Tell us about your background. What has inspired you to run for BOCC?

I was born and raised just south of Seattle, at the base of Mount Rainier. Always an academic, I received my undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Washington; graduating with honors at the age of 19. I then proceeded in my field by spending a decade in Washington, DC working for the US Senate as a Legislative Aid & Correspondent to my home state Senator, Patty Murray. My areas of policy concentration in the office included: Education, Civil Rights, Budget & Taxes.

While working in policy, I turned my focus to studying the influence of public places in a Democracy (think schools, parks, sidewalks, roads, etc…) and found myself drawn to the field of Landscape Architecture where I eventually received her Masters Degree with a focus on Systems Design, from Colorado State University. While in school, I met her husband Jared Scott who was enriching his work with the US Forest Service, by receiving his PhD in Wildfire Management. We met in a Restoration Ecology class, but our future would take a sharp shift into wine, as soon as we visited SW Colorado.

In 2017, we moved from the Front Range to Durango (a place we both dreamed of living) and began to embark on our entrepreneurship journey. After an exhaustive overhaul of a rented building, and hurdles of red tape worthy of an olympic runner, EsoTerra served its first cider in 2020 - just two weeks before Covid shut down the State. Scraping to survive, EsoTerra made it through and continued to grow. Today, EsoTerra’s new ‘Arboretum’ project has broken ground and EsoTerra is queued up to be Durango’s only Estate Winery.

Many people ask me… “if you have that, why run for the Commissioner seat?”. The answer is simple; after we moved to Hesperus, we began a family. Today, we have two boys in pre-school and I worry that it will take the time between now and when they graduate, to help our region be ready for them to have the quality of life I want for them: well paying jobs, in a strong and stable economy, with a protected environment, clean water and air, and a strong sense of community.

Predominantly, I worry about the health and resilience of our regional economy. It is extremely difficult to start, maintain, and grow a business in La Plata. With the instability of our Nationwide economy, we should be laser focused on what we can do in our own backyard. We need pipelines from our education institutions directly to regional employers, mentorship programs that convert into jobs, and easier pathways for businesses to transition from concept to success.

I have played a central role in our region's entrepreneurial ecosystem for over 5 years now. What I hear more than anything is that ‘La Plata is a great place to envision your business, but not a great place to actually start it.” I find this heartbreaking, but I am not one to sit back when I can stand up, bring my skills to the table, and help fix some of the problems keeping La Plata from being the envy of Colorado.

Please describe, in your own words, what a County Commissioner does? What will the job entail?

What local county experience do you have - have you sat on city or county boards, commissions, non profits? Please include years of engagement.

What has been your personal experience(s) with the BOCC?

What will be your focal points / objectives to pursue with the BOCC?

Would could LPC do to increase its revenue or funding sources? How could they improve public facing communications?

What particular qualities do you bring to the "additional seats" (outside commissions, regional organizations) held by members of the BOCC? Are there any you are particularly interested in?

Where can people learn more and stay up to date on your campaign?