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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Dave Edwards, thus far the only Democratic candidate running for Mesa County Commissioner, said he has an idea for creating good paying jobs in the county — a priority of his if elected.
Abundant natural resources, locally mined, are transported elsewhere — places like Houston for processing, where there is no resource extraction but plenty of jobs, Edwards said.
“All sorts of products could be made from natural resources we have here,” Edwards said. “If we used what's at hand and manufactured here, those jobs would be here, not Houston.”
Edwards, 62, said another priority would be working with county commissioner Steve Acquafresca and the other elected commissioner to determine funding priorities to ensure “that the highest needs of the community are met first.”
Edwards is running against Republican Rose Pugliese of Palisade to represent District 3.
A retired attorney, Edwards has immersed himself in community service since moving to Palisade in 2008. He's currently a Palisade Town Trustee, a 521 Drainage Authority commissioner, a Palisade Planning Commissioner, and a member of Friends of the Library.
An Illinois native, Edwards spent years in the Midwest managing the finances of large medical centers and other nonprofit organizations.
Edwards said he wants to be county commissioner because “I would be very good at it.
“I have a lot of experience managing finances of large county departments.”
For four years he was accounting manager at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis where he oversaw budgets four to five times larger than Mesa County's budget, he said.
He was comptroller at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island for two years.
He worked as managing auditor at Brown and Company (now called CBIZ, an accounting, tax and business consulting company) in Minneapolis for nine years, and worked another nine years as director of finance at Metropolitan Health Plan in Minnesota.
“Large hospitals are like a county, with hundreds and hundreds of employees, complex finances, large capital budgets and a lot of competing interests,” Edwards said. “There's a whole range of people (with different interests) in a community competing for attention.”
Edwards managed social workers, coordinated with counties to ensure services were available, and reported how money was spent.
Edwards has also taught English as a second language at a junior college in Chicago.
With a high number of Mesa County residents (71,000) living in unincorporated areas like Clifton, Fruitvale, Loma, Mack, Mesa and Whitewater, Edwards said it concerns him that county commissioners cut funding for 31 sheriff officer positions.
Edwards believes the county should have anticipated in 2008 a worsening recession and found other ways to save money, rather than cutting law enforcement jobs.
“We have high child abuse rate, a high domestic violence rate, hard drugs in the community,” Edwards said.
Mesa County also has the state's highest foreclosure rate, number of suicides and a high number of homeless individuals among people who grew up here.
“That's a huge stress to the county,” Edwards said.
“I want that silent desperation of people to be addressed.”
Abundant natural resources, locally mined, are transported elsewhere — places like Houston for processing, where there is no resource extraction but plenty of jobs, Edwards said.
“All sorts of products could be made from natural resources we have here,” Edwards said. “If we used what's at hand and manufactured here, those jobs would be here, not Houston.”
Edwards, 62, said another priority would be working with county commissioner Steve Acquafresca and the other elected commissioner to determine funding priorities to ensure “that the highest needs of the community are met first.”
Edwards is running against Republican Rose Pugliese of Palisade to represent District 3.
A retired attorney, Edwards has immersed himself in community service since moving to Palisade in 2008. He's currently a Palisade Town Trustee, a 521 Drainage Authority commissioner, a Palisade Planning Commissioner, and a member of Friends of the Library.
An Illinois native, Edwards spent years in the Midwest managing the finances of large medical centers and other nonprofit organizations.
Edwards said he wants to be county commissioner because “I would be very good at it.
“I have a lot of experience managing finances of large county departments.”
For four years he was accounting manager at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis where he oversaw budgets four to five times larger than Mesa County's budget, he said.
He was comptroller at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island for two years.
He worked as managing auditor at Brown and Company (now called CBIZ, an accounting, tax and business consulting company) in Minneapolis for nine years, and worked another nine years as director of finance at Metropolitan Health Plan in Minnesota.
“Large hospitals are like a county, with hundreds and hundreds of employees, complex finances, large capital budgets and a lot of competing interests,” Edwards said. “There's a whole range of people (with different interests) in a community competing for attention.”
Edwards managed social workers, coordinated with counties to ensure services were available, and reported how money was spent.
Edwards has also taught English as a second language at a junior college in Chicago.
With a high number of Mesa County residents (71,000) living in unincorporated areas like Clifton, Fruitvale, Loma, Mack, Mesa and Whitewater, Edwards said it concerns him that county commissioners cut funding for 31 sheriff officer positions.
Edwards believes the county should have anticipated in 2008 a worsening recession and found other ways to save money, rather than cutting law enforcement jobs.
“We have high child abuse rate, a high domestic violence rate, hard drugs in the community,” Edwards said.
Mesa County also has the state's highest foreclosure rate, number of suicides and a high number of homeless individuals among people who grew up here.
“That's a huge stress to the county,” Edwards said.
“I want that silent desperation of people to be addressed.”
