La Plata County Commissioner Kellie Hotter has announced she will fight to keep her seat in this year’s elections.

“I’m looking at how 2011 dealt us a lot of challenges,” Hotter said. “We need to learn from those challenges and work toward making new opportunities for the future.”

Hotter’s supporters filled Christina’s Grill & Bar in Durango on Monday night to hear her campaign plans for her re-election.

“A main focus for me is going to be about changing how government operates,” Hotter said.

She hopes to push a Colorado Counties Inc. initiative for making government decisions and legislative efforts more responsive, efficient and accountable at the local level, Hotter told the crowd. She also hopes to continue playing a role in the county’s fiscally conservative approach to government, she said.

Hotter was appointed to the La Plata County Board of County Commissioners in February 2007. She was re-elected to the District 2 post in 2008.

So far, no potential opponents have announced plans to challenge the Republican commissioner, who experienced and rectified tax troubles with the Internal Revenue Service during her time in office.

Hotter represented the county on a number of state and local boards. Among them are: the National Association of Counties Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee, Colorado Sex Offender Management Board, Colorado Workforce Development Council, Durango Area Tourism Office board of directors, La Plata Economic Development Alliance Executive Committee and board of directors, Southwest Drug Task Force and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee. Most recently, Hotter was elected president of the board of directors for Colorado Counties Inc.

Before serving as county commissioner, Hotter was involved in a number of public boards and committees. She has served on the La Plata Selection Committee, La Plata Forum, Home Builders Association of Southwest Colorado, Animas Mosquito Control board of directors and the state Judicial Nomination Committee, to name a few.

Hotter also has a teaching degree from Fort Lewis College.

“I like people who don’t focus on party lines, people who look for what’s best for the county,” said longtime friend and supporter Phil Bryson. “I feel she does that.”

Hotter joins candidate Julie Holligan Westendorff, who announced her plans late last year to run for the District 3 county commission seat. That seat is currently filled by commissioner Wally White, who will step down from the post this year after hitting term limits.

County commissioners serve four-year terms and earn $72,500 per year.

hscofield@durangoherald.com