Which candidates will work to protect our air quality?
We sent a questionnaire to each of the 8 candidates running for Grand Junction City Council. Four did not respond. Here are responses from the 4 candidates who answered our questions, and to whom we offer our thanks for their thoughtful consideration.
Randall Reitz-At Large
1. What should the City of Grand Junction do to protect our air quality and
prevent Front Range levels of pollution on the Western Slope?
All locals will remember August of 2020 as the month when ash fell from the skies for weeks as a result of the Pine Gulch Fire. This fire was just 15 miles north of Grand Junction and, at the time, was the biggest forest fire in recorded Colorado history. Burning wood of all types is a major contributor to unhealthy air quality, as is exhaust from automobiles.
The city has already taken steps to mitigate some of these risks. These include limitations on the types of fireplaces that can be built in new homes, a system for identifying when air quality is too poor for burning of any type, and a permit system for regulating burning waste. These are reasonable reforms that should be continued.
We live in a valley that averages 320 days of sunshine per year. The city should be more active in promoting large-scale adoption of solar energy. There will always be a need for a robust energy supply from fossil fuels to back-up renewable energies.
And finally, transportation. Local businesses would benefit from increased installation of charging stations for electric vehicles. As the only mid-sized city between Salt Lake City and Denver, we are a natural stopping point for electric car drivers. These drivers get off the interstate, hook up their car, and then go to local shops and restaurants for 1-2 hours while their car charges. It’s a win-win-win for local businesses, the environment, and tourists who get to know our area. Similarly, despite being a Mecca for mountain biking and road biking, Grand Junction is not a bike friendly community. Our streets are very car-centric and we lack any sufficient biking corridors through town. Everyone who rides a bike can share stories of car accidents, near misses, and angry interactions with motorists. I will advocate for more dedicated urban bike routes.
2. How do you think having clean air in the Grand Valley goes together with
economic growth?
Before moving to Grand Junction 20 years ago, I’d spent several years in Salt Lake City. There are several similarities between these cities, including climate, location in a valley, and having economies that benefit greatly from tourism and recreation. One of the primary reasons I’ve adopted Grand Junction as my home is because Salt Lake City has unbearable month-long inversions every winter. The air quality becomes so poor that it completely obscures the Wasatch Mountains that parallel the city. Grand Junction locals know that a similar problem exists in Grand Junction every year, but on a much smaller scale. Fortunately, the city has taken a proactive approach to limiting air pollution in the
winter and I believe we are on the right track for long-term success. Air quality attracts families. Air quality supports outdoor recreation. Air quality promotes health. Air quality grows a diverse economy.
3. What suggestions do you have for how we can remind people that clean air is a shared value, and that everyone should care about protecting the air
we breathe, regardless of political affiliations? How could we put these suggestions into action?
I’m a proponent of crowd-sourcing air quality assessment through cheap and effective air quality monitors that stream data directly to the internet. There are now hundreds of these monitors around Grand Junction and residents can easily assess how we’re doing at any time. This is an example of democratization of information and marshalling information to assist families and leaders in making decisions. Each time our city descends into dangerous air quality, this shared knowledge ripples through the community, raising awareness of the risks of poor air quality and the benefits of improving air quality.
Western Coloradans have traditionally been very skeptical of climate change. This worldview is reflected in the ambivalence of current city leaders to enact climate policies or clean energy in city buildings. I will start by advocating for clean energy focus at the city level so the city will role model good climate stewardship. Each city council meeting begins with recognizing notable events and important people. I will use this time to highlight environmental gains in the community.
Rick Taggart-Dist. A (Incumbent)
1. What should the City of Grand Junction do to protect our air quality and prevent Front Range levels of pollution on the Western Slope?
• The City should continue to expand the harvesting and utilization of methane gas, a bi- product of the Presigo wastewater treatment plant. As new vehicles are needed in the City’s fleet these should be powered by this renewable gas.
• The City passed an ordinance banning burning within the City. This ordinance should be reviewed again to strengthen the restrictions as needed.
• Council has just approved a new comprehensive plan and before this updated growth impact fees. Both measures encourage intelligent growth within the core of our city where infrastructure is already in place. Growth in the core of the city enables citizens to utilize mass transit, walk or ride in our downtown corridor as opposed to utilizing automobiles on a continual basis.
• New roads and reconstructed streets should always be planned for multi-modal use, again to encourage mass transit, walking or riding whenever possible.
• More recharging stations are needed for electric car use within the City.
• The City needs to continue to work with the County and your organization (Citizens for Clean Air) to explore cost efficient methods (as you are doing already) to reduce agricultural burns.
• The City needs to continue to contract and expand when available its subscriptions in solar farms for City buildings.
• While difficult to do, the relationships with the Canal Companies are critical if we are ever to utilize canal trails for commuting to work by walking or riding.
2. How do you think having clean air in the Grand Valley goes together with economic growth?
Clean air and economic growth go hand in hand. For the most part, we as leaders of companies, want to locate our companies in areas that have an educated workforce, where there is cost efficiency and where there is a high quality of life. Grand Junction fits this description; thus, it is vital that we protect our quality of life. Clean air being a major component of this quality of life, if we fail to protect it economic growth will stagnate.
3. What suggestions do you have for how we can remind people that clean air is a shared value, and that everyone should care about protecting the air we breathe, regardless of political affiliations? How could we put these suggestions into action?
This is a difficult question, because I believe most citizens take clean air for granted until it is not. We read very little about it in the valley until the burn seasons and by then it is too late to correct the situation. In my business career, when I encountered a difficult subject of this nature, I asked my team to research other companies and their best practices on the subject. In this case we at the City should do the same, researching vibrant communities that have a high quality of life and are dedicated to clean air. What actions have they taken and can these actions be duplicated here.
It is going to take a collaborative effort between the City, the County, the Education Community, the Agricultural Community, and organizations such as yours to find solutions to protect our air quality. I know we have tried seminars and conferences and these help, but unfortunately these strategies do not reach as many people as are needed to move the needle. I think we at City Council should dedicate at least two major workshops each year on our quality of life and clean air. Perhaps the Daily Sentinel could dedicate every month (at a minimum) a column on the subject. Like other difficult subjects we must think outside of the box and find ways to discuss and educate ourselves on clean air.
Dennis Simpson-Dist. D
1. What should the City of Grand Junction do to protect our air quality and prevent Front Range levels of pollution on the Western Slope?
In my view, the most important thing we can do is to regularly communicate with citizens about the risks associated with foul air and the benefits of doing things like improving the recycling program, improving ability to travel by public transportation and bicycles, and promoting e-mobility.
The City should consider providing limited financial assistance to the experts in our community who have ideas for how to go beyond the items listed above. I read the Biochar power-point presented at the recent meeting of Citizens for Clean Air and found the concept interesting.
2. How do you think having clean air in the Grand Valley goes together with economic growth?
For the last few years, our City had had a healthy growth that has been driven primarily by two factors:
Improved technology that allows people to escape the cities and work in communities like Grand Junction.
We have been discovered as a wonderful place for people to retire.
For both of these categories, it is important that we have air quality that allows the enjoyment of all of the outdoor opportunities.
As this growth continues, we need to make sure we don’t sacrifice any of the things that we all love about Grand Junction. We will need to be smart about how this growth happens and one of the factors to emphasize is the ability to maintain and improve our air quality.
3. What suggestions do you have for how we can remind people that clean air is a shared value, and that everyone should care about protecting the air we breathe, regardless of political affiliations? How could we put these suggestions into action?
I think we need to use the Public Relations department of the City to regularly get the word out to the community. As we develop things like a more efficient recycling system, these successes could be celebrated in several forums. If we want to change citizen’s actions, we should regularly communicate practical ideas.
We should develop and maintain a database that will report key statistics related to our air quality. For some people, this data could trigger the willingness to turn lights off and reduce auto travel.
As one member of a seven-person Council, I will need to cooperate with the other six to put any of these suggestions into actions. It will also be important that I listen to ideas from other Councilors and from experts in the community. This collaboration will lead us to the ideas that provide the most bang for the buck.
Abe Herman-Dist. E
1. What should the City of Grand Junction do to protect our air quality and prevent Front Range levels of pollution on the Western Slope?
Our city has made some great strides with outdoor burning regulations, installation of EV chargers in public spaces, and the prioritization of centralized development for decreased traffic congestion. I would like to see more adoption of EVs for city services like parks & rec vehicles, public transport, public works, etc. Not only does it help reduce emissions, but the long-term upkeep costs of EVs are significantly lower than those of ICE vehicles, making it more fiscally responsible as well. I also want to maintain our current focus on centralizing new development. The more centralized our community is as we grow, the less people have to commute to their jobs and other activities, and the less impact transportation will have on our local air quality.
2. How do you think having clean air in the Grand Valley goes together with economic growth?
I believe in a form of economic growth that takes the long view. Rather than short-term incentives to attract and retain businesses, I think real long-term economic development is simply creating a city that’s so great it attracts businesses and their employees to the area just because it’s a great place to live. No one wants to live in a polluted, smog-infested metropolis if they can avoid it. When you see what an inversion looks like in Denver or Salt Lake City, it makes the pollution and air quality problems quite apparent; nobody wants to be breathing in that dark gray layer. So, from a long-term perspective, maintaining our air quality is good for business and our economy, because it’s part of the great quality of life we have here that will attract businesses for the long term.
3. What suggestions do you have for how we can remind people that clean air is a shared value, and that everyone should care about protecting the air we breathe, regardless of political affiliations? How could we put these suggestions into action?
When we talk about preserving the purity and sanctity of our outdoor spaces, it’s a message that should resonate with everybody in our community. Almost all of us use the great public lands surrounding us in one way or another, whether you’re a hunter, angler, mountain biker, trail runner, hiker, skier, snowmobiler, rafter, or anyone else. That’s part of why we all live here, isn’t it? If we can speak to the beauty of these natural spaces we all enjoy for our recreation, and the image of the open blue sky and the clean, crisp air we have here, that is something we can all come together around, regardless of other attitudes and beliefs.