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August 3, 2000 Gallacher pledges to fight for private rights, against feds By Jim Mimiaga Journal Staff Writer
Although admittedly "behind the curve" on county issues due to recent heart bypass surgery and theresponsibilities of running his dry-cleaning business, county commission candidate Ray Gallacher believes that as a good listener and committed advocate of private rights, he could better represent the people of Montezuma County than his opponents. Gallacher is the Republican challenger running against incumbent Kent Lindsay for that party’s nomination during the Aug. 8 primary. The winner faces Democrat Tony Valdez in the November general election. Expressing concerns over what he sees as a one-world government’s plan to erode private property rights, Gallacher vowed that, if elected, he would fight the newly established Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and work toward protecting water rights crucial to agriculture from being stripped away by the federal government. While Gallacher said he is not certain of how specifically to do that, and does not know exactly why or how those rights are being threatened, he promised that if elected he would find out. "Right now the commission has blinders on. We need to listen more to what the people are saying," he said. "We listen to (U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce) Babbitt but not to the people who have lived here 100 years. If you do not listen, then you will not get the whole picture." As commissioner, Gallacher said, he would tap into the experience and input of the educated public, which he says has been ignored. "We need someone out there fighting harder for our personal rights," he said. "And there are some very intelligent people and groups out there that we need to pay attention to." He said that in the last year, he has not attended any commission meetings, but said he would be willing to "quit the laundry business in order to work full-time as a commissioner" if elected. "It is not enough to just meet once a week," he said of the commission’s Monday gatherings. "Closed doors is not the answer to the problems we have." Gallacher believes that the U.S. Constitution does not allow the federal government the right to own land, such as national monuments or parks. He also said that Mesa Verde National Park’s designation as a World Heritage Site means that it is now governed by the United Nations. As an example of how the federal government works against the best interests of the people, Gallacher cited the Bircher Fire, which he said could have been prevented had bulldozers been allowed to plow government-controlled land. He said he was unsure of whether the county’s Landowner-Initiated Zoning plan was a good idea until he could learn more. When asked how he would deal with the rights of property owners when they violated the rights of others, such as a high-impact construction site planned next door to a private residence, he said it needs to be negotiated so that "it is a win-win situation" for both landowners. "Otherwise, there is no value to it." He added that some zoning is needed and should be done "intelligently." "A cement plant has no place downtown, for instance." Gallacher said that the commission is not shopping around enough for more comprehensive insurance coverage for the sheriff’s department. "The insurance industry is very large, I’m sure that there are better deals out there that would get our officers’ families health coverage."
During the past four years, County Commissioner Kent Lindsay has faced some tough challenges, issues that demand diplomatic skills which he says come from the experience of being there. Lindsay, owner of the El Grande restaurant and a volunteer firefighter with the Cortez Fire Department, is seeking a second term as commissioner. In the Aug. 8 primary, he will face Ray Gallacher for the Republican nomination in District 2, the Cortez area. The winner will face Democrat Tony Valdez in the November general election. One of the toughest problems he has had to deal with, Lindsay said in a recent interview, is the issue of gravel pits. As the county grows, building materials are needed, meaning gravel needs to be mined and produced, but there is limit, Lindsay said, especially for pits in popular places prized for their natural, scenic qualities. "Along with growth you pour foundations and build roads, and for that you need gravel," he said, noting that for the Dolores River Valley "you will see real soon that there will be no more gravel-mining allowed in that valley, because of its value as a scenic by-way." When asked how reclamation plans for those pits or plans to mitigate the scars left by pipeline installations would be enforced, Lindsay responded that they need to be backed by performance bonds, financed by the developer and landowner, that are sufficient to cover the costs of mitigation if the owner fails to keep his promises. He suggested securing commitments of $1 per yard for reclamation regarding gravel pits. "If it is a half a million yards, why not half a million dollars for the bond?" He said the commission has used the bonds for enforcement of promises made to repair damaged areas, and called on one company recently to pay for better re-seeding on a pipeline right-of-way near Mancos. Among the commission’s accomplishments during his term in office, Lindsay touts improved relations between the municipalities and the county in the last four years, along with his involvement in bringing a new communications dispatch center to Cortez. "It used to be very fractious, with monster fights, but now it is better," he said. "With that dispatch center we have more local control." Also, Lindsay said that he worked to implement new county regulations involving growth that are "pretty stout," and thanks to those more stringent rules, the "commission was able to swing a much bigger club when the pipelines came through last time." He said that the Landowner-Initiated Zoning plan, which establishes zoned areas based on the choices of landowners and private business, has been working better than he thought it would, and is better than traditional county zoning systems where lines are drawn with less public involvement. He said there will always be controversy when zones are established that restrict what some land can be used for. "Some areas are obvious zones, but there are some areas where it will be tough to grant requested commercial zones in an area that is primarily agriculture, for instance. In some of those the zone will not be granted if the business plan will exceed impact standards already set for traffic, noise, sanitation, etc.," he said. Concerning the new national monument, Canyons of the Ancients, Lindsay feels the commission’s support of a bill that would have created a national conservation area instead was the only option available to them. Since that bill was dropped and the monument declared (against his wishes), he emphasized the importance of the federal government providing more funding to deal with increased visitation to the area. "If they do not, we end up paying for those extra costs," he said. |
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