Diego’s Platform: By Us, For Us
Respect for Residents, Staff, and Our Differences
Everyone deserves to be treated with respect, whether you work for the County, speak at the podium, or simply call Moab home. I will listen and I will engage perspectives from all sides. I will ensure decisions are made with civility, transparency, and care for the whole community.
If elected, I aim to:
Make sure the County’s appointed boards are represented by a variety of informed viewpoints, and stay away from recommendations informed by ideology
Attend City Council meetings to facilitate better communication and collaboration between governments and deliver quarterly reports to City Council regarding County happenings
Take the recommendations of studies we pay for, and not cherry-pick facts to support preconceived notions
Get folks involved in government happenings in ways that are straightforward and simple. The County’s website is cumbersome and archaic, press releases can be lengthy to dive into. I’ll work with County staff to advertise upcoming votes, workshops, RFPs, and issues under consideration, using communication that meets residents where they are.
Balancing Growth With Our Way of Life
Our community is growing quickly, but it should not come at the cost of what makes Grand County home. I will work to protect our landscapes, rural character, and local values while supporting a stable, sustainable economy.
If elected, I aim to:
Make sure we have the resources to support growth before it is approved
Build a Citizens Advisory Board on Economic Development, in tandem with the City, to prioritize building economic resilience and cut down the wage gap. We need to treat Grand County’s affordability challenge like we affordable housing: Collaborative efforts deliver results.
Ensure our local labor pool has the skills they need to help our community grow. We can do so by training early and often. The answer lies within the County’s relationship to our school system and Utah State University (USU) Moab in developing trade and industry-ready workers.
Fund and empower our Economic Development Office by developing an actual budget for the staff and board
Implement an update to the Economic Development element to the 2030 General Plan.
Bolster the County’s relationship with the Chamber of Commerce to provide trainings and resources to businesses and entrepreneurs
Augment monitoring of existing wells throughout the valley to inform water policy and growth, and ensure we fully understand our sole-source aquifer use and recharge
Vote ‘no’ on spot up-zoning without first implementing an updated Land Use Code
Clear, Honest Budgeting
County decisions should be grounded in clear priorities and honest accounting. I will ensure our spending is transparent, understandable, and focused on the services and needs that matter most to our community.
If elected, I aim to:
Spend your tax dollars where it’ll do the most good. We need to match our spending with our true necessities.
Adopt an annual budget and stick to it throughout the year, working with every Commissioner to make sure their voices are heard in developing our list of priorities
Work with County Departments well before finalizing the budget to ensure that we limit out-of-budget expenditures
SAVE! Let’s put money back into our stormwater mitigation fund, a pool that has been recently drained.