District 1 County Commissioner Clyde Church is in what is likely to be a close election this November as he goes up against Brad Blake, the Republican candidate whom Church beat out for the seat in 2018, and Jack Turner, an independent candidate who came within 166 votes of winning the District 2 seat in 2020.
Although the three candidates agree on many issues, Church hopes voters reelect him largely based on the work that is already underway with respect to the land-use code and solving the county’s affordable housing crisis.
All three candidates agree that the lack of affordable housing presents the most pressing problem on the Board of County Commissioners’ agenda. While Blake and Turner have made the county’s land-use code a lightening rod issue of the campaign, Church says it should not be. He says changes are already underway, as was intended when the county approved the new code in 2020.
About this series
Three candidates are running for one open seat on the La Plata County Board of County Commissioners. Candidate profiles are being published this week, including in Wednesday, Friday and Saturday print editions.
- Wednesday: Brad Blake
- Today: Clyde Church
- Saturday: Jack Turner
“When we passed the new land-use code, we said, ‘We don’t know if we’re going to achieve our goals that we set forth’ – reducing cycle time, making it easier to use – we made it easier to use,” Church said. “... We decided, at that time, to begin a continuous improvement project and come back to it a year and a half later and evaluate it. After COVID hit, activity slumped and we didn’t have enough data to really look at.”
But as development activity has begun to return, Blake and Turner are not the only candidates who have come to view certain elements of the code as problematic. Church specifically wants to streamline the approval process for accessory dwelling units. He also wants to reduce the required number of landowners in a subdivision who must approve a proposal to rezone the subdivision to add homes. Currently, 100% of residents must approve any proposal to add homes; Church would like to lower that number to about 60%.
But most of his proposed solutions to the affordable housing crisis do not involve major revisions to the land-use code he voted to approve. Instead, he sees his work to fund housing projects in the county, revitalize the La Plata County Housing Authority and regulate short-term vacation rentals as critical pieces of the solution.
Like both of his opponents, Church supports the establishment of a managed camp for Durango’s population of people without homes. Conflict between the city of Durango and the BoCC has hobbled action on this matter for years, and Church says the county is ready to act whenever the city proposes a location. He emphasized that the county should not be held responsible for any delay on the part of the city.
“The city can cut through their (own) bureaucracy – we can’t (cut through theirs),” he said. “We’re statutory. We can create a fast path through the land-use code. There needs to be a public process.”
The site of such a camp has caused consternation – Church advocates for somewhere close in to the city center but where people staying in the camp would not have to walk through neighborhoods to access public transportation or get to work.
“They need to have access to bathrooms and showers and (be able to) shave in the morning,” Church said. “Proximity to jobs is one of the most important things for rejuvenating and getting people from homelessness back to work.”
Church said that Elkview, a location the city considered in 2020, has many of those characteristics, including proximity to nonprofit services for those experiencing homelessness.
Four things about Clyde Church
- What car do you drive to work?
GMC 3/4-ton truck (for hauling water).
- How long have you lived in La Plata County?
23 years.
- In a few words, what is the biggest issue facing the county?
Housing of all sorts, especially workforce.
- What is one local point of pride?
The way the county used contingency funds to invest in its people.
Given the recent history of county commissioner races, the victory in the upcoming election is likely to be decided by a thin margin. Church hopes voters will stick with him for another term based not only on what he has achieved in office, but his familiarity with the workings of the county government and the work already underway to improve the land-use code, solve the homeless situation and ensure the safety of closed landfills.
“There’s a lot of workings internally that doesn’t come out in a meeting,” he said, advising that voters eschew candidates less knowledgeable on the county’s current work. “It’s like a duck swimming in a pond – paddling like crazy underwater. And that’s what counties do.”
Church lists the new, simplified land-use code and the subsequent revisions that are underway as one his accomplishments, as well as the effective distribution of American Rescue Plan Act money ($1.7 million of which was used to create a revolving loan fund to support the development of workforce housing) and his support for wildfire mitigation across the county.
Ballots will be mailed to voters on Oct. 17 and must be returned to the county clerk no later than 7 p.m. Nov. 8 to be counted. While each of the three commissioners serve a particular district, they are elected at-large, meaning all registered voters in the county may participate in the election.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
