John Scarffe,  Gilpin County.   Eleven candidates running for Gilpin County Commissioner and Gilpin County offices spoke during a candidate forum on Saturday, October 13, 2018 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Gilpin County Community Center. Democrats, Republicans and Independents running for Gilpin County commissioner, Gilpin County clerk and recorder, Gilpin County treasurer, Gilpin County assessor and Gilpin County sheriff attended the forum and spoke to a large crowd.

Moderators, Aaron Storms with the Weekly Register-Call, and John Scarffe with The Mountain-Ear, asked each candidate to give a short opening speech for three minutes or less, then flipped the order of speakers to answer three questions for three minutes each or less, and then each candidate gave a short closing talk for three minutes or less. A representative of the Timberline Fire Protection District opened the forum with comments about the ballot issue related to the need to keep up funding to provide services for the community.

Running for Gilpin County Commissioner - District 2, are Republican Bruce Hartman, Democrat Linda Jean Isenhart and Independent Jerry Yocum, who spoke first. Yocum has been a Gilpin County resident for 28 years.

He came from a small town in Iowa, which was a little farming community.

He graduated from college and went to law school. He wanted to teach, though, so he picked up a master’s degree and a Ph.D. and now teaches in the Criminology Department.

Yocum said he wants to give back to the community. “I don’t support Trump and am not a Trump supporter. I have a lot of friends here who are both good Republicans and Democrats. I’m going to give you an answer every time you want to talk to me.

“I can’t tell you I know all of the issues in this county, but I will do my best to be prepared.” In answer to a question regarding how the county would pay for an expansion of the jail, and what are alternatives to increasing the size and cost of the jail, Yocum acknowledged that it’s not cheap to transfer inmates to other facilities, and asked if the jail expansion could be done in phases.

“Certainly, we need to come up with some money up front, whether bonds or not,” Yocum said, adding that he doesn’t want to spend money out of their pockets but they may have to. Regarding growth, Yocum said. “I don’t want any more growth.” He wants it the way it was before gambling and wants to maintain the county’s integrity and uniqueness.

The area was a former mining community, and Yocum would like to keep the character it has. He supports looking into clusters for businesses and residents to make sure we’re not spread out all over the place. He is not interested in promoting growth but realizes the county will have to deal with it when they come.

Regarding what can be done about climate change, Yocum said it is important to reduce energy consumption, and we have to start right here with the county buildings. The county should look into using solar and providing incentives to residents to do the same.

The county should also look at wind energy and turbines, although the terrain is somewhat limiting. “We need to do a better job to preserve what we have for our children,” Yocum said.

“I’m tickled to death I was able to get up here and share my opinions. I’m anxious to get started,” Yocum said.

The other 10 candidates were profiled in the Thursday, October 4, 2018, edition of The Mountain-Ear. The story can be found at http://themtnear.com/2018/10/gilpin-county-candidates-run-for-a-variety-of-offices/