Cyriacks gathers sufficient signatures to run for commissioner

Commissioner's candidate Lisa Cyriacks of Crestone watches as a voter signs her petition during the Saguache County Museum Grand opening celebration. Photo by Teresa Benns

CRESTONE — Unaffiliated candidate Lisa Cyriacks submitted her petition to be on the Nov. 6 ballot for the County Commissioner race, District 1. She successfully collected five times the number of signatures required.

“Running as an unaffiliated candidate or ‘an independent’ presents its own set of challenges”

Cyriacks stated. “Unlike candidates who are sponsored by either of the two major parties, I had to reach out to a broad spectrum of voters, seek my own funding and volunteers. This also freed me up to identify which community issues are important and hear from voters which issues are important to them, rather than following party dictates.”

According to John P. Avalon’s “Independent Nation”, effective leadership requires independence and courage to look beyond partisan politics for the best solution, Cyriacks noted.

National statistics show that 50 percent of American voters define themselves as political moderates, two-thirds favor political solutions that come from the center of the political spectrum, and Independents — at 40 percent — outnumber both Democrats and Republicans.Since World War II this has made Independents the largest voting bloc in the nation, often deciding elections.

“People really responded well to my message of setting aside special interests and partisan interests in favor of what serves all of Saguache County,” Cyriacks observed. “There is strong recognition among Saguache County citizens that we need a sound local economy in order for Saguache County to fit into a regional economic framework.

“The reality is that if we value our communities and our lifestyle in Saguache County, we need to improve our economic status. A large part of that entails following good business practices, complying with the requirements of state statutes, and being more publicly accountable to the citizens will encourage small businesses to locate in Saguache County.”

Cyriacks said that when this country’s politicians engage in bitter partisan battles, focused on protecting their own jobs and interests but not on doing the business of government, then it is no wonder that Americans have little faith in their government.

“My more controversial work in working with elections integrity and successfully challenging local leaders to be more accountable and responsible has sometime led to criticism of me and outright malicious defamation of my character by those so challenged,” Cyraicks pointed out. “I have never been charged with, investigated or prosecuted for any of these alleged violations.

“The more successful I have been at holding community leadership accountable, the more these false statements seem to circulate and become more and more malicious. If you want to know the truth, ask questions. I have facts and the documentation to back up that these are false allegations.”

Cyriacks believes that elected officials have the responsibility to create a healthy and stable economy in which citizens can conduct commerce, make, save and invest their money, and achieve financial goals that benefit the country at large.

“We pay a lot of money in taxes to help them create a stable economy, yet they have failed to do so,” she remarked. “We will never make taxation popular, but we can make taxation fair.”

Cyriacks pledged tha she is committed to be the best candidate to fight for local interests, work to create a healthy economy in Saguache County and to provide strong, competent leadership. “Our success as a rural county will be the result of working together,” she said..

Cyriacks welcomes feedback, and invites residents to call her at 719-256-4140 or email her at: lcyriacks@rocketmail.com with comments, questions, or concerns.