La Plata County's business climate was a big issue at the Sept. 22 county commissioner candidates forum hosted by the La Plata- Archuleta Cattlemen's Association.
Candidates are incumbent Julie Westendorff and challenger Kayla Story Patterson, and incumbent Gwen Lachelt and challenger Lyle McKnight. Westendorff and Lachelt, both Democrats, won by narrow margins in 2012.
Audience members asked questions to individual candidates, so candidates weren't all answering the same questions.
Lachelt, a county resident since 1981, said, "I'm running for re-election because I love this county." She graduated from Fort Lewis College in 1985 with a degree in political science. She helped create organizations like Bear Smart and the Oil and Gas Accountability Project. She co-chaired a statewide oil and gas task force created by the governor in 2014 to try to resolve issues of local versus state control of oil and gas development.
"I believe government is important, politics are important, bringing people together to address issues," she said and stressed the importance of investing in infrastructure.
An audience member accused the incumbents of repeatedly approving larger budgets. "We are required to adopt and maintain a balanced budget," Lachelt said. "In 2012 one of my biggest issues was to restore long-range planning. ... I expect that in early 2017, we'll have a new comprehensive plan. We've been reducing our budget over-all. It has run $69 to $70 million except this year. We've followed previous boards that set aside money from oil and gas for capital projects. We're looking at ways to increase the economy by bringing in the federal courts, buying existing buildings (for county offices). You the people said don't build new."
On a comment about the county not being business friendly and pushing for more oil and gas regulations, Lachelt said, "I agree our current land use code isn't business friendly. That's why we've made the decision to completely re-write it, to bring in predictability and certainty to the process. We hope it will attract new business and strengthen the economy."
The county hasn't adopted any new oil and gas regulations since she's been a commissioner, Lachelt said. A man cited the drop in oil and gas prices and challenged what he said was her "push for more regulations even if it costs jobs."
Lachelt said, "This is a huge issue for the entire region, the San Juan Basin. Oil and gas has been our economic backbone. I don't think we've done enough to stand up for workers when they lose their jobs in the bust years." She said the county never adopted the Climate and Energy Action Plan (CEAP) created back around 2009. An audience member asserted that the CEAP would make it more difficult to afford a home in the county.
"It's a very dated plan now," Lachelt said. "We know so much more about all kinds of (climate change) issues." The audience member wanted a yes or no answer on whether she supported the CEAP. "I answered your question," Lachelt said.
Her challenger, McKnight, is a fourth-generation local resident. He went to Durango schools and San Juan College. He opened the Fun Center all terrain vehicle business in 1992. "I grew it into the largest and most successful outdoor power store in the area," he said. "I'm running because I want to change the direction of the county. Elected officials are expected to be leaders. I'll create a pro-growth, business-friendly environment, with emphasis on infrastructure."
He continued, "Our planning and development process isn't friendly to business. It took me two years to get approval for my building (in Grandview)." Getting a class II permit for a business takes around two years, he said. He cited an anti-growth attitude in the planning and building departments and the land use code as the biggest obstacles to making the county attractive to new business.
He cited the long time it took the King Coal Mine (southwest of Hesperus) to get a county permit, and the large amount of money they were required to spend to upgrade the county road for their haul trucks. Will there be county fees for farmers to haul hay on county roads, he asked, calling such road fees "a slippery slope."
Now the planning department wants to spend $250,000 to hire a consultant to write a new land use code, McKnight said. He suggested county staff should do that.
It also costs a lot more to install a septic system in La Plata County than in Montezuma county, he said. "You are at $4,000 (in La Plata County) before you actually build it," he asserted. "People have been installing septic systems for 100 years. I think they've got it."
McKnight said he doesn't support allowing motorized vehicles in wilderness areas. Asked if he would support state or local governments asserting control over federal lands, he said, "Yes, I believe the state should control federal land." He didn't know how that would be paid for; maybe user fees. "I'm more concerned with what I can control at the county level," he said.
Asked if business friendly includes consideration for impacts on nearby residents, McKnight said, "Yes, you should take them into consideration. I've never said I don't want regulations. We need regulations. There has to be a balance where it works for everybody." He agreed that if there's not enough regulation, other people get hurt.
Julie Westendorff touted her experience as county commissioner.
"You learn a lot in four years," she said. "Something that's really important for me is to listen. I've been attending Cattlemen's meetings, I've done office hours in Bayfield. The listening part is important to make good decisions, from people who don't see the world the same way I do. Getting to the right decision depends on getting good information. ... I listen. I do my homework. I bring balanced and sensible decision-making to the county."
An audience member said, "You are easy to get hold of, and you listen." He asked her preference for local government or private enterprise to build broadband infrastructure.
"Government needs to step in if the market isn't going to provide it," Westendorff said. "We're working with the Southwest Colorado Council of Governments (on regional broadband). If we can get conduit in county road right of ways, once that's in, I'd rather the county didn't provide the service. We'll definitely be cooperating with private service providers."
She said she didn't support a moratorium on oil and gas drilling on the west side of the county. "I felt the rules in place were adequate to address the concerns." She said she voted with Lachelt on two air quality rules. "My concern was having Front Range people making regs for Southwest Colorado. If you aren't up there advocating, you're going to get the short end of the stick. I think I have a good record of working with Republican commissioners as well as Gwen."
Westendorff said she supports the airport expansion but didn't think the property tax increase for that should be on the ballot this year. "The property tax was one of my concerns. We didn't have enough discussion of how to come to that" instead of a sales tax increase. "We took a lot of public comment that they want the people who use the airport to pay for it." That's the business community. "The property tax does that, and it can be written off on your income tax," she said.
She also wasn't initially in favor of a second try for voter approval of a property tax increase for the county's road and bridge work. "What changed my mind was the number of people who came up to me and said, 'If I'd known that, I would have voted for it'" the first time. "The Gold King mine spill (in August 2015) took all our attention last year. When I saw the money for road and bridge, I thought it was important to have people vote on it again."
She was asked if, given the county's revenue declines, she would refuse a 30 percent pay increase. Those are approved in the state legislature.
"The salary increases will apply to whoever takes the seat (in January)," Westendorff said. "It applies to other (county) elected officials. I have to think hard of whether it's appropriate. I need to know what the budget looks like."
Challenger Kayla Story Patterson was born, raised, and educated in La Plata County. She said she's worked in tourism, health care, food services, payment processing, and for the family business, Treasure Auction.
"My parents taught me how to listen, customer service, and how to give back to the community," she said. She said she's had multiple part-time jobs. "I know how hard it can be. We need jobs and career opportunities to help us (young adults) stay in the community. La Plata County isn't business friendly. This is a snowball effect on all of us. We need to retire the current building and permitting process, make it affordable and predictable," she said.
She asserted, "I wouldn't let the county adopt expensive ideological things like the CEAP. ... I'll turn the county into a business-friendly community, affordable and predictable. If I don't have the answer (to someone's question), I'll find the person or entity that does. If we don't change the direction of the county, we'll continue to lose jobs."
An audience member said land use certainty and predictability come through zoning and asked if she supports that.
That should be up to the voters, she said.
Another audience member cited the cost of all the permits needed to put a mobile home on land in the county, while candidates talk about the need for affordable housing.
"We have to bring our opinions and thoughts of how to make this more effective," Patterson said. "You have to ask people what they need."
Previous county commissioners spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on outside consultants to draft a comprehensive plan that was shelved in late 2011 by county planning commissioners and the board of county commissioners. Patterson said, "I bet we have local consultants that would do it for a fair price. They've had experience with the current process."
An audience member cited a flier at the county fair that said more than 2,000 local jobs were lost because of oil and gas regs.
"I didn't write that," Patterson responded. "I'm not sure who did. I don't know that I'd put my name on that." But she cited the loss of seven coal mine jobs this year from the King Coal Mine. "For me and my generation, there's not enough opportunity to be able to stay here," she said.
An audience member asked why she advocated for the mine. Patterson said, "It's hard to get a job here. When you have jobs that pay $92,000 a year, you want to keep those. They (miners) were about to lose their jobs."
The audience member asserted that Patterson and McKnight opposed the county requiring the mine company to spend $12 million to improve the unpaved county road used by coal hauling trucks. If the company doesn't pay, then who does? "The rest of us? To subsidize a private firm owned in Mexico?" the person asked.
Patterson said, "Those (employees) are American citizens who live in our community. It (the requirement to improve the road) was a slippery slope. I grew up on that road. It's been terrible for 20 years. Why didn't the county do anything about it? Why so aggressive now? Do we start charging to haul hay?"
"When they start running 120 trucks a day..." someone commented.
