Durango accountant Sidny K. Zink was named Thursday to the State Transportation Commission. She will replace Steve Parker of Durango, who had served in the post since August 2001.
Commissioners must be confirmed by the state Senate, which Zink said should happen when the Senate begins its session in January. Transportation commissioners serve four-year terms.
Gov. John Hickenlooper announced two new appointments and two reappointments to the 12-member board. With Zink and the other new appointment, Shannon M. Gifford of Denver, the number of women on the commission doubles, from two to four.
“When Steve knew he was stepping down, he asked me if I would be interested,” Zink said in a phone interview Thursday. “After we talked at length, I saw that this would be a wonderful opportunity to be part of the state, not just part of the local scene and in an area that’s clearly critical to our part of the state.”
She will serve as commissioner from the 8th Transportation District, representing counties on both sides of Wolf Creek Pass, including La Plata, Archuleta, Montezuma, San Juan, Dolores, Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache and San Miguel.
“I’m a numbers person by profession,” Zink said, “so I hope my analytical skills will be useful on the commission in the face of continued transportation-funding challenges.”
Zink will participate in an orientation session next week and then expects to travel to Denver twice a month to attend meetings. The commission pays a small per diem for each meeting she attends.
“One of my first things will be to get up to speed on the bridges between downtown and Three Springs and make that project whole,” she said about the popularly called “Bridge to Nowhere.” “I will do everything I can to facilitate progress. These kinds of things usually fall into place, but this time they didn’t.”
She also is interested in U.S. highways 550 and 160.
“I want to make sure that our roads that get us to the borders of the state out of this district get the attention they deserve,” she said.
A certified public accountant, Zink is an owner of FredrickZink & Associates in Durango.
She has been an adjunct professor of auditing for Fort Lewis College, instructor in the college’s continuing-education courses and a lecturer for Denver’s Community Resource Center.
A former Durango City Council member and mayor, Zink was a participant in Hickenlooper’s TBD Colorado. She is a member of Club 20, La Plata Forum and Homebuilders Association of Southwest Colorado as well as a participant in the Green Business Roundtable.
Zink also has held several leadership positions within the CPA profession, including serving as past chairwoman of the 8,800-member Colorado Society of CPAs and current chairwoman of its Continuing Education Board.
Hickenlooper also reappointed Douglas Aden of Grand Junction as commissioner from the 7th District and Gary M. Reiff of Englewood from the 3rd District.
The commission sets general policy for the Colorado Department of Transportation and ensures that the preservation and enhancement of Colorado’s environment, safety, mobility and economics is considered in the planning of all transportation projects.
abutler@durangoherald.com
