GOOD COMMUNICATION IS ESSENTIAL TO A VIBRANT AND HAPPY COMMUNITY AND IS KEY TO SOLVING THE TOUGH CHALLENGES OUR COMMUNITY FACES TODAY. ALL VOICES DESERVE TO BE FREELY HEARD. OURAY COMMUNITY IS FOR ALL, NOT JUST A FEW.  AS YOUR CITY COUNCILOR, I WILL DO MY BEST TO COMMUNICATE AND LISTEN TO YOUR CONCERNS AND TAKE POSITIVE ACTION WITH THE GOAL OF UNITING OUR BEAUTIFUL COMMUNITY. 

Uniting the Ouray community by establishing better communication and transparency with its citizens is a top priority. How? By discovering and analyzing broken systems utilized in the past, upgrading those that need a fix, and bringing in new ones. Much more needs to be done in this area. 

Ouray is a volunteer-driven community. Unfortunately, untapped talent is being wasted because communication has not been efficient over the years. Citizens need direction as to what is available to them, whether volunteering, serving, organizing, how to go about navigating our land-use code, and more.

The 2021 City of Ouray Community Plan, a compilation of input from our community, is now officially the current guiding document for the city and its citizens. This tool for the future was created by communicating with the public and stakeholders in Ouray and is accessible to everyone (see link in Transparency section). As part of the Community Plan Steering Committee, I am happy it is complete and can be utilized immediately. The plan which was developed over 3 years by the citizens of Ouray will assist the city government and our community for years into the future.

Ouray is a mix of amazing people of all different ages, some from Ouray several generations deep and others from places near and far with diverse backgrounds and perceptions. Yet, somehow, we all need to blend together to work out the tough stuff we are dealing with now and will be in the future like affordable housing, infrastructure issues, lack of human resources, growth.

Ouray City Council is composed of five equal pieces of decision-making. From my perspective, optimally, that means five independent and objective decision-makers that can work together effectively to make good policy decisions.   

It is a privilege to serve our community, and I would like to have the opportunity to serve as your Ouray City Councilor. As someone well tapped into the Ouray community for 16 years serving in various capacities with the City of Ouray, being a business owner, and working as a volunteer in several organizations and events, I feel I have the experience and capability to listen, respond, and act professionally and with integrity.

Meet and Greet for Tamara Gulde and Josh Smith

Aspen House 442 Oak Street from 2-4 on Saturday, 10/23
Parking is available on Oak Street