I was sorry to see my friend Frank Joswick (no typo, his first name is not Josh) write such a condemning letter to the editor (Herald, Oct. 28) regarding Lyle McKnight’s candidacy for La Plata County commissioner. I have known Frank since he was a dockhand loading feed sacks at Basin Co-op, through his brief career as a reporter for The Durango Herald and his surprising run for county commissioner himself.
I worked for McKnight for 3½ years, deciding to pursue a new career last December. McKnight and his wife, Tonya, while perhaps not being involved in any of the 37 county boards and commissions mentioned by Joswick because of their six- to seven-day work weeks, participated in other ways. Ask the hundreds of people who came to the Fun Center asking for donations for their groups’ fundraisers. I know, because of the McKnights’ workload, I was asked to handle those requests so they could continue working on the day-to-day business operations.
Ask the hundreds of snowmobilers who attended the Fun Center’s free avalanche awareness classes every fall. Ask all of those involved in the annual motorcycle Christmas Toy Run for the kids each November.
McKnight provided a gathering place for all of us to meet the Sunday after Thanksgiving prior to riding through downtown Durango with the toys loaded on the backs of our motorcycles. He opened the doors to the store and provided coffee and snacks (and restrooms!) prior to our departure. McKnight hired high-schoolers to work during the summers. He hired people sometimes when things were slow and we really didn’t need more employees.
Running a business certainly does give one a leg up on running government, in my opinion. You have to make hard spending decisions in lean times as well as in good times.
I have lived in Durango just over 40 years, nearly as long as McKnight has been alive, and have been very active in our community. However, I have never been active on one of the county’s 37 boards and commissions.
Larry E. Whiteside
Durango
