By Kyle Stinnett
Randy George is running for the County Commissioner District 3 seat this election day. George filled former Commissioner Manguso’s seat in June of 2022 and since then, has been serving the county in this seat. This time of serving as county commissioner, combined with his past positions, has given him a unique perspective on how to best lead. George states, “In the past 40 years, I’ve served as the President of the Colorado Dude and Guest Ranch Association, President of the Colorado Cross Country Ski Association, and I was president of the school board here in Grand County. I think what I have to offer (and what people tell me I have to offer), is a perspective that doesn’t get locked into the way things have been. I try to think of other creative ways and approaches to see what different outcomes we can get.”
He continues, “My engineering training has been great for that, along with my business administrative training. I have a unique, creative look that enables me to have creative solutions to problems as they arise. That is a less generic answer than saying, ‘I have an answer to the housing crisis!’”
Moreover, George explained his outlook on subsidiarity, where the smallest group has the largest amount of power. He said, “The smallest group in a society has the most authority, so that would be the family.” He continues on to explain that the family is the most powerful group of people in our area because from the family, the power moves to the community and then the township and county. Townships and the county are the ones where the most authority and responsibility lies and luckily we are in close proximity to the most powerful group of people, the family.”
George stated that, in realizing the proximity and responsibility to impact this group of people, the county has a certain standard that must be held. He says, “I think we need to focus on our most basic of responsibilities: roads, public safety, and protection of our environment. These are things that are not easily accomplished by families and non-profit institutions.”
Additionally, we discussed the greater impact someone in this position has the ability to make. In relation to the county’s involvement with the state, George stated, “I’ve learned from there that the county serves as a political subdivision of the state. Essentially, what that means is that there are certain things that are required of the county. Most of the time these are programs that we are required to implement and fulfill. These programs are mainly funded by the state, so there is a lot of money that passes through to accomplish these programs.”
George continued in the interview to discuss how impressed he has been with how much the county has been able to save funds in the past several years. He stated that we now have some funds that could be allocated to fixing things like roads and continuing to pursue enhancing public safety in the county and taking care of our environment. He believes that with his extensive background in business administration and engineering, he can continue helping the county move in the direction it needs to continue making this county a great place to live.
In his closing remarks George summarized his perspective for the future. He explained, “In moving forward, we need to focus on the three basic responsibilities: roads, public safety, and protection of our environment. All the while, we must remember that the county government is here to serve the members and residents of the county. The kinds of responses that people should expect from the government should be consistency (not favoritism), coherency (you should understand what we are doing), and we need to think of ourselves as being service oriented. What we don’t want is to have institutional arrogance that disregards the people we serve.”
Remember, election day is November 8th, 2022. To ensure that your voice is heard you can register to vote at https://co.grand.co.us/1097/Voter-Registration
