News, Updates & Stories

The September 11 edition of the Vail Daily includes an article asking all seven Avon Town Council candidates where they stand on the town’s Flock license-plate-reading cameras.

My position is clear: I believe Avon should end its Flock contracts, but do so responsibly.

The Town Council should review the contracts and terminate them when the town can do so without incurring a financial penalty. This approach respects taxpayer dollars while responding to legitimate concerns about privacy, outside access to information and strong public opposition to the system.

My position is not a criticism of the Avon Police Department. It is a nationally accredited agency deserving of our respect and support. The question is whether Flock’s information-sharing structure and privacy safeguards are appropriate for Avon.

Flock cameras should also be distinguished from Avon’s speed-enforcement cameras. I support speed-enforcement technology that addresses dangerous driving and helps protect pedestrians. Flock’s networked license-plate-reading system raises a separate set of concerns.

Public safety and personal privacy are not mutually exclusive. Avon can support effective law enforcement while ending these contracts carefully and without imposing an unnecessary financial cost on the town.

Read the Vail Daily article comparing all seven candidates’ positions on Flock cameras.

Letter to the Editor of the Vail Daily

I am pleased to support Andie Noakes for Eagle County Assessor.

I met Andie through the inaugural Central Rockies class of Leveraging Local Leaders, a civic-leadership program presented in partnership with the Vail Valley Partnership. As we learned together about local government, public policy and community leadership, I had the opportunity to get to know Andie personally.

What impressed me most was her kindness, thoughtfulness and sincere commitment to serving others. Andie listens carefully, treats people with respect and brings a calm, practical perspective to difficult questions. These qualities matter in any public official, particularly one whose decisions directly affect homeowners and businesses throughout our community.

Andie also has the experience to do the job well. She began working in the Eagle County Assessor’s Office as an appraisal trainee and, over nearly 25 years, worked her way up to chief deputy appraiser. She understands our local real estate market, the complexities of Colorado’s property-assessment laws and the importance of treating every taxpayer fairly.

We are fortunate that someone with Andie’s experience, integrity and genuine concern for our community is willing to serve. I am proud to support her and respectfully ask my fellow Eagle County voters to join me in voting for Andie Noakes for Eagle County Assessor.

Frederick “Rick” Sudekum
Avon, Colorado

I am honored to have been elected to the Eagle River Coalition Board of Directors. The Coalition’s work reflects my commitment to protecting the natural resources that make the Eagle River Valley such a special place to live.

As a retired attorney, I hope to contribute my experience in careful analysis, practical problem-solving and nonprofit governance. I look forward to listening, learning and working alongside fellow board members, staff and community partners in service to the river and our valley.

Serving on the board is another opportunity to give back to the community Meg and I are proud to call home. I am grateful for the trust placed in me and eager to get to work.

Organization named for biographical purposes only. This announcement does not imply an endorsement by the Eagle River Coalition.

I am pleased to be serving as an advisor to the Eagle Valley Community Foundation, alongside Elizabeth Neal. The Foundation does important, practical work throughout the valley — supporting food security, wildfire preparedness, workforce development and other efforts that help our neighbors thrive.

In this advisory role, I hope to contribute what four decades of legal practice and business ownership have taught me about governance, negotiation, risk assessment and stewardship of an organization’s resources. Above all, I look forward to listening and helping the Foundation strengthen the partnerships that make its work possible.

You can read the Foundation’s announcement here: New Faces, Shared Vision: Welcoming Elizabeth Neal and Rick Sudekum.

Organization named for biographical purposes only. This announcement does not imply an endorsement by the Eagle Valley Community Foundation.

I am proud to have graduated from Leveraging Local Leaders (L3), a civic-leadership program led by Tom Lucero, Steve O’Dorisio and Jenifer Freeman. L3 is dedicated to preparing engaged residents to serve the Eagle Valley thoughtfully and well.

L3 is a bipartisan program by design. Its faculty and its cohorts include residents from across the political spectrum, working together on what strengthens the Eagle Valley. That reflects the same nonpartisan approach I would bring to Avon’s Town Council.

At the graduation ceremony I was honored to deliver the keynote address. I drew a parallel between today’s political turbulence and the upheaval of the 1960s — a decade I remember well. In both eras, national politics strained trust in our institutions and left many people feeling that the country’s direction is beyond their reach. The antidote for this problem is to work to improve your local community.

I am grateful to Tom, Steve and Jenifer for their leadership of the program, and to my fellow cohort members for their commitment to help preserve and improve the Eagle Valley.

My Colorado story began in 1970, when I was a sophomore and my brother, Anthony E. Sudekum, whom we called Tony, was a freshman at De Smet Jesuit High School in St. Louis.

Our school offered a ski trip. At 10:00 p.m. on Christmas night, we boarded a bus in St. Louis and drove through the night. We woke up at Eldora Ski Area, skied for two days at Eldora and three days at Winter Park, and slept in unoccupied dorm rooms at Regis College.

That trip changed both of our lives.

I went on to become an attorney and an avid skier, and later taught skiing at Wilmot Mountain. Tony became a physician and high-altitude alpinist, summiting many of the highest peaks on the continents.

On or about May 26, 2019, Tony died in an avalanche while part of an expedition attempting the first ascent of an unclimbed peak near Nanda Devi East in the Indian Himalayas. He was 63.

It is fitting that, in Tony’s memory, my service to the Vail Valley began outdoors as well. I joined the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Adopt-a-Highway program and began picking up trash along a beautiful stretch of the Eagle River below U.S. Highway 6, just west of the Arrowhead base area.

The work is modest, but the place and the purpose matter to me. Caring for this valley can begin with something as simple as leaving a small part of it better than we found it.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons published a remembrance of Tony’s life and medical career.