I was born and raised outside of the small town of Katy, Texas. Since we were in unincorporated Katy, the majority of the workforce was in agriculture, the oilfield, and construction while others either commuted into the city for work or worked local retail and hospitality jobs. My brother and I were raised by our single mother, who had to commute and work multiple jobs to make ends meet. The challenges faced by working families left a mark on me from an early age. Childcare was hard to find and we faced food insecurity at times, but Mom sacrificed to keep a roof over our heads and to provide us with more opportunities than she had growing up.

I am the great grandson of Mexican immigrants. Latinos like myself make up over 30% of the county and deserve representation at the county level. The shared values of hard work and self-reliance can build bridges across language barriers and cultural divides. For generations, my family has worked hard in agriculture, railroads, the military, and the oilfield, helping to build this country in pursuit of the American dream. In Garfield county, I see other families with the same work ethic trying their best every day, often working multiple jobs because working 40 hours a week isn’t enough anymore. My family and my culture instilled in me the value and importance of hard work. I honor and uphold those values every day as a leader in my union. I have a proven history of representing workers to elected officials in order to improve working conditions and benefits for employees across the state. I have also worked directly with workers and organizers in fast food, home health care, and airport work industries across the country to support their fight for better working conditions. As County Commissioner, I will continue to advocate for the needs of working people to ensure that the work we do to power our community allows us to fulfill our needs and accomplish our goals.

Thanks to the efforts of my mom and family, my brother and I were the first in our family to graduate from college–a feat that came at the cost of significant student loans. We both studied geology, hoping to find work in the oil and gas industry because those were the best jobs in our area. My desire to serve my community led me to a lifelong career in public service, opting to apply my educational experience to oil and gas regulation while my colleagues were going into exploration and production. For over eleven years, I have worked in the oilfield alongside industry workers, with my focus on enforcing environmental regulations, investigating public complaints, and orphan well plugging–proudly serving as the eyes and ears of the public. I am familiar with the financial benefits of the industry as well as its environmental impacts and legacy liability issues that aren’t often discussed in decision-making spaces. This work has also given me a lot of experience in implementation and revision of public policy and stewardship of public resources, both financial and environmental. My unique and nuanced perspective makes me well-suited to represent the residents of Garfield County in these decisions.

I firmly believe that community voices should also be present in decision-making spaces and that representative governments should prioritize making accommodations for residents of the community to make their voices heard. Residents deserve to have significant input on the decisions that affect their health, environment, and quality of life. For the past two years, I have served on the CDPHE Environmental Justice Advisory Board–as the only board member representing communities on the Western Slope. My work on this Board has been to promote ways for state agencies to elevate the voices of impacted communities in policy decisions and to help make funding decisions on projects that improve environmental health of impacted communities while empowering community members to make their voices heard. As County Commissioner, I will promote the inclusion of community voices in policy decisions to ensure that the people who are most impacted by government have the opportunity to be heard.

My wife and I moved to Garfield County to provide a better future for our children. We love living in Garfield County because we love our community. We engage in local politics for the sake of our children’s future and try to consider the folks who do not have the luxuries of time and transportation that it requires to do so. I have dedicated my career to public service to protect health, safety, resources, and the environment of people in Garfield County because I have always valued the quality of life for all working people. As your County Commissioner, I will work across levels of government to prioritize quality of life improvements and build a more resilient community for residents of Garfield County.