retail management, Felicelli said he’d like to bring his expertise in customer service to the office, particularly as it concerns disseminating information to the public.

“I have a lot of experience working with the public, and this is a very public position,” he said.

Brooke-Hitching, who is a real estate broker, chair of the San Miguel County Republican Party and a former member of the Telluride Town Council, and the Telluride Historic and Architectural Review and Planning and Zoning commissions, said that as County Clerk she would continue to emphasize the modernization of the office that Nerlin began.

“The primary job is elections and it’s getting more and more computerized,” she said.

“I would stay on top of that,” and “[keep] the technology fresh and up to date.”

Brooke-Hitching added that after many years in business for herself she looks forward to working with a team again – a dynamic she knows well as the former assistant transportation commissioner for New York City under Rudy Giuliani and founding chairwoman of the New York City food rescue organization City Harvest.

“I think it would be fun, or exciting,” she said, wryly adding, “But I have to get nominated first.”

Helen Schumack, building permit technician for the Town of Telluride, confirmed that she is considering a second bid for the office after first running for it in 2007 against Nerlin and Karen Gauvey, but she has not made a final decision.