Eagle County commissioner candidate Tom Boyd says he’s seen the impact those in office can have on community
Valley native has covered local government as a reporter
Courtesy photo
Tom Boyd, like his soon-to-be-predecessor, is a valley native, but their life stories are different.
Boyd, an Edwards resident, is the presumptive successor to fellow Democrat Kathy Chandler-Henry for the District 2 seat on the Eagle County Board of Commissioners. Chandler-Henry will retire after her term expires in January. Boyd won the Democratic primary in June. There are no other candidates on the ballot for the position.
While Chandler-Henry grew up around Eagle, Boyd grew up in the upper valley and attended Vail Mountain School, graduating in 1993. That means his preferred hunting spots are in the eastern portions of the valley.
After high school, Boyd attended Emory University first and then the University of Colorado, working a few construction jobs in between before graduating in 1999.
Boyd then went into journalism, working for the Vail Trail. He also landed freelance assignments for the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News. In 2006, he landed an assignment as a venue press official at the Turin Winter Olympics, marking the beginning of his involvement in international events.
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In 2010, Boyd joined Nokero, a startup for solar-powered light bulbs, which turned Boyd’s career path toward public relations and communications. Since 2015 he’s been the Vail Valley Foundation’s director of public relations and communications, although he’ll give up that position to devote full-time attention to serving as commissioner.
In addition to his work for the foundation, Boyd helped start a local nonprofit, Community Builders, that works on issues including housing, equity and building leadership capacity throughout the Rocky Mountain region. He’s also the chair of the Eagle County Lodging Tax Marketing Committee.
As the father of two busy sons, now 13 and 11, he spends plenty of time coaching soccer and hockey and is currently the lead volunteer for the Edwards outdoor ice rink.
This will be Boyd’s first experience in elected office. But, he said, his experience covering local government and working with community groups has given him insight into local issues and the mechanics of how local government works.
“Even as a young reporter I saw the impact (the board of commissioners) can have” in creating the county’s “built environment as well as preserving wildlife habitat and water resources,” Boyd said.
Over the past several years of watching the board, Boyd credited the group with creating a “quality working environment” and creating a clear direction for the county. Boyd added that the commissioners have taken housing “very seriously.”
A focus on housing
Asked what the group could have done better, Boyd said there’s probably room for improvement on “working on the complete housing continuum.” He added that there’s always room for more engagement with residents throughout the Eagle and Roaring Fork valleys.
The current board has put in that effort, Boyd said, “but there’s always more to do, particularly in the Roaring Fork Valley.”
Boyd said the board can also continue to build stronger relationships with the county’s towns to create a stronger vision for the region.
While there will be change on the board, there’s another change bubbling at the staff level. The county is currently rewriting its land use codes, a process that isn’t expected to be finished until the spring of 2025 at the earliest.
That process is in the hands of the staff, as well as a citizen advisory commission.
Boyd said that the process, and its results, will “set the table for the kind of development we do want to see, that all sides want to see” in the future.
The new codes should provide more clarity for both community members and developers in terms of what the community does and doesn’t want to see, he said.
“If you’re coming in with something the community wants to see, you should have a cleaner road from start to finish,” he said.
The new codes should help with a vision to help restore balance to the housing market while maintaining the county’s quality of life and environmental quality. None of that will be easy, he added.
Gaining trust
Boyd is well aware of the big shoes he’s filling on the board and said he plans to seek Chandler-Henry’s counsel on water and other issues. He also hopes to emulate Chandler-Henry’s ability to listen and reputation for gaining the trust and respect of residents.
“All of her great accomplishments come from that approach,” he said.
While there are parts of any elective job that aren’t revealed until someone is in it, Boyd said he thinks he’s as ready as he can be. And, he said, he believes he thinks he understands a couple of key things.
“A key aspect of being a commissioner is the budget,” he said. “As a longtime taxpayer, it’s important those funds are properly managed.” Setting policy and overseeing the budget are “key components” of the job, he said.
And, he added, another important thing is “not how we agree, but how we disagree while maintaining respect … even if we don’t see eye to eye, we’ve got to maintain mutual respect.”
