ELECT JACK TURNER

La Plata County Commissioner

 As an Independent County Commissioner, I will…

…serve citizens of La Plata County without obligation or favor to political parties or special interest groups.

…bridge a partisan divide to rebuild trust in county government and each other.

…seek common ground and create working relationships with people from all walks of life. Our family has done that locally for six generations.

…be considerate and responsive to citizen input without paralysis by political agenda, status quo, entrenched bureaucracy, out-of-town consultants, and endless hearings and committee meetings.

These times require common-sense leadership, willingness to put ego aside for the greater good, and the ability to foster efficiency and expediency to get the County’s work done and adapt to a new world.

Seven principles we can live by

1.  Safety and security for La Plata County citizens and visitors whether from natural or man-made events.
2. Fiscal responsibility, accountability, and transparency.
3. Bridging the divide between citizens whether urban-rural, liberal-conservative, or other divisive identity politics. If we don’t do a better job of getting along, whether locally or nationally, it’s difficult to make progress on any issue.
4. Responsible and proactive care for our land, air, water, and wildlife.
5. Sensible economic development that will improve the quality of life and opportunities for locals.
6. Immediate solutions to address affordable workforce housing, livable wages, and processes to help businesses recover, reinvent, and succeed (this is only possible by emphasis on priorities #2 and #5 above.
7. Encourage and support local agriculture to build food security and self-reliance (what
   did we learn from COVID-19?)

I believe the #1 issue in La Plata County is affordable, attainable, and workforce housing.

We are in a crisis that’s many years in the making. Lack of affordable housing has a ripple effect throughout our community:

• Employment (businesses can’t find employees including for “high paying” jobs)
• Family stability and legacy (i.e. will kids raised in here be able to stay? Will long-time locals be forced out?)
• Homelessness and Poverty
• Economic leakage (for example, workers forced to commute from outside the county earn paychecks here but spend their earnings and pay taxes elsewhere).
• Mental Health (for all of us). The wear and tear on our well-being cannot be dismissed.

 Contributing solutions:

• Revise land use and building codes and permit administration to fast-track sensible projects
• Public/Private partnerships and incentives
• Infrastructure (the role of government, not the private sector)
• Revise regulations for vacation rentals that remove housing from our workforce, students, families, and homegrown seniors.