Gwen Lachelt’s support of the proposed land-use code shows her lack of respect for individual property rights. She shows a lack of respect for mineral property rights, too.
Although she has not successfully voted against oil and gas, we can clearly remember two occasions where Commissioner Lachelt voted in a manner that would have negatively impacted the county’s oil and gas industry.
During her first term, at a Board of County Commissioner’s hearing on April 2, 2013, she voted for a moratorium on drilling, despite the fact that the county attorney told the Board that they had no legal basis for a moratorium. Thankfully, Julie Westendorff and, then commissioner, Bob Leib voted it down.
On June 14th, 2017, in an email to Elise Jones, Boulder County Commissioner and a board member of her Western Leaders Network, Lachelt instructed the county attorney to make preparations to join Boulder County in an Amicus Brief against the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission. The so-called “Martinez Case” had nothing to do with La Plata County. This was clearly an attack on the commission. This time, Brad Blake and Julie Westendorff voted not to join in.
Commissioner Lachelt has testified her own biases against the oil and gas industry before the state Legislature and Congress. She has forgotten that she is supposed to represent everyone in La Plata County, not Boulder County.
George and Mae Morley
Hesperus
