BY JODY BENSON
Los Alamos
BY JODY BENSON
Los Alamos
I vote for community. In this era when the elderly wonder where civility went and young people believe they’re being parsed for The Hunger Games, here in Los Alamos we have good governance that’s respectful even when they don’t always decide issues my way.
Which is why I vote not for me, but for those who serve our community.
We have three well-known candidates whose service has been to support the best interests of the County: County Vice Chair Theresa Cull who volunteers, especially with youth, to support the diversity of concerns and needs in the community; Steven Lynne who brings vast expertise as the retired County CFO; and David Hampton who knows what’s happening everywhere through his current rolls on many boards from ESB to P&Z.
And now we have the new guy, Jason Chapell.
I met Jason at the League of Women Voters Primary Candidate Forum, and when I learned he’s the Assistant Store Lead of Smiths, I chased him down after the Forum to ask him about what we can do with all the single-use plastic shopping bags. We stood in the UNMLA parking lot in the mild May evening and discussed options about everything wasteful from plastic to no-longer-saleable food. He has good ideas for collaboration both corporate and local. But of course, the operate word here is “collaboration”.
In October, as the most recent LWV Candidate Forum ended, he heard someone in the crowd complaining that at the time, the Senior Center was having problems locating a space to serve community meals. He went to the conversers and brought up the Community Room upstairs at Smiths. Why not there? Jason has lots of ideas, not just about his role at Smiths, but as a neighbor in Northern New Mexico.
I like that Jason doesn’t think outside the box–rather, Jason creates a box big enough to be inclusive of the needs of the community. His full-time job, in fact, is to listen to that community. With his experience on local boards (Transportation and Library), and his experience managing the biggest non-government business in town, Jason Chapell will bring a different eyeball to the Council.
I’m voting for Theresa Cull, Steven Lynne, David Hampton, and the new guy, Jason Chapell.