Politics continue to be a rollercoaster at several different levels, at times explosive and ugly and difficult to stomach, and often difficult to predict.
We never know what will hit our inbox next, what the next soundbyte will be, what headlines we’ll see next, what the stock market will do, etc. This is a very unpredictable time with a lot of possible consequences for areas like Archuleta County.
To say it’s wearing us out is an understatement.
On Tuesday evening, we listened in on Rep. Jeff Hurd’s telephone town hall with constituents.
We went into the event skeptical of what we’d hear from the freshman congressman and how civil the event would be.
Perhaps we went in with our expectations lower than they should have been — and we acknowledge the event was moderated and included mute features not available at in-person events — but we ended up being pleasantly surprised.
We were pleased with the politeness, as well as the reasonable takes and firm stances Hurd expressed on several issues.
We can imagine it would probably be easier as a freshman congressman at such an uncertain time to hold the party line and blend in, but Hurd answered questions and spoke on many topics during the hour-long event, including immigration, threats to the electric grid, green energy, La Plata Electric Association, firearms, federal lands, national security, China, Ukraine, the Department of Government Efficiency, fire danger and forest management, veterans services, bipartisan legislation he’s a part of, and more.
We appreciate Hurd’s firm stances against Russia and Vladimir Putin, calling Russia the aggressor in the war against Ukraine and Putin a dictator.
Hurd expressed concern, like us, with how federal cuts have taken place and the effects the cuts could have on things such as fire mitigation. He has proposed, among other things, ways to ensure anyone who may be reinstated or rehired to not lose any seniority if they rejoin their previous agency.
We appreciate that Hurd is part of several pieces of bipartisan legislation aiming to help the area.
We also appreciate that Hurd urged participation in local politics to help drive change after someone expressed dissatisfaction with LPEA.
Regardless of whether we agreed with Hurd or not (we’ve never found a politician we’ve agreed about everything), we found the event a breath of fresh air (we’re also not sure we’ve ever used the words “breath of fresh air” in the same sentence as “politician” before, but these continue to be unprecedented times).
The event was one of a few we’ve found to be refreshing positives lately.
We also appreciate Archuleta County and the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office stepping up to help a neighbor when Durango was looking for a more economical way to house its sentenced municipal offenders, just as it has done for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and Costilla County.
One letter writer expresses this week how positive they found a recent Pagosa Springs Town Council discussion to be.
We also appreciate the local boards that have taken time to publicly acknowledge the unknowns, the possible funding cuts and how they’re preparing and working together as we all face the unknown.
It’s important for the community to know what’s going on and what could be at stake as we move forward, though we hope the worst-case scenarios don’t come to be.
Here’s to hoping for more refreshing positives.
Randi Pierce
