New Leadership Elected for Greeley City Council

The people of Greeley elected University of Northern Colorado alumni and small business owners to represent residents on the city council. 

The Greeley city election is non-partisan and is coordinated with the Weld County Clerk and Recorder’s Office. These two locations handle voter registration, ballot drop-off boxes and certification of election results. 

Candidates must be U.S. citizens, 18 years of age, registered voters and meet the Greeley residency requirements. Ballots are mailed to registered voters, and drop boxes are provided throughout the city. 

The at-large member Melissa McDonald and Ward I representative Tommy Butler will remain on the council as their terms do not end until 2027.

David Adams, a newer resident of Greeley, spoke on what he hopes will come out of this election.

“I didn’t get the chance to get to know the city council before the election, because I haven’t been here long, but I really want to be able to get to know this council,” Adams said. “I hope this new council will be people I can trust.”

Four residents were running in the at-large race. One was a write-in. 

Ryan Roth, a UNC alumnus and PR specialist, who focused on Greeley’s growth, received 8,503 votes, making him the winner of this race. 

Rachelle Tabor, a business owner in Greeley, who focused on resident connections, received 4,721 votes.

Antonio Molina-Haro, an AIMS political science student, who wanted to focus on the young vote and keeping Greeley sustainable, received 2,409 votes.

Kendall Boots, the write-in for the race, who focused on making the council seem more connected to the people, received three votes.

Ward II has two candidates. Brandon Wark and Deb DeBoutez, who were running to be re-elected. While Wark focused on making Greeley affordable and hoped to replace DeBoutez, DeBoutez focused on and restated her work of growth in the city.

DeBoutez won this race with 1,752 votes while Wark had 1,078 votes. 

Two candidates ran for the Ward III race: Johnny Olson and Valerie Leal-Whitehead.

Olson is the current Ward III representative and the founder of a private engineering firm in Greeley. His guiding ideals as Ward III are safety, accountability, infrastructure and smart growth.

Leal-Whitehead is a retired former District 6 board member. Her main focuses as Ward III are improving community engagement and trust in the city council and meeting the needs of housing and infrastructure.

Olson won this race with 2,606 votes while Leal-Whitehead had 2,163.

Three candidates ran in the Ward IV race: Bill Gillard, Amberleigh Gregor and Brian Rudy.

Rudy is the owner of four small businesses in Greeley and sat on the Evans City Council for 10 years, four of which were as mayor. He wants to bring a focus on responsibility and accountability in the city council. He plans to set a reasonable budget that stays and spends tax dollars wisely to benefit residents. He received 2,779 votes, making him the winner of this race.

Gillard has 30 years of experience in construction and project management. He has advocated for the city council members and focuses on gaining the community’s trust in the city council. He also wants to prioritize balancing industrial, retail and manufacturing businesses with new housing. He received 983 votes.

Gregor is creating and running her own nonprofit and is a small business owner. Her priority is restoring a sense of unity within the community that creates a foundation for strengthening infrastructure and local economy. She received 1,750 votes.

Lillian Childs, a Greeley resident for 9 years, shared her faith in the new council, despite not knowing who it is yet.

“I know that they’re going to care about Greeley,” Childs said. “We care about each other and that is all I can ask for.”

These newly selected city council members will run until 2029. Their first city council meeting will be on Nov. 18 at 6 p.m., located at 1001 11th Ave.