I attended the League of Women Voters candidates forum at Durango City Hall. I have lived in Durango for just over a year and I know there are serious issues facing La Plata County and the state of Colorado that will require some real forward thinking and intelligence to move us forward. I wanted to hear for myself what the candidates had to say. For those of you that did not attend the forum and did not watch it on TV, I can sum it up pretty quickly and easily.
Gwen Lachelt is the better qualified candidate for District 2 county commissioner. Not only is she the incumbent and therefore already thoroughly educated on the current issues, but she clearly understands the process and is ready to move us forward.
Her opponent did not offer any real solutions to our issues and seems to think that by simply easing the permitting process, our county will explode with new development and that will be the answer to employment issues and higher tax revenues.
Lachelt should absolutely be voted back in to office.
Julie Westendorff is the better qualified candidate for District 3. Again, Julie is the incumbent and has a clear understanding of the issues facing the county.
Her opponent is young and vibrant, but with limited experience, she is just not the qualified candidate.
In the state representative race we have our incumbent running against a newcomer, Barbara McLachlan. McLachlan is running on a platform emphasizing education which makes sense as she has been a teacher for many years. As an educator, she believes in science and therefore acknowledges that humans are a clear contributor to climate change and she is ready to make tough decisions to curb the methane and carbon that is unnecessarily being released into our atmosphere and contributing the warming of the climate. Her opponent, on the other hand, denies the science and sees climate change as a naturally occurring phenomenon.
Louise van Vonno
Durango
