Letter to Editor | A few of the reasons why I’m not voting for Rick Hughes

||| FROM MICHAEL JOHNSON |||

I appreciate some of the things that Rick has done… for doing his job. But, doing what’s expected of you does not make you a champion, and he will not be getting my vote.

I fear that some, (especially the many new people who have recently moved here), will be voting in this election out of the perception that everything was O.K. before the pandemic, and therefore everything will return to normal after the pandemic has subsided. Even though it’s easy to fall into this illusion, and to end up casting a vote simply by name recognition, and all the campaign rhetoric that we’re continually being bombarded with, (“Don’t look over there, look over here”), the reality is that the San Juans were in decline long before the pandemic, and that there continues to be many saying that we deserve better than just going back to “normal.”<

I’m not a single-issue voter… in thinking locally, concerns about the pandemic, climate change, our environment, and growth related issues, and over-tourism are at the top of my short-list. I believe that during our COVID-19 response there were indeed community heros who arose amongst us, and I also believe that members of SJC’s Health Dept. (the emergency response folks) went above & beyond… and still are. Thank you. I also believe, however, that no matter how you spin it there have been so many inconsistencies in the county’s COVID 19 response that I’m convinced that we have, to date, (if you call 36 confirmed cases a success), that we’ve been “lucky” as much as anything.

A champion, in my opinion, in the last 8 years would have organized, promoted, and supported a climate change resilience group; they would have organized a group researching the impacts of over-tourism, and the cause & effect of growth in regards to the decline of our environment… a champion would have listened to the people, and would have done this years ago.

Having voted for Rick in the past I am now voting for Cindy Wolf.