- An Alliance For Community Action
- (970) 256-7650
- info@WesternColoradoAlliance.org
Elections bring new faces and big changes to Grand Junction
This spring, Western Colorado Alliance has seen many changes, including new organizers and a new headquarters — and in Grand Junction specifically, with the Grand Junction municipal elections!
Finally, it is happening! Over 30+ years, much effort has gone into getting a Grand Junction Recreation Center. It has finally passed thanks to the great community, the Grand Junction Recreation Center Campaign and volunteers, and those who worked tirelessly to pass Referred Measure 1A. We’d like to especially celebrate the work of our own Board Chair Andreya Krieves and our Organizing Director Jeriel Clark, who in their time away from Alliance work, put in countless hours on behalf of the Community Rec Center measure.
We’d like to welcome new faces to the Grand Junction City Council — like Cody Kennedy, who ran for the District A seat, and Jason Nguyen who brings much needed diversity to our City Council and ran for the District B seat. We’re also excited that a very active Western Colorado Alliance member, Scott Beilfus, won his race for the at-large City Council seat against former Chamber of Commerce leader Diane Schwenke, by more than 200 votes. Scott’s expertise has been instrumental in the work of our Just Housing team and our Coordinating Committee, and we are extremely fortunate to see him take a spot in the City Council. We cannot wait to see what Jason, Cody, and Scott bring to the table!
On March 18, Western Colorado Alliance of Mesa County hosted a Meet and Greet where the community could meet the candidates, ask questions, and get to know who they were. We were grateful to have candidates Nguyen, Kennedy, Beilfus, and Schwenke, as well as Jaime Porta, Sandra Weckerly, Michael Duel, Greg Haitz, and Anna Stout in attendance.
Our Just Housing Team has worked with the City Council on affordable housing issues, and we would like to see what we can do with the new Council. We have hopes to get more things done that could help our ever-changing community.
We know that our city is growing, and so are we here in Western Colorado Alliance! We’re excited to work with the new City Council members to make Grand Junction a more healthy, just, and self-reliant community!
María Luiza Peréz Chavéz (who sometimes goes by Mary) works closely with the Western Colorado Alliance of Mesa County affiliate group. María is fluent in both English and Spanish and sometimes works as a skilled interpreter. But her love for language goes beyond just English and Spanish; currently, she is also studying French and Japanese! One day, she hopes to attend law school as an avenue to help those in need. Even with her busy schedule, María’s priority is her family. As the eldest of seven children, she has always felt the need to support her parents in any way she can. And somehow, she still finds time to read, swim, listen to music, watch movies, draw, play video games, and hang out with friends!