Rebecca Busic Shares Campaign Priorities in KSJD Commissioner Race Interview

Rebecca Busic, a Democratic community organizer who has lived in Montezuma County for 22 years, sat down with KSJD reporter Lacy "LP" McKay on March 13 to lay out her campaign for the District 1 seat on the Montezuma County Board of Commissioners, covering everything from Kinder Morgan's declining revenues to water rights to the prospect of a data center arriving in the region.

Busic is the fifth person to enter the District 1 race, joining Republicans Brett Likes, Bonnie Anderson, Diane Fox-Spratlen, and Gerald "Jerry" Whited. The seat is currently held by Jim Candelaria, whose two-term limit ends in November. She announced her candidacy during a Montezuma County chapter of Indivisible rally at Veterans Park, where the Montezuma County Democratic Party had asked whether she could make her announcement during the event.

Her path to Dolores began with a loss. Her uncle Cliff, who lived in southwest Colorado, passed away in 2003. The following year, his widow Rachel Vass invited Busic on a Grand Canyon river trip based out of Dolores, and Busic never left. "When I moved here, I could rent an entire house by myself in the town of Dolores off of my wages at the Dolores River Brewery," she told KSJD. "Now there are 47 second homes in Dolores." That contrast frames much of her pitch: someone who has watched the county change and wants to shape where it goes next.

She grew up on a Christmas tree farm in rural West Michigan, the daughter of two schoolteachers, and says that background informs her commitment to the region. "The rural way of life is really important to me," she said. "That's why we're raising our son here."

On economic policy, Busic pointed directly to Kinder Morgan as a fiscal pressure point. "With Kinder Morgan's revenues still decreasing regularly, we need to find alternative sources for our county," she said. Her proposed solution is blunt: "The commissioners need to get organized and pass some kind of tax, be it a sales tax or a lodgers tax, so we can ensure county services continue to everyone who needs them," citing public safety and social services as areas at risk.

Beyond revenue, Busic addressed the growing technology questions facing rural counties. She called on commissioners to be fluent in emerging technologies, saying the county needs leaders "working with technology today, like AI, understanding how those things can benefit Montezuma County and how they can hurt us." On data centers specifically, she said the county must be ready to negotiate the best possible outcome "when a data center comes here," and equally ready to resist if residents decide they don't want one.

Water she treated with uncommon candor. "I don't think anyone running, including me right now, is an expert in water, and that is going to become a bigger issue," she said. "Whoever is elected to that seat, hopefully me in November, needs to commit to learning from Gerald Koppenhaver everything he knows about water."

Busic framed her candidacy broadly as a call for representation beyond the county's historically dominant political voice. "This county has been represented by only one group of people for a really long time," she said. "And I'd like to represent a new path forward.