Hundreds of people waited in vain Monday for an aide to U.S. Representative Jeff Hurd to show up at a meeting in Dolores. The aide, Naomi Dobbs, never did, though she had reportedly confirmed the day before that she would be there.
Dobbs could not be reached for comment.
The meeting was organized by the League of Women Voters of Montezuma County. President Karen Sheek told KSJD they were “blindsided” that a crowd estimated at 450 showed up for the event, which was held in a Dolores library meeting room with a capacity of 50.
Twenty-seven people joined a recent Zoom meeting with an aide for Sen. John Hickenlooper, Sheek said, so the league thought about that many might show for the meeting with Dobbs.
“She was supposed to come speak with our group,” Sheek said. “We had no idea the event would be broadcast out [via social media] to the whole county.”
People who couldn’t get into the library meeting room crowded the parking lot outside, carrying signs such as “Congress, Do Your Job” and “Stop the Chainsaw Massacre.” Eventually, library director Sean Gantt told them the lot had to be cleared out, and Sheriff Steve Nowlin directed traffic as cars moved out, some heading to Riverside Park for a gathering.
The majority of people who showed up for the meeting were clearly upset by massive federal budget cuts being made by the Trump administration and advisor Elon Musk.
However, the chair of the Montezuma County Republicans, Lenetta Shull, who didn’t make it into the meeting room and was standing in the parking lot, told KSJD she was there to support Representative Hurd. She said, “So far, he’s done a good job.”
Shull said she had expected a large turnout because such meetings have been drawing crowds nationwide. She said people should respect the fact that Trump was elected by the people.
“I didn’t vote for Biden, but he was still my president,” Shull said. “We have to respect that when it comes to President Trump.”
Concern is mounting both nationwide and locally over the effects of the budget cuts. Despite Dobbs’ unexplained absence, people proceeded to give remarks in the Dolores library Monday and their remarks were recorded.
Cortez resident Mary Dodd said 45 percent of the population in the county is on the Medicaid program, which has been proposed for slashing by congressional Republicans. Money from Medicaid, some $20 million, makes up 17 percent of the budget of Southwest Memorial Hospital, she said, and another $9 million in federal Medicaid money flows to the hospital through the state of Colorado.
“The hospital’s success is critical to the success and viability of the county,” Dodd said, adding that it will be difficult to attract people here to live if the hospital has to reduce what services it offers.
Jill Blumenthal said National Park Service rangers, many of whom are seeing their positions eliminated, are “all essential.”
“People come here from all over the world” to visit national parks and monuments, she said.
In addition, Blumenthal said, “Plenty of local residents use public lands” and would be “dismayed to find those places trashed or possibly on fire.”
Concern about wildfires was also voiced by Jonathan Ott, who identified himself as a federal worker who was not at the meeting in that capacity. He said although the Trump administration is claiming it is not firing wildland firefighters, “this morning I was asked to make a list of seasonal firefighters and prioritize them for elimination.”
“We live amongst a tinderbox here,” said M.B. McAfee.
Others outside called on Hurd to do more.
Dorothy Brown of Mancos voiced concern about “the massive firings and laying-offs,” saying, “They’re going about it in a very chaotic manner.”
Local resident Chandler Dayton told KSJD, “Hurd has to stand up to Musk and Trump. We are fast becoming an authoritarian country.”
At the county commissioners’ meeting Tuesday morning, a half-dozen people also voiced shock and worry about budget cuts. Rebecca Busic of Cortez listed some of the federal funding that would have come to the local area but has been rescinded or is uncertain.
She noted that the Southwestern Water Conservation District qualified for $26 million in federal funds for drought-mitigation projects that is now “hanging in the balance” and the Mancos Conservation District was just told that a $630,000 grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service they had been given had been terminated.
The grant was to enhance access to NRCS programs for under-served communities, including beginning farmers and ranchers and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.
In addition, Busic said, the Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project had qualified for $85,000 from a specialty-crop block grant program. That money is now highly uncertain, she said.
The president of the Mancos Valley Chamber of Commerce, Jennifer Magnuson, spoke at both events. She said the local economy is heavily based on tourism and agriculture, and the cuts – which include slashing funding for national parks and public lands – will harm both.
“This is going to affect the whole economy, not just the people losing their jobs,” Magnuson said.
Karelia Ver Eecke told the commissioners, “Without funds for the hospital, schools and vulnerable community members, Montezuma County will likely see a loss of residents as well as educated and employable individuals, and an increased burden on our local systems.”
In response, commission Chairman Jim Candelaria said, “Your concerns are heard. We have concerns of our own.”
He will be traveling to Washington, D.C., soon and will speak with Hurd, Candelaria said.
“We are at the table. We do not want to be on the menu and we will continue to talk to our federal and state partners.”
