After knocking on hundreds of doors during her campaign, Melissa Youssef believes that homelessness is the most pressing issue for Durango residents, and it must be addressed immediately.
“It’s impacting our quality of life, the character of our town, the ability to do business and the lives of everyone who lives here,” she said.
Youssef is one of five candidates running for three seats in the April 4 city election.
She wants to better understand what is being done to address homelessness in Durango, and what successful strategies from other communities could be applied here.
“I would suggest that what we are doing is not working,” she said.
The city should take a leadership role and work with nonprofits in town, such as Manna, because they are doing important work, she said.
Manna recently paid for a study regarding permanent supportive housing and a shelter that would not require sobriety to be developed in the Durango area, Executive Director Kathy Tonnessen said. Manna worked with the city and La Plata County on the study, she said.
Permanent supportive housing serves homeless people without time limits or sobriety limits. It’s a model that’s been adopted in Fort Collins and Grand Junction.
Youssef wants to pursue longterm solutions that would address how homelessness is impacting local businesses.
Permanent supportive housing for homeless people would be part of a 10-year comprehensive plan she proposed to evaluate the city’s needs, she said.
She wants to do the 10-year plan to prioritize infrastructure and the city’s other needs before deciding where money should be spent, she said.
“I am not in favor of any fees for anything until I understand all of our needs,” she said.
She does not want to go to the voters every election cycle to pay for a different priority, she said.
To address the city’s housing needs, she would encourage greater density in town and ensure that the process for developers is consistent and predictable.
“I think we have good standards and criteria and I think we should stand by them,” she said.
Character district plans for the city’s neighborhoods will help the community determine where more dense development is appropriate, she said.
She also would like to encourage growth in Three Springs by building a connection from the subdivision to the Animas River Trail and the 75-acre community park that could bring visitors to Durango for sports events.
“By having more activity out there, it naturally creates its own market,” she said.
She also believes the city must be careful about the standards for development at Three Springs and ensure they are not stymieing growth.
To encourage economic development, Youssef said the city should ensure the community is attractive to businesses by reinvesting in infrastructure, beautifying the town and improving broadband internet service.
She also said the city should better balance parks and recreation and other amenities such as arts and culture, entertainment and education.
“I think having diverse and plentiful opportunities in other areas helps improve our competitive edge,” she said.
Maintaining Durango Transit is a priority for Youssef because it connects people to their jobs, schools and medical services. It also reduces the degradation of roads, traffic and pollution, she said.
To fund transit, she would evaluate existing revenue sources such as bus fares, parking meter rates and the routes the city is providing to make sure the system is efficient.
Following the failure of a property tax measure to build a new Durango-La Plata County Airport terminal, she wants to focus on improvements that can be cash funded to address parking, luggage and storage facility issues for the airlines.
“We need to demonstrate to the airlines we are trying to be efficient,” she said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
Melissa Youssef
Age: 51
Profession: Former president and CEO of Pyramid Billing Inc., a medical billing practice.
Family: Husband, Jim Youssef; children, Nathan, 21, Natalie, 20, and Amina, 17.
Education: Bachelor’s in economics, University of Oregon; MBA from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.
Political or board experience: Durango School District 9-R board, Animas High School board, city of Durango Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.
Election coverage
Sunday: Pros and cons of fluoride
Monday: Council candidate Chris Bettin
Tuesday: Council candidate Dean Brookie
Wednesday: Council candidate Tom Eskew
Thursday: Council candidate Dave McHenry
Friday: Council candidate Melissa Youssef
To see all election coverage, go to
durangoherald.com/tags/election
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