After three years on the Gunnison Board of County Commissioners, Commissioner Laura Puckett Daniels announced her campaign for another term representing District 3.
She said she’s carrying forward the strong values that originally inspired her to seek local elected office, and now she’s also equipped with the deep issue expertise to deliver on those priorities even more effectively.
“It takes a little time. I’ve had to learn some patience,” she said. “I’m feeling like now, I’ve got it. Now I want to make it work for us.”
Puckett Daniels said she’s proud of the Whetstone Community Housing Project, which is still proceeding on time and on budget. Though the housing effort got underway before she joined the board, Puckett Daniels said she’s excited by the ways she could encourage partnerships that protect the county and promote housing.
“What I try to do is come at things from a systems approach and from a collaborative approach,” she said, emphasizing the strong connectivity she brings to local government from the many touchpoints she shares with community members up and down valley.
From students she has taught, to families whose dogs were in the same litter as hers, Gunnison Valley residents are never far from Puckett Daniels’ circle. She said that robust network, and the careful ways she measures what the board can control and influence, help her strategically navigate Gunnison County’s challenges and opportunities.
Uncertainty looms as federal and state decisions wind up in the county’s hands for direct implementation, Puckett Daniels said as she looks forward to a second stint. But she also said: “Gunnison County is a really effective local government…It’s the greatest honor of my life to represent the people of Gunnison County. I work really diligently at it.”
As she heads into her sophomore campaign, Puckett Daniels stressed the importance of the deep roots she has planted here, since she moved to the area in 2009.
“This is my home,” she said. “My heart is here.”
Editor Bret Anne Serbin can be reached at editor@gunnisontimes.com.
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