NORWOOD, Colo. – Polished and politically correct politicians who were defeated in this week’s elections can look to Colorado’s San Miguel County for a lesson.
Art Goodtimes – San Miguel County commissioner, Green Party member, basket weaver, poet laureate of the Telluride Mushroom Festival and Rainbow Family follower – won a third term Tuesday even though he faced more straight-laced opponents, including one who outspent him 3-to-1 in campaigning.
“I am not a one-size-fits-all kind of candidate,” said the long-haired, copiously bearded Goodtimes from his home in Norwood, where he grows heirloom potatoes and writes poetry. “I look like a Haight-Ashbury hippie. I like to call myself a paleohippie. I am who I am, and I don’t try to hide it or pretend it doesn’t exist.”
For Goodtimes, that free-spirited transparency includes his habit of weaving hemp baskets in public meetings and giving spirited performances of his poetry at conferences and meetings around the West.
“It’s interesting to have a poet be a politician. Poets view the world differently, and I think that’s one of Art’s strengths,” said former Telluride Mayor Amy Levek.
Voters must agree. They gave Goodtimes another four years in office with 1,910 votes. His closest contender, Democrat Brian Ahern, who sometimes operates a Telluride taxi service catering to drunks, received 1,213 votes, and Independent Kay Hartman garnered 674 votes.
Goodtimes continued the distinction of being the only politician in Colorado who won office as a Green Party candidate.
He ran on a platform promise of continuing to balance the ecology and the economy of San Miguel County, which includes the liberal-minded, mining-turned-resort town of Telluride and the conservative ranching community of Norwood. He also promised to continue protection of high alpine watersheds and promoting “green” building codes.
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