craigdailypress.com

To the editor:

The signs around town say, "Vote Dave."

But when I think of the race for Moffat County Commissioner, the phrase that comes to mind is "Hire Dave."

There's plenty of county business to be done, decisions that need to be made, projects that need direction and pitfalls that must be avoided. And thanks to our representative form of government, each of us can focus primarily on our own business and our own lives while public servants and elected officials do much of our work for us.

In that sense, voting is essentially a hiring decision. And we can't go wrong by hiring Dave DeRose.

In fact, we're lucky to get his services.

As a former reporter, I've attended numerous meetings of the county commissioners. I've covered lots of county business, from the mundane day-to-day operations to the controversial, polarizing issues wherein there's no getting around making enemies on both sides.

And I can tell you that Dave DeRose is uniquely qualified to be a county commissioner.

Observe the success of the local non-profits that have benefited from his advice and his philanthropy. I'm sure Young Life and the Boys & Girls Club would agree that his involvement has been invaluable.

Consider the number of payroll checks DeRose has written. Dave's business acumen and ability to make the right decisions, to deliver the right product at the right price has kept a growing crew of workers busy and well-paid these many years.

When I was starting out in my business, working what felt like endless hours and finding it hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I often counted on Dave's advice. He'd remind me to set aside time to read trade magazines, to educate myself about my craft.

He'd urge me to read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" to learn the basics of financial management. And some days, while I'd be outside his office waiting to see him, I could overhear the big, tough decisions he was making about which project to send the crew to next or how to handle the logistics to meet a deadline.

And even when we had lunch on the patio at O.P. in the summer, when we could have talked about anything in the world, the conversation always drifted back to business. Because Dave is always thinking, always twisting the Rubik's Cube that is being a business owner.

If we were lucky, Dave would help us run our business: the business of Moffat County.

In a perfect world, our leaders would be like Dave DeRose: intelligent and calculating, committed to fairness and integrity.

You can vote for whomever you like. But I think we should Hire Dave.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Browning

Owner, Chaos Ink