Former Carbondale Town Trustee Katrina Byars is challengingGarfield County Commissioner John Martin for his District 2 seat this November. KDNK’s Lucas Turner has more from her campaign announcement Saturday.
Over the weekend Katrina Byars, 40, announced her campaign for County Commissioner at a meeting of Garfield County Democrats.
Byars grew up and attended school in Garfield County, earning a degree in Sustainability Studies from Colorado Mountain College. She then went on to get a Master’s Degree in legal studies at the Sturm College of Law at Denver University.
She says it’s time for Garfield County Chairman John Martin to step down.
Byars’ governmental experience includes a brief stint on the Carbondale Board of Trustees from 2014 to 2017. During that time she authored a source water protection plan for the Town of Carbondale, and served on a committee that wrote the Garfield County Clean Energy Action Plan.
During her speech Saturday, Katrina Byars spoke about a range of topics, but her message centered around environmental sustainability. She says water should be protected as a human right under State and Federal, listing it as just one necessity to which she says everyone should have equal access.
Byars registered as a Democrat just a few months ago, before that she was unaffiliated. She says she felt disillusioned by the way both major political parties operate.
Now that she’s running as a Democrat, she’s calling for the party to "self purify, and lead a new ethical standard in the country.”
She also says the Democratic party needs to reach more unaffiliated voters and spoke against partisanship before wrapping up her announcement.
