Elizabeth Velasco is a Garfield County resident who has worked and lived in the area for over 20 years. She is the child of a first-generation immigrant family. She has worked as a public information officer and has served on many boards ranging from the federal, state and local levels. Notably, she participated in fire and COVID relief committees and efforts.
Velasco does not consider herself a career politician and believes more people participating in the political process is imperative. She views herself as a community organizer and advocate.
Velasco hopes to bring a progressive voice to the capitol and considers this an opportunity to build upon a precedent that people of color hold leadership positions.
“I am making sure to help build a structure for other people of color to run for leadership positions in the community. I see my work as opening the door for the people that are coming behind me,” Velasco stated.
Furthermore, she conveyed how important it is for HD57 to be represented by leaders who know the community. “We need people who are from the community; people who have lived here, know what the issues are and who have strong relationships with the community,” she stated.
“We need people who look like us and speak like us in positions of power,” she stated.
Velasco is a champion for immigrants and small business owners in the community. She decided to run for the seat because the same issues that existed 20 years ago remain today.
“My vision for the future is to have a community where families have what they need to take care of their loved ones; where it doesn’t matter what you look like or what is in your pockets,” she stated. “The issues that I saw 20 years ago are still here and I believe that we can do better. We can do better to serve everyone in the community and give access to opportunities and resources.”
The candidate described the workforce as a “puzzle” that keeps the community running. Velasco described key issues as being intersectional; tying together in ways that affect the community. She explained that it’s impractical to tackle one issue without working on another.
She spoke to the necessity Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valley constituents face having to travel long distances for work. “This is because we don’t have enough housing; and because of the housing prices people are being pushed farther West,” she lamented. “So, we see that our issues with housing are related and connected to transportation.
“I remember my parents having to work three jobs to pay rent and I had to put myself through college. I still live in a multigenerational household where we support each other, but it is also because we cannot afford to live where we work,” Velasco stated.
She spoke to how Spanish language access needs to be improved upon, especially for instances of crisis response.
“I feel that we are really good at responding to emergencies as a community,” she began, “but we can work on being proactive, doing what we need to with land management, public education and even community resiliency to make sure that we are ready when there is a crisis,” she said.
On Velasco’s website, she states: “Together we can build a productive, strong, resilient and thriving future for everyone in HD57. ¡Juntos Podemos, stronger together!” She plans to use the connections that she has made in her time in the community to “hit the ground running.”
“That is another part of my work in fire relief: collaboration. It does take a village to deal with these big issues and to me ‘stronger together’ means bringing everyone to the table, having community-led solutions and bringing those voices of our community to the capital.”
For more information on Velasco’s campaign visit www.elizabethforcolorado.com
To check or update voter registration, you can visit www.vote.gov
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