With 3,948 votes, 5-year-old Colby Rogers of Rifle, Colo. claimed victory in Sunlight Mountain Resort’s Mini-Mayor election. It was a tight race, but Rogers edged out incumbent 9-year-old Gabby Noyes who served last year under the platform of helping other kids learn to ski.
Mini-Mayor Rogers will continue to focus on getting more kids on skis, or a snowboard. As part of her role as Mini-Mayor, she’ll receive a free Sunlight season pass, a new pair of skis or a snowboard and, most importantly, a seat at Sunlight’s Executive Table.
Rogers hopes to add spaghetti, her favorite food, to the menu and will also lobby the Sunlight executive team to paint the chairlifts her favorite color, which is pink, of course. She’s also eager to help her younger brother, Kelby, learn to ski this year and improve her own skiing.
Rogers’ campaign manager and mom, Jade Rogers is hopeful that Colby will “improve her public speaking skills … (and also will) understand that being a leader means helping people.”
Sunlight created the Mini-Mayor position in 2015 after 4-year old Elijah Mattson of Glenwood Springs approached the resort with an impassioned plea via social media for Sunlight to open early for the 2015-16 season. Officials at Sunlight appointed Mattson the first Mini-Mayor and then held a general election last year when Noyes won. According to Sunlight officials, the Mini-Mayor position helps “give a voice to a previously underrepresented, but essential segment of young powder hounds.”
The office of Mini-Mayor serves a one year term, with a two- term limit, meaning that incumbents can only be reelected once. Only skiers and snowboarders aged 12 and under can hold the office of Mini-Mayor. As part of the election, adult-aged campaign managers assist Mini-Mayor candidates in completing an online profile on the campaign page at www.mini-mayor.com Candidates are asked to upload photos, videos, and outline what they would do in their first 100 days in office. Issues that the Mini-Mayor Noyes can impact include stickers, events, and the quality of hamburgers and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Rogers will keep her constituency updated on breaking news and events by issuing regular press statements via social media throughout the season.
