Editor’s note: The Crestone Eagle is running all letters of support it received for county commissioner candidate Adam Kinney and incumbent Tom McCracken as of press time. They are presented in no particular order.
To the editor,
View from 30-year Crestone-Baca Grande residents:
Tom McCracken has been an extraordinarily effective Saguache County Commissioner because of his lifetime of experience in water and land management, environmental protection, local governance and building collaborations.
His local accomplishments are too numerous to mention. They include bringing Chaffee Shuttle Service to Crestone, providing meals in Crestone through Southern Colorado Seniors, and maintaining select roads in the Baca to the same standard as in the rest of the county. The evacuation route has been improved; stop signs have been installed on Wagon Wheel and Spanish Creek Trail; fire wells in the Grants and Safe Routes to School are also in progress.
Here are some of his additional accomplishments:
Tom helped renew the SLV Tourism Association. Lynne Young, president, stated, “If you had not taken an interest, we’d probably have disbanded…you made a difference.”
Tom persuaded the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) to use sales tax funds for the Crestone Fire House addition with a Saguache County Sheriff’s deputy office which will include a bathroom, wi-fi, and a kitchenette. He also launched a recycling program at the landfill.
He helped revamp SLV Development Resources Group and the Council of Governments (COG). Both organizations are now healthy and Tom is in his second term as chair.
He helped six San Luis Valley (SLV) counties enter into an intergovernmental agreement and the joint planning board for water export proposals. This collaboration is unique in Colorado.
He advocated for a county master plan to be updated with climate action plans. $30,000,000 from the state will help restore the aquifer and install meters to monitor wells.
He began free dump days to clean up blighted areas of the county.
He’s working to reinvigorate Vista Grande Recreation Area and to get White Eagle Village cleaned up, sold or redeveloped.
He sponsored “Know Your Local Producer Day” with more than 100 local producers participating. For two years, he advocated Senator Bennet’s Gunnison Public Lands Initiative (GLPI). He helped gain a letter of support from the Wildlife Conservation Area and strengthened the county’s relationship with Senator Bennet and the GPLI Working Group.
With his vast expertise and trusted network of local, county and state collaborations, we know Tom’s results for the next four years will be even more impactful.
Please vote for Tom for Saguache County Commissioner in the June primary so he may continue this amazing work.
Philip and Mikela Tarlow