During my last haircut at a Durango small business, I learned that the owners had trouble finding licensed and certified barbers, and plumbers available to help keep their business open. As an owner of a condo, I am facing a related dilemma. Who is there in Durango that I can call and is available in an emergency to tell me why my roof is leaking or tell me no, it is a problem with the water heater?

Will I and others have to go on a waiting list like Durango small businesses that are waiting for people who can help them keep their businesses open?

Can Durango’s powers-that-be, please, work on an alliance with Fort Lewis College or other local institutions to offer education in the trades that keep businesses, cultural institutions, homes, and the city’s administration open and running safely?

How about the same type of alliance with a Head Start program that can care for children of parents who want and need to learn so they can qualify for needed jobs? These ideas may seem outlandish, but tourists, small business entrepreneurs, hotels and restaurants cannot survive if they do not have working toilets, adequate lighting, air conditioning, heat, technical support, etc.

Actions that keep people healthy and employed, public and private organizations open, and families productive help a jewel of a town like Durango continue to exist.

Sherry Cansler

Durango