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For 3 Vail Town Council members, politics is a family business

Of the eight people on Vail's Town Council, three are doing the work their parents or grandparents did decades ago when the town was first founded.

VAIL, Colo. — At Vail’s Town Hall, council member Pete Seibert Jr. fills a seat that his father Pete filled back in the 1960s on Vail’s first Town Council.

“Our goal is to preserve a lot of what was left to us by our parents, and that’s important to us,” Seibert said.

All these years later, the Seibert family is keeping its name in politics, and they're not alone.

Mayor Kim Langmaid has civic leadership in her veins. Her grandfather Joe was also on the first Town Council, and he would spend time hanging out with President Gerald Ford, who often vacationed in Vail.

“It is helpful to see grandparents or parents in a role of civic leadership,” Langmaid said. “It gives you an extra nudge, so you can see that you can do that, knowing you can have a role in the community.”

Credit: 9News
Pete Seibert Jr.
Credit: Vail
Vail Mayor Kim Langmaid

Jonathan Staufer’s father, Joseph, was on Vail's second Town Council. Years later, Staufer is doing the same thing.

“I think it’s a tribute to the kind of community we built here, is that people participate,” he said.

Credit: 9News
Vail Town Council member Jonathan Staufer

Together, Seibert, Langmaid and Staufer are three elected officials who are carrying on the family business of politics to make a difference in their community.

“At some point, you say I’m tired of giving my opinion," Seibert said. "Maybe I should try and help."

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