My wife, Adriane Kuhn, is a remarkable woman. If you haven’t met her, you should. Owner of Little Red Tricycle, a downtown gift store, she’s built a thriving public-facing business. Adriane volunteers in many capacities: with Rotary, as treasurer for ArtWalk, and on the Chaffee County Transportation Advisory Board. She’s also a mother of three, with our two young boys at home. She does all this while overcoming a neuromuscular disability, Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Perhaps you’ve seen her or one of her supporters lately. Despite a recent knee surgery, Adriane is pounding the pavement on her crutches, attempting to knock on every door in Ward 2 and talk to as many voters as she can.
Not only is she tough, but she is kind and capable. An innovative thinker and intuitive problem solver, she is always coming up with creative solutions. For example, she’s been working towards bringing a glass crusher to Chaffee that will turn waste glass into useful material that can be used locally so our heaviest recyclables won’t have to be trucked over the mountains.
A good listener, Adriane regularly talks to folks with differing viewpoints. Though many seem to think engaging with those with challenging viewpoints or different ideas is a sin, I believe it is a strength, even a necessity, for a strong local leader. Considering multiple viewpoints and ideas can help make city council’s decisions more effective and in tune with the whole community.
Her only agenda is for good government. She wants to increase transparency and citizen engagement in city operations and the city council to make sure city departments are working for you. A small example is the Scout Wave. Love it or hate it, you have to admit hardly anyone saw it coming. $250,000 was spent, ahead of other priorities long in the queue. How do those who have been waiting 10 years for soaking pools that the city promised, and taxed hotels for, but “couldn’t afford” feel about that? Almost no one had a say.
She has relevant experience to help tackle important planning issues, including affordable housing. As a realtor, she was certified as a master negotiator and taught first-time homebuyer classes. She is well-versed in contracts and valuations. Adriane Kuhn has the wisdom, knowledge base, and assertiveness to help the city make good deals and the critical thinking to be alert for unintended consequences (Like Salida Ridge Apartments – affordable housing that went to non-locals).
You have to understand how things work if you want to shape those things. Watch the AVV candidate forum in its entirety on this website, or a brief excerpt here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzjwm-ALtnQ or at www.facebook.com/AdrianeSalidaCouncil.
Any candidate can have someone else write campaign materials and answer written questions for them. Nowadays, you can even have ChatGPT do it. But city council meetings happen in real-time in a spoken format. A council member does not get to have a coach sitting next to them explaining what things mean and putting coherent thoughts into their head. Watch the video. See for yourself which candidate is prepared and capable to represent you in Ward 2.
Marty Kuhn
Salida
Editor Note: Ark Valley Voice fact-checks its own work as well as those contributed by others in the interest of guiding critical thinking and avoiding misinterpretation. Two passages in this letter were reviewed with Salida city staff.
Regarding the Scout Wave, while the cost cited is largely correct according to Diesel Post and Aimee Tihonovich, saying that “Hardly anyone saw it coming…” and “Almost no one had a say” implies that the city “railroads” projects through. In fact, both the Scout Wave and soaking pools have long been part of the Recreation Master Plan, separate capital projects that are first vetted and prioritized by City Council then moved through annual budgets before constructing.
“There are no sudden projects. The council is elected to make decisions in the best interest of voters at the time, within budgetary limitations,” said Parks and Recreation Director Diesel Post.
Regarding workforce housing, “…the critical thinking [needed] to be alert for unintended consequences (Like Salida Ridge Apartments – affordable housing that went to non-locals),” AVV spoke with Bill Almquist, Community Development Director. Almquist deferred to the Chaffee Housing Authority (CHA) for details but reminded readers of the context of how prospective tenants for Salida Ridge would be considered.
At the time the first 24 units were available for rentals, Chaffee County did not have a local “Continuum of Care” pool of qualified candidates, causing the need to reach out to some people down valley, into Fremont County including in Howard, and Cotopaxi. To find qualified candidates, according to federal rules for this Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) project, its tenants included workers from these areas; who it was pointed out also need housing and many commute to Salida for their jobs.
Context and nuance are important to painting a complete picture of any point of view. In this election season, this is more important than ever.
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