SUMMIT COUNTY — According to Evergreen businessman Tim Leonard, government should not be in the business of getting people back to work. On a recent campaign stop in Summit County, the Republican state Senate candidate says government should step out of the way and let the private sector do its thing.

“I think government causes more unintended problems than it seeks to solve,” Leonard said. “The free market creates more solutions than problems. There's a role for regulation, but we need to tip our scales back toward free-market solutions.”

Leonard said his top reason for seeking public office is to reduce the size, scope and control of government, in hopes of making Colorado a more business-friendly environment. The more regulations, taxes, paperwork or other hurdles businesses encounter, Leonard said, the less likely they are to succeed, hire employees or set up shop in the first place.

Leonard wouldn't be inclined to bring home “pork” to his district or support “bridge-to-nowhere” projects elsewhere in the state. Nor would he get behind expenditures or incentives that favor one industry or region over another. Colorado's ski industry, for example, should successfully compete against that of other states by providing “a better product at a lesser price.”

“The No. 1 reason for people to elect a state representative, in the House or the Senate, is not to bring home the bacon to the district. If that's our goal, there are 34 other senators who are going to pick our pockets too, and we end up with more government,” he said.

Instead, Leonard said, his duty would be to represent Dist. 16's voice at the state table, offering the Foothills and High Country perspectives on issues like forest health, water resources and transportation.

On the conservation front, Leonard said water, energy and trees would be his top priorities, and he doesn't see his positions being altogether different from Sen. Dan Gibbs, who currently holds the seat but is not seeking re-election. Gibbs, according to many, has been instrumental in attracting state and federal attention and funding to the mountain pine beetle epidemic.

“In the Front Range, the assumption is water will always be there when you turn on the tap. In the West Slope, people know that's somebody's stream. That needs some more balance,” Leonard said.

On energy, though, Leonard said he wouldn't have pushed for many of the things Gibbs did, including legislation to reduce coal-fired electricity generation in favor of natural gas.

“I don't think it's government's job to choose the winners and losers,” Leonard said.

During next year's state legislative session, lawmakers will be charged with making budget cuts due to declining tax revenues. According to Leonard, the task presents an opportunity to “cut the fat.”

“The only way you can get at that fat is 4.5 percent across-the-board cuts. I don't think it's going to be as tough as people think it's going to be,” Leonard said.

Education, at both K-12 and college levels, will be one area forced to deal with smaller budgets, and Leonard doesn't necessarily see that as a bad thing.

“I don't think more money equals better education,” he said.

Leonard would seek to shift a greater portion of responsibility for education onto parents, saying schools shouldn't pick up parents' slack when children come to school unprepared to learn.

“Are we just subsidizing this and making life so easy for the parents that they're not taking responsibility?” he asked.

Leonard said government unquestionably should play a role in providing a safety net, but that private charity is a preferable source of funding to serve those in need.

SDN reporter Julie Sutor can be reached at (970) 668-4630 or jsutor@summitdaily.com.