In the last election cycle, a number of La Plata County Democrats wrote letters to the editor claiming that they were protecting democracy. Not quite true. In fighting at the state level to protect at large voting for the county commissioner’s office, they have denied the voters in District 3 their candidate of choice. In the last election, voters within the geographic boundaries of District 3 overwhelmingly chose Paul Black to represent them. The results were 6,825 votes for Black (62%) and 4,200 votes for Matt Salka (38%).
In all fairness, Mr. Salka did win Precinct 24 by a single vote! Every District 3 Democrat county commissioner in the last 10 election cycles was soundly defeated by their Republican opponent within the geographical boundaries of the district. In other words, the city of Durango has three county commissioners and the eastern third of the county is unrepresented. How’s that for fighting for democracy?
There maybe hope yet. HB 23-1180 says that once a county reaches a population of 70,000, county commissioners can be elected by district vote. That is only if those Democrats “fighting for democracy” don’t fight against implementing the bill.
Dennis Pierce
Durango
