Election 2020: Meet Lori Saine, the republican candidate for Weld County Commissioner District 3

Sep 23

By Kelly Ragan

Lori Saine is the republican candidate running for Weld County Commissioner District 3. She’s running against democratic candidate Michael Welch and libertarian candidate Matthew Hess.

Barbara Kirkmeyer currently holds the seat. Kirkmeyer is running for state senator.

Weld County’s Board of County Commissioners is made up of five members. Two commissioners are elected at-large, meaning everyone in the county gets to vote on those seats. The other three are elected by those who live in the districts they represent. Once voted in, commissioners serve a four-year term. In Weld, commissioners can serve for up to three consecutive four-year terms.

What do commissioners do?

If you think of a county like a business, commissioners would be the managers. They’re in charge of the high-level stuff.

They are responsible for levying taxes, deciding how those tax dollars are spent, overseeing county programs and managing the budget of said county programs.

Weld commissioners hold public meetings at 9 a.m. every Monday and Wednesday at the Weld County Administration Building, 1150 O St.

The NoCo Optimist sent a questionnaire out to local candidates who will appear on the Weld County ballot. We will publish them as candidates respond. Answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Why did you decide to run for office?

I ran for office because so many folks feel that our freedoms, our very pursuit of happiness are being challenged by out-of-touch bureaucrats at an unprecedented rate. The citizens of District 3 saw me solve large problems at the state level and asked me to fight for the way of life they already cherish in Weld County.

What issues are most important to you?

Water
Protecting agriculture
Keeping Weld County prosperous and resilient
Protecting our citizens

If elected, what are the top three things you’d like to accomplish?

Water: We must make sure water is there for our growing communities and to preserve our agricultural production. I have actively championed Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) since my days on Dacono planning commission, economic development, and city council in 2007 and will continue to do so along with other projects to keep more Colorado water in Colorado during the wet years and store for the drought years.

Protect agriculture: We must ensure that our farmers and ranchers can continue to do what they have always done best: feed Weld County and Colorado. Weld county is 25 percent of Colorado’s food production, one of the top ten agricultural counties in the U.S. If we like food and food security, we need to protect farmers. I will continue to fight against the unreasonable and dangerous regulations coming from the state to squash our agriculture industry.

Keep Weld County prosperous: I will work on making Weld County the top county for business investment in Colorado. I want to keep our distinction of being the only county in the nation without debt and sales tax while making our services to citizens the best in Colorado.

Protect our citizens: I won’t cut and run on our law enforcement. Crime is rising because of legislation passed over the years at the capitol. Rising crime will further deteriorate the American Dream.

How do you plan to do so?

I have successfully passed legislation to provide groundwater monitoring to keep more water in Colorado. I have actively attended the South Platte Basin Roundtable in the last eight years to work on how we can keep more water flowing to senior water rights holders first while fulfilling junior water rights and making the law more flexible to achieve both. I have been recognized with two awards from the Weld County Farm Bureau for my work on water and water law and I will continue to put that experience to work.I will also continue to meet with our farmers and ranchers with our elected representatives in the state and federal government as I did very recently with our U.S. Senator. We need to ensure we are doing everything we can to support agriculture in Weld.

I can also help our representatives at the state cut red-tape, and I will continue to work to keep agriculture out of the crosshairs of nanny-state regulatory agencies. When I was chair of an economic development committee in South Weld, I received a lot of crucial training and met with business owners across the spectrum looking to possibly expand or change locations. I recognize that a business-friendly environment that includes regulatory certainty is crucial for Weld to continue to diversify its many industries. I will continue fighting to protect our energy industry. I will work to ensure our police force can police effectively, and I have a great working relationship with our Sheriff, Steve Reams, who has already worked with me on several projects.

What relevant, previous experience do you have?

I have served the citizens of South Weld already as a State Representative. In my leadership at the Legislative Audit Committee, I have helped identify $93.4 million in financial benefits to the state of Colorado. And a total of $273.3 million of financial benefits have been identified since I have served on the committee writing and passing legislation to correct over-spending and inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars. I worked to establish a fraud hotline for state employees to safely contact the Office of the State Auditor when they witness a misuse of taxpayers’ dollars. I also passed legislation to ensure state boards and commissions follow best practices and receive training to identify conflicts of interest. I also worked with current Joint Budget Committee members to pass a law to change how we fund programs. We don’t fund want-to have programs until we know we have the money. We fund our need-to-have priorities first, period.

What skills, training, resources, and expertise do you feel you have to offer?

Just this May, I convinced the Governor’s Economic Advisory Council to recommend a bill to allow business owners to temporarily reduce, waive, or suspend delinquent interest payments for property tax payments effectively allowing businesses to wait to pay their taxes until October 1st.

After COVID-forced closures, businesses were struggling to decide whether to pay their property taxes or close their doors. Larger industries, like oil and gas companies, were struggling with a decision to pay property taxes or furlough workers. My bill saved jobs as well as saved businesses from closing forever. Without business, and especially oil and gas revenues, our schools will also suffer. This tax break bill was challenged heavily, but I got it through with persistence. I will continue to provide bi-partisan leadership on the challenges facing our family businesses and livelihoods.

What would you most like voters to know about you?

Voters have expressed to me that they are confident I can provide the steady, principled leadership needed to solve the big problems we face in upcoming years. You are my “why” and it has been the honor of my life to serve you as an elected official. I have lived in Weld County and in District 3 most of my adult life and I am been blessed to raise a family here. I want to give back by serving the citizens and make this the best place in Colorado to raise a family and start a business.

Kelly Ragan