Paula Stepp perfect for Garfield county commissioner

As a retired educator, I’m supporting Paula Stepp for Garfield Board of County Commissioners this fall because of her proven management skills and her years of community volunteer service.

Paula has lived in Garfield County for nearly four decades, much of that time working in circulation, marketing and management for the Carbondale-based national outdoor magazines Climbing, Rock and Ice and Trail Runner. She also has worked in real estate marketing and ran her own marketing, event-planning and database-management consultancy.

For most of the past 15 years while working at Big Stone Publishing, she was directly responsible for that company’s bottom line and for marketing partnerships that expanded the market and drove significant sales growth for numerous outdoor industry businesses.

Besides valuable management and budgeting experience, Paula’s business career has given her first-hand insight into how hard it can be for business owners and employees alike to make ends meet in our high-cost-of-living region. To get insurance coverage while running her own business, for instance, she used to get up before dawn to work the early shift loading trucks at UPS.

Despite such challenges, Paula always found time to share her energy and talents with the community. Over the years, she has served on the boards of Healthy Mountain Communities, the Cooper Corner elder day care program and the local chapter of Junior Achievement. She’s mentored students in the RE-1 school district’s pre-collegiate program, served as an English as second language teacher for Literacy Outreach, volunteered at the Glenwood Springs soup kitchen, as an educator at St. Stephen Church, as a DJ at KDNK radio and as support staff for various races, fairs and events in the valley.

Garfield County voters have a great opportunity this fall to take a big step forward in choosing our next District 1 county commissioner. Please join me in voting for Paula Stepp, and remember to return your mail-in ballot by Nov. 6.

Jeanie Humble

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