Topics:
Constituent/Candidate Priorities: :06
Wildfires: 1:59
Rural Healthcare: :
Housing Solutions: 5:42
Latino Community Representation: 7:26
Community Safety: 10:23
Events in National Politics: 12:40
Bipartisanship: 15:22
Personal Experience: 19:52
Additional Concerns/Statement: 24:35
Hattison Rensberry: What do you believe are currently the highest priorities for your constituents?
Caleb Waller: So, when you're representing Aspen all the way down to the Parachute – it's quite a district and you've got some pretty differing opinions and differing ideals. I would go so far as to say that this district is probably the most diverse in all of Colorado as far as characters that are out there, that are trying to be a part of, you know, representing.
I guess my biggest issue that I'm facing right now is the fact that we're in a crisis with housing. We're in a crisis with – right now I know 11,000 cars a day commute up to Aspen from Parachute in the area, they go right through Glenwood. I'm like how can we tackle some transportation things? How can we tackle some water issues? I mean, water is always a big deal here. How can we represent the district that's relevant to the district, right?
And then also kind of bridging the gap here, because Garfield County's oil and gas, right? That's who we are. We're an energy county. And so what's really important is to make sure that those interests are being represented.
But at the same time, we also have people that are highly concerned about oil and gas and that growth. And so I hope to really bridge some discussions and things that have to do with how do we work together. How do we come together as a community that does the best interest of all interest in the valley from Aspen all the way down to the Roaring Fork Valley all the way through the Colorado River Valley? How can we represent that?
So water, housing, transportation, I guess the biggest thing I was thinking of the day – sponsor bills pass bills that are relevant to the county, like things that really truly impact voters.
I work in housing. I'm an industry when it comes to real estate and I get calls every single day from people saying, “Caleb, my kids can't afford to live here. Rent is through the roof.” I would just love to see some really good discussions on how we can help from the state level to see more things in that regard.
Rensberry: Talking about some more specific issues, Colorado has seen more intense wildfire seasons which last longer than previous years.
What are some of your priorities that will assist communities in dealing with such natural disasters?
Waller: Absolutely. Now, I know Elizabeth [Velasco] has actually done a lot in that area, and I respect her for that. She's done a lot with fire mitigation and things, and obviously being that in her background and so I would continue that for sure.
Figuring out ways that the state can be a part of fire mitigation, wild, wildfire control, you know, sometimes there needs to be controlled burns. I think as much as we can empower boots on the ground to get the job done, I'm there. Let's get it done. Let's make sure that we don't have the catastrophes that we're seeing taking place so far.
And it's like in some ways, man has kind of gotten involved a little too much, I think, and we've kind of tried to fix the problem and maybe by stopping wildfires, we've actually created a bigger monster for ourselves down the road. And I think a lot of the professionals and the experts in the field are seeing that.
So we're going to start seeing some more like, “Hey, how can we do some more control burns? How can we do things that's going to give us better results in the end?” so we don't have these fires getting out of control in some really crazy ways.
One of the things I'm super excited about, when it comes to fire mitigation and stuff is – I just bought this drone the other day and it's a pretty crazy deal and I've been playing around with it with some friends and stuff – but it's exciting because this drone's got like a 15-pound lift. I was talking with some buddies about how unmanned aircraft can actually do so much to spot and assist in firefighting and so I would love to see more advancement in technology when it comes to these things.
Rensberry: Yeah, I think that's really cool. Tech is definitely a big part of how some of these issues are being addressed especially locally, we've seen a lot of jumps. Yeah, definitely.
Rural health care at its limits are some looming concerns for a lot of residents. What are some policies or partnerships that you believe would be beneficial to tackling some of those issues? I know it's very broad, but …
Waller: Yeah, I'm trying to think of how to be specific here when it comes to healthcare issues.
Rensberry: Yeah.
Waller: Obviously, I think one of the biggest things that I think is difficult for rural Colorado is that we don't always have the access to the things that people in Denver or other places have. And so being a representative of the Western Slope, I plan to fight for those same benefits to make sure that individuals here in Western Colorado don't feel like they're being left behind or left out when it comes to health care.
When it comes to mental health that is something that's very near and dear to my mind, me and my wife's heart because we've walked with individuals and we've walked with people that have been even in our own family that we've had to cross some pretty tough roads.
I think that a lot of people don't realize the travesty and just the difficulty of not being able to have access to the things that you need. But in the premise of that too, I would also want to step into a broader question as well, when it comes to the role of government.
I'm a private sector guy and most approaches on things. If we can empower the private sector to do it, let's let the private sector do it. Which means I believe in capitalism within it's within the right boundaries of things, and so if there's ways that we can empower residents and empower the Western Slopers to have the ability to expand in those areas versus not expanding the role of government. That's something that I'll be very highly passionate about. Because I just feel like the government probably usually does it and they cost more and sometimes they don't do it always the most efficiently. And I think if private sector can do it better.
Rensberry: Okay, sure. You talked a little bit earlier about housing and how that is an issue for some constituents. When it comes to housing, what are some solutions specifically that you intend to encourage or assist with?
Waller: Absolutely. So I sit on the Planning and Zoning for Garfield County, and so being a part of that planning and zoning commission for the last several years, I've kind of really dove into: How can we address these issues? Right?
I'm a pro-growth guy. That might sound a little – and I want to probably just go and get that out there just to make sure voters understand this – but when you live on the I-70 corridor, and which I live on, it's the window of Colorado. Twenty thousand cars a day drive past my home here where I live just not far off I-70.
And to me, we have to grow in Garfield County. We have to grow, we have to expand housing and so in that respect from a state representative level, I believe my job would be to try to empower the local county levels as much as I can to be able to have the tools they need to do that job. So, if that means pulling back government regulations, I'm a guy that pushes for how can we give things to the county level? What can county levels do right now?
Right now my biggest opposition is I see that a lot of county districts or a lot of government agencies are really reaching into county-level decisions. And it's kind of restricting the county and costing a lot more money for developers and for contractors and things when we probably should just get out of the way and step back a little bit.
And so the bills that I would sponsor would be how can we reign back the power of Colorado government in county-level politics and county-level decisions.
Rensberry: Interesting. Our region is seeing a growing Latino community compared to previous decades. How do you intend to represent them faithfully?
Waller: Absolutely. I've worked extensively with the Hispanic community, Latino community. And actually I helped a DREAMer family buy their first property. And it was just a heroic story for me, just to be a part of that process for them.
She's a schoolteacher. He's a contractor.
(I don't know if you can hear my baby's crying in the background here right now, but I got seven kids. So it's part of my life. It's what I do.)
And so as I was walking with this family – I was actually their landlord. I had bought the property that they were on and I told him one day, I said, “Guys, you should purchase this property.” And they were like “Can we?” And I said absolutely.
And to me, as I was walking with this Hispanic family – they're following the American dream of success. He's working hard and she's working hard and her kids are thriving in the school district. And I said, you know what? This is to me when people so many times want to just look at a person's, you know, whether they got citizenship or not, and all that sort of thing.
I was at the rodeo the other day in Carbondale, and they announced that the bullfighter guy had just gotten his citizenship. And to me, that's awesome, but he'd been walking in that rodeo for years and he was welcomed as family. And that to me is what's important. Let's try to embrace the Hispanic community and let's all be Americans together.
And so from the Hispanics that I talk to, and the Latinos, they don't want special treatment. They just want to be welcomed. Right? And so, in that respect it is a challenging factor when there's players outside of Garfield County and outside of Pitkin County and Eagle, part of Eagle that I represent, that influence some of the aspects of what's happening here when we saw 150 Hispanics under the bridge in Carbondale, right? My heart went out to these guys.
How do we figure out a way to address these issues, right? Because one of the problems is we're already in a housing crisis here in Garfield County. Can we take in a whole bunch of Hispanics? Can we provide for them? And I guess, my path forward for them as I've talked to Hispanics is saying be a part of the workforce like the rest of us. Join the team.
I mean, if you come, and this is my story briefly: I came here five years ago with nothing. I was homeless. I mean, my wife and I – we had to step out of some situations that we're in and we've built a very successful real estate company in a short amount of time. And it's not because I was handed anything. It wasn't because I was gifted something that was like oh wow, ok, thank you.
This is what I've said to people about the Western Slope: the Western Slope will take care of those who love it. And if you love the Western Slope and you truly care about the outdoors and you truly care about what the Western Slope offers, it will give you everything. But if you come here expecting to be handed something and don't expect to work for it, then I'm sorry, the Western Slope is no place for you.
Rensberry: What is one thing that you believe can be done to make communities safer?
Waller: I have worked extensively in, my wife, Kendra – amazing. She's at my side all the way. I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for her. And she really should be the one doing the interview here with me because she's the real powerhouse. We've got seven kids and a successful business. And, obviously having seven kids means that I care about safety.
I want my kids to be able to ride their bikes to town and not be worried what might happen. Right?
And so in that we've worked extensively on raising awareness on the travesties of human trafficking, and we've hosted a rally the last several years in Rifle that brought over 800 people out.
The message that I always say to these people is safety for our kids is not greater law enforcement and not expanding of more security personnel in the streets and things. Safety for our kids starts with you and you personally taking responsibility for your street. You personally taking responsibility for that family that's going through a hard time around the corner that's maybe the kid, the family's going through a divorce, or what other tragic situations that happen in families. And there's kids that are that are in the middle of that that need our community to rise up and be there for them.
And so I'm highly passionate about empowering our residents to realize that it's all on us. We're all in this together. How can we work together toward seeing Garfield County become a safe place to live?
I mean, people sometimes say, ‘Oh, we need more of this and more of this.’ And I think we just need more community trust. That's the part that just hits me every day.
I was on the phone all day yesterday talking to all the candidates that are running, even Democrat candidates, and mainly I just wanted to hear their heart on what are we going to do in the aftermath of what just happened? What do we do? We have a situation where there's been an attempted assassination.
And to be honest with you – I know we're in Aspen here talking – I led the Republican float in Aspen over on the 4th of July. And this is where it gets really hard because if the attempted assassination of Trump had happened prior to me going to Aspen for the 4th of July, I probably wouldn't have taken my kids up to Aspen.
And I'll tell you, when we walked through the Aspen parade, it was one of the most brutal events that I've ever participated in. Now, I've been shot at. I worked in the West Bank in Israel for 14 years. I mean, that's another story. I've been in some pretty crazy situations. I've been a first responder to two terrorist attacks in the Middle East. I've lived a crazy life as a young man. And so I know what it feels like to be in places of high intensity. But when I'm walking through the Aspen parade, which is supposed to be a fun family gathering and people are screaming at me saying F you and putting their middle fingers. And my kids are asking me what is going on.
It was concerning to me. And I just, I wanted to go up. And when I was, you know, obviously the Republican party and Planned Parenthood doesn't have a real good relationship, but as we were going by the Planned Parenthood guys and they're had their big pink signs. I wanted to go up and give them all a hug. I wanted to say, guys, listen, we've got to come together. We've got to be able to have, who, I mean, if we disagree, that's, that's okay. But our message has to be heard, regardless of what we say. I don't care where you stand on the political spectrum. I don't care if you're in the LGBT community. I love you guys. I want you guys to have a voice.
Am I going to, you know, bend over backward in some areas? No, maybe not, but I'm going to hear what you have to say. I'm going to hear what you want to communicate with me. I have so many friends in the gay community and things like that. And just like, I just feel like there's so much animosity at times that it just, cuts me to the heart.
And I feel like at night, like I just really after last night, I broke down crying, talking to my wife saying, I don't know why I carry this. It’s so heavy for me, the division that's in our state and in our country right now. But I want to see people come together. I want to see us have dialogue. I want to see us have community.
And that's when you start talking about safety, it's so near and dear to my heart because I've been in places where it wasn't safe. And I know what children go through in those circumstances, and I think people need to – and I think a lot of people today are asking themselves that question: have I contributed to an environment that has led to such hostility that we're now facing what we're facing? And that's hurtful. It's hurtful. It's hard.
When I was in Aspen, I went over to the Democrat float and I shook hands with everybody. And I said, we're in this together, and that's what's important to me.
And we'll see what happens. I hope that I can play my part in being a bridge builder and a person who says we're going to not just live for today but live for tomorrow and for the generations to come.
Rensberry: Talking a little bit about addressing division. How else do you plan to promote bipartisanship in the state legislature if given this position?
Waller: Well, I talked to a lot of Republicans about this. They go to Denver and they're like, “Man, it's brutal over there.” You know, it is like the Democrats got the supermajority and they just basically pushed through whatever they want to push through.
And, I guess I trust people. It's a core value that I have. It's interesting. Like maybe it's because I've been in a situation in life where I've been obviously treated wrongly, but I think I just still trust humanity.
I still get down to the core values and say that just because that individual has something that's just drastically in opposition to what my core belief would be, I still see him as a human being. I still see him as somebody that I can have a conversation with and still see him as a person that's like many of us – and this is the thing is I've done a lot with people's journeys and been a life coach and things – and a lot of times we're talking to that four-year-old times in our lives.
All of us have a four-year-old somewhere in our life that we're working with, right? And it's some wound or something we have to work through, right? And so I find as a legislator, we don't have a lot of maturity. And a lot of times people just get so out of whack on issues and it's like: this could have been solved so much easier if we just simply had the emotional maturity to have a conversation about this.
And I think the voters are desperate for that. The voters have no interest in seeing me throwing insults or hurling things that people. I'm not at war. I'm not at war with the Democrat party. Actually, I sent him a text that if you look on my Facebook page right now, you will see that the post that I made directly after what happened to Trump was I said please don't stereotype the Democrats as wanting this. This is important. This was a radical individual that had an agenda and obviously, you know, we can blame it on rhetoric or we can blame it on this. But I can say the Democrats that I walk with have no interest in the assassination of a rival and that's something that's vital.
Maybe that's not real popular with some of my friends. I got a lot of flack for it, but I will be a person that's going to stand up for the values of togetherness. And yeah, I believe that's the strongest thing to do. It's actually not the easy thing to do. Standing up for your opponents, let's say, is not easy, but it's also the high road. It's the road that leads to conversations and success, right? It leads to people being able to be like, “Wow, you know what? Caleb stood up for me in that circumstance. Like, he defended us. He didn't try to paint us all to be these crazies,” right?
When a big, really hot topic, and I'll go ahead and address it right off the bat when it comes to the abortion issue, right? That's a very women's rights, right? I just mentioned Planned Parenthood. I wanted to go and give all those guys a hug, right?
I'm a pro-life guy. I love kids. My wife and I obviously have seven – I'm a family man. And as I've talked to several legislators over there that have tried to push bills, trying to make abortion illegal in the state of Colorado and things I've been met with a lot of arrogance and a lot of pride. And it just, as I'm talking with these guys, I'm like: how do you put yourself in that position with so much confidence?
God forbid that I ever have to navigate a tough situation like this with one of my girls. I've got five daughters. But if I do, I hope that I meet it with compassion and love and caringness and one that just says, you know, what can I do to be there for you? How can I support you? Right?
Make it so that when that girl has to make a decision that it's not one that she makes because of some economic problem or it's not one that she makes because she's just embarrassed or ashamed, right? Because it's just there's so much bullying and I hate it. And so to me if I have the opportunity as a legislator to support legislation that empowers women that gives them the tools that they need in these tragic scenarios that we sometimes face, in situations that are hard, I hope it's met with compassion and love. And it just says, I want to give all of them a big old hug and say, ‘Listen let's work this out. What can we do? Right. And I don't, I'm never going to put myself in the position to say I know how to make a decision better than you. And that's what's vital to me.
Even though I believe life begins at conception, everything has to be met with compassion and love.
Rensberry: Sure. Yeah. Getting a little bit more into the personal vein, what is a personal experience or part of your lifestyle that can help you to better serve your constituents?
Waller: Well, I think I kind of articulated some of that already in a way of just being a man that just – I care. I really do.
I was telling one of my friends of the day, and I hope this doesn't come across and the politicians hear me say this, I hope they don't get offended by it, but maybe they will. I haven't met a politician that I want to emulate. There's nobody out there that I look up to and I'm like: that's my man, or that's my lady right there. It drives me crazy.
I hope to be – the other day I was in a park and there was a bunch of, we're doing an outreach thing. It wasn't really an outreach. There's a place down the street from us here that's got a, it's a poor neighborhood. And so we do a meal every week there. And so I was part of the team that was bringing in this food and a lot of them are new immigrants.
And it's interesting because as we're feeding these new immigrants and things, we're sometimes speaking through translators, but we're able to kind of learn a little bit about them, learn about their life and what's going on, right? And being kind of in, putting yourself in their position, they're living in campers, they're kind of, they're struggling to get by. There's four or five families at times in one little camper and it's just, I'm looking at going, okay, how can I, – and when you put yourself in the trenches of these people, you learn about this.
But then all of a sudden I'm sitting there and I'm looking around, I'm seeing all these kids, and I saw a kid go by that had a flat tire on his bike. And I said, hey, I can fix bikes. So I pulled out my truck, and I had my little bike stand there, and I started fixing bikes. Next thing you know, I had 30 kids lined up there.
And they were all lining up and one of the specialist memories, I remember this, this little Hispanic girl that was, I think maybe four, she's pushing her little bike up and just got a flat tire on it. She didn't speak any English and her friend, one of the boys that was there, who was one of my buddies that was also lived in this community was translating for me. And she gave me this big old high five after I fixed the tire on her bike.
And as she left, I said, that's the representative I want to be. I want to be serving kids. I want to be a part of this. Now, the problem is I get on the phone with the Secretary of State's office and they're like “Well, Caleb, you can't be fixing kids' bikes because that could be seen as electioneering.”
And I'm like, man, how do I win this? Like, how do I, you know, like I just got it. I just got somebody called in and reported that I'm not spending enough money on my campaign. So there must be something wrong. And I'm like, guys, do you have to spend money in politics to win? Is that really how it works?
I've only spent maybe 10 or 15 thousand dollars CPA knows where all that's at. But my CPA called me up and was like, well, based on the amount of money that's normally spent and based on the momentum that you have, you need to spend – people are questioning. And I'm like, man, I'm just trying to serve. I'm just trying to love. I'm just trying to be a person that gives everybody hugs that loves on these kids, loves on these families, loves on new immigrants.
I have some of my tenants, the other day I had a tenant who sent me a text and he says, “Hey, Caleb,” he's a new immigrant here. And he said, “I just got diagnosed with cancer” and he's 30 years old. He's Hispanic from Mexico. And he said, “Is there a place that you could rent to me? Maybe it's a little cheaper so that I can, while I'm affording some of this, I got to stop work and stuff.”
So I went to his house and I sat down at their table there with him and his wife. And they told me they're expecting a new baby. They have one, they have another baby on the way.
I said, man, what can I do to help you in this season? And he broke down crying there at the table and said, “Caleb, in the three years that I've lived here, I've never had someone treat me with as much respect as you.” And that's me as who I am. And I hope I never compromise on that. I hope I become a man that says all of us are human beings.
All of us deserve to be respected from the little kid to the old-time rancher that's had ranches here for generations, we all are in this together and I hope I never compromise. And my inspiration is my kids. I just bought my daughter a camera yesterday and she's going crazy taking pictures and she's now my five daughters are like my campaign managers.
And I take my inspiration from them because I look at them and I say, what do they need? Like, what can I do as a representative that's going to give them the tools that they need? And so yeah, this is highly emotional for me, I hope. And I hope the listeners listen to this. It's not like I'm just trying to get in there and push an agenda.
I know that in the end, if we simply look eye to eye and we love people around us, we will meet the results of whatever needs to be met. And we will get to the best place that Colorado and the Western Slope has ever been. And that's why I'm there.
Rensberry: Is there anything that we didn't touch on today that you feel needs to be said before we finish up?
Waller: I'm excited to represent the Western Slope. I believe being a representative means that you're relevant and that you tackle issues that are important to the constituents. And you may go on my website and see kind of a limited level of policies. I don't think I've even got them all updated yet because I'm mainly just doing all this myself and the main reason for that is that I'm trying to hear from the constituents. I'm trying to talk to the people on the ground; people that are the construction workers.
The other day I was in this little paddy wagon – I bought this paddy wagon that I run around and give rides around the town just because I meet people and stuff, and it's fun giving rides. And I'm talking to many members of the Hispanic community because a lot of this area, we're 60 percent Hispanic.
And most of the Hispanics are saying: we don't know anything about politics. And I said you should because I mean the country they came from, I think the report I heard in the last election, there was – speaking of assassinations – there were 21 assassinations in the last election in Mexico.
So the Hispanics come here for a free community and the Latino community really wants to be a part of that, but they're scared. They're wondering: is America heading in the same direction? And I'm affirming every single one of them, listen: get involved here in America because your voice is needed. Your message is vital.
Your values are what's important and what makes this Western Slope a great place to live. And so you sitting back and doing nothing will be the demise but if you engage, and people see that you're in that you want to be a part of the story, then you have a seat at the table. And so let's all sit around and have a discussion about what Colorado could be and where we can dream.
Because, trust me, if people hang out with me, they'll know that I'm a dreamer. I'm a guy that shoots to the stars and anything is possible. There's no way when it starts talking about energy, you're talking about energy in Colorado, you're like, we're oil and gas now, but why can't we be nuclear, solar, wind?
I mean, all the different things that we can do. Why not? Let's go to the stars in regards. Let's be a representative. Let's be a county that and a district that shows the world what renewable energy looks like. Let's show how we can defy the odds and let's say, you know, hey, let's do something that just puts Garfield County in the Western Slope on the map as a county that people are working together.
And we're not rifting. We're coming together for the good. And that's the thing that I would love to say to my constituents and feel free to reach out to me. I'd love to have a conversation with you – anyone out there. I'm available. I'm just a, I'm just a humble dad with seven kids that owns some real estate and I look forward to representing the district in the best way that I can.
Rensberry: Well, thank you again so much Caleb for making the time to chat with us today and to give our constituents a little bit more information about what your priorities are and where you're at on some of these issues. If people want to take a look at more of your policies, where can they go to do that?
Waller: Vote Waller dot com.
Rensberry: All right. Well, thanks again. Have a great rest of your day.
Waller: Thank you.
