Republican Gregg Cooper is running for Eagle County commissioner seat
Cooper pledges to roll back recent property tax increases
Courtesy photo
Republican Gregg Cooper has announced a run for a seat on the Eagle County Board of Commissioners.
Cooper, an Avon resident, is seeking the District 1 seat currently held by incumbent Democrat Matt Scherr. Commissioner candidates are elected by all county voters, but must live in the districts they represent. District 1 is, essentially, the eastern portion of the Eagle River Valley.
The other contested seat on the board is District 2, which covers, roughly Avon to Eagle. Current Commissioner Kathy Chandler-Henry a Democrat, is not running for re-election. Two Democrats, Tom Boyd and Sarah Smith-Hymes, are currently the only candidates seeking that position, and will face off in a June 25 Democratic primary.
Cooper’s campaign website states he will serve without pay. He retired in 2023 from a career in mergers and acquisitions and spent the nine years before his retirement working in Saudi Arabia on projects designed to make that country less dependent on oil. Many of those projects have been successful, Cooper said.
While Cooper has lived in Eagle County for a short time, he was born in Denver, a fourth-generation native of the state. He said he grew up skiing weekends in Winter Park, but almost immediately fell in love with Avon and Beaver Creek when he saw the condo he’s owned for about four years.
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Cooper said in a telephone interview he’d like to see more attention paid whenever possible to encouraging home ownership over renting. That’s a way to create “generational wealth,” and help ensure people who arrive in the valley for seasonal work can become established members of the community.
Cooper added that he’d like to bring to Eagle County his experience in helping Saudi Arabia expand its economic base. Expanding the economy of Vail or Avon might not be possible, but Cooper said he’d like to attract businesses that offer better pay than service-sector jobs.
If elected, Cooper is likely to be the only Republican on a board that’s long been made up only of Democrats. But, he said, “I’m not so sure we’re that far apart on different things … everyone has good ideas, and it’s possible to have people work together,” adding that he doesn’t see political disagreement as a barrier to getting work done.
Cooper said he’d like to look into the county’s property tax collections, noting that renters are the people most affected by rising property taxes.
While any election is a competition, Cooper said he bears no ill will toward incumbent Commissioner Matt Scherr, calling him a “good man” with a “good heart.”
“I’m running only on the auspices of financial responsibility and accountability,” Cooper said. “This is more about a discussion of how to execute government and governance.”
