Gonzales insightful, committed 

We are lucky to have Shirley Gonzales stepping up to guide Durango! She brings a deep commitment and broad wealth of experience from eight years serving as city councilor in San Antonio, Texas. There, she effectively dealt with problems including large unhoused populations, rampant crime and domestic abuse, and other sequelae of poverty that gentrifying Durango is starting to experience.

In San Antonio, she helped pass a $150M bond measure for major affordable housing projects, among others. Her approach to housing is pragmatic yet principled – everyone deserves a home. She prefers to use public funding to actually build homes – which helps families truly escape poverty, when combined with social service support – instead of band-aid fixes like costly shelters.

When I heard how Gonzales doesn’t stop at traditional hurdles to fund a worthy project, even going to Washington, D.C., if needed, I began to understand the kind of committed, innovative public servant that she truly is.

Gonzales originated a novel pilot project for victims of domestic abuse by first consulting with social work experts. After finding the funding, she reached out to San Antonio nonprofits to find a project host that could train and oversee volunteer mentors. The project was so successful – alleviating the suffering that had motivated her commitment and action – that a city university later adopted the project for the long-term. That’s the kind of inventive brilliance that Durango needs as climate and political change further impact our city. Vote for Shirley!

– Kirby MacLaurin, Durango