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Palmer Lake Board votes to appoint Dennis Stern as interim mayor

Town of Palmer Lake

PALMER LAKE, Colo. (KRDO) – The Palmer Lake Board of Trustees has voted to appoint Dennis Stern as the town's interim mayor.

The vote comes just over a week after former Palmer Lake Mayor Glant Havenar resigned, effective June 5. She stepped down from the role just months into her second term as mayor, citing harassment and threats from community members.

RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Former Palmer Lake Mayor discusses resignation after harassment & controversial texts

Stern has now been appointed to finish out the rest of Havenar’s term. The board voted to appoint him on Thursday during a meeting in which they could have either appointed a new mayor or decided to hold an election.

Prior to the vote, Stern served as a trustee for Palmer Lake, as well as the mayor pro tem. He also serves on the Pikes Peak Regional Building Advisory Board and is in a liaison role for the Parks and Trails Commission, according to the town's website.

Notably, at the time of his appointment, Stern was facing an active recall effort – along with two other Palmer Lake trustees – due to a controversial proposed Buc-ee’s development in town. Petitioners started collecting signatures in March to recall Stern, Shana Ball, and Kevin Dreher after the Town Administrator approved the petitions.

KRDO13 Investigates spoke with Stern back in March when the petition was approved, who told us that though he believed the main issue behind the attempt to recall him was the debate over Buc-ee’s, he felt it went beyond just that.

"The bigger picture is that there are outside influences that are trying to bully those of us in charge of the town of Palmer Lake into doing what they want done," he said. "In that regard, I just really don't appreciate that."

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Sadie Buggle

Sadie has been a digital and TV news producer at KRDO13 since June 2024. She produces the station’s daily noon show and writes digital articles covering politics, law, crime, and uplifting local stories.

This is her first industry job since graduating from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism in May 2024. Before that, she managed and edited for ASU’s independent student publication, The State Press.

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