Mike Mason of Cedaredge has announced a petition drive to place his name on the Republican primary ballot to oppose Bruce Hovde in the District 3 county commissioner race.

At an announcement on Monday at the community room in Orchard City attended by almost 40 supporters, Mason based his platform on conservative themes of less government regulation and intervention in private lives and business; private initiative and free enterprise; “true private property rights” with lack of interference from neighbors and government; lower taxes and government spending; and, personal freedom and responsibility.

Campaign Issues

“It was not the government, but free men and free enterprise that has made us the envy of the world,” he said in his announcement speech.

Mason also sought to define differences between himself and Hovde, whom he characterized as “a very liberal candidate who is trying to hide the fact.”
County government’s answer to growth “is zoning, subdivision regulations, density standards, restrictions on ag land and more and more regulation. The same tools Boulder, Telluride, and Aspen have used for years.”

He called those ideas “liberal” and “far left,” and he added, “I believe those are Hovde’s hidden, unexpressed core values.” He said those views do not reflect the values of Delta County. “Liberalism doesn’t fly in Delta County.”

Mason drew a distinction between his idea of true property rights and the kind of local land use regulations in Delta County that are promoted as protections for “quality of life” and “property values.”

Mason said the job of county commissioner should take only one or two days per week at most. The $53,000 annual salary could be cut proportionately to reflect that. He also said the number of county government regulations needs to be cut and said he would work towards that goal along with cutting local taxes and spending.

Petition Drive

Mason missed out on a place in the party primary by just five votes at the county assembly last month.

He and his supporters will have two months to collect the necessary 632 valid signatures needed to have his name appear on the Republican primary ballot. There are 8,753 registered Republicans in Delta County.