Election 2020: Meet Michael Welch, the democratic candidate for Weld County Commissioner District 3
By Kelly Ragan
Michael Welch
Michael Welch is the democratic candidate running for Weld County Commissioner District 3. He’s running against republican candidate Lori Saine 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 started my run for office in January in response to seeing my current opponent as the only listed candidate. I’ve watched from the sidelines for years because I’ve thought, “It will work itself out.” I’ve lost this feeling and decided I can offer an alternative.
What issues are most important to you?
The slow creep of Metropolitan districts, a type of Colorado special district, are a distinct problem for Weld County. The power to tax in these districts is being passed to for-profit corporations. I intend to slow if not stop this.
(A note from the NoCo Optimist: You can learn more about metro districts here.)
Water rights and land use are the bread and butter of the Weld County Board of Commissioners. I learn more and more about these issues every day, and value the input and thoughts of all Weld County citizens. Water is going to become scarce in the coming decades. We need to fast forward the NISP (Northern Integrated Supply Project) and other water storage plans as well as water conservation.
If elected, what are the top three things you’d like to accomplish?
Develop a regular meeting effort with Weld County communities. At one point, there were regular meetings with both the US 85 Coalition and the Bullseye group, but for some reason these were halted.
Redirect the flow of county tax dollars away from vanity projects that have all too often done little for the benefit of the taxpayers. If you are familiar with the idea of sovereign wealth funds specifically the one run by Norway and how they handle their oil and gas wealth, I’d like to set up a Weld County Sovereign Wealth Fund.
(A note from the NoCo Optimist: A sovereign wealth fund is essentially a government-owned investment fund. Money to put in the fund is often generated by a government’s surplus reserves. You can learn more about that here.)
Prioritize public works and planning departments. This is where the rubber meets the road at the County level and their proper functioning is essential to the health and welfare of our citizens.
How do you plan to do so?
If John Shull and Paul Echternacht (other democrats) are elected, I imagine most of these can be accomplished through the normal functioning of Weld County government. Depending on the composition of my fellow Weld County Commissioners, I may not be able to implement any effective change, and we’ll see the continued current cycle of mismanagement we have now.
This is an uphill fight because without a majority, it is hard to get anything accomplished. I would however work with communities in District 3 and develop community support and participation by having regular meetings and encourage citizens to participate by attending county meetings and engaging with the press. I would also attempt to drive improvements in the budget process so that there is more citizen opportunity for input.
What relevant, previous experience do you have?
I moved to Colorado from New Mexico as an oil field engineer. I have seen the powerful pull that oil and gas revenues can have on governments and how it is spent. I’m also familiar with the bust that the “Resource Curse” can have on communities. Smart, effective government can mollify these boom and bust cycles.
I worked at the Weld County Information Technology department for 14 years as an implementer of plans designed by county commissioners to enable Weld citizens to use the power of the internet and information technology to accomplish specific goals. I know how wasteful these plans can be and how savings and technology were squandered. These types of mismanagement happened in every department at the county. The response of the commissioners has been to cover up these failings because that was easier than really trusting their own experts and county employees. A mindset of using oil and gas revenue to fill the void and correct these misguided attempts has abounded for the last 14 years that I know of, and my guess would be they have happened for much longer.
What skills, training, resources, and expertise do you feel you have to offer?
I have two engineering degrees. Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas and Computer Engineering from the University of Colorado. My entire career has been about solving problems through the best available advice and science.
What would you most like voters to know about you?
Voters in Weld County are being told that my opponent believes in the 2nd Amendment and is Pro-life. That’s all very well and good, but that has nothing to do with the job of being a Weld County Commissioner. I offer no easy solutions as there are none. Money spent on one project means less for others. That is basic economics. We need to make the budgeting process more open and encourage real citizen participation. County government needs to understand it works for the benefit of all the residents.