One thing was clear during a Boulder County Democrats candidate forum at the party’s headquarters Thursday night: Democratic voters have two very distinct choices as the primary election for county commissioner nears.
District 3 incumbent Cindy Domenico and candidate Alan Rosenfeld took part in the forum.
Rosenfeld, a longtime Democratic activist who lives in Louisville, tried to set himself apart from Domenico, who has been serving as a commissioner since July 2007.
Responding to a foundational question about what a county commissioner does, Rosenfeld said commissioners should be “stewards of the land” and attacked Domenico’s record on fracking and allowing some genetically modified crops on public lands.
“One of the greatest failures of this commission in recent history is when we were threatened by oil and gas,” he said.
Last summer, the commission eventually approved an 18-month extension of a moratorium on applications for new oil and gas development in unincorporated Boulder County after a series of heated public meetings.
“Rather than have the commissioners step forward and lead us, the citizens wanted to fight back, wanted to protect our land; instead the commissioners stood between oil and gas and the citizens and said, “Oh no, you can’t stop them,'” Rosenfeld said.
Although Domenico was hesitant to support the extended moratorium last May before eventually joining fellow commissioners Elise Jones and Deb Gardner in a unanimous vote in favor of it in June, she defended her efforts on the issue Thursday.
“(The commissioners) were the ones who instituted the first discussion on fracking back in February of 2012,” she said. “We went through a series of moratorium processes, and at the end of June of last summer we put a moratorium in place that will last through January 1, 2015. I will be the first one pushing to extend it. And what we have done is adopt the strongest rules and regs possible in county government to handle oil and gas.”
Rosenfeld, a lawyer, vowed to vote against allowing fracking and leases allowing GMO crops on county land, while striving to improve services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse.
Domenico, meanwhile, described herself as a “transformative leader” who would work closely with regional and state leaders to address issues. She said focusing on flood recovery will be her top priority if re-elected.
Caucus-attending Democrats who become delegates to the party’s March 22 county assembly will have a hand in deciding which commissioner candidate or candidates — Domenico, Rosenfeld or both — the assembly will advance to the party’s June primary election ballot.
The candidates could bypass the county assembly process, however, and seek petition signatures to earn a spot on the primary ballot.
Rosenfeld filed a petition in December in Boulder County Court seeking a declaratory judgment on whether Domenico could again run for her seat this year, contending she had already served the constitutionally allowed two consecutive terms after filling a vacancy in 2007 and being re-elected in 2010. District Judge Bruce Langer ruled that filling the vacancy did not preclude Domenico from running again this year.
Niwot resident Kai Abelkis announced last month that he will be running for the District 3 seat as an unaffiliated candidate.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Joe Rubino at 303-473-1328 or rubinoj@dailycamera.com.
