Shane Benjamin’s La Plata Electric Association election article (Herald, April 15) neglected vital points. He overlooked the real costs of current energy policy focusing on dollars spent, not the dangers to our ecosystem.
Incumbent director Davin Montoya, District 2, “supports” renewable energy but calls it a “rich person’s game.” He has opposed efforts to foster a local, job-producing energy industry, suppressed board members’ attempts to loosen tight renewables regulations (even on rooftop solar) and silenced co-op members asking questions.
His “greatest asset – institutional memory” – is immersed in a past when fossil fuel technology made sense. He cannot grasp that renewable energy prices are plummeting toward renewables’ near-future market dominance.
The article neglected to mention that Montoya’s opponent, Kim Martin, has been serving since 1978 on over a dozen community boards and has held multiple executive positions such as vice president of the Durango School District 9-R board. She is a humble yet effective policy manager, a team player who praises even her opponents.
Rachel Landis and Michael Bell are running in District 3. Bell’s background in environmental issues is sparse, and his donation allegiance to anti-conservation candidates is troubling. He suggests “responsible conservation” versus a commitment to tackling environmental issues.
By contrast, consider Landis’s farm to institution initiative, creating a $450,000 annual market for our agricultural community, her integrated energy initiative that reduces energy use and sells offsets, and her positions on Durango’s Housing, Planning & Advisory Committee (as well as Growing Partners, Local First and Sustainability Alliance of Southwest Colorado).
Joe Wheeling, District 4, has a glaring conflict of interest, working for LPEA’s current energy provider (and potential legal opponent) Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc., the fourth dirtiest American energy provider.
His Tri-State income is twice his LPEA salary, dictating loyalties not in the best interests of co-op members.
His opponent, Guinn Unger, has no such self-profiting conflicts and has demonstrated his commitment to the interests of the community freely, donating time to multiple local issues. Unger’s NASA electrical engineering resume describes just part of his wide-ranging brilliance.
Philip Riffe
Hesperus
Editor’s note: Joe Wheeling is LPEA’s board member delegate to Tri-State, not an employee. He does receive compensation from Tri-State for this service.
