One word that came up in every candidate’s response Thursday evening at the League of Women Voter’s Forum at Durango City Hall: experience.
What kind of experience was a different matter in every La Plata County race.
The hot item on the ticket was the sheriff’s race after heated controversy in recent days. Both candidates were asked what changes they would make in the Sheriff’s Office:
Duke Schirard: “I made a lot of changes when I came in 20 years ago, and there have been ongoing changes since then. We’re the second largest law enforcement agency on the Western Slope, and we’re known for excellence.”
Sean Smith: “We’ve had the same administration in place for 20 years, and there’s somewhat of a culture of complacency. The department has a $14 million budget, and we need a top-down review of everything we do, including running a detention center that’s only one-third full. We have an excellent crisis-intervention team, but we don’t follow the same protocols in working with organizations like Sexual Assault Services Organization on sexual assaults and domestic violence.”
The controversy over alleged domestic violence and the resulting threats was not mentioned until Schirard’s closing statement, when he urged all the “ladies” to read the letters from his former wives in Thursday’s Durango Herald.
“I read those reports and didn’t find anything criminal, just a little ugly,” Smith said. “None of this was out there until you talked to the Herald’s editorial board.”
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Do voters want someone with business experience who wants business-friendly land-use codes, or someone who has experience on both the private and governmental sides of planning and business for county commissioner? The difference was most apparent on a question about the poor condition of outlying county roads:
Brad Blake: “We need common-sense codes that don’t require driveways to be wider than county roads. The Road and Bridge Department has done a great job with the resources they’ve had.”
Cynthia Roebuck: “I met with Road and Bridges. We might help neighborhoods create special road districts to bring up funding, and we should be budgeting as much as possible to maintain bridges and roads.”
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Do voters want a treasurer who has experience on both the business and governmental side or one who has worked in the private sector in technology, gas and oil and banking? Both candidates would upgrade technology and examine processes as well as look into ways to invest the county’s money to increase returns.
Bobby Lieb: “We won’t solve the county’s money problems by better investing, and there are a lot of statutes requiring investments to be risk-averse and liquid. But we could do better by moving about half out of money markets and into other instruments.”
Allison Morrissey: “I’d liked to see us move money into laddered treasury bonds that would come due when we needed to make large disbursals. And it would be good to have better relationships with every bank in the county, maybe putting $250,000 into every bank to invest but staying within FDIC rules.”
abutler@durangoherald.com
Election information
The League of Women Voters forum will be rebroadcast periodically until the election on City Span 10. It may be streamed via computer at www.durangogov.org/cityspan10 from the City Span 10 website; and will be available for checkout from the Durango Public Library on DVD.
Voters may register as late as Nov. 4 when they go to vote on Election Day at Voter Services and Voting Centers.
Here are some key dates for the Nov. 4 election:
Oct. 14: Ballots go out in the mail.
6 p.m. Oct. 14: Last forum currently scheduled. Hosted by the Durango Education Foundation, it will feature candidates for the 59th District House seat J. Paul Brown and Michael McLachlan. The foundation asks that questions about education be submitted in advance to 385-1491, 9RFoundation@gmail.com or through website www.durangoeducationfoundation.org.
Oct. 15 until 7 p.m. Nov. 4: Ballots may be returned in a number of ways, including via the mail until Oct. 30, 24-hour drop-off boxes at the La Plata County Clerk and Recorder’s office and Bayfield Town Hall; and drop-off locations at various days and times close to the election.
8 a.m. to noon Oct. 25 and Nov. 1: Saturday Voter Service and Voting Centers open at the clerk’s office and Bayfield Town Hall.
8 a.m. to noon Nov. 1: Saturday Voter Service and Voting Center open at La Plata County Fairgrounds.
Visit www.laplatacountyclerk.org for more information.
