BY JILL LANG
Owner
Samizdat Bookstore and Teahouse

I am writing to support Ryn Herrmann’s candidacy for Los Alamos County Council. I first met Ryn when she was Director of the Chamber of Commerce and was spearheading the inaugural 2021 Retail Accelerator. This was a business incubator program designed to take fledgling business owners from concept to trial run in a physical retail space here in Los Alamos. To my knowledge, such a program had never been attempted before. 

The program was flawed. It was chaotic and uneven and there’s a lot of information I wish had been included.

It also worked. And the four businesses incubated in the 2021 class are still in business, in physical retail spaces in Los Alamos County nearly three years later. 

Our County seems to have a pattern of stewing over good ideas until they’re either perfect, mangled beyond recognition, or dead. Since perfect doesn’t exist we often end up with the other two options. This is a structure and culture issue, not an indictment of any individual. 

Because of her time working with the County through the Chamber of Commerce, Ryn understands the structure and culture challenges that impede progress on citizen-identified issues like retail business development. She’s shown that she’s not afraid to try things – not afraid to learn and make mistakes with people and pivot and grow. 

An ideal representative government body has multiple viewpoints and leadership styles that balance out to forge a coherent and productive path forward. If elected, Ryn will be bold but not reckless, and will favor action over safe stagnation. I will be voting for her (early!) and encourage all Los Alamos County residents who prioritize retail business development to do the same.