Joe Herod has spent all of his life in Craig. As Moffat County’s coal mines and power plants prepare to go dark, he believes the community’s resilience and ingenuity will carry it through its next major transition.

As a former member of the Craig City Council, Herod is seeking a return to city government in November’s election.

Having previously served on City Council from 2003 to 2011, Herod said his past experience provides him with insight into the challenges and opportunities that Craig is currently facing. He also believes that now is the time for the city’s government to adjust its direction by listening more effectively to residents.

“Those years taught me the value of listening, working together and finding solutions that put Craig first,” he said of his former terms as a city councilor. “My family was here for three or four generations. Craig’s always had a special place in my heart because we have a strong sense of community and a tradition of hard work. I have a deep pride in our hometown.”

Herod and his wife raised their two children in Craig and both now have families of their own in the area. That generational tie is part of what motivated Herod to run for city council again.

“Every community has challenges and opportunities that require some thoughtful leadership,” he said. “I’m here to support local businesses, ensure fiscal responsibility, improve our infrastructure and keep our neighborhoods safe. It takes a council that’s committed to serve the people above all else.”

As an employee of Colowyo Coal Company, another major reason he decided to run is his concern about the community’s economic transition away from coal and energy production.

“My thought is there’s going to be a time when the community is not going to have the tax base that they have now,” he said. “I always thought it’d be around 2032, but it’s going to be a lot sooner.”

Craig has benefited from a strong tax base and economy since the 1980s, when the first unit of the power plant went online, Herod said.

“Craig’s been pretty fortunate to have the money that we’ve had,” he said. “The closure is going to affect every one of us, in some way, throughout the whole valley. We can’t ignore that. I’m on board to plan wisely for the community.”

That planning, he said, should come in the form of supporting workers and their families while also investing in projects that create long-term value for the community as a whole.

“I do know one thing about Craig,” Herod said. “I believe it’s resilient. With the community members we have, they’re going to face this head on. I think we have a bright future for Craig.”

While housing and infrastructure projects have been a focus of recent City Council decisions, Herod wants the city to be cautious about how it supports housing developers and invests in supporting housing needs.

While Craig is increasingly becoming a bedroom community for those who work in Steamboat Springs, Herod said that those individuals and families will ultimately contribute to Craig’s tax base through support for local businesses. He also pointed out that they will support Moffat County School District when their children enroll.

Herod said he did not support the 8th Street townhome project when it was built.

“In my mind, I just didn’t understand, and I still don’t, why we built that as a city,” he said. “It’s not selling and they’re overpriced. That’s not the city’s fault, that’s what the market value says they’re worth. But Craig needs to come up with a plan to make sure we have our ducks in a row on what we’re going to do.”

Herod supports the construction of the Meadows Apartments, which are privately funded, though he would like to see the city discontinue reducing tap fees for private developers. He would also like to see upgrades to existing properties within the city.

“I’m not opposed to 96 new apartments down there, I just want us to do it right,” he said of the Meadows Apartments. “Why don’t we start cleaning up and fixing the stuff that we have here and working that into the picture somehow as well? We have potential here to work with what we have.”

He noted that upcoming reclamation work at the mine will bring new workers into town who will need housing, but Herod also said the city must strike a balance between growth and affordability while focusing long-term planning on both attracting new residents and protecting those already here from additional tax burdens.

“You cannot tax the public any more than they’re already taxed,” he said. “It just doesn’t work that way.”

He sees promise in economic development efforts at both the city and county level but stressed the importance of increasing collaboration between the two.

“If I get elected, I want to get together with the city council members and the county commissioners and try to come up with some plans that are better than Craig just being a bedroom community,” he said.

He also supports Craig’s participation in the Regional Transportation Authority as a way to keep the community connected to the rest of the Yampa Valley.

“It works,” he said of the current RTA system. “I’ve never ridden it, never planned on it, but it’s there for a reason and it’s a good thing for the people who utilize it. I’m for that.”

While Herod said that he wants to protect residents from new taxes, he also believes that public transit is an important part of Craig’s future development.

“If people can’t get to Steamboat to go to work, then they can’t make money and they can’t spend money locally,” he said. “So, I think (the RTA) is a good thing.”

If elected, another priority for Herod would be increasing communication and engagement with residents.

“When somebody comes to you as a council member and needs an answer, you’re required as a servant of them to give them the best answer you can,” he said. “Even if you can’t give it to them right then, say, ‘I’ll get back to you,’ and then you better get back to them.”

He believes councilmembers also set the tone for the community.

“If the council members have a positive attitude … I really think that the community can get behind them and be positive too,”he said. “It’s all about how you present yourself, and as a council member, I feel like you need to present yourself with hope.”

For Herod, that hope is personal.

“I plan on dying here someday,” he said. “My hope for Craig is that it’s still a vibrant community, that my family is still here, and they’re raising their families. That’s my hope, that it’s the same or better than we have now.”