Editor:
Restoring trust and building community require community participation. That is why the first point in my 10-point plan to restore trust and build community is changing the time and place of public hearings.
Public hearings must be held at a time and place that is convenient for the public. In other words, public hearings that affect your community should be held at a time convenient to most working people and in your community. For example, if a developer is requesting to up-zone a parcel in Edwards, El Jebel, Eagle-Vail or another area of unincorporated Eagle County, there should be a public hearing in that area of the county at a time when most people are not working.
In fairness to the current board, they have held some meetings in the Roaring Fork Valley, but (those meetings) have been in the middle of the afternoon, when most people are at work.
The towns are way ahead of Eagle County in this area. Towns hold public hearings in the evening, when more people are able to attend and make their voices heard. The county needs to make more of an effort to listen and reach out to the citizens by changing the time of public hearings.
Currently, public hearings on most topics are held in the middle of the afternoon on Tuesdays. This means that the regular working person has to use vacation time in order to attend a public hearing. This system needs to be improved to make it easier for more people to have their voices heard by the people elected to represent them.
In cases that will directly affect a particular community, the Board of County Commissioners should hold a hearing on the affected community in that community before making a decision. In addition to holding meetings in communities to get input on special projects, the Board of County Commissioners should hold town hall meetings on a regular basis throughout the county. This (type of) forum is more comfortable for some people, and gives the commissioners another opportunity to listen to the citizens.
As county commissioner, I will support implementing public hearings and public meetings that are more convenient for the public.
Debbie Buckley
Avon
Candidate for Eagle County commissioner
Comments
Hats off to Debbie Buckley
Dear Editor,
Thank you for publishing the letter from Debbie Buckley, Eagle County Commissioner Candidate for District 2; it was a breath of fresh air reading her thoughts.
She seems to be a candidate that gets it!
Those of us who live in the Mid-Valley portion of the Roaring Fork Valley that is governed by Eagle County should throw our support behind this smart and commonsensical woman, please if you live in the Mid-Valley portion of Eagle County read her letter to the editor posted on July 21, 2008 titled "Restoring Trust, Building Community." I'm sure you will like what she had to say. Please vote for Debbie Buckley in November so we, those of us who live in the Eagle County portion of the Roaring Fork Valley, will have someone over in Eagle looking out for our interests, thanks.
Kind regards,
Bill Wallen
Basalt, CO