The 71st Colorado General Assembly convened last Wednesday. It marked the departure of J. Paul Brown (R-Ignacio) as District 59’s representative to the Statehouse and the swearing in of his successor, Barbara Hall McLachlan (D-Durango). Brown has served two terms in the Colorado House of Representatives, a role, as with most others he has held, in which he took great pride. We commend him for his service to Southwest Colorado.
Brown cares deeply about this district and it showed with every interaction. He is a kind, soft-spoken person, polite and gracious with everyone he meets. A humble man of honor and respect, he took the time to stop by Bill Roberts’ retirement party last Friday to congratulate him on 26 years of service to our community.
That is the kind of man Brown is, recognizing and acknowledging a job well done when he sees it, regardless of any political differences.
The Durango Herald did not endorse Brown in this last election cycle and instead put our support behind Barbara McLachlan. The election was close. Of almost 46,000 votes cast, Brown lost by 675, only a 1.46 percent margin.
McLachlan has pledged to work in a bipartisan fashion, which we look forward to following through a biweekly “From the State Capitol” column she will be contributing to the Herald beginning this Sunday. McLachlan will alternate in sharing the column with Don Coram (R-Montrose), former State House Representative from District 58 and our new state senator, selected to succeed Ellen Roberts to represent District 6.
This district does best when our representatives bypass ideology and strict party loyalty, as Brown and Coram did last year by joining Democrats and three other Republicans in their support of changes to the Hospital Provider Fee, a move that sought to help Colorado address its budget shortfall and fund critical state services.
We have heard that Brown may have future political ambitions, but for now we are grateful to have gotten to know a man who has consistently demonstrated his concern for the people of Southwest Colorado.
We look forward to seeing what our new representatives can do.
