Written by Maddy Butcher, Mancos resident
Rebecca Samulski held her first virtual Meet the Candidate gathering last week and covered a broad range of topics during the hour-long conversation. It was attended by many interested voters via Zoom and still others via Facebook. The first event recording can still be viewed on Facebook.
For more information and to join a virtual Meet the Candidate event on September 1st or October 6th, click here.
Samulski started the evening event by outlining how and why she would make be an excellent choice for county commissioner: it’s all about leadership style and effective team building for collective progress and growth.
She has a record of bringing diverse groups together to negotiate tasks and reach common goals. In this case, Samulski would work for the betterment of the county she loves so dearly. As County Commissioner, she knows that she will make budget decisions which affect a lot of different elements of the community. She’s fit for the task.
“I’m running because I care deeply about the county and am concerned about its future,” she said. “When I work on anything, I try to find common ground. What obstacles stand in our way? What assets do we each bring to the table? What resources do we have? My approach is what would make me a different kind of commissioner, one with a vision for the county, to try to make our community a better place.”
Samulski took some time to speak on land use in our corner of southwestern Colorado. Lacking consistent enforcement and a broad, future-focused comprehensive planning, the county’s development will suffer.
“A lot of the current growth seems based on short-term profit without any consideration of long-term impacts of different kinds of developments and the cumulative impact of unplanned development in the county,” she said. “Once you cut that four-foot deep trench across an agricultural field, once you put in that cement pad for new construction, those fields don’t go back to agricultural land.”
Greater care, thought, and comprehensive planning should precede development.
At the same time, infrastructure must be part of the county’s growth. “There are folks who come here and move away just two years later because they are not getting all the services they need or expect – from broadband internet to health care to education.”
Samulski will be the commissioner with the vision and leadership to bring different entities to the table and work for an improved future for Montezuma County, one which we can all design and grow toward together.
