YOUR AD HERE »

Carol McCracken: Learn about Grand County, commissioner candidates

To the Editor:

There are two county commissioners’ positions up for election this fall.

Do you know what the county commissioners do? Have you ever been to a meeting or looked at the county’s web site to read the brief summary of that week’s meeting on the Commissioners Corner http://co.grand.co.us/online_services/meeting_notices.html? What about looking for and reading the actual approved minutes at http://co.grand.co.us/RSS_Feeds/BOCC_Minutes.xml? Probably not.



What about reading information in the newspaper? No, they only cover meetings when big issues, the governor visits, or some award is given. The newspaper posts court information and real estate transactions. Why don’t they cover more of what goes on at the commissioners’ meetings?

Speaking from firsthand experience, I can say that the communication between county commissioners, county employees, and their residents/property owners is very poor. I think the county needs some new eyes and ears on the board and can only hope that the new board members consider the interests of their constituents as important as the bigger issues presented to them. Protecting our property values should be important – especially in today’s market. Rewriting the regulations to eliminate vague, misleading, and wrong guidelines should be done.



I urge all candidates to review the rules and regulations pertaining to property zoning, definitions and usage of words, outlining possible penalties for breaking the rules and regulations, and guidelines for complainants/accused/officials to follow to handle the matter in a thorough and prompt manner.

Some regulation should be put in place to require correspondence of any type (i.e. letter or email) filing a complaint be read into the minutes. Not everyone can attend a meeting in person to present issues and have them included in the minutes. Follow up to all ongoing issues should be presented in meetings and recorded in the minutes.

I urge all voters to acquaint themselves with the rules and regulations pertaining to their property, zoning, and application. Then, ask the candidates what their stand is on the interpretation and application of the rules and regulations for each zoning area. Ask the candidates how they would handle these types of concerns. Ask the candidates how they will act to preserve property values.

May the best person for the job win.

Carol McCracken

Grand Lake


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

The Sky-Hi News strives to deliver powerful stories that spark emotion and focus on the place we live.

Over the past year, contributions from readers like you helped to fund some of our most important reporting, including coverage of the East Troublesome Fire.

If you value local journalism, consider making a contribution to our newsroom in support of the work we do.