The Summit County Democratic Party is in the process of selecting a new county commissioner tonight. The party’s vacancy committee will vote to fill the vacant commissioner’s seat left by former commissioner Dan Gibbs, who resigned last week after being appointed to head the state’s department of natural resources. The committee – made up of 43 members, of whom 35 are present to vote — will vote until one of eight candidates — Emily Tracy, Kevin Burns, Jennifer McAtamney, Erin Gigliello, Mark Burke, Gary Martinez, Leigh Gervin and Elisabeth Lawrence — achieves a simple majority of members present. The chosen candidate will be sworn in as commissioner and serve for two years in 2020, when all three commissioner seats will be up for election at the same time.
This post will be updated along with the proceedings.
Update 7:25 p.m. : The eight candidates have given their speeches and the meeting has now moved to a question and answer session, with candidates given 60 seconds to answer.
One of the first questions asked is how candidates intend to lower health care costs in the county. Kevin Burns said he wanted strengthen and stabilize the Summit County Community Care Clinic. Gary Martinez said that the county needs to work with Gov. Polis and the state government to reform the state’s regional insurance system. Elisabeth Lawrence touted her work with the Summit Foundation and the efforts they have made to alleviate health care costs, as well drawing from the community’s talent pool to produce a solution. Leigh Garvin said she supported the Peak Health Alliance’s effort to create collective bargaining for consumers.