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Democrat steps into Garfield County commissioner race
Bershenyi challenges incumbent Martin
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By Phillip Yates
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
February 29, 2008
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GLENWOOD SPRINGS — A Democratic challenger to Garfield County Commissioner John Martin, a three-term incumbent, declared his candidacy Thursday.
Stephen Bershenyi made his announcement to run for the District 2 commissioner
seat at the train station in downtown Glenwood Springs with about 15 supporters watching.
Bershenyi said that there are a “myriad of issues” that are not being addressed and
“that they will not wait for us,” adding that the county needs to build a better
relationship with the oil and gas industry and to institute a county open-space policy.
“Imagine, if you will for one moment, that on the other side of this station there is a
train sitting,” Bershenyi said. “That train is the future express for Garfield County. This
morning I am inviting all of the citizens of Garfield County to board that train with me
and help me take this county in a new direction so that when that train arrives at its
destination, which is the future of Garfield County, we can all be proud of the results
we see.”
Bershenyi said he felt that his chances of toppling Martin were good.
“I think I have an excellent chance,” he said. “I hope the citizens of Garfield County
will give me an opportunity to serve them. I have talked to a lot of people, and I have
had an overwhelmingly positive response.”
Martin said late Tuesday that Bershenyi has his “political platform and planks within his platform, and that he needs to go ahead and deliver it, as I will with mine.”
“If the majority of the people like what they hear and believe what they hear from him or I, they will choose who will represent them for the next four years,” Martin said. “My point has always been being accountable, being responsible and having to make sure that if I say I am going to do something, is to get it done and not continue to study it.”
Shape of the races
In the District 3 commissioner’s race, Rifle attorney Steve Carter, a Democrat, will face off against Republican Mike Samson, the Rifle High School dean of students.
That position is wide open after Republican incumbent Larry McCown opted against
running for re-election.
Democrat Trési Houpt, who is in her second term as commissioner, is not up for
re-election this year.
Dean Moffatt, a Glenwood Springs architect who was at Bershenyi’s announcement
Thursday morning, said the candidate is familiar with “the culture and the makeup of
our county.”
“To me, he is a breath of fresh air in understanding where we have been and where
we need to go,” Moffatt said.
What are some of the issues?
Bershenyi said he would like to forge a “a new and more complete working
relationship with the oil and gas industry,” and to sit down with the oil and gas
interests and producers and “let them know what we, as a county, reasonably expect
them to do.”
That would include telling companies that it is a “reasonable expectation” that the
companies immediately begin using the “best and highest” practices of the industry to
reclaim all of the completed well pads in the county.
On Tuesday, Martin also said the county needs to improve its relationship with
energy companies, but added that the relationship is already “very good.”
“(Industry has) partnered with the county on many issues,” said Martin, referring to
issues like using new approaches to recycling of water, chemicals and muds and to
stop flaring at natural gas wells unless it is a necessity.
The county has taken a lead on several oil-and-gas issues, like permitting
compressor stations on private property, rules on pipelines and noise ordinances,
Martin said. He added the county is the first in the state to regulate temporary housing
of oil and gas workers at area well pads.
“People sometimes don’t see what is going on or pay attention,” Martin said. “It is our
duty to make sure the industry toes the line, does the very best practices and protects
the safety and welfare of their employees, as well as the citizens and the
environment.”
Another issue that Bershenyi said needs to be addressed is “land use and
developmental issues.” That could include the county moving to start an open space
policy, Bershenyi said.
“Some of the valley floor must be sequestered so that we have open space, which
will help to provide us with that same quality of life we now enjoy,” said Bershenyi.
When asked whether his open space proposal would require a new tax or if the
county would allocate money for open space, Bershenyi responded by saying that
“the county has not been an active player in seeking to build a funding relationship
with entities that might join them to try and acquire the funding necessary to provide
some of those spaces.”
While discussing affordable housing, Bershenyi said it is an issue that he is studying
and that as he becomes more versed on the matter, he will make his views known.
“I am just in the beginning stages of studying that issue,” Bershenyi said. “We need to
provide some sort of affordable housing, I just don’t know what shape or form that will
take yet.”
Contact Phillip Yates: 384-9117pyates@postindependent.com
Stephen Bershenyi biography
Hometown: Glenwood Springs
Education: Degrees in German and English from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Occupation: Artist/blacksmith with his own studio in Carbondale.
Time in Garfield County: After nearly 30 years spent on the Front Range, Bershenyi moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in 1995 with his wife, Jo, a craniosacral and massage therapy practitioner and educator.
Family connections to Garfield County: His maternal great grandparents moved their family to the Roaring Fork Valley in 1870. Walter Frost, Bershenyi’s grandfather, served as Garfield County Clerk and Recorder from 1918 to 1948.
Bershenyi’s paternal grandparents immigrated to the area from Europe in 1903 and went to work for George Hammerich on Fourmile Creek. After owning and operating several cattle ranches, his grandparents purchased the Hammerich property in 1947, and raised Hereford cattle there until 1990. That ranch is now the site of the Springridge subdivision.
Source: Candidate’s biography
Post Independent, Glenwood Springs, Colorado CO
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