A dozen Hinsdale County residents — a majority Democrats — were energized following an hour-long meeting with District 58 House candidate Kathleen Curry at Lake City Library on Saturday afternoon, December 9.
Curry, who is a familiar face in Lake City after serving as manager of the Upper Gunnison River Conservancy District and then representing the county when it was a part of House District 61, 2005-2010, was accompanied at the advertised meet and greet by her campaign manager, Kevin Kuns, from Montrose.
Scanning the room on Saturday, Curry smiled, “I think I know almost everyone here.” Among the attendees were current and past Hinsdale County Democratic Party officers and 17-year old Lake City high school junior Silas Fox who had initially suggested a sit-down meeting with Curry in Lake City.
After serving in the Colorado House through 2010, Curry operated a main street store in Gunnison and for the past five years has worked as a lobbyist at the State Capitol in Denver where she specializes in natural resource issues, specifically water and agriculture.
Curry, a Democrat, is seeking election to the House District 58 seat held by Mark Catlin, of Montrose, who is term-limited and will not seek re-election. To date, she is the sole announced candidate for the District 58 House seat.
“I’m on a fact-finding mission to find out how I can best serve you,” she told Lake City attendees at Saturday’s meeting. She noted that her past experience as an elected house member together with her current work as a lobbyist “puts me in an excellent position, I’m well acquainted with current legislation and can hit the ground running.”
Curry enumerated that the 100-member Colorado House “representing 5-million of us,” only 10 of whom come from the under-represented West Slope of the state. Policies are driven by the Denver Metro area, she continued, with 11 State Representatives from Denver alone.
Within expansive House District 58, according to Curry, “there is lots going on and the actions of the Legislature touch many aspects of our lives, it is imperative that we elect a strong voice which carries our values and concerns.”
Of the 100 elected State Representatives in the state, 48 are Democrats, a majority of whom are not from rural areas, and successful passage of bills is a “team sport” which requires cooperation from both major political parties.
Curry emphasized that there is not a crisis in governmental leadership, although she feels “we could do better “ and, specifically, “I feel I can make a difference.”
From the audience, Schuyler Denham observed that a good point in Curry’s favor is her experience within the district and the fact he is unaware the current House District incumbent, Catlin, has ever visited Hinsdale County.
Curry fielded a number of questions and, as a Gunnison County rancher with her husband, Greg Peterson, was asked on her views of the impending West Slope re-introduction of wolves which is scheduled to begin in the north portion of the West Slope in 2024.
It was not something she personally voted for, Curry stated, and, on a personal basis, she says “I worry for my heifers.” As a lobbyist at the State Capitol, Curry has worked on management issues including a fair compensation figure for losses which will occur. Queried further by Schulyer Denham on both mountain lions and wolves as predators, Curry said that mountain lions prefer elk as their favored prey, while wolves, on the other hand, have a preference for cattle and especially calves.
Speaking from experience, Curry said she and her husband intentionally disperse cattle on their east Gunnison ranch during the calving season, in part in order to decrease the spread of disease. Dispersed calves are an ideal target for nighttime wolf predation, she noted, and the best preventative is probably human interference.
On her ranch, she noted they are looking into increased horseback surveillance and perhaps installing electricity for increased lighting. “We’ll have to tighten down how we do calving,” she said, “it’s a management challenge.”
The topic of OHVs in the town and county was brought up, Curry stating that as a “hot button issue” she would be interested in suggestions on how state legislators might alleviate the situation. As a suggestion, Henry Woods commented the state should take steps to make OHVs street legal, and consequently licenseable, in terms of requiring turn signals, mirrors, mufflers, and lights.
Curry said OHVs are also a topic in Taylor Park and at the Town of Pitkin, both within Gunnison County.
Asked for her views on gun control, she said she prefers to think of it as a violence problem of which guns are a part. She advocates for addressing violence directly and believes in existing laws while also acknowledging “the right of people to go to public gatherings and not be shot.”
From the audience, Gene Brown suggested that a better description for gun control might in fact be gun safety and universal background checks.
Other topics briefly discussed were workforce housing, access to mental health counseling — the state’s suicide rate is three times higher in rural areas compared to urban locales, according to Curry — escalating nursing home and health insurance costs, and the deteriorating condition of state-owned parks and wildlife areas in the state.
Curry concluded her visit by asking for suggestions on how to best connect with Hinsdale County voters, with the suggestion for frequent return visits and occasional letters to the local newspaper.
