Salida resident Alison Brown has declared her intent to run for the Chaffee County Commissioner District 3 seat. Brown made her announcement on Friday, Jan. 28, after filing her paperwork with the Chaffee County Clerk and Recorder’s Office the day before.
Dr. Alison Brown is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Brown an engineer and entrepreneur, who has also served in the British military, came to the U.S. as a student from her native Scotland, with nothing but an engineering scholarship and a suitcase of clothes.
“Since becoming a citizen, I have lived the American dream, building a successful aerospace company here in Colorado, and serving my country on national defense advisory boards and the National Regulatory Fairness Board,” Brown explains. “I believe every citizen should have the freedom to build their American dream without undue Government interference.”
As the CEO of the aerospace company Navsys, she also owns a small ranch on the outskirts of Salida where she keeps horses, cattle, goats, and chickens. She also owns a pack of American Foxhounds that she has trained for predator control.
Asked about her motivation for running, she says “I love living here in rural Chaffee County but, since I moved here, I have seen Right to Farm and Ranch protection eroded and extreme over-regulation by local government officials against local businesses and landowners. We live in a County where officials believe they can regulate access to public lands, can redefine Colorado State language to deny Right to Farm and Ranch protections, and can arbitrarily interpret and enforce land-use code at a whim, such as declaring “weddings” as ‘Outdoor theater’ to again over-regulate land use.”
Brown, prevented from keeping some of her animals on her 80-acre property by a county court injunction, then prevented from living in her home on that property, filed a Constitutional lawsuit against the County.
I owe every nickel I have to America,” she explains about the suit. “My ranching neighbors could not afford to defend themselves if targeted like I was. If I don’t fight to defend citizens’ constitutional rights, I don’t deserve to be a citizen myself.”
The Chaffee District 3 seat is currently held by Rusty Granzella (R). Granzella has not yet declared his intentions as to whether he will run for a second term. Ark Valley Voice has received no information yet regarding any other declared candidates for the seat, which is up for election in Nov. 2022.
Editor’s Note: Brown is also a primary investor in Ark Valley Voice. She has no editorial control, and her candidacy will be covered in the same manner we cover other candidacies.
I kind of feel like this small part here could stand some additional detail –
“Brown, prevented from keeping some of her animals on her 80-acre property by a county court injunction, then prevented from living in her home on that property, filed a Constitutional lawsuit against the County.”
Was she, as I am assuming, someone who thought that the rules didn’t apply to her, or was she unfairly targeted in some way?
Isn’t she also the same person who wrote in to make the ridiculous claim that any criticism of Hannah Hannah, no matter how begin or uncontroversial, amounted to misogyny?
Given that she’s part of the AVV in some way, it seems to me that it is incumbent on the AVV to provide as much detail as possible, if you’re going to cover her candidacy at all.
As it stands, she sounds like a “patriot” nut job to me, but perhaps more information would change my mind.
To answer your questions Jeff,
Dr. Alison Brown was engaged in an extensive conflict with the county over housing her American Foxhound dogs on her own property. Ark Valley Voice covered the situation extensively in 2018. Follow this link to read our coverage of the situation: https://arkvalleyvoice.com/?s=Alison+brown+Headwater+Hounds
That conflict began when a neighbor moved in next door and began to complain about the dogs, which were already living on the property and established for agricultural use (predator control). In response, the county changed the land-use code (LUC) then made that change retroactive, but only, apparently, directed at her. They did not go after the various dog sled companies in the county, which also housed more than six dogs.
When the county determined she was not in compliance, they denied her an occupancy permit for the new home she had just finished on the property. Then they denied her a temporary permit for her to live in her RV on her land while the conflict was resolved. Since she had already sold her home in Salid, this rendered her homeless. Her American foxhounds were split up all over the county. In the criminal court case, between the neighbor and Brown, the 11th District Court agreed with Brown that she had been harassed and targeted, and awarded her a financial settlement. Brown’s Constitutional case, focused on private property rights, is pending.
As to the last election, Brown defended Hannah’s right to run for election and did take a stand at some of the more prominent attacks on Hannah, which is her right. AVV standards of ethics mean that we do fact-based coverage of all candidates, applied equally to the best of our abilities. We made a decision before launching in March 2018, not to endorse ANY candidates, and we have not. We stand by that.
Brown is what we refer to as a traditional Republican, and she is not a part of the Chaffee Patriot organization. AVV will cover Brown just as we do every other candidate.
Brown is a principal investor in Ark Valley Voice (AVV). Per that agreement, she has absolutely no editorial control over this news organization. That editorial control lies with Managing Editor Jan Wondra.