In my previous message for this tab, I wrote about how widely varied a commissioner’s job is.  Knowing that complexity, you must be wondering how a person has the time to keep up on all of the issues involved in county government.

When I first ran for the board in 2004, I called a couple of former commissioners to ask how much time I should expect to devote to the job of being a commissioner.  Both said that it is at the very least a half-time job, but that commissioners can make it full time and then some depending on their personal circumstances.  As I had just retired from a public school teaching career and having two grown out-of-the-house children, I was able to devote myself to being a full time commissioner.  Honestly though, it isn’t just the time availability, it is also my character to immerse myself in whatever I choose to take on.

So it didn’t take me long to begin attending many meetings representing our county and learning as much as possible about the myriad of issues.  To name a few I travelled to several Water Quality and Quantity meetings along the I 70 corridor, to Grand Junction for a couple of Colorado River Water Conservation District symposia and to Grand County to see first hand the water diversion projects that hamper their water availability and recreation.  I attended a Colorado Brownfields Conference to learn about how to clean up blighted areas and two grant workshops to understand what is available to our non-profit community.  But as important as these out-of-town meetings were, the real action is right here within our county.  You might have seen me at numerous meetings and banquets that have ranged from Forest Service, BLM and Park Service public meetings, museum gatherings at both ends of the valley, WSC building dedications and their President Advisory committee, and the list goes on to include the Stockgrowers, the School Board, and Town and City Council meetings.  Our board has been active participants on the “other side of the mountain” in Marble and Somerset, so much so in fact that several residents there have commented that they rarely saw county commissioners until this board was formed.

In addition I have been appointed to the boards of the Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley, the Office for Resource Efficiency, the Rural Transportation Authority and to an advisory position on the Tourism Association Board.  I’m also a member of the Health and Human Services Commission, Gunnison County Substance Abuse Prevention Project, Pandemic Response Committee and the Energy Efficiency Task Force.  For four months this winter I traveled to Denver twice a month to sit on eight legislative steering committees, presenting Gunnison County’s point of view on many Colorado and congressional bills.

The point is that commissioner candidates should be prepared to devote a considerable amount of time to this job in order to do it justice and in order to adequately represent our county citizens.  As a high energy retiree, I am prepared to continue being a full-time commissioner.  You deserve nothing less.   

THE JOB

I’ll use this tab on my website to write about my perspectives on county-wide and campaign issues.  Because I’ll change the topics periodically, I welcome your suggestions on subjects of general interest.  In this one I focus on what a county commissioner’s job is like.

When you first honored me in 2005 by electing me as one of your county commissioners, veteran commissioners from around the state joked to me that the learning curve for the job is a vertical line!  I soon found out that the incredible variety of issues that commissioners must deal with is the primary contributor to that “vertical line learning curve”, no joke.  A review of just a few of our meeting agendas reveals that your commissioners deal with issues involving water, many of the state and federal agencies, human services, roads and bridges, state and national level legislation, budgets and finances, land use, transportation and traffic, invasive weed species, energy efficiency, information technology, economic development, valley non-profits, …….well, you get the idea that I could go on and on.

Along those lines, you might not know that the Board of County Commissioners sits as the governing board for many legal entities, deriving our authority from Colorado state statute.  We serve as the Board of Public Health, the Airport Board, the Local Marketing District Board, the Gunnison/Hinsdale Counties Board of Human Services, and the Board of Equalization.  Sometimes we literally adjourn one meeting to convene the next in a different capacity, ultimately putting back on our original hats.

The point is that Gunnison County cannot afford to have a commissioner who is focused on only a handful of issues and represents only narrow special interest groups.  As a retired school teacher from Gunnison RE1J School District, I am not dependent on any particular interest group for my livelihood and support.  Thus I can bring an independent, moderate, commonsense approach to county government, taking each issue on its own merit for the progress and wellbeing of the county as a whole.  Everyone will not always agree with decisions that commissioners make, but I think that most citizens will agree that I have made a sincere effort in my first term to work hard to educate myself on the issues, being particularly careful to look at all sides and to make fair, well considered decisions.  I promise the same energy and the same unbiased independence should you honor me with a second and final term in office, and I strongly recommend that you vote for the candidate who has the widest range and depth of knowledge about the incredible breadth of issues facing county government today.