On Tuesday afternoon, April 22nd, Rep. Jeff Hurd joined a special Archuleta County Commissioners meeting in downtown Pagosa Springs, and a few of us were there or watched it on Zoom. It was billed as a business meeting, and public comment was not permitted, however we submitted questions to his office in advance (read them below) and expressed our concerns in person as he departed. About 30 demonstrators gathered outside. Rep. Hurd spoke with them for about ten minutes before joining the meeting. You can read the meeting transcript below, edited for clarity and brevity.
Our take? He seems like a decent guy and said appropriate things about protecting Medicaid and public lands.
Written questions submitted to Congressman Hurd's office:
- Thank you, Congressman Hurd, for coming to Pagosa Springs and for meeting our Archuleta County commissioners. This is a work session, and public comment is not permitted. Will you commit to holding in-person town halls in CD3 so that your constituents may ask you questions directly?
- When you took office in January, approximately 9,000 federal employees lived and worked in this district. Since then, President Trump has taken drastic measures to cut the federal workforce. Federal employees have been called lazy, incompetent, and parasites. What message do you have for federal employees, former and current, including those in this room or watching on Zoom?
- You signed a letter last week with several other Republicans opposing cuts to Medicaid in Congress’s budget. Obviously you understand how crucial Medicaid is to the delivery of health services in this district, which we appreciate. Are you prepared to withhold your vote on any bill that would cut Medicaid?
- Recreation is an important part of the local economy. There is no longer a Forest Service recreation manager in the Pagosa Ranger District of the San Juan National Forest. What are you doing to restore and rehire fired personnel who are so important for public services? Who will patrol the forest to make sure that there are no campfires this season, should the expected fire ban go into effect?
- We have many working families in Archuleta County who are struggling to get by. These families rely on Head Start for early childhood education and the SNAP and the WIC programs to help put food on the table. Republicans say they want to support families, so can you help connect the dots between that and Congress’s budget that would cut these support programs? And if these cuts are necessary, how can we afford to extend $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy?
Download BoCC Mtg transcript 4_22 2