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Joint Meeting Highlights Difference in Montezuma and Dolores County Governance Styles

Austin Cope
/
KSJD
Montezuma County Commission Chair Larry Don Suckla (right) talks with the Dolores County Commission. Commissioners, from left: Steve Garchar, Chair Julie Kibel, and Floyd Cook

The Montezuma and Dolores County Commissioners have similar goals for public lands and natural resource management but may take different paths to get there, Dolores County Commission Chair Julie Kibel said at a joint public meeting on Tuesday.

 

 

Montezuma County Commission Chair Larry Don Suckla and Commissioner James Lambert met with the Dolores County Commissioners in Dove Creek to encourage more collaboration between the two counties. He recommended Dolores County attend state- and nationwide county conferences to share ideas and communicate opinions to legislators. But he also criticized Dolores County’s support of a national conservation area on the lower Dolores River and the county’s more cooperative relationship with environmental groups and public lands agencies. In response, Kibel said Dolores County can better stand up for its citizens by working with stakeholders instead of against them. Newly-elected Dolores commissioners Steve Garchar and Floyd Cook said little during the exchange, but seemed to agree with Kibel. The meeting lasted about half an hour, and ended with an agreement to try to work more closely in the future.

 

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