Creede meets 2018 candidates

The 2018 candidates met with the public to answer questions Tuesday night at the Creede School.


CREEDE— Residents of Creede gathered in the lecture hall at the Creede School to meet and discuss topics with this year’s electoral candidates. Members of the public asked the candidates questions regarding various issues.
The Creede school government class helped prepare the event and were present to not only ask questions but aid in keeping the conversations going between candidates and the public. The school has been instrumental in hosting a meet-the-candidates night for several years and uses the information gathered to learn about elections and local government.
The night started off with brief introductions beginning with Commissioner Scott Lamb who is running unopposed for his third term in office. Lamb has been a long-time resident of Creede and would like to use his next term to continue working on several projects that include keeping Mineral County financially stable. One question that was posed by a student inquired whether or not Lamb would consider working to pave the road leading to the school, to which Lamb responded that it was on his list of things to accomplish and that funding for the project would need to be acquired.
Next was Eryn Wintz, Mineral County clerk, who has been with the county for 14 years, serving as the clerk for 13. Wintz took a moment and explained why she wanted to run for her fourth term in office, stating that she feels very passionate about elections and is very proud of the progress she has made as clerk in the county. One question that was posed to Wintz from the public asked whether or not the fact that county employees are getting a raise this year had anything to do with her running for office.
Wintz responded that she was not sure whether or not she would have run if the raise was not in the future; Wintz is running unopposed and stated that she had not received a raise for her position for at least 12 years and that it was a factor in her decision to run. “Considering the amount of work I have done over the years has now increased, I feel a raise is well overdo, and I cannot say with certainty whether or not I would have run otherwise. I am just being honest.”
Michael Averette and Patti Payne were both in attendance and are running for county treasurer. Each candidate spoke about their experience with the position, beginning with Averette who stated that he does not like running against Payne since they have worked together for some time and have become friends. Averette stated that he would bring efficiency and attention to detail to the position and help the treasurer’s office run more smoothly if he is elected.
Payne has been the county treasurer for the past 20 years, also serving as the public trustee. One question that was asked by the public was why Payne wanted to run for another term, to which Payne responded that she loves the work she does and loves Mineral County. Payne stated that she has kept the financial books for the county in balance for the past 20 years and stated how proud she is to serve the community.
Libby Lamb, the current county assessor, is also running unopposed for her third term in office. Lamb stated that she enjoys her position with the county and wants to continue to see that the growth happening in the area is recorded properly so the town can benefit from the taxes collected due to that growth.
Mineral County Sheriff Fred Hosselkus is running for his fourth term, and for the first time in recent history, is unopposed. Hosselkus was asked by a student what he would do to help enforce ATV laws in town, to which he responded that though the sheriff’s department does not enforce ordinances for the town, they do enforce and will continue to enforce traffic laws throughout the county, as well as in town.
The last candidate for the 2018 election was Jim Adelman who is running unopposed for Mineral County coroner. Adelman stated that he has been serving as deputy coroner to Charles Downing for the past 10 years and hopes to be able to serve Mineral County as coroner. Adelman also stated that he has experience serving as an EMT and has trained under Downing which gives him knowledge of the position and the ability to do the job well.


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