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I am County Commissioner from District 2 (Durango and surrounding areas) having grown up on cattle ranch and farm in Lewis, Colorado north of Cortez.  My goal in serving in office is to build healthy communities and a strong economy to benefit all residents in La Plata County. Since affordable housing is such a pressing issue, I serve on the Board of Directors for the multi-jurisdictional Regional Housing Alliance. 

Recognizing that a rapidly-changing climate has impacts for forest health, drought, and wildfire risk, with my fellow Commissioners and working with the City of Durango and the Durango Fire Protection District, I helped establish the Wildfire and Watershed Protection Fund (WWPF) in 2021 to carry out landscape-scale mitigation work on private and public lands throughout La Plata County. The project has received over $2,000,000 in funding for local mitigation work. 

La Plata County has a rich agricultural heritage. And, as a 4-H member for 10 years in my youth, I bring those experiences serving as the liaison to the Colorado State University (CSU) local Extension Advisory Council.

Because substance abuse disorders are impacting students, families and entire communities, I am a founding member of the SouthWEST Opioid Response District (SWORD) Board of Directors. This regional collaborative accepts and deploys State of Colorado opioid settlement(s) funds for use in getting more services for residents across southwest Colorado. La Plata County is the fiscal agent. 

 

I served on the Board of San Juan Basin Public Health for three years, an entity that is dissolving Dec. 31, 2023. It will be replaced by the new La Plata County Department of Public Health. 

Working with both the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribes, two sovereign nations with lands in La Plata County, is a high honor.  I am on the State of Colorado's Commission on Indian Affairs as an Ex-Officio Member. 

I serve on the land use, human services and public land steering committees for Colorado Counties, Inc. 

Prior to being elected to office office,  I was a professional facilitator leading numerous meetings and complex stakeholder processes to address a wide range of public issues. Several of her key accomplishments include: Hermosa Creek Workgroup; Firewise Southwest Colorado; Southwest Trails Roundtable; La Plata Community Clinic; to name a few. From 1994—2000, I was executive director for six years of a regional nonprofit Operation Healthy Communities (OHC), a group that helped complete projects to foster healthy communities.    

My past volunteer experiences include the La Plata County Fiscal Needs Committee; Airport Planning Advisory Committee; County Road and Bridge Campaign Issues Committee; La Plata Community Clinic;  United Way Fundraising Committee; Big Brothers/Big Sisters of La Plata County; La Plata Historical Society; Community Foundation Serving Southwest Colorado; and the Durango Food Bank. 

I am honored to have won awards including: 2009 Colorado State Forest Service Statewide Partner of the Year ; the 2009 Boys and Girls Club of La Plata County Service to Youth Award; and the Leadership La Plata Barbara Conrad Leadership Award in 2006.

My education includes holding a Bachelors of Arts degree in Social Work from Colorado State University and a Master of Social Work from the University of Denver (Denver campus program) and I am a 2001 graduate of Leadership La Plata.     

 

With my husband John Norton, who is a Fort Lewis College graduate from the School of Business, we moved to Durango in 1994 to escape Denver’s crime and pollution. We were 30 years old and had $10,000 in ready-cash so we bought a home in Durango where we live. My hobbies: herding two cats on a ¼ acre; camping and 4-Wheeling; and reading. I spend my off-time hiking, helping my family, xeriscape gardening, cooking, and catching the occasional PBS show, when time. 

Date: December 2023

 

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