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League of Women Voters forum draws a crowd

School board candidates answer questions; ballot initiatives discussed
Durango School District 9-R candidates Brieanne Stahnke, left, Matthew Sheldon, center, and Stephanie Moran attend a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of La Plata County on Thursday evening at Durango City Hall. Moran is running unopposed for the District B seat, and Stahnke and Sheldon are competing for the District D seat.

If the maxim, “People vote with their pocketbook,” is true, you couldn’t have proved it by the attendance at the League of Women Voters’ Election Forum on Thursday evening.

The turnout was strong for the first half, when Durango School District 9-R Board of Education candidates were the main event, but when talk turned to the initiatives on the ballot, most of which have a financial component, Durango City Hall Chambers emptied out.

Stephanie Moran, the incumbent who’s running unopposed for the seat from District B, made a statement to begin.

“My personal goals are for the district to be at or under budget next year,” she said, “to do the least harm to the most important programs, working on how we manage a budget that’s stagnant or shrinking while the needs are growing. And to get the community more involved in what we’re doing.”

District D candidates Brieanne Stahnke and Matthew Sheldon answered questions:

Q. What skills do you offer the board?

A. Stahnke: I think I bring a valid and unique perspective. Right now, there are two retired educators, one person from Fort Lewis College and Stephanie from the Durango Education Center. I bring private industry experience, an engineering background and I’ve been passionate about (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) since I was a little girl. I deal with budgets every day, lead big projects and am a good problem-solver.

A. Sheldon: I bring energy and excitement, great oratorial and communication skills and strategic skills from running campaigns, when I learned to look at issues from all sides. We all live in echo chambers, mostly talking with people we agree with. I believe in knocking on doors and asking how we can do a better job of representing the community.

Q. How can you make sure you’re representing this community?

A. Sheldon: I would make myself available, get into the classrooms, get to know the principals, make sure teachers have my cellphone number so they can talk to me if they have a problem, like an English teacher who has already used a third of her printing budget in the first month of school.

A. Stahnke: This is a policy governance board, and it’s really clear what the role of a board member is and what they should and shouldn’t do. I think reaching out is critical, and recently I’ve been reaching out to recent graduates, and they have an interesting perspective on how prepared they were for work or college.

HHH

Mariam Gillow-Wiles, executive director of the Southwest Colorado Council of Governments, spoke about giving the cities of Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio, along with La Plata County, the right to either directly, or more likely in public/private partnerships, provide high-speed Internet and telecommunication services utilizing existing infrastructure. It’s an exemption from SB 152 passed in 2005.

“SB 152 was passed to keep local governments from competing with the private sector,” she said. “So the free Wi-Fi at the Durango Public Library is actually illegal. But none of the local governments have the time, energy or staff to be Internet providers. Broadband means education and economic development.”

abutler@durangoherald.com

For more information

The League of Women Voters of La Plata County’s Election Forum was recorded Thursday night. A DVD will be available at the Durango Public Library, and for the next three weeks will air on the city’s Charter Cable Channel 191, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Monday and 8 to 10 p.m. Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.

La Plata County voters should begin receiving ballots in the mail by Oct. 15. To learn more about the logistics of this year’s election, drop-off ballot boxes and polling places, visit www.laplatacountyclerk.org.

Information about all the initiatives that will be on the ballot is available at www.lwvlaplata.org.

By noon Friday, La Plata County will be posting its Capital Improvement Plan for road and bridge projects at www.co.laplata.co.us.

Oct 16, 2015
Durango school board candidate fails to file finance report


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