Four incumbents and three challengers are competing for four Ignacio Town Board seats. The election is Tuesday; voting is at the Ignacio Town Hall.

Stella Cox also is seeking re-election for mayor, but she is unopposed.

The seven trustee candidates:

Cecilia Robbins

Robbins’ current stint on the Town Board is from an appointment last year to fill Cox’s seat after she became mayor. Previously, Robbins served two terms on the board and was appointed mayor during her second term after the late George Whitt resigned.

Robbins, a lifetime town resident, is student-services coordinator at the Pine River Community Learning Center. She’s running “because my passion always has been kids and our elders. I think I’m a pretty good advocate.”

Dixie Melton

Melton owns and operates Ignacio Family Medicine as a family nurse practitioner. She has lived in the same house in town since 1982. Melton was appointed to the Board early this year to replace Ray Larsen after he resigned.

She sees several main issues for the town: improving town infrastructure, recruiting new businesses to town, the downtown stoplight project and progress on the Rock Creek III workforce housing project.

Tom Atencio

Atencio grew up in Ignacio and went through Ignacio schools. He earned a degree in elementary education from Adams State College and taught for seven years – one in Farmington and six in Ignacio. Then he got involved in oil field work and moved to Farmington in 1980. He returned to Ignacio in 2008.

The main town issues he sees are upgrades in utility infrastructure: the water, sewer and gas lines.

Lawrence Bartley

Bartley is a longtime Town Board member and supporter of Ignacio baseball programs. Because of his work schedule, the Times was unable to connect with him for an interview by press time.

Ena Millich

Millich grew up in Ignacio and graduated from high school in 1985. She majored in dental hygiene at Colorado Northwestern Community College. For the last 20 years, she has operated her businesses in town – Ignacio Dental Hygiene and the flower shop (until she sold the latter).

She served for several years as a town trustee and was elected mayor in 2012. She resigned that position in February 2013, citing differences with town hall staff and some other trustees. Many of those people are no longer around, “So I feel like I can be an advocate for the people again.”

Audrey Atencio

Atencio is no relation to Tom Atencio, “although I think the world of him.”

She said, “I’m from here. This is my home. I went to school here.” She moved to Denver in 1994 and returned in 2007. She works in Durango as a paralegal.

She is running for the Board because, “I started attending meetings and was invited to run. I’ve been attending the meetings anyway.” She feels the current board “has some good people.”

Edward Box III

Box grew up and went to school in Ignacio. He earned a degree in hospitality administration from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, then worked in the casino industry there.

He returned to the Ignacio area in 2010 and has lived in town since April 2011. He is director of new media projects at Sky Ute Casino Resort. He wants to strengthen the relationship between the tribe and town.