Denver Post

Webb appoints 5 to board overseeing Winter Park
By Jason Blevins
Denver Post Business Writer

Tuesday, September 24, 2002 - Denver Mayor Wellington Webb on Monday announced five appointees to staff the new Winter Park Recreational Association, which will protect the city's interests at the Intrawest-operated ski area.

The five appointees are City Councilwoman Allegra "Happy" Haynes; Denver lawyer Manuel Martinez; William Dean Singleton, chief executive of MediaNews Group, which owns The Denver Post; Elizabeth Orr, the mayor's projects director; and Rick Pederson, founder and chairman of the Ross Consulting Group in Denver.

Singleton, Pederson and Martinez previously served on the 21-member WPRA board, which last month unanimously approved a major restructuring. The new board will own all the city's assets at Winter Park ski area and will follow agreements outlined in a pending contract that will let Canadian developer Intrawest operate and develop the ski area until 2078.

Under the new agreement, Webb appoints the first five directors of the board with staggered terms. Singleton, Pederson and Martinez will select their own replacements, and Denver's mayor will appoint replacements for Orr and Haynes.

Martinez, Denver's manager of safety under Mayor Federico Pea and now practicing administrative law for Holme Roberts & Owen LLP, will serve three years. Orr will serve four years. Haynes, now in her third term on the City Council, will serve five years. Pederson, a real estate investor, will serve six years and Singleton will serve seven years.

The Denver City Council scrutinized the pending contract Monday and is expected to vote on it Sept. 30.