I am running for Dillon Town Council because I want to give Dillon residents a real voice on our Town Council, as I have concluded Dillon residents are not being well represented by some of the current Town Council members. The best example of this is the hotly contested pot shop walk-up windows issue from April 2021. The council debated this issue for hundreds of hours for one marijuana business that hasn’t even implemented its town-approved walk-up window almost one year later.

At the April 2021 Town Council meeting to debate the issue, town residents overwhelmingly opposed the proposed pot shop walk-up windows. However, in spite of nearly unanimous opposition by Dillon residents, a majority of four Town Council members voted in favor of the walk-up windows: Mayor Carolyn Skowra, Kyle Hendricks, Brad Bailey and Jen Barchers.

I later came to find out that several Dillon Town Council members weren’t even elected; they were appointed to the Town Council because not enough candidates ran in the previous election to fill those Town Council seats. That episode made it very clear to me that more concerned Dillon residents need to get directly involved in town government. As my three children are now grown and out of the house, I thought it would be a good time to get involved and serve on Dillon’s Town Council as your representative.

Priority No. 1: Listening to constituents

My No. 1 priority is to represent the will of Dillon town residents on these issues which impact our quality of life and the character of the town of Dillon. I pledge to listen to my constituents and implement the measures that best serve our community.

Priority No. 2: Implement master plan

My second top priority is to break the log jam on implementing the master plan for downtown Dillon. Dillon has been slow to implement renovations to upgrade the town core by creating an attractive pedestrian venue with restaurants, public spaces including fountains and ice skating rinks, and upgrading an old and outdated town center.

Priority No. 3: Affordable housing

My third priority would be affordable housing initiatives for the Dillon area. The entire county is facing challenges in this area, and Dillon appears to be lagging behind Breckenridge, Frisco and Silverthorne in developing options for affordable housing for the many workers in the Dillon area.

The lack of affordable housing is also fueling Dillon’s overnight parking problem, as many workers are sleeping in their cars, vans and campers in Dillon’s overnight parking lots due to the inavailability of long-term rental options. The current proposals of charging them a fee for overnight parking doesn’t solve the problem for anyone. I’m sure they would rather not be sleeping in their vehicles if better options were available.

Dana Christiansen is a candidate for one of three open seats on Dillon Town Council.