Will Archuleta County sever its relationship with the San Juan Basin Public Health district — the public health agency that’s been serving Archuleta County for the past half century?
Worth a serious community-wide discussion, I think.
Local massage therapist Christa Laos, LMT, stepped up to the podium at the November 9 meeting of the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners, to express a personal perspective on the ongoing community controversy around public health services.
Unlike the rest of the people in the BOCC meeting room, Ms. Laos was wearing a mask.
“I am wearing a mask,” she began.
Then, she removed it. “But I don’t have to. I can swing both ways.”
The comment elicited some polite laughter from the audience.
“I’m not afraid. My life is in God’s hands.”
She then noted that, unlike the commissioners and the County employees present, she did not have a government job during the COVID pandemic.
“So my livelihood depended upon my client base. And I serve people from both sides of the aisle, you know. So I had to find a way to make both sides feel comfortable, to come to me. I didn’t have the freedom to choose a ‘side’. And during that time, it was kind of delicate. I felt like I had both a mom and a dad… between you guys, and San Juan Basin Public Health.
“And Mom was, like: ‘Please eat your dinner at the dinner table.’ Because she didn’t want to clean up the mess.
“And Dad was, like: ‘Well, it’s probably okay if you eat your dinner in your bedroom. Just don’t tell Mom.’
“So I had this delicate balance. But now I hear that you guys might get a divorced…”
As we all know too well, divorce can be painful. And expensive, as Ms. Laos reminded the commissioners. And sticky.
“You might get a divorce, and you say it might be cheaper. But in a divorce, it’s rarely ever cheaper…
“… Do I need to get a business license in Archuleta County, now? If I’m operating under the radar, and I’m not licensed for my craft? It’s so sticky, and these decisions you guys are making affect so many people. I know many people, in many industries, who are understaffed. Police. Medical. EMS. Restaurants. They are all understaffed, and burdened. They are good people, but they are burdened by the demand. It’s more than what they can handle.
“I am booked out so far right now, it’s crazy. Because I’m known as one of the massage therapists who wears a mask!
“So, the need is great, right? So under this new circumstance — if you guys do get a divorce, and I no longer have Mom here — will the County office here, will it be understaffed too… even though it has good people working for it? Is it really going to save us money? Or not?
“When there’s a divorce, you now have to finance two households, right? Two places with beds. Two places with dishes and utensils.
“I love our people so much. So I say, God bless all of you, as you make these decisions. God bless our county, and also God bless our country.”
The divorce to which Ms. Laos refers has not, in fact, taken place. But over the past summer, the Archuleta BOCC established a ‘Health District Investigative Committee’ to research the relationship between San Juan Basin Public Health and Archuleta County.
Under Colorado law, Archuleta County must maintain a public health service, and for many, many years, has supported, and been served by, San Juan Basin Public Health — formerly known as San Juan Basin Health Department — in cooperation with neighboring La Plata County.
La Plata County has about four times the population of Archuleta County, and accordingly, has contributed four times as much financial support to the operations of the health district. This arrangement has provided certain benefits to both counties, through shared staff, shared equipment, shared outreach, shared programs, shared office space. Programs and services have been offered in both communities.
But the bedroom, so to speak, has always been in La Plata County.
We will mention, right out of the gate, that these two neighboring counties tend to lean in different political directions. La Plata County, for example, cast 58% of its votes for presidential candidate Joe Biden, and only 40% for Donald Trump. Next door in Archuleta County, the results were pretty much flipped, with 57% of the presidential votes going to Donald Trump and 41% going to Joe Biden.
Two neighboring counties that might view the world differently? And might have trouble getting along… especially, during a global pandemic?
Last November, just as COVID infections were spiking in both counties, the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners — Alvin Schaaf, Ronnie Maez and Steve Wadley — unanimously approved a somewhat controversial resolution that proposed significant changes to the BOCC’s relationship with San Juan Basin Public Health. Commissioner Wadley has since been replaced by new commissioner Warren Brown.
The duties assigned to local public health agencies are numerous, but we will note, in particular, the following duties, specified in CRS 25-1-506:
(V) To investigate and control the causes of epidemic or communicable diseases and conditions affecting public health;
(VI) To establish, maintain, and enforce isolation and quarantine, and in pursuance thereof, and for this purpose only, to exercise physical control over property and over the persons of the people within the jurisdiction of the agency as the agency may find necessary for the protection of the public health;
(VII) To close schools and public places and to prohibit gatherings of people when necessary to protect public health;
(VIII) To investigate and abate nuisances when necessary in order to eliminate sources of epidemic or communicable diseases and conditions affecting public health;
Phrases like ‘enforce isolation and quarantine’ and ‘exercise physical control over property’ sound different when spoken in Archuleta County, from how they sound spoken in La Plata County. And as we all know, when words and phrases sound differently to Mom and Dad, the marriage can come under stress.
Nine months after the November 2020 BOCC resolution was approved, the Archuleta County Health District Investigative Committee (HDIC) — created by the Archuleta BOCC — held its first meeting in Pagosa Springs… on August 12, 2021. The group designated Mozhdeh Bruss as chair, Leslie Davis as vice chair, and Marybeth Snyder as secretary. The committee’s essential task: to research the pros and cons of getting divorced.
Theoretically, the BOCC could have formulated the HDIC to act as marriage counselors.
Theoretically.
But the commission started off acting a bit more like divorce lawyers.