We asked Angel Fire Village Council and Mayoral candidates the following question: “What do you believe is the Village of Angel Fire governance’s role in protecting our night sky?”
See their full responses below – and be sure to get out and vote!
Early voting: October 23,2023 – 10:00 a.m, – 4:00 p.m. – Angel Fire Community Center
Election Day: November 7,2023 – 7:00 a.m, – 7:00 p.m. – Angel Fire Community Center
Angel Fire Councilor at Large Candidates
Mike Maloney
“I am 100% for the Mayor and Council passing a village ordinance mandate for a night sky. Putting some guidelines to what’s allowed for lighting. And this will allow the Architectural Committee to enforce that ordinance.”
Robbie Puskarich
“I believe our exterior lighting is to be low lumens, pointing downward and no exterior wires showing. The code enforcement department should be enforcing the regulations and compliance thereof, and it is the responsibility of the Village Council to be sure this is being done.
I can tell you one of my personal annoyances is the lighting at the car wash at night. I feel this building is probably able to be seen from space, it is so lighted up. 😡”
Jeff Weeks
“We actually have a light pollution ordinance already in place and for instance if a neighbor has a motion detector that has to much illumination you can request the village to have them replace the bulbs with a dimmer bulb. I cant remember the technologic numbers for the illumination but we have it. For instance when the resort built the rv park, which is wonderful for our town, they were required to use certain bulbs to prevent light pollution. I know some people want street lights to help see better at night but I feel that would cause light pollution and I am against it.
Thank you for reaching out to me because as Angel Fire grows we need to make sure we protect our treasures. Our night skies is one that I am still in awe of after 30 years of living here and want to protect it”
Jake Crain
“I believe the Village of Angel Fire should take an active role in protecting our beautiful night sky. I think light pollution should be treated the same as noise pollution, and if elected to Village council I would support putting dark sky protections in the municipal code.
Many of our neighboring communities have already enacted some form of dark sky protection including Taos and Las Vegas, and I would love to work with your organization to figure out what communities and strategies have had the most success towards this goal.”
Owen Curry
“I am certainly supportive of a Starry Skies initiative. Our beautiful views of the night sky in Angel Fire is one of the attributes that attracted us to Angel Fire. I would be interested to see examples of how it is handled in other municipalities and a proposal from he organization.”
Matt Billingsley
(no response)
Bruce A Jassman
(no response)
Mayoral Candidates
BJ Lindsey
The Village of Angel Fire governance plays a crucial role in protecting the night sky by implementing and enforcing lighting ordinances and regulations. They can establish policies that promote responsible outdoor lighting practices to minimize light pollution, which helps preserve the natural beauty of the night sky and benefits astronomy, wildlife, and human health. Additionally, they can support educational initiatives to raise awareness about the importance of preserving the night sky and its environmental and cultural significance.
Chuck Howe
The Village of Angel Fire has appointed citizen committees over the years to support starry skies but has not been very active. We can do better.
I will appoint a starry sky committee composed primarily of individuals from your organization and a Village representative. A committee representative will be asked to make a report to the Village Council after each of the committee meetings. This committee may invite Kit Carson Utility employees and any other individuals to their meetings to discuss ways to mitigate lights shining upward.
Jo Mixon
I support the efforts to protect our night sky from light pollution. I joined the group Angel Fire Starry Skies several months ago.
Earlier this year I named a Village committee to look into the night light ordinances we now have, to update and make needed changes for council approval. I had even spoken to a few people who were interested in being on the committee. I assigned one of the councilors to be the liaison for the committee, but it never went anywhere from there.
I’d like to see it come to fruition. The committee could research other towns with clearer codes for possible examples for us to follow and help us with public awareness. Some people are not aware that our Village codes say to turn off lights at 11:00pm. They also state to turn them off if they are a nuisance to your neighbors. This code is too vague. I believe it should be updated to be clearly understandable therefore enforceable.
I personally think one of the reasons we are in the mountains is to enjoy the beauty of the night sky! It is a shame that I have black out curtains in my bedroom due to lights from my neighbor who has fought me over the vague code I just made reference. I would definitely like to see our codes changed.
Thank you for asking.
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