FLORENCE -- Candidate Paul Villagrana emerged victorious from the Florence mayoral race, defeating Morrie Aves and Charlette Henager on Tuesday night.

Villagrana, a lifelong resident of Fremont County, previously had served a term as Florence Mayor and has served on the city council for 15 years.

"All my political career has been here in Florence," Villagrana said. "I was born in Florence, raised in Florence, I taught school in Florence, and I coached in Florence. I am a 'Florencite.'"

Villagrana will replace current Mayor Dick Upton, who decided not to seek re-election, in mid-November. When asked how he would approach his new term as mayor, Villagrana touted one particular attribute: honesty.

"I think the most important aspect of what I would like to do is to be accountable," Villagrana said. "I would like for all members of the city, workgroups and councilmen to be accountable. I think the second priority would be to be transparent in respect to allowing the citizens to know what is going on in their particular streets."

Villagrana proposed a new system as to communicate with citizens that would involve a statement of events to run with water bills every quarter. This would be only one way for the city council to potentially improve communication with residents.

"Everybody gets a water bill so that would be a way for the city to advice and inform our citizens," Villagrana said.

When asked how he would like to accomplish upcoming goals, Villagrana was crystal-clear in his desire to run a well-oiled machine that works together and overcomes problems as a unit. He described teamwork as a multipronged device that would be utilized in this pursuit — particularly the relationships with city council members, department heads, and the public in general.

"We have a responsibility to respond to those things that affect us," he said.

Although Villagrana has been active in the running of Florence for many years he decided to run because, "Of the people that were calling me and asking me questions or asking my help for situations. I think that being a member in city council brings more awareness to the problems that those people contacted me face. That's the only reason that I ran."

One area residents have been concerned about has been the replacement for city manager after Mike Patterson was fired by the council in early September. The details about the reasons for his firing have not been made public by the council.

"I would hope that when we hire a new City Manager is that we get someone preferably that would be local," Villagrana said, "meaning in the immediate area: Canon City, Florence, Pueblo, or Colorado Springs. I don't think going all the way up to Denver or outside the state, I just don't think those people come in with the expectations of what a community like ours is."

Villagrana wanted to thank the citizens of Florence both for their faith and endorsement of him. He intends to represent everyone he can in the community and listen to the entities that have a special bond with Florence.

Unofficial final results for the 2021 Florence City Council election were also released Tuesday night.  Anthony Esquibel, Melissa Hardy, and Allen Knisley were re-elected to serve.

Councilmen Esquibel espoused the need for continued work in many aspects of Florence life that are already at the attention of the city council, ranging from new homes, affordable rentals and many other features to support Fremont County.

"I'm proud of what we're doing — getting a lot of things done," Esquibel said. "I would like to see a safe walk from the high school in Florence down into town. There's a lot of kids that have to walk there, sometimes in the morning, sometimes at night and we need it lit up, we need it a safe place for these kids to walk if they have to."

Unofficial final results for the 2021 Florence school board election were also released Tuesday night. David Wood and Andy Franklin were elected with 1,858 and 1,135 votes, respectively.