Tuesday is Primary Election Day for the sole contested Pitkin County district. Voters will select a representative for District 5, which ecompasses the most rural stretches of the county including the Crystal River Valley; parts of the Fryingpan Valley; and some of Old Snowmass.
The incumbent, Francie Jacober, faces two challengers: Toni Kronberg and Neil C. Reilley. Jeffrey Woodruff is running for District 4, as Commissioner Steve Child reaches his term limit. Commissioner Greg Poschman is seeking a second term in District 3 unchallenged.
Jacober is a 30-year resident of the valley. Currently, she manages Fatbelly Burgers in Carbondale and helps her son with his cattle operation. She’s seeking a second term to pursue more opportunities to protect open space, she said.
“I think that the best legacy that the county commissioner can give to its county is conservation of open lands,” Jacober said. “It's an area over which we have some influence.”
The county approved the most expensive open space acquisition in the Open Space and Trails’ history in January.
The airport is probably the most controversial issue facing the county, drawing impassioned public comment periods at meetings and a citizen pursuit to amend the county Home Rule Charter to force a public vote on widening the taxiway/runway separation.
For Jacober, the issue is clear-cut.
“I am very opposed to the ballot initiatives that have been brought forward and are trying to get signatures now. I feel very, very clear about the direction of the airport. I don't think that playing ‘bully’ with the FAA is an intelligent or productive way to go,” she said. “I would be really shirking my fiduciary responsibility to the people of Pitkin County if I upended any possibility of getting help with our runway and grants for a terminal rebuild and other supporting funds from the FAA.”
Jacober said she still hasn’t found the proverbial line for balancing her personal beliefs with the wishes of the community when approaching a controversial vote, which she remembers with the Pandora’s — now Hero’s — ski area expansion on Aspen Mountain.
“You need to be able to take what you believe in and balance it against what your constituents want and stick to your guns, kind of sort of the gist of what (a voter once told me). And so that really made me think hard about that,” she said. “I do think that I have some core beliefs that I would like to see manifested through my time on the board. But I also want to listen to what the people in the valley want.”
For a second term, Jacober said her existing knowledge of how government works gives her an edge ahead of her challengers. She said she wants to see through more work on investing in affordable housing with regional partners like the West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition.
Kronberg has called the Valley home for almost 50 years, and she currently lives in Old Snowmass. Her resume is long, citing work as a paralegal, emergency medical technician and a swimming coach for kids.
For her, improving safety and traffic flow for climate benefits on Highway 82 is the greatest priority.
“Highway 82 is our lifeline, whether you're going to work, you're bringing the kids to school, you're a tourist, a commuter, or if you're a deer trying to cross the road,” Kronberg said.
She called out the lack of attention to intersections along the highway — apart from the traffic light on Independence Pass — as a failing of the county commissioners to direct the Colorado Department of Transportation’s attention to the Roaring Fork Valley.
Another priority for Kronberg is balancing open space and affordable housing, two local priorities that sometimes war with another.
“In Pitkin County there's a big focus on agricultural (land) and preserving open space, and the affordable housing has to fit within those parameters,” she said.
A frequent attendee of public meetings around the valley, Kronberg said the chance to accomplish more as an elected official for Highway 82 and other priorities prompted her to run.
“My priorities are the same as Pitkin County's priorities,” she said. “I've attended many, many government meetings, including the Elected Officials Transportation Committee, and you only have three minutes where you can speak. I’ve brought forward petitions and different recommendations and suggestions and you can accomplish more when you're on the other side of the table.”
As for the airport, she said the amended Airport Layout Plan with the runway shifted 80 feet west and a widened separation is settled, the board already approved it. But if the community wants a vote, she said, then they should have it.
For Neil C. Reilley, who lives in the Crystal River Valley, running for a county commissioner seat is the only solution to shaking up a board with which he’s fed up. He’s never run for office, but said he felt he needed to, given the level of growth he’s seen in the last few of his 15 years in the area.
“F— no, I am not a politician,” Reilley said. “As we watch what goes on here in the melee with BOCC and the way they flip flop … it's just 1,000 tiny cuts to the environment, to the waterways, just natural landscapes.”
Reilley, who said he now works with native plants and landscaping after a corporate career that took him across the country, said protecting the valley against what he sees as out-of-control growth should be the priority of both the Pitkin board, but also regional boards.
“I really think Pitkin County, I think Garfield, I think Eagle, I think in Gunnison … we need to treat it as a whole watershed, a whole community,” he said. “(We need to) partner with our neighboring counties and really work at preserving the agrarian and agricultural feel of the county and direct our funds toward keeping our open spaces and making housing affordable.”
The airport issue is clear-cut for Reilley, but in the opposite direction from Jacober. He said that any allowance for larger aircraft at the airport would be disastrous.
“Once you sign up for a bigger airport, bigger planes, bigger oversight from the federal government, you have opened a can of worms that is really hard to stop at that point,” he said.
The Pitkin County Clerk and Recorder’s Office mailed out ballots for the Democratic Party Primary Election on June 3. The Clerk’s Office recommends ballot drop-off at this point if voters have not yet mailed it, available through 7 p.m. on Election Day at the Pitkin County Administration Building, Town of Snowmass Village Town Hall, and Basalt Town Hall.
Candidates must live in the district for which they are running, but voters countywide may vote across districts. The candidates with the two highest vote counts will advance to the general election in November.
In-person voting will be available at the Pitkin County Administration Building 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
