Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Mass
Communications professor Greg Mikolai was elected as
the mayor of Palisade earlier in 2020.

“Unfortunately, you know, I was elected right in the
midst of the COVID experience. So right now, our biggest
issue seems to be centering about what we’re going to do
to deal with the pandemic.”

He maintains a healthy balance of his duties at both
the university and Palisade.

“It had very little effect on anything I do here at [CMU],”
Mikolai said. “Our meetings are held in the evening, […] so
I have no time conflicts.”

Before Mikolai was elected, he served on the Board
of Trustees in 2018. His predecessor, Roger Granite, was
serving a limited term and had recommended him for the
position of mayor.

One of Mikolai’s biggest goals for Palisade was to
diversify and develop the town business-wise, beyond
their agricultural staples. Right now, it’s difficult to do so.

“Unfortunately, my timing is also somewhat terrible in
that we also had a peach freeze,” Mikolai said. “We lost 90%
of the peach crops in Palisade. So, I have a lot of friends who
joke with me that say, ‘boy, you’re picking the worst time to
be mayor of Palisade.’ That’s what I was thinking. So right
now, we haven’t really tried to do much outreach in terms of
bringing in other businesses or industries.”

Mikolai doesn’t need to get anything out of the politics
of being mayor.

“I don’t want to get anything out of it. I’m doing it
because I like Palisade. It’s been my home for 25 years now,”
Mikolai said. “Palisade is a growing community [that] is
starting to feel some of the stresses of that growth, and I
want to help any way I can, to ensure that the character
and personality of Palisade remains what it is — but at the
same time, embraces growth, because it is inevitable.”