My family had to evacuate during the Blackforest fire along with 41,000 other residents. I25 became bumperto bumper during the Blackforest and Waldo Canyon fire. Photo shows I25 north of Colorado Springs during the Waldo Canyon Fire.
RESPONSIBLE GROWTH & PUBLIC SAFETY
Growth Must Never Outpace Our Ability to Keep Residents Safe
Congestion now affects communities throughout El Paso County. Years of development without adequate transportation infrastructure have placed increasing pressure on roads that residents depend on every day.
But congestion isn't merely an inconvenience. During a wildfire or other disaster, those same roads become our evacuation routes—our life lines.
The Black Forest and Waldo Canyon fires showed us how quickly tens of thousands of residents can be forced to evacuate. Yet, we continue approving development that puts more cars on already burdened roads.
I support responsible, lower-density development where infrastructure and public safety require it. Major developments should demonstrate adequate road capacity, emergency access, and realistic evacuation capability before they are approved—not after the homes are built. We need to use the SCIENCE of evacuation modeling to estimate the impact developments have on our already non-survivable evacuation time. Residents should not their times and evacuation maps with safe areas identified when the roads become jammed. We have the tools, and I will ensure we use them and share them with the public who fund these tools.
If we can't get people out safely, we shouldn't keep packing more people in.
PROTECT OUR WATER
Water Is the Elixir of Life
Colorado's water is precious—and development decisions made today can affect our water supply for generations.
The proposed Buc-ee's illustrates the problem. Its original water analysis projected approximately 1.1 million gallons per month, based on roughly 11,000 vehicles per day. But real-world Buc-ee's traffic data now points to substantially higher customer volumes.
Applying the original water-use rate to traffic of approximately 27,000 vehicles on weekdays and 40,000 on weekend days produces an estimated demand of roughly 3 million gallons per month—nearly three times the original projection.
And this development would rely on groundwater from the Denver Basin, where declining aquifer levels are already a serious concern. Hydrogeologist Daniel Niemela documented one Palmer Lake Arapahoe well declining an average of approximately 17 feet per year.
We cannot approve yesterday's water estimates when today's traffic data tells a different story.
As Commissioner, I will demand that major developments demonstrate adequate, sustainable water supplies using current traffic, consumption, groundwater, and population data before approval—not after the wells begin to decline.
PROTECT QUIET COMMUNITIES
Your Home Should Be Your Sanctuary
People move to El Paso County for something increasingly difficult to find—space, peace, quiet, and a better quality of life. Those things are worth protecting.
The Ford Amphitheater controversy showed what happens when commercial
development and established neighborhoods fall out of balance. For nearly two years, I have worked alongside affected residents to demand accountability, preserve noise protections, and defend their right to peacefully enjoy their homes.
The Ford Amphitheater is not the only concern. As our county grows, data centers, entertainment venues, industrial uses, and incompatible high-density development can bring noise, traffic, lighting, and other impacts into communities that were never designed for them.
I support economic development. But economic development must respect the people who already live here.
Your home should never become collateral damage for someone else's development.
As Commissioner, I will fight for land-use policies that consider noise, compatibility, setbacks, buffering, and impacts on existing neighborhoods before projects are approved—not after residents are forced to fight them.
PROPERTY RIGHTS & RESIDENTS’ VOICE
Your Home. Your Investment. Your Voice.
For most families, a home is the largest investment they will ever make. Residents should be able to rely on established zoning and have a meaningful voice when proposed changes could affect their property, safety, traffic, and quality of life.
Yet too often, residents enter the process only after major decisions have gained momentum. Recently, residents appearing before the Board of County Commissioners were given just 90 seconds to speak.
Think about that. Ninety seconds to defend your home, your property rights, your safety, and your way of life.
The Framers of the U.S. Constitution understood that property rights are fundamental to individual liberty. The Fifth Amendment expressly protects private property from government taking without just compensation. Those protections were designed to restrain the power of government and safeguard the rights of the individual.
That principle still matters today. The property rights of the people must come first.
County government should not give those with the most money, lawyers, consultants, or political influence a louder voice than the residents who already live here.
I will fight for earlier public involvement, meaningful notice, transparent decision-making, and greater respect for the rights of existing property owners. The treatment of concerned residents who were forced to line-up to save seconds as each only were allowed 90 to speak at the Highway 83 / Walker Road Land Use Hearing was disgraceful.
Developers deserve a fair hearing. Residents deserve one too.
STRATEGIC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Better Growth. Better Jobs. Better Opportunities.
El Paso County needs economic development that raises our standard of living—not simply our population.
We don't need an endless cycle of more rooftops followed by more car washes, fast-food restaurants, storage facilities, and other development simply to serve the growth we just created. Residents can see that pattern happening across the county. Meanwhile, roads become more congested, infrastructure falls behind, and the cost of providing public services continues to grow.
We should be competing for high-wage employers and industries that create lasting careers—aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, technology, cybersecurity, medical innovation, and other businesses that strengthen our economy and expand opportunity for our children and grandchildren.
As Commissioner, I will support strategic economic development that brings better-paying jobs to El Paso County, broadens our tax base, respects our limited water and infrastructure, and makes this a more affordable place to live and do business.
Another car wash is development. A high-paying employer creating hundreds of careers is economic development. We need to understand the difference.
PROTECT PARKS, TRAILS & OPEN SPACE
Protect What Makes El Paso County Home
Our parks, trails, open spaces, wildlife habitat, and mountain views are not luxuries. They are part of the character and quality of life that make El Paso County special.
Once open land is lost to poorly planned development, we rarely get it back.
I will support responsible stewardship of county parks, preservation of important open spaces, connected trail systems, and development policies that respect wildlife and natural resources.
Some things are worth more than another development.
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TAXES & FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY
Families have to live within a budget. County government should too.
El Paso County residents work hard for their money. Every tax dollar collected by county government should be treated as money entrusted to us by the taxpayers—not an invitation to continually expand government.
Over roughly the last decade, El Paso County's population grew about 12%, while County staffing grew about 23%. Some additional employees are necessary to provide public safety, roads and essential services as our community grows. But when government staffing grows nearly twice as fast as the population it serves, taxpayers have every right to ask why.
As Commissioner, I will scrutinize spending, demand measurable results, and require new positions and programs to be justified. Public safety, roads and essential services come first. Government bureaucracy does not.
Economic growth should broaden our tax base—not become an excuse for government to spend more.
Every position. Every program. Every taxpayer dollar. Accountable.
RESTORE INTEGRITY & ACCOUNTABILITY
Government Should Work for the People
Trust in government is earned through transparency, fairness, and accountability.
Residents should know how decisions are made, who is influencing those decisions, and whether the public interest is being placed ahead of special interests.
I will support stronger transparency, open decision-making, clear ethical standards, and a culture where commissioners remember exactly who they work for.
Public office is a public trust—not a private club.
