Dunn is critical of all three present county commissioners, claiming that they're simply unprepared to deal with the development pressure the county is under. "The people who come out here really want the rural setting," he says. "We think finally people are waking up."
A tall man with a booming voice, Dunn has lived in Elbert County for 33 years. A former executive with Martin Marietta, he once commuted to the Martin plant in Jefferson County by air, flying a small plane from a landing strip on his ranch and touching down on a baseball field near the huge complex. "I really care about where I live, and I'm mad enough now to do something about it," Dunn says.
Other development issues that have become hot topics in Elbert County include the constant stream of jet noise over the northwest part of the county from planes flying into DIA and a proposal to build a new power line and electrical substation. Dunn alleges that the current commissioners and county staff simply don't have the expertise or confidence to deal with these problems, or to stand up to companies like Diamond Shamrock. "When people are uneducated they're afraid of educated people," he says. "We have uneducated people in there and that's what we're facing."
Dunn says Elbert County has suffered from constant turnover in the county planning office and badly needs professional guidance as it struggles with rapid-fire development. (Three planning-department employees, including the director, resigned in January, citing low pay and better opportunities in the Denver area.) He sees neighboring Douglas County--which has approved zoning for hundreds of thousands of new residents with a only a limited groundwater supply--as an example of what not to do. He advocates beefing up the county planning staff and establishing a water commission and wants all new subdivisions in Elbert County to have at least a 300-year groundwater supply.
Morrison describes his critics as "single-issue people" who aren't looking at the larger picture. "I'd question any group that has a 'not in my backyard' attitude," he says. "Our county government is as strong as any in rural Colorado. With the extreme amount of growth we've had in the last three or four years, we've adopted regulations to ensure that things are done correctly."
Morrison's grandparents homesteaded in eastern Elbert County in 1906, and he ran the family ranch until becoming a commissioner three years ago. He says much of the criticism of county government is coming from newcomers. "A lot of people move into the area and say, 'I'm here now and no one else can come,'" he says. "A lot of these people talking about growth are living on hobby farms."
Dunn, meanwhile, is confident he'll be elected a county commissioner in the fall, and he vows that business as usual will come to an end in Elbert County. "We've had a community of sleepers, but finally we've woken up," he says. "I'm absolutely appalled with what's happening in the county. The five biggest problems in the county are growth, growth, growth, growth and growth. There's a group of us who can see it coming. It's still not too late for Elbert County."
The county commissioners will hold a public meeting on the pipeline proposal May 15 in Kiowa, and a vote could come soon after. And whatever the outcome, the uproar over the pipeline seems sure to affect Elbert County for years to come. "Diamond Shamrock wants to ram the pipeline down our throats whether we want it or not," says Dunn. "Why would we risk our water supply? If the commissioners vote for the pipeline, they'll make everybody in this valley mad.
