{"id":20438,"date":"2019-12-05T10:51:02","date_gmt":"2019-12-05T17:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=61861"},"modified":"2019-12-05T10:51:02","modified_gmt":"2019-12-05T17:51:02","slug":"linke-cimino-to-run-for-re-election-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/linke-cimino-to-run-for-re-election-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Linke, Cimino to run for re-election in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
(From right) County Commissioners Merrit Linke and Rich Cimino with County Manager Kate McIntyre and Director of Human Services Deb Ruttenberg. Cimino and Linke announced they are running for reelection.<\/strong>
Courtesy Rich Cimino<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Though discussions about the 2020 election have centered on federal races, Grand County residents will also have to decide who they want to lead their local government.<\/p>\n

County Commissioners Rich Cimino and Merrit Linke will both be running for re-election this November for county districts one and two, respectively. District one represents Winter Park and Fraser and district two represents Granby and Grand Lake.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are a lot of things that are in the works that need to be followed through on and implemented, and there\u2019s a lot of transition in the county,\u201d Linke said.<\/p>\n

Cimino echoed that sentiment, citing the county\u2019s need for new buildings as one of the ongoing projects he\u2019d like to continue working on. The Sky-Hi News sat down with the two commissioners to talk about why they are running and their goals for the county.<\/p>\n

RICH CIMINO<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though Cimino has only been a county commissioner since 2016, he feels the county has made significant progress and he\u2019d like to continue building on that trend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that we\u2019ve really cracked the code on how to leverage what the state can provide, since these programs are kind of first come, first serve and only counties that are organized and have been applying \u2026 get the grant or program to work for their counties,\u201d Cimino said. \u201cI want Grand County to be first among the 64 counties of Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n

While in office, Cimino has represented Grand County at the state legislature and partnered with Counties and Commissioners Acting Together and Colorado Counties Inc. to get more resources locally.<\/p>\n

He has also focused on lowering health care costs in the county through the statewide reinsurance program and partnering with Peak Health Alliance, as well as addressing affordable housing and the county\u2019s building needs.<\/p>\n

\u201c(There) are ways to help the county that don\u2019t take county dollars,\u201d Cimino said. \u201cI think that besides mission, any surplus monies, we can\u2019t ignore our buildings, so if surplus dollars are going to buildings, I\u2019m pretty excited that for housing and health care, we can leverage the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a representative, Cimino said he always tries to keep issues affecting the east end of the county top-of-mind in board discussions, such as by supporting the Lift expansion and sharing costs for road projects. <\/p>\n

He hopes to continue to do so moving forward, especially when it comes to housing. Cimino said he\u2019s interested in evolving the county\u2019s current housing authority to be multi-jurisdictional.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in very preliminary talks,\u201d he said. \u201cMy three goals, if I get a second term, will continue to be health care because we\u2019re not done there, it will continue to be affordable housing and county buildings and infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

MERRIT LINKE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Linke started his time as a county commissioner in 2013 as the only member new to the board and no plans to make a career out of it, he said. However, Linke found he enjoys the problem solving aspect of the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of situations where you can find a balance of what makes people happy, or is at least acceptable, and I like that and finding solutions to problems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

During his time as commissioner, Linke has worked on a number of projects, including implementing the 1A sales tax for open lands, rivers and trails projects, but has focused a lot on finding solutions to the county\u2019s water issues.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The Front Range) has every right to divert under Colorado water law, \u2026 but at the same time there are some damages or impacts,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have had some good partnerships with our diverters, like Denver Water and Northern Water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another of his accomplishments has been to build up the county\u2019s reserves. Linke said when he started as a commissioner, the county was still experiencing slowed revenues from the recession and had to dip into reserves for expenses.<\/p>\n

Since then, the county has had a balanced budget or even a surplus for the past four years and the reserves are in \u201cgood shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Linke attributes that in part to the board\u2019s good relationships with one another, as well as their willingness to challenge one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a good board because we don\u2019t always agree, but we don\u2019t always disagree either, which I think is healthy,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very independent voices and we all have our strengths and divvy up responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to his philosophy on representing his constituents\u2019 interests, Linke said he looks for common ground solutions, but always tries to let the towns\u2019 retain their individual characters. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to find what\u2019s best for everybody, but still \u2026 respect their decisions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(From right) County Commissioners Merrit Linke and Rich Cimino with County Manager Kate McIntyre and Director of Human Services Deb Ruttenberg. Cimino and Linke announced they are running for reelection.Courtesy Rich Cimino Though discussions about the 2020 election have centered on federal races, Grand County residents will also have to decide who they want to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-16 08:53:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}