Pagosa Springs Rotary ClubThe Mayor began by providing some personal history. He has lived in Pagosa Springs since 1973, he said, and since 1977 has been serving the town as a volunteer or employee. (Don did not say, but many of those years were spent as a member of the Pagosa Springs Police Department, including a lengthy tenure as Chief.). He identified his personal priorities in life as God, family and serving Pagosa Springs.
The Mayor expressed the hope that all members of the community also love Pagosa Springs, observing it is a family, and we do best when we work together. No one has all the answers, or even all the questions, he said, so we need to break down divisions, follow the Golden Rule to treat others as we would like for ourselves, and recall that the only thing we will “carry into eternity is our relationships.”
We must “care about each other,” he observed. And, he suggested, “commit yourself” to something bigger. With mutual caring, shared work and commitment, “Pagosa Springs will be off the charts,” the Mayor predicted.
Speaking of other key figures in the Town government, Don extolled the collegiality of the Town Council. The Mayor is one of seven members of counsel, who presides over meetings but does not possess any superior powers, being entitled like the other members to one vote in deciding issues presented.
The current Town Manager is Andrea Phillips, who took over the job upon the retirement last year of Greg Schulte. The former Manager left “big shoes to fill,” said the Mayor, but Ms. Phillips has been great, and everything the Town could have hoped for. She may even one day surpass Schulte’s legacy, he observed.
With regard to the Archuleta County Board of Commissioners, the Mayor said the Town and County have a very good relationship. Council and the Commissioners meet once monthly in a joint work session, and in recent years have cooperated closely on identifying and seeking to foster progress on three community priorities: Early Childhood Development, Affordable Housing, and Broadband Internet Service. The mayor commented that the Town and County could do even better than they have in working together, but overall the relationship is very positive.
With regard to the three community priorities, in response to an inquiry what could be done to improve slowness in the rate of achieving progress, the Mayor commented that we don’t have a king and democracy takes time. But, he suggested consistent with his initial theme, we can achieve more progress by coming together with a shared commitment to finding solutions.