Term limited State Representative Matt Soper from Delta is running for the open District One Delta County Commissioner in November. For KVNF, Lisa Young spoke with the seasoned legislator on his bid to replace outgoing fellow Republican Mike Lane, who is also term limited.
LISA YOUNG: We want to talk about your candidacy running for District 1 for Delta County Commissioner. Now, as I understand it, you are term limited in the House, is that correct?
MATT SOPER: That's correct, yes.
YOUNG: How many years did you serve in the House?
SOPER: I've served eight years in the House of Representatives.
YOUNG: Tell me why you decided then now to pivot and to run for County Commissioner?
SOPER: Yeah, I mean I am term limited, but I also still feel very passionate about public service and being able to represent my home county. And County Commissioner is a great opportunity to be able to do that. It's a legislative, executive, and quasi-judicial role for the county.
It's one where I certainly hope to use my experience as a legislator to be able to fight for Delta County because there's a lot of policies that Denver debates and considers that does have ramifications on Delta County. And I've watched former legislators who become commissioners, and they certainly provide an incredibly loud voice for their counties, but they tend to come from bigger counties like Douglas County or Jefferson County.
And the ability to have, really for the first time in history, at least I haven't found anyone else that has done this in Delta County, go from the legislature to County Commissioner to me has great potential to be able to boost our county when we're trying to make the case that there's a lot of unfunded mandates.
Well, it's different when you can actually go to Denver and talk about how different policies will result in an unfunded mandate versus just writing a letter from Delta and not having anyone read it. I mean, there's a difference. I mean, when you have those personal connections and know the different actors within state government, that certainly helps.
But I also obviously love my home county. I mean, I'm chairman of the hospital board. The ability to use those experiences to look at things like land use, protecting our water, making sure our roads are up to par. I mean, those are the jobs or duties of County Commissioner that are sort of the unsung role of a County Commissioner. And yet, that can make our county either successful or not successful. I mean, you think about we're still a major agricultural county.
And if we don't maintain good roads throughout our county, all of a sudden a farmer can grow a great crop, for example, of apples or peaches or cherries. But if they're all battered and bruised because our roads are pothole laden, it doesn't really serve us very well to be considered a top agricultural county if that's the end result. So really focusing on maintaining our infrastructure and continuing also the good work of our County Commissioners.
I certainly realize I'll be standing on the shoulders of a lot of great men and women who have served as County Commissioner before me. And they have done a great job of saving money and building up reserves. They have also been very frugal in how they spend money and efficient in how they've done things.
I mean, a good example was doing the, for example, the jail expansion within what used to be the Sheriff's Office and then moving the Sheriff's Office over to the old library. I mean, that's efficiency to keep government compact and to keep things together. But really building on what has happened before me is also important because I do see Delta as being different than a few other counties.
We have been a successful county in terms of our government. And I don't believe now is the time to disrupt things or change things up. It's more of the time to continue the good work and continuity because that also helps business.
And especially knowing that if the county is stable, then the business community and the agricultural community can continue to thrive.
YOUNG: Matt, you mentioned Delta Health Board of Directors. If you were to be elected, would you still be able to serve on that board or would you have to relinquish that seat?
SOPER: No, I would still be able to serve on that board. However, I am term limited in May of 2027. So there would only be about a four-month overlap between serving on the Delta Health Board of Directors and serving on the Board of County Commissioners.
YOUNG: You mentioned some of the key issues in the county. I'm curious about economic growth. What do you see in terms of potential for economic growth within the county?
SOPER: Yeah, I definitely see a lot of potential for economic growth within the county. I mean, our population was flat from the last census from 2010 to 2020. We didn't really grow. Roughly remained about 30,000 people. But there was a population change that did occur.
So we continued to lose mining jobs. And that has also led to a decrease in school population within our school district. But it also meant that as those miners and other young workers left our county, they were replaced by retirees.
And we had an awful lot of retirees move in, especially since the pandemic. And that has resulted also in a shift, for example, in the hospital. We have more Medicare patients than ever before. And so this change has made it very difficult in terms of economic development, because now we have an older population that's relying on a strong healthcare industry to exist here in the county. We also have, you know, communities in Montrose and Grand Junction that are definitely growing, but they're getting expensive. And Delta County is right in between.
We're not as regulated as Montrose or Mesa County, which is a good thing. So growing within the agritourism space is one area that I see Delta County being ripe for. In order for agritourism to really grow, we need to continue to have land use policies that support agritourism.
And that can be challenging. I mean, there's people that don't necessarily want more tourists, but yet tourists do bring dollars. Delta County is still an off-the-beaten-path county.
So it's a place where, you know, it's an adventure. It's a place where people want to discover. In terms of small companies, small to medium companies, we're also in a prime location for development, especially along the Highway 50 corridor.
Land and even the workforce is still affordable compared to other parts of the state. And people who live in Delta County tend to have an incredibly good work ethic. I have worked with some of our aerospace defense contractors over in Denver to try to get more of those contracts to exist in Delta County.
And as county commissioner, I actually would want to go like full bore in trying to pursue these contracts because as part of our national defense strategy, the big companies like Lockheed Martin, Martin Marietta, Ball, they're all required to diversify their vendors. Because if we were to go to war, we don't want to be in a scenario where our enemy could bomb one factory and take out the military supply chain. So especially looking to rural America and rural Colorado is key because if we were to, you know, heaven forbid, be at war, we're incredibly protected here.
And so having the suppliers for the big defense contractors be out here is very safe. And the fact that we have a lot of guys who are machinists, they know oil and gas, they know coal mining, all these things that tie in incredibly well to manufacturing the parts and pieces for our defense sector makes Delta County ideal. And these companies aren't looking for huge partners.
They're looking for, you know, a small shop. I mean, someone that's, you know, small as, you know, probably three or four people would be the smallest that probably contract with, but all the way up to several hundred. But they definitely are looking for partnerships and Delta County, I believe is in a perfect position to leverage these partnerships.
And then we have to be able to grow our own economically. We're not necessarily going to attract a big company to relocate to Delta. And quite frankly, I think that's kind of scary to do.
It would certainly change the ecosystem that we already have in Delta, but it also makes us dependent on one company, kind of the same way we were when Coors was here or Holly Sugar was here. And it puts a lot of our economy in the hands of just one company. And that can be bad because if the company pulls out, our economy sinks.
But if you have a company that's developed in Delta County, it's supporting them and supporting them could be in terms of land use. It could be in terms of, you know, making sure the codes are aligned right for that business to grow. But it also could be instead of, you know, the leverages that we have as government in terms of incentives, you don't always have to throw those at outside companies that can also be used to grow the companies that are already here in Delta County.
And certainly those that show prospects of success and being able to employ more people is what I would like to see us pursue more of. And those are, I guess, kind of my general thoughts on economic development. Right.
YOUNG: I want to talk just a little bit about public land because Delta County has a pretty large share of public land. I read somewhere up to 60 percent of the land in the county would fall under public land. Do I have that correct?
SOPER: That's correct. Yeah, about 60 percent.
YOUNG: Okay. Public land issues are big here in the county. People are concerned always about usage, conservation, the best use for public lands. And then also concerns are rising up about the possibility of public lands being sold to private investors. As a county commissioner, where do you stand on public land use? And, you know, are you pro keeping it public land or could you see some value in selling it at some point?
SOPER: Yeah, I'm a big fan of our public lands. That is something that makes the American West incredibly special. You go east of the Mississippi River and you have very few public lands. Delta County, of course, is incredibly blessed because our public lands are multi-use and I support keeping them multi-use.
It means that, you know, the ranchers and their allotments coexist with the hikers, bikers, hunters, campers, and it works well. And it also supports Delta County's tourism economy. And tourism takes several different forms.
One is hunting and fishing. And considering the fact that we have some of the best fishing waters in the entire state on the Gunnison, so much so like President Jimmy Carter came here, is really highlighted by that fact. And then our hunting, certainly up around Paonia and Grand Mesa is also considered premier.
I know even members of the Trump family have been hunting in Delta County. So those are just good examples of, I mean, that supports the economy. We get so much benefit in Delta County from our public lands that I absolutely would not support any effort to sell off, give away, or transfer authority to our public lands.
If something is working well, keep it working well. And I mean, our lands have been working well in terms of, you know, advocating for like better management and resource utilization. I mean, absolutely, that's an area that I'm going to dive into because we also need to make sure that we don't have federal efforts that undermine what we enjoy about our public lands in Delta County.
And I say that in terms of like we had groups in the past that have pushed for like roadless rules where only the rich and wealthy get to enjoy the public lands because you need to be rich enough to own a horse or have enough time to be able to hike in. And that's also not fair to like the veteran who served our country, but is disabled and is limited in their ability to access the public lands. And so that's where there's a balance and you need to make sure that every citizen who wants to enjoy our public lands has that ability to do so.
YOUNG: Yeah, you know, talking about land use and the land use codes that were adopted by the county a couple of years back, they've kind of gone through changes as Commissioner Mark Rober, you know, said this is a living document as he was on his way out and talked about the importance of the county continuing to work on the land use codes. There's still a lot there that people are not happy about. And maybe address your take on the land use code here in Delta County.
And then also a question and a fear maybe, maybe it's more of a fear people have is at some point the county could institute building codes. So let's just talk a little bit about land use code and the importance or unimportance of it or just your take on it. Yeah, land uses obviously was a bigger county issue just a couple of years ago than probably it's going to be this year.
SOPER: I'm certainly glad our past Board of County Commissioners said most of that debate. But in terms of what the code does and doesn't do, the biggest focus is on public health. And ensuring that people have things like septic tanks, they're not dumping sewage into ditches or rivers within Delta County is important.
And that's I mean, I believe you know, people should be able to do with their own land what they want to do. But there is a line that's drawn when it affects your neighbor. And in terms of having human waste, say in a ditch that flows to your neighbor, that absolutely has effects downstream, no unintended.
And a lot of our land use did focus around that. We're still very much a agricultural county and our land use also reflects that as well. If you're going to move to Delta County, you probably should know that your farmer's likely or your neighbor's likely going to be a farmer.
And there's going to be certain things that are involved with farming, such as certain smells that may not exist in the city and our land use also reflects that as well. In terms of building codes, I like the fact that Delta doesn't have building codes. I think that continues to be a factor that allows people to do with their land what they would want to do.
I know some people will say, well, what about the future buyer of property? Well, that future buyer has the ability to inspect the property before making that purchase. They certainly can demand certain warranties of the property and certain conditions be met. The other element for why robust building codes don't need to be here is insurance also dictates a certain amount.
So if you're going to insure your property, I mean, there has to be already certain conditions that are met within the property's construction. And so for a lot of homeowners, if they're not going to meet certain standards, they wouldn't qualify for insurance. And that is true across the board.
Also to borrow money to build a home, for example, there's going to be conditions that are placed on the borrowing of those dollars as well. And so already through banks and through insurance, we kind of already have a bit of a building code that's here. What we don't have is, I mean, a person who, of course, has a boatload of cash and they're kind of wanting to do their own thing.
But what we've seen a lot of is people have actually overbuilt. And we see this especially even in like the North Fork area, but also in the Surface Creek area where people have built incredible homes, rock homes, solid. And those are ones where no one told them to overbuild and be overengineered, but they did so anyways, because that was their dream and they built their dream home.
YOUNG: I am curious about, I mean, there's a lot that goes on with the county commissioner. I've followed county commissioners, you know, in my career in the media quite a bit over in Logan County and then here in Delta County. It is a wide area of concern for the entire county.
But is there maybe one or two areas that you feel most qualified to take leadership roles on the board of county commissioners that you really, truly are passionate about and truly, truly want to focus on?
SOPER: Yeah, absolutely. One area is the budget. I have learned a lot about public and private budgets from my time on the hospital board and being chairman of the hospital board.
I mean, everything for us has been about finance and finding where those dollars are, how those dollars are being used, holding everyone in the organization accountable. And as we move into the future, certainly where there's going to be less state and federal dollars involved, Delta County also needs to be preparing for that. And while I believe we've done a really good job in the past, being able to be focused on our finances and not just assuming that because we've always spent a certain dollar amount for a certain line item, that that always should be the case.
I mean, every line item in the budget should always be scrutinized and that we should be willing to always go through and check because you'll be amazed, but you can always find efficiencies throughout an organization the size of the county, especially when you have like four or five hundred people that work for you.
YOUNG: That's definitely an area that I would not enjoy. I'm glad there are people who do because it is very important.
SOPER: Yeah, I also want to be a leader on the Board of County Commissioners and also our external initiative. We have the ability to still influence state policy because we'll have just finished eight years of service at the state. And I am passionate about the connection between the county and the state because the county may be the lowest branch of state government, but we don't just have to sit back and accept state policy.
We can also be influencing the crafting of state policy. And I watch many other counties, especially the big counties, use resources to influence state policy or their county's benefit. And Delta County should also take advantage of that.
I mean, we shouldn't sit idle and just complain that this is the results of what Denver is going to give us. We should actually be willing to, you know, once in a while go back to Denver, be making phone calls, really working with like Colorado Counties Incorporated to influence either passing of legislation or stopping legislation that would be negative. But Delta County acts like a four small county, but out of 64 counties, we're number 20 in terms of both population and our budget size.
And so we're actually in the top third, roughly, of all of Colorado's counties. And yet we really behave like a much, much smaller county than we are. And not that I want to necessarily see the influence of government in Delta County grow by any means.
But I also know that we're in a position where if things are humming along pretty well at home, we can actually then start saying, okay, we'll take more of a leadership role amongst western slope counties. And to be able to, you know, I want to see Delta County team up more with Mesa County. And I see us having much more opportunities for like shared service agreements with Mesa County or even Montrose County.
Those I think in terms of Mesa County because of my current district. But our two neighboring counties, I mean, I see us having lots of opportunities to be able to save some dollars and partner with our neighbors.
YOUNG: It looks like you most likely will face Democrat Nathan Clay in the November election. What are your thoughts on your opponent?
SOPER: Yeah, I mean, Nathan and I have known each other all our lives. He's a couple years older than me. So we had a brief overlap in high school.
I worked for his dad for a number of years in Delta at Clay and Dodson. I was a financial supporter of his when he was running for Delta City Council and certainly have a lot of respect for Nathan. And he and I have certainly been friends, but it's maybe a little surprise that he chose to run.
But I certainly welcome the opportunity to talk about our ideological perspectives, our dreams for Delta County, because ultimately no one should take public office for granted. And it makes those of us who are fortunate to serve better people when we've actually had to be in front of the voters with an opponent to talk about the issues, to talk about why we're passionate about serving in our county. Because, you know, iron, you know, shapes iron.
And, you know, certainly if there was no one running, I mean, you just don't campaign or dive into the issues at the same rate as you do with an opponent. So I believe he actually makes me a stronger person and a better candidate.
YOUNG: And just maybe a follow up to that. Do you in the future see a time when maybe you and Mr. Clay would have a debate of any kind? I know it's maybe, I don't know whether that would happen or not. I'm certainly probably after the primaries all taken care of. But do you see an opportunity for that or maybe just a forum? I know the DCI does a lot of candidate forums, but something like that where people could have more of an opportunity to see both of you side by side and talking about these different issues in the county.
SOPER: Yeah, I would guess that would probably happen in the fall, especially right before the ballots come out when people are actually paying attention to the election.
YOUNG: Right. Most of us are not even thinking about that right now. There's a lot of other things going on. Like I want to go camping. So that's foremost on my mind right now. Matt, is there anything else that you would like to share or talk about today about your campaigning for District 1 Delta County Commissioner?
SOPER: Yeah, I guess the last thing I would just kind of really say in wrapping things up is that I was born in Delta County. I was born in our hospital. I obviously grew up here, went to Delta High School.
My roots in Delta County run incredibly deep with my family moving here in 1887, so shortly after we became a county. And I've always loved Delta County. I had many opportunities to have life take me in different directions.
And yet I always kept coming back to Delta County and always regarded it my home. And to not only be able to represent the county in the state legislature for the past eight years, but to be able to fully be back home, representing the county as a whole, looking both internally at how we do things like fix roads and bridges, help in economic development, make sure that we have a sound fiscal environment so that we are building up our rainy day funds for the future. But also being able to look towards, whether it's Washington D.C. or Denver, and making sure that when 60% of our land in Delta County is owned by the federal government, we need to be interacting with, I'll call it our regulator, but the BLM and the Forest Service on a weekly basis, because it is a shared agreement.
We may be the county, but they're the ones who are the managers. And so it's something that we've had good relationships in the past, but keeping those strong and vibrant, because what I've noticed in government is that people do change often. And so it's constant relation building.
And then in Denver, there's a lot of unfunded mandates that are being passed down that are starting to cost our county and our taxpayers here hundreds of thousands, if not even the low millions. And we need to be able to make our voice heard and be strong. And it's not that we don't have adequate representation because we do, but it's a different voice when it comes from the county commissioners.
And when it comes directly from the county commissioners, we have a much more powerful voice and we're not using it to its maximum right now. So those are the issues in conclusion for why I want to be a strong commissioner for Delta County and to be able to uplift everyone's voices within the county.
