SUSAN BECKMAN
Party: Republican
Website: www.SUSANBECKMAN.COM
Biography
Susan is serving her second term as Commissioner and is currently Chairman of the Board. She has served as Chairman of the Metro Area County Commissioners and President of Colorado Counties Front Range District Commissioners. She is President of the Centennial Airport Foundation, and a Director on the Centennial Airport Board and the Arapahoe Douglas Mental Health Network. She has a BS in Mass Communications from Colorado State University - Pueblo. Susan and her husband, Bruce, live in Littleton with their two teenage children.
What do you consider to be the four most important issues facing Arapahoe County?
- Transportation. Arapahoe County has major transportation projects and congested intersections that need immediate attention. We need to bring local communities and businesses together to find innovative ways to fund these projects.
- Jail Overcrowding. Recent changes in the state's definition of crimes and cuts in mental health care are causing overcrowding in the jail.
- Economy. Issues facing businesses across the U.S. also impacts Arapahoe County's citizens and businesses. We need to maintain a tax structure that is business friendly and fiscally conservative.
- Environment and Open Space. There is a limited window of opportunity to serve and protect some of the last remaining open space parcels.
If elected, how to you plan to address such issues?
- Initiate creative solutions for transportation funding by joining forces with Greenwood Village and Centennial to lobby for reconstruction of Arapahoe Road & I-25 interchange. Partner with Douglas County on C-470/Santa Fe interchange and funding improvements at I-225 and Colfax.
- Keep Arapahoe County's Mil Levy the lowest in the Denver Metro Area. Alleviate some of the financial burden of managing taxes on capital equipments.
- Look at innovative ways to deal with overcrowding like reducing the jail population by cutting back on the number of inmates due to failure-to-appear warrants.
- Continue spearheading open space initiatives like the South Platte Working Group that brought 19 communities together to improve and protect the river corridor.
What do you see as the County's role in the future?
Arapahoe County needs to continue to be an efficient, open, accountable government that respects the taxpayer and provides exceptional service.
