There are many questions that arise from reading the story (Herald, Sept. 2) about the county commissioner candidates’ forum, and they all center around the intention of one candidate, Lyle McKnight, to misstate “facts” in his effort to imitate Donald Trump.
One thing has become very clear in the McKnight campaign: If Gwen Lachelt’s opponent had any sense of responsibility to this community, he would be thanking Gwen for her years of good service, not attacking her.
These attacks on Gwen Lachelt for being a community and environmental activist lead to the necessary question: Why hasn’t Lyle been an activist too?
Where has he been and what has he done, other than promoting off-road vehicle use in the backcountry and wilderness, to see that our environment and our community does not get trampled by a polluting industry?
And it would be good to hear why he thinks that it is OK for the gas and oil industry to operate unimpeded, to do whatever it needs to do to turn a profit, regardless of impacts to our land, air, water and people.
Why does he feel that those who have tried to hold the industry accountable for those impacts are wrong to do so? I doubt McKnight can tell anyone why that is, and for that, he owes this community an apology.
It is bad enough that we have to endure having a Trump wannabe as a candidate; we do not need a Trump wannabe as county commissioner.
Please re-elect Gwen Lachelt for a commissioner with a sense of right and wrong.
Michael Lee
Durango