My name is David Reagor and I am running for the Los Alamos County Council. Like many residents I came here to work at LANL and then spent 32 years as a researcher at the laboratory. The community has been a wonderful place to live and raise children. Here, we have a community full of parks and are surrounded by public land, much of it available for recreation. Like many other retirees, it is such a pleasant community that we do not want to move elsewhere.
One of the reasons that this is a good place to live is a history of conservative management by previous county councils. Part of that history is keeping resources focused on substantive issues and avoiding grandiose plans that do not practically improve life here. Los Alamos County has recently entered into a Carbon-free energy plan. Many other communities have pursued a similar path and encountered endlessly escalating costs and/or unreliable power. In addition, the plan is based on alarmist climate models that do not describe nature accurately. Instead, the county council should focus on the efficient delivery of utilities to the residents of Los Alamos.
In any small city it is hard to maintain the businesses that provide services to the community. These services, healthcare, restaurants, etc., are vital to the quality of life, and the county government needs to be an ally that promotes their success.
In addition, we need more businesses that bring in sales from outside the county. From a real estate point of view Los Alamos is essentially an island, and this leads to a tight market for all the local businesses. The county government cannot be an additional barrier to their success.
The county of Los Alamos will maintain and improve its quality of life if we act in following areas:
- Los Alamos County should provide low cost reliable utilities. Low carbon content is not a valid goal for any county power plan.
- Los Alamos County, both the council and the staff, should view the support of local business and new initiatives as their primary goal.
- Los Alamos is a small population center and many communities of similar size are struggling to maintain a complete health care center. Maintaining a high level of care should be a top priority of the council, including the use of capital funds and partnerships, to secure these services.
Reagor4Council 