Salinas, 34, was sworn in as Routt County Commissioner on Tuesday, joining first-term Commissioner Sonja Macys and Commissioner Tim Redmond, who is starting his second term.
Shortly after now-retired Routt County Commissioner Tim Corrigan announced he would not seek a fourth term in 2023, Angelica Salinas asked for a meeting.
“He said ‘Okay, 8 a.m. my office Monday morning,’” Salinas recalled at a toast to Corrigan’s service to Routt County on Monday. “That was it, I didn’t hear from him, he didn’t send me a calendar invite. … I think it was a test to see if I would actually show up and if he would actually help me or not. Hopefully, I passed.”
The two would meet every Monday morning for months, largely going through what was on Corrigan’s plate for that particular week. They would talk about priorities at different parts of the year, historical context for why previous decisions were made and what issues the county is facing in the coming years.
Salinas was sworn in as Routt County Commissioner on Tuesday, kicking off a four-year term that she wants to use to address issues that residents like her are facing.
In an interview with The Yampa Valley Bugle shortly after Salinas took her oath of office, she said she is excited to get to work.
“I really just want to hear from the community,” Salinas said about what she hopes to do in her first few weeks. “I know we’ve got a lot coming up on agendas, but I feel confident how I am starting and what I know and the relationships that I have.”
Those meetings with Corrigan, discussions with other county leaders and the work Salinas had to do to convince voters she was the best candidate in a competitive commissioner race are why Salinas believes she can hit the ground running.
“I know I have a lot to learn, but I also know that I am starting from a really good place and not playing catchup,” Salinas said.
Salinas, who is 34, said that she wants to be a voice for her generation and address issues that residents like her are facing like affordable housing, child care availability and economic mobility. She said she believes her perspective will be valuable on the Board of County Commissioners because she comes from a different lived experience from Commissioners Sonja Macys and Tim Redmond, the latter of whom was sworn in for his second term on the board on Tuesday.
“I’ve had housing insecurity here locally. I don’t know if my husband and I are going to have kids, and if we do, we probably can’t afford or find child care,” Salinas said. “I want to make sure that Routt County is a place that people like me and you can stay and put down roots and start our families.”
When it comes to housing, Salinas said she isn’t looking to upend the county’s long standing policy of protecting open space, a policy that is clearly supported by the community when looking at the overwhelming support for reauthorizing the county’s Purchase for Development Rights program in 2022.
She believes the policy of directing growth in particular areas is working, pointing to new development in Hayden and Steamboat Springs as well as a push in South Routt to form their own housing authority.
“What worked 20 years ago might not work now, but it is definitely a priority for our community as a whole to protect open spaces and maintain the valleys that we have, so I’m not looking to change that,” Salinas said. “But I am looking for creative ways that we can continue to create housing and other developments that live and work here.”
Salinas was elected as District One Commissioner, which represents South Routt County. She said she feels it is important that she is working with the communities in her district and working to represent their view at the commissioner level. She is working to meet with officials in Oak Creek and Yampa and wants to be able to lend support for them where she can.
“There is a lot happening in South Routt,” Salinas said, referencing proposed development including but not limited to Stagecoach Mountain Ranch. “I made sure that I did a lot of door-knocking in my district when I was running for office to make sure I really understood where people were coming from across Yampa, Oak Creek, Phippsburg and Stagecoach. I think it is really important that I continue to stay involved in that community and really represent their voice.”
Getting up to speed on the development process is another priority for Salinas as development in the unincorporated county starts to rise to the Commissioner level. She intends to lean on what she hear from her constituents and from the expertise of Routt County’s planning staff when considering these developments.
“And then three, really making sure that I stick to my values and what I ran on,” Salinas said. “Making sure that every decision I make is in alignment with those core values of keeping this place affordable, keeping this place where families can stay and live and work. Keeping this place sustainable for future generations.”