ALAMOSA — Adams State University was the site for two debates pertinent to

Southern Colorado on Wednesday night. Four candidates for the house and senate were on hand, incumbent Donald Valdez (D) and challenger Logan Taggart (R) for State House District 62 and Cleave Simpson (R) and Carlos Lopez (D) running for the vacancy to be left by Larry Crowder in State Senate District 35 due to term limits. The debate was moderated by 9News political reporter Marshall Zelinger.

Donald Valdez

Valdez is a graduate of Adams State University and a 5th generation San Luis Valley Native.

When queried on Governor Jared Polis’ executive orders he pointed to restrictions that seemed to hit small businesses harder than corporate businesses,

“Everyone is important, and we need to keep our small businesses open, we need to keep up with economic development, but going too far, closing our small businesses was huge.” With a turn to higher education under the light of financial challenges created by COVID Valdez drew a line that connected all facets of the state budget,

“I’d like to fill all our institutions and increase enrollment, but we need to find sustainability and a balance whether it’s higher education, or K-12, healthcare, all throughout the state budget,” Said Valdez,

“And it wasn’t easy this year we had to cut more than $3 Billion dollars from our state budget”

Valdez is a proponent of Proposition EE (Tobacco and E-Cigarette Tax Increase for Health and Education Programs), using it to answer multiple questions stating the proposition could be used to help the state backfill various short budgets in the state.

Valdez was hard-pressed to defend a section of the Law Enforcement Accountability Law that left state PD exempt from personal liability in possible wrongdoings stating “When that bill came forward it put a burden on our local sheriffs… and city police” Valdez went on to state that education was important in law enforcement as well as holding citizens accountable for their actions.

Logan Taggart

Taggart is a former board member of La Veta and a mayoral candidate as well as a vice president to a chamber of commerce. Taggart also is a native of Colorado tracing his lineage back 6 generations.

Taggart was against Polis’ executive orders

“Blanket executive orders that everyone has to follow, they go too far. And they don’t correlate from one major city to our more rural communities.” When pressed on his stance regarding declaring states of emergencies Taggart saved those situations for drought and wildfire drawing the line at COVID-19.

Regarding higher education possibly missing one-time funds Taggart sympathized

“We were blessed to get some additional funding this year…Hopefully we can see enrollment numbers up at a level, next year, that will counteract some of the lost revenue that we’ve seen.”

When asked what would be cut ahead of higher education Taggart deferred the answer to serving members of the legislature and admitted he wasn’t familiar with where the state budget was spent but confirmed that higher education wasn’t at the top of his priorities.

Taggart also shored up what many felt wasn’t a strong enough denouncement of white supremacy from President Donald Trump at the presidential debate saying a better clarification would have been,

“’I absolutely disavow any white supremacy group, anyone who advocates for racial injustice’ that would have been a lot clearer and that’s my position here tonight. 

Offered the separation of state and local PD created by the Law Enforcement Accountability Act Taggart felt the law should not draw a line of accountability at the local level only and offered that a member of his local police force had quit over it. Asked to defend the case for keeping a police officer in that situation Taggart said “You’re not going to attract new people to this profession if they know it comes with such high liability risk. If they know – what could be something that is simply a mistake, that they’re going to end up being ruined for the rest of their lives.”

Cleave Simpson

Simpson is a fourth-generation farmer and rancher and sees an opportunity to bridge the divide between rural and urban Colorado which he feels can be done with good leadership.

Simpson showed support for Polis while not privy to the same information said “Safer at Home at least gave the appearance of the ability for us to get back out in the community in some level of economic activity” but Simpson criticized ‘Stay at Home’ because it was “picking winners and losers” which he evidenced with churches being non-essential but recreational marijuana being declared essential.

Simpson also felt that local control should have more control in the outset of the health crisis as well as being part of the conversation with controlling state officials on the best course of action.

On Proposition EE Simpson is in support and is hopeful in the system enforcing the allocation of its funds,

“That’s the system that we have to hold people accountable if it’s not going where you think it’s intended to go, vote that legislator out.

The conversation moved to broadband internet and who’s responsibility it is in the education sector – the school district’s, the state’s or the county commissioners’. Simpson said, “Well I think it’s a combination but certainly the state should be taking the lead…we need to leverage the federal side of this equation too and work with them.”

On losing officers to the Law Enforcement Accountability act Simpson acknowledged the complexity of the subject.

“Individual circumstances – and why did that individual take that position. It’s too easy to broadly characterize someone who didn’t want to do that and stepped aside as maybe being not dependable and not accountable. It’s too general”

Carlos Lopez

Lopez began the debate with his three major issues. Rural education, rural healthcare and the protection of agriculture and natural resources as a reinvestment in Southern Colorado’s infrastructure.

When asked about the state of emergency Lopez leaned towards public health

“I want to rely on my public health officials…these people are specifically tuned into the health department”

Asked about backfilled budgets Lopez referenced the Marijuana Tax Law “They’re not what we thought they were going to be when we voted this in” and expressed a hope to flip the budget with a legislative piece so education would be getting the lion’s share.

On the topic of higher education, Lopez expressed support in trade programs

“Junior and Community Colleges where we can start turning out more students in the blue-collar trade fields with less institutionalized debt.”

The debate moved to police forces self-funding body cameras which Lopez was opposed to.

“If we’re going to have mandates like this they need to be funded, because right now when you go to a sheriff’s office they already have their budgets laid out.” Lopez was in favor of police wearing body cameras however offering a story about a Trinidad officer being exonerated by his body camera.

When discussed the contrast in revitalization between Trinidad and the Senate district Lopez offered his experience “I hope to take that to the next level and help out the rest of these 16 counties.”