Democratic Candidate Tracey JohnsonQ. What one part of county government would receive more attention if you were elected?A. I would want to first make sure that our county budget funds are distributed in such a way as to answer any needs developed as a result from COVID-19. The source of our income has been affected for all of us.I would also love to be able to raise the amount of county dollars within our given budget that is going to our parks and open spaces. There has been an increased amount of traffic in our parks and open spaces, and there has been some negative effects. We donít have a current budget to restore some of the damage or prevent future instances. I would like to do what I can to preserve this area so it really is a beacon of what draws people here.Q. What is your experience with preparing or authorizing budgets?A. I was a director on the District 20 board of education from 2011 to 2019. Budgets and auditing was a large part of that job. For six of my eight years on the board, I was in a leadership position and the budget was critical. In addition to budgeting, that experience involved following state mandates. I was responsible for a whole communityís budget for eight years and it gave me a lot of experience.Q. Do you plan to promote any changes to existing taxes? If so, why?A. I do not plan to promote any tax changes. I am totally in favor of the improvement districts and the various tax levitation tools that allow for development in the county. But, I am also cautious in regard to the amount of growth in the area. I think that if we grow too fast or without judiciously considering what we are giving up in exchange for that growth, we could lose all of what makes this area what it is.Q. What do you see as the most pressing needs in the district?Truly, it is growth and the management of growth. El Paso County alone is larger than some states. It is a big place that has great diversity and District 2 reflects that. The management and distribution of growth is something we need to focus on.Our water resource is most precious, and I want us to make sure we are responsible with that. I also want to focus on infrastructure and roads. With so many jobs and school work being done at home now, I want to make sure everyone has a reliable internet connection. I think we all want the same thing regardless of what party we are in; we all want to feel safe, to learn with our families and to live and work in freedom.Q. Tell us a little about yourself?A. What brought me to this race was truly the motivation to provide the voters of District 2 true choice in candidates. It has long been a single Republican candidate. It is about honoring and upholding the idea behind elections. I am here as that alternative.My family and I have lived here since 2001. I had stepped away from being an attorney to raise our family, and got involved with volunteering, especially at my kidsí schools. During my eight years on the board, I gained valuable experience.It was being an advocate that really is my passion. When I advocate for the community, I advocate for family. I advocate for respect. I celebrate and uphold all that is possible and good in public administration and government. There is good in all of us in this community.It is such a long shot for me to even consider being elected. But this process has been so much fun.You can learn more about District 2 commissioner candidate Tracey Johnson on her website at votetraceyjohnson.com.Republican Candidate Carrie GeitnerQ. What one part of county government would receive more attention if you were elected?A. The thing I hear most from constituents after knocking on thousands of doors this year is that they are very concerned about their roads. That is one area that I will spend a good amount of time on.Overall, my focus is on making sure that the government is working for our constituents and working for our small businesses. I want to make sure we donít have processes that are overly cumbersome and getting in the way of the success of our small businesses and constituents. We need to make everything accessible so they can get the responses they need from our local government.Q. What is your experience with preparing or authorizing budgets?A. I serve as board president for Mountain View Academy, which is a charter school. Obviously, budget is something I have been involved in. I also have experience working with nonprofits, and I own my own small business. Some of those are smaller than the county budget, but they are scalable. The principles of budgeting are consistent.Q. Do you plan to promote any changes to existing taxes? If so, why?A. I do not at this time. I think it is really important that we work within the budget that we have been given by voters, and I think itís incumbent upon us as leaders to respect that budget.Especially in a time of economic uncertainty from COVID-19, I think we need to make sure we are working in our budget and providing the best services we can within that budget.Q. What do you see as the most pressing needs in the district?A. I think, overall, a pressing issue in the district is COVID-19. It has a huge impact on our community, businesses and schools. We are going to be focused on that and the economic impact in the next year.For our citizens, we want to make sure things are efficiently working for them. When we have those economic struggles, we want to make sure there is nothing that is keeping them from being successful.Q. Tell us a little about yourself?A. I am a mom to two boys. I live in Falcon in the unincorporated area, which I think is important. A lot of the decisions we make affect our unincorporated residents. One of the reasons why I wanted to run for this seat is because I thought it was really important that their voice be communicated. They often feel underrepresented. But I do want to represent the entire district and keep the entire county at the forefront.Water is a huge issue out here. I want to make sure we are listening to our unincorporated folks who have a lot of concerns. They are really affected by the commissionerís decisions. I want to make sure they are getting the services they need and where to go to get those services.I really want people to feel like they can reach out and that we can have conversations. I am very concerned about our community. I want to make sure this is a great place to live and raise your family. I think that when we engage as a community and we start to talk about the things we want to see, we can get together and solve our problems.I think I just want to emphasize how I want people to feel free to reach out to me. There is a lot of distrust in government and a lot of frustration going on. Government is the thing that affects us most and the thing that can be very personal. I just want people to know that wherever they are on the political spectrum, I am always willing to have a conversation about the things that we can improve for our community.You can learn more about District 2 commissioner candidate Carrie Geitner on her website at https://www.carriegeitner.com.
