It’s official. Montezuma County Clerk, Kim Percell, has verified that Rebecca (Becca) Samulski received 316 qualifying petition signatures. Samulski will be on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate for Montezuma County Commissioner in District 3, running against the Republican candidate Joel Stevenson.
Samulski said that she is thrilled by the broad support she has received so far. “I hope Montezuma County voters of all stripes will recognize my commitment to serving full-time, my ability to find common ground on complex issues, and my respect for county staff and residents. I look forward to working with our diverse community to develop and realize a shared vision for the future of Montezuma County,” Samulski stated.
Samulski grew up in Montezuma County and has friends and colleagues who are Republican, Democrat, and everywhere in between. She is open-minded and can incorporate reason from both sides of the aisle and outside the box. “I want to help our communities employ all we have to sustain our rural way of life for ourselves and our children and grandchildren,” Samulski added.
Samulski has worked for local businesses, local and federal government,, and nonprofits all based in the county. Her job experience combined with her work on the land, both professionally and as a steward of her own 40 acres, gives her a strong background in rural issues and the value of local determination.
Since 2011, Samulski has worked across private and public boundaries on wildfire preparedness and forest health issues which gives her unique experience with natural resource management. She has worked actively with water and land managers to preserve water quality and reliability and with conservation and timber industry leaders to develop new opportunities for renewable forest products. Samulski enjoys working with local, state, and federal policy implementers, advisors, and decision makers to align policies with the needs of the people doing work on the ground.
“Becca is a very creative thinker who seeks to make big positive changes,” said Pam Wilson, former executive director for FireWise of Southwest Colorado (now Wildfire Adapted Partnership). “Becca helped design our incentive programs and in just a few years, I watched her triple the size of the Neighborhood Ambassador program in Montezuma County.”
During her tenure with FireWise, Samulski was able to bring together the most diverse, inclusive group of professionals of any watershed group in the country to establish and lead the Dolores Watershed Resilient Forest Collaborative. With that experience she feels that she can help build a more diverse, sustainable economy that can balance the ups and downs of the fossil fuel industry.
“If anyone can make the community stronger, Becca can. She always asks “Why not?” and then works to make things better,” says the one man who has known Samulski longer than anyone else, her father, Everett Whitehead.
In the new reality of campaigning, Samulski will host “Meet the Candidate” forums that are live and online where the public can interact and ask questions. The forums will be from 7:00–8:00 p.m. on the first Tuesdays of the month starting August 4th, and continuing on September 1st, and October 6th.
Residents can watch live on the https://www.facebook.com/Samulski4Montezuma page or register at https://samulski4montezuma.com/ for a more engaging experience on Zoom. The recordings of these live sessions and much more information about Samulski can also be found on this same website.
Samulski encourages local groups or clubs to invite her to upcoming meetings for Q&A and discussions to understand others’ concerns and to share her perspectives. Please feel free to contact her at: becca@samulski4montezuma.com
