In the last four years Ouray County, and the world in general, have gone through substantial change. In January 2021, when I was sworn in we were in the grip of the pandemic and were administering the first vaccines to emergency responders. It accelerated discovery of Ouray County as millions of people per year headed to the public lands that make up 50% of this county to get away, and some stayed to make a home. The priorities I identified four years ago included housing, wildfire mitigation, high country protections, roads, and energy modernization.

We have made forward progress on all of these and priority topics today include affordable housing, wildfire mitigation & preparation, agricultural & municipal water, mining, preserving public access to public lands, road maintenance, support for victims of sexual assault & domestic violence, childcare, mental health services, energy modernization & waste reduction, government communication & transparency, organizational health and efficiency, marijuana regulation, county master planning, property taxes, preservation of public lands, short term rentals, day-to-day county business, and involvement in state lawmaking to protect and advocate for Ouray County.

In my role as county commissioner, I participate in the following organizations:

• Home Trust of Ouray County - Founding Board Member & county representative

• Ouray County Support & Advocacy Project (OCSAP) - Founding Board member

• Producer Responsibility Advisory Board

• Ouray County Water Users Association county liaison

• Top of the Pines county liaison

• Communities That Care & Mental Health work group

• Early Childhood Education work group

• Sneffels Energy Board - Current Chair

• ROCC Clean Energy Committee

• Renewable Energy and Beneficial Electrification League

• Colorado Communities for Climate Action (CC4CA)

• Counties & Commissioners Acting Together (CCAT)

• Colorado Counties, Inc. (CCI)

  My work on the Board of County Commissioners and in the organizations listed above is a full-time effort to maintain the small town and rural character of Ouray County while balancing extreme development pressure and conservation, planning for a hotter drier climate, and improving services to the community.

  I would like to continue serving Ouray County as a commissioner for a second term to keep advancing these priorities.