Although he faces two candidates, each with a term of experience beneath them, independent candidate for La Plata County commissioner Jack Turner sees his outsider status as a virtue. Turner’s pitch to voters is predicated, in part, on his nonpartisan status.

The state refers to Turner as an “unaffiliated” candidate, although he vehemently rejects the label in favor of “independent.”

“Referring to voters who choose not to associate with a party as ‘unaffiliated’ is akin to referring to Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinx, and other people of color as the ‘Non-Whites,’” Turner said in an email to The Durango Herald. “People should be defined by who they are versus by what they are not.”

Of the county’s 39,772 active registered voters, independent voters compose a significant plurality of the voter base – just over 49%. Meanwhile, 24.8% are registered Democrats and 24.2% are registered Republicans. The remaining 1% of voters are affiliated with one of three smaller third-parties.

About this series

Three candidates are running for one open seat on the La Plata County Board of County Commissioners. Candidate profiles were published this week, including in Wednesday, Friday and Saturday print editions.

• Wednesday: Brad Blake
• Friday: Clyde Church
• Today: Jack Turner

Neither of his opponents have gravitated toward their party’s broader platform with any significant force – but all three candidates are aligned in their opinion on the largest issue facing the county. Affordable housing dominates all three candidate’s campaign material, and each has devised their own approach to the matter.

Although incumbent Clyde Church and Brad Blake have both served on the Board of County Commissioners, Turner shrugs off any advantage that might give them.

“Experience is code for ‘status quo,’” Turner said. “They’re both one-term commissioners. I am so much more prepared than either of them was when they (ran). And I have to be because I’m an independent.”

Turner asserted that he has done “far more homework” than his opponents; Blake said that he has served on more boards and commissions than Turner or Church combined; Church argues he retains a unique knowledge of current workings of the county give him an advantage.

With all three candidates claiming to be more knowledgeable and prepared than their opponents, voters must discern among the three men by finely parsing the details of their platforms.

Like Blake, his Republican opponent, Turner has taken aim at the county’s land-use code. He completed his own land-use survey and has concluded on some recommended changes. He sees time as the critical issue and says the arduous process required to obtain permits is so slow it deters the development of affordable housing. His solution? Allow permit applicants to talk with commissioners outside of officials proceedings. He says that if applicants can casually approach commissioners about issues that arise, the approval process would be expedited.

“My belief is the buck stops with the commissioners,” Turner said. “And so do we want to have a situation where you can make deals for your buddies under the table or giving someone terrible treatment? No, you can’t have that. But if you don’t want that, then just elect honest commissioners. I think they’re honest. ... Don’t come to me because you want a 4-foot fence instead of a 5-foot fence. If you’re coming to me and telling me that these guys are making you get a brand-new sewer, septic and well study in order to do a boundary adjustment, then you deserve to come to me as a commissioner say, ‘This isn’t fair.’”

That is just one of several suggestions Turner has for cutting through the bureaucracy that he says is preventing the development of affordable housing and imperiling the county’s residents.

On the issues of homelessness, Turner agrees with his opponents that the area needs a managed camp. While Church has advocated for a camp that is relatively close to city amenities, Turner hopes the camp would be located somewhere more rural.

“It'’s got to be in an area that’s not densely populated with business – it’s got to be somewhat more like camping,” he said.

Turner does not have a specific location he would recommend for such a camp, although he emphasizes the need for a humanitarian approach.

“A lot of us are one disaster away from being homeless, especially in La Plata County,” he said. “... People need to have homes – not human storage units. A lot of solutions that people have proposed are really one step short of putting people in a capsule.”

Four things about Jack Turner

• What car do you drive to work?

A 2014 Chevy Traverse.

• How long have you lived in La Plata County?

47 in total.

• In a few words, what is the biggest issue facing the county?

Affordable workforce housing.

• What is one local point of pride?

The people.

Although the process of establishing a managed camp has been hobbled by the inability of Durango City Council members to agree with one another and the county, Turner sees hope in his ability as a peacemaker.

He cites his work soothing tensions between Purgatory Resort and the city of Durango in the late 1980s and early 1990s and work on the Utah Winter Games and Olympic Organizing Committees as testaments to his creativity, diplomacy and integrity. Turner proudly says that he was the first person to get kicked off the Olympic Organizing Committee, which was famously plagued by a bribery scandal.

While Turner has delved deeply into the land-use code, his website has few specifics as to the county’s other major issues. When asked, he listed water access and the “rural-urban divide” as the most pressing secondary issues facing the county. It is his relationships, he says, that will serve him best in solving the latter issue.

Above all, Turner takes issue with the pace at which the BoCC acts. He derives great confidence from his past success working in and around other bureaucracies, and hopes to achieve similar outcomes in the county.

“We sort of need a common sense czar,” he said.

Ballots will be mailed to voters 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