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Friday, February 29, 2008

Democrat steps into Garfield County commissioner race

Bershenyi challenges incumbent Martin

Stephen Bershenyi
Stephen BershenyiENLARGE
Stephen Bershenyi
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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