In looking to replace long-time county treasurer Ed Murray, who is stepping down, La Plata County voters are faced with a happy choice between two smart and talented people. Allison Morrissey and Bobby Lieb are educated and energetic. They also would bring to the job considerable experience in a number of related areas.
Lieb has the advantage, however, in that his experience largely involves working on local issues, often for or with local government. That includes his current job as a county commissioner.
Morrissey has an impressive résumé. She has two bachelor’s degrees, including one from Fort Lewis College, and an MBA. She has worked for Crown Zellerbach, First Trust Co., First Bank System, Pacific Gas and Electric, and Microsoft.
There is every reason to believe she did those jobs well. She is clearly a quick study, thorough and comfortable with big numbers.
But treasurer is a county job, not an accounting job. And the too-often cookie-cutter culture of corporate America is not necessarily the best preparation for county government.
Counties are not only a unique form of government, they are, themselves, highly individual. La Plata County and Montezuma County, to the West, are very different. And neither is much like any of the other counties they abut.
With any county position, familiarity with the county, its people, problems, quirks and qualities is of utmost importance. That most particularly includes a deep understanding of county government.
It would be hard to name anyone who more fully fits that bill than Bobby Lieb. His civic service includes volunteering to serve as everything from soccer coach to La Plata Electric board member. (His biography on the county website lists more than a dozen such involvements.)
His private-sector experience includes working as vice president of his family’s company, Durango Threadworks, and project manager for Durango Commercial Development LLC. For seven years, he headed first the La Plata Economic Development Action Partnership and then that group and the Durango Chamber of Commerce when those two merged. Since elected in 2010, he has served as county commissioner.
In one capacity or another, Lieb has probably worked with every aspect of local government. Lieb knows La Plata County and, more to the point, it knows him.
Vote for Bobby Lieb.
