By Jon Huang
Carrie Geitner lives in Falcon and has been in Colorado for 12 years with her husband and two children. She currently is completing her first term as county commissioner. Additional information on Commissioner Geitner can be found on her website at https://www.carriegeitner.com/meet-carrie.
What do you think are the main issues facing the Falcon area that you’re able to address from your position?
Road infrastructure is certainly one of those things because I live in Falcon, drive these roads every day. That was one of the drivers, no pun intended, of me choosing to run for this office. We’re really proud of some of the projects that we’ve been able to accomplish, including Rex and Meridian, which is a huge deal to Falcon residents.
Another issue I am paying attention to is future water reliability. That’s also something I’ve been very passionate about and working on at the county. We are in the middle of an analysis of our aquifers right now, and so I’m looking forward to seeing that project through.
(Geitner said the commission has hired Bruce Lytle to perform the analysis. She said they hope to get preliminary reports by the end of the year, which would be followed by additional analysis over the following months.)
Public safety is also something I heard a lot about and continue to be passionate about in terms of especially how we prioritize our budget at the county. The sheriff’s office is an independent elected office, but we are able to support that office through making sure that it is taken care of in our budget, as well as the DAs (district attorney) office.
What does responsible development look like to you and how do you balance water resources with the needs of the growing community?
We always want to make sure that we are doing our best to keep up with infrastructure. One of the reasons that I ran is because I don’t think we were doing the best job of keeping up with infrastructure, and I really wanted to work on that. We are already on our way on that — that doesn’t mean that there isn’t more work to do.
Responsible growth means something different to everybody. To me, that is keeping up with those resources, making sure that development is paying its own way, meaning that we’re not putting the burden on those who already live here in terms of cost. If we need to expand a road because we have more people driving in Falcon, then those developments need to pay for those extensions and roads so that doesn’t fall on the current taxpayers. We have a road impact fee program. That’s actually how we’re seeing improvements to Rex and Meridian. That program continues to work, though it will always take some time, especially when we were coming from a place where we’re a bit behind in our roads.
We require anyone with a development application to provide us with proof and evidence that they have 300 years worth of water through the water courts. The water courts are the ones that decide … who’s got rights to which water, but they do have to prove that 300 years to the commission during that process. We are doing an analysis of our aquifers to just kind of look and see, you know, how we think that has been working, but it’s a complicated process, because the state is involved in that court system.
Sometimes the planning commission and the BOCC will disagree on proposals like the recent case with the RV park. Why does this happen?
Land use is one of the things that is probably most difficult for citizens to fully understand the entire process. Our land use process requires that we have a land development code, which has been in place a long time before I was around. We’ve done some modifications to that, but it’s a pretty comprehensive code. We’re actually in the middle of rewriting that code right now, a full comprehensive overhaul. Our land use process is to have a hearing by the Board of County Commissioners to compare the application. In that land use code, we have very specific criteria; we look at the application and we determine if the application meets the criteria.
That’s also what the planning commission is charged with, and they’re an advisory board, so they take a first look at it and do their best to determine again if it meets those codes and standards. Oftentimes, the applicant will come to the BOCC after getting feedback from the planning commission, and they will make different changes, or can ask us to consider specific conditions. So, in some cases, when we get a denial recommendation from the planning commission, they come back through the BOCC with considerably different pieces of their application in order to deal with the concerns presented by the planning commission. That’s sometimes why you see those big differences. Off the top of my head, I do believe there were significant changes made to that RV application, in particular, related to length of stay and some other issues that were brought forward.
How should citizens understand and interpret campaign donations from businesses like developers?
Developers or business owners in our community … have an interest in making sure that our communities remain strong, and part of that is related to governance. So I think it’s not atypical that they are involved. They want to see a good regulatory environment. They also contribute to things like school board races, because the quality of schools can really impact whether people want to move to an area. I think that’s a very typical thing that we see.
My job is to take all of those interests and sort it out as fairly as I can, and I believe that I will continue to do that, regardless of any of those campaign contributions: that’s just strength of character and integrity. I’m not a perfect person, but I do think that is something I pride myself on.
I have never, ever had any donor come to me and try to put pressure on me based on a donation that was given … and so I would not be very susceptible to that. I know (citizens) don’t all know me on a personal level, but I think those that do know that I have a very strong sense of doing what is right, and I would never take that into account in a decision.
Anything else important for folks to know about your campaign?
I think if there was anything else that I really want voters to know, is that we are so impacted in El Paso County by federal laws, by state laws, and we constantly are speaking up for them to the very best of our ability. As the state liaison for the county on legislative matters, I spend a good bit of time advocating at the state level as well for the kind of laws that our local community wants, even though it’s an uphill battle, and we’re really plugged into that process. We always move forward and really do work to the greatest extent, to affect all the policies that are affecting residents.
Are there other areas that you’re passionate about?
I want to be as accessible as possible. I want to use the position to truly help others. I want to use it to where, if a person or a group is having issues in a certain area, I want to be there, and I want to talk to them about it. I want to sit down with folks, sit on their front porch and talk about the issues that are happening in ways that I can help. I can talk policy all day long and I can spit out numbers and facts and data and everything, but at the end of the day I want to represent the community in the way that I think that people should be representing it. I think accessibility, accountability, transparency and honesty are just as important as any data or any facts or figures I can spin at you. I really do feel very passionate about that.
Ballot Box locations Falcon and Black Forest
Fire Station 1 — Falcon Fire Protection District 12072 Royal County Down Road
Falcon Park-n-Ride —11858 Swingline Road
Black Forest Fire & Rescue — 11445 Teachout Road
Black Forest Park-n-Ride — 7503 Black Forest Road
