Lynda James

I grew up in an five-generation extended family in the farming community of Rexford, Kansas.  I had three living great grandmothers  until I was 16.  Two lived in Rexford and all where born in the 1800's.  The youngest, Grandma Murphy, was born in 1880 and helped raise three generations.  I was fortunate to have her in my life until I was 26.

The values I learned as a child included honesty, integrity, responsibility, love of country,  land stewardship, hard work and being self sufficient, living within one's financial means,  respect for diversity, and considering others before oneself.  I live by those values today.

I always wanted to be a geologist, but the dream of a geology degree was cut short when a Fort Hays Kansas State College professioner said geology was not a field for women and he would fail me in any course I took under him.  It turned out not to be a bluff. So I earned a degree in psychology with a minor in geology.  I was the first member of my family to graduate from college.

In 1971, I moved to Denver where I worked as a geological technican and worked my way up in small  oil and coal exploration companies to "field geologist". The Colorado oil crash of the "80s " hit and I needed a new career because I did not want to follow the oil companies to another state. 

I went back to college in 1985 at Colorado University's Denver Campus and received an elementary teaching certificate. I have taught  and subsituted in public schools, home schooled and tutored  from 1986 to 2007 , and worked  as an crisis support aid in Severe Identifible Emotional/Behavior Disorders' classrooms before receiving my certificate.  In the early 2000's, I wrote middle school and high school curriculum on natural and man-made radiation through a grant from the US Dept. of Energy during the clean-up at Rocky Flats. I also did educational outreach programs through the grant. 

In 1985, I moved to the place I always wanted to call home - Park County. ( I went to camp at Deckers from the time I was seven until I was seventeen and I visited Park County before and after camp each year.)  In 1993,  I became involved in county issues and was elected County Commissioner in February 1998 at a recall election.  In Nov. 2000, Republican Leni Walker won  the commissioner seat, a person who had no previous county involvement.

In 2001, I started working as a correspondent for the local newspaper, The Fairplay Flume.  I covered county commissioner and other local, state, and federal meetings relevant to Park County until February 2008 after being nominated and accepting the candidancy for county commissioner at the Democratic county assembly.  I immediately quit covering any county government articles forThe Flume. I did write articles unrelated to county government through the first of July.   I  then asked for and received a leave of absence from The Flume to avoid any perceived conflict of interest by myself or the paper. 

In 2003, I bought a small office supply and gift store in Pine Junction and renamed it ONE Stop, Etc.  In June 2007, I closed the shop and am now working part time at Staples in Conifer.

After listening to a number of people saying the county needs a more postive direction, I decided to run for District Two, Park County Commissioner this year.

Below is a list of my involvement in Park County over the past 15 years.  I ask for your vote to once again represent you as Park County's Commissioner from District Two.

Three of the five generations in my family: my great grandmother Murphy (age 93) who was one of my primary care givers,  one of my cousins,  DeAnne, and one of my neices, Lisa.

My great grandmother raised two small children by herself in the early 1900's after my great grandfather died from a ruptured appendix.  After my parents were divorced, she stepped in at the age of 75 to help raise my brothers and me while my mother worked.

She also help my grandparents raise three children during the Depression and Dust Bowl years of the 1930's and during World War II so they could devote their time to making a self-sufficient living off the farm.

Park County Professional and Community  Organizations

1998 - 2000  Park County  District Two Commissioner (Elected to fill a term at the February 

                        1998 recall)

1994-1998    Vision 2020- Healthy Communities, Founding Board Member, 

                        Chairman 1996-98

1994-1998     Save Park County, President 1996 to 1998

1994-2000   Park County Advisory Board on the Environment, Board Member 1994 -1997                         Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Supervisor 1998-2000

1995- 2005, 2008   Park County Democratic Party Central Committee, Vice Chair 2001-2005

1995-1996    Platte Canyon School District Re-1 Strategic Planning Leadership Team

1997              “Building for Kids” Platte Canyon  Re-1 Bond Ballot Issue Committee 

1995-1999    Elk Creek Highlands Property Owners Association, President 1996-97                         Vice President 1998

1995-1997    Recycle The Park, Founding Board Member, Treasurer 1995-97

1995-2000   Platte Canyon Outdoor Resource Council, Founding Board Member 1995-1997,

                       BOCC Supervisor 1998- 2000

1995-2003   Park County Historical Society, Board Member 1996-2001

1996-present  Park County Water Preservation Coalition, Founding Member,

                          Board Member/Newsletter Editor  2001-present

1996-2002    Park County Historical Preservation Advisory Commission,

                        Founding Member 1996

                        BOCC Supervisor 1998-2000, Board Member 2001-2002

1997-2003    Upper South Platte Watershed Protection Association (now renamed Coalition                           for the Upper South Platte ) Founding member

1998-2004    Park County Joint Water Defense, Founding Board Member

1998-2000    Park County Smart Growth Public Lands Exchange Program, Founding Board                         Member

1998-2000    Colorado Counties, Inc., Agriculture, Land Use, and Public Lands Committees 

1998-2004    Northwest Council of Governments Water Quality and Quantity Committee

1998-2004    Park County Land & Water Trust Fund Board,

                        BOCC Supervisor 1998-2000, Board Member 2001-2004

1998-2001    Action 22, Inc., Board of Directors and Executive Committee

                        Agriculture/Public Lands, Natural Resources, and Tourism Subcommittees

2000-2003   U.S. Forest Service Guanella Pass Scenic Byway Management Plan Committee

2001-2004   United Mountain Communities, Founding Board Member

2003-present  Colorado Statewide Water Supply Initiative/Colorado’s Water Supply Future