Editor:
As I begin my first-ever campaign for elective office county commission for District 3 (Mancos) it is disconcerting to read the opinion of D.K. Murphy of Cortez in the June 21 edition of the Cortez Journal. This later stated, ... if anyone wants to bring a breath of fresh air or a new idea to this Republican-locked county, he or she would have to be on the Republican ballot. Naming yourself Republican is the only hope to be taken seriously.
I am running as an unaffiliated candidate. It is true that no unaffiliated candidate has ever been elected as a county commissioner in Montezuma County. In my opinion, being the first is not impossible.
I believe that I have been taken seriously from Day 1 in helping to initiate the following new ideas in Montezuma County in recent years: 1) Habitat for Humanity of Montezuma County, 2) the Montezuma Community Economic Development Association (MCEDA), 3) the Cortez Mural Committee, 4) the Citizen Advisory Team of the Orton Foundations Heart and Soul Project for Cortez, 5) the Food Task Force of Livewell Montezuma, and 6) the Ag Roundtable of Montezuma County. While none of these fledgling organizations have yet become permanent fixtures for Montezuma County, they have all begun to make positive contributions to our community.
As the Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, said over 2500 years ago: The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Hopefully the open-minded voters of Montezuma County will take me and my ideas seriously even though I am not a registered Republican.
Greg Kemp
Mancos
Editors note: Kemp and Larry Don Suckla will meet GOP candidate Dewayne Findley in the November general election for the District 3 seat on the Montezuma County Commission.