{"id":14045,"date":"2026-01-09T15:41:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T22:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-outlines-state-legislative-priorities-for-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:42:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:42:44","slug":"durango-outlines-state-legislative-priorities-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-outlines-state-legislative-priorities-for-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango outlines state legislative priorities for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"In
In name, Flock Safety cameras appear to be tailored to photographing license plates. But Will Freeman, founder of DeFlock.me, said they photograph anything that passes, logging location and time stamps as their electronic shutters snap. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Transportation, public safety and affordable housing are but a few of the big-ticket items on the city of Durango\u2019s radar as the Colorado Legislature prepares to enter its second regular session of the 75th Colorado General Assembly after the new year.<\/p>\n

City Council approved a legislative agenda this week outlining the city\u2019s stances and priorities on a number of issues affecting communities across the state.<\/p>\n

Peggy O\u2019Keefe of Clear Strategies, a lobbying firm that represents the city to the state, summarized the city\u2019s legislative agenda \u2013 crafted with input from City Manager Jos\u00e9 Madrigal\u2019s executive leadership team \u2013 for councilors Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Summarizing the city\u2019s legislative agenda, O\u2019Keefe said the city supports:<\/p>\n

The targeted use of enterprise zones as tools for economic growth.Initiatives that work toward affordable housing across varying income levels.Statewide resources and initiatives to prevent, reduce and mitigate homelessness.Legislation that works directly with law enforcement to collaborate on addressing future demands.State funding for transportation solutions, including fleet electrification, multimodal infrastructure, operating and capital expenses, and maintaining and increasing revenue streams for public transit.<\/div>\n

Likewise, she said the city opposes:<\/p>\n

Any legislation limiting the city\u2019s power of annexation.State mandates requiring specific elements in local comprehensive plans \u2013 documents that typically outline broad long-term community growth.Legislation restricting municipal eminent domain powers.Legislation that creates unfunded mandates or limits tools, technologies and techniques that aid law enforcement \u201cor reinforce political narratives that diminish the important contributions of law enforcement to our community.\u201d<\/div>\n

Councilor Kip Koso said he is concerned about tools and technologies that \u201cbump up against the right to privacy,\u201d noting the city\u2019s legislative agenda contains \u201calmost an automatic pushback\u201d against the state regulating such.<\/p>\n

\"The
The city of Durango\u2019s 2026 legislative agenda says the city supports state funding for transportation solutions, including fleet electrification, multimodal infrastructure, operating and capital expenses, and maintaining and increasing revenue streams for public transit. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Some residents called for the removal<\/a> of Durango Police Department\u2019s 21 Flock Safety artificial intelligence-powered surveillance cameras in December, citing privacy concerns and potential for abuse.<\/p>\n

Koso said Flock Safety cameras come to mind, but he\u2019s also concerned about the use of other tech that could threaten privacy.<\/p>\n

He asked what risks state regulations could pose to law enforcement\u2019s ability to utilize such technology.<\/p>\n

Police Chief Brice Current said he wants to ensure Durango Police Department has a voice at the state Legislature when regulations are discussed.<\/p>\n

Much of DPD\u2019s interest in state regulations concerns Flock cameras, he said. But the police department is interested in other technologies on the horizon \u2013 internal AI systems that allow much more efficient searches of record systems and drones that can be deployed as first responders.<\/p>\n

He said possible upcoming legislation about Flock cameras \u2013 which utilize statewide and nationwide data-sharing networks to share license plates and other vehicle data captured automatically \u2013 could require law enforcement agencies to limit sharing to the state of Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t do us any good,\u201d he said, adding it doesn\u2019t help other outlier agencies near the state\u2019s borders either.<\/p>\n

He said he would request of the Legislature a different radius for sharing networks. He has previously noted DPD\u2019s collaborative work with agencies such as Farmington right across the Colorado-New Mexico border.<\/p>\n

The debate about Flock cameras isn\u2019t just about privacy versus safety, he said. It\u2019s also about judicial review. If information is gained unlawfully for a case, the case could be thrown out \u2013 tainted by the \u201cfruit of the poisonous tree,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Federal Aviation Administration stopped requiring PFAS-containing firefighting foams when it approved a commercially available fluorine-free foam about 18 months ago. Durango-La Plata County Airport completed its conversion in December. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Airport phases out \u2018forever chemicals\u2019 in firefighting foams<\/div>\n

Koso also asked why the city\u2019s legislative agenda seeks exemptions for commercial airports pertaining to mitigation or remediation of PFAS, or \u201cforever chemicals,\u201d in firefighting foams. He said he doesn\u2019t agree with exemptions, although airports should be compensated for mitigation efforts.<\/p>\n

Tony Vicari, aviation director for Durango-La Plata County Airport, said PFAS chemicals \u2013 contained in firefighting foams \u2013 are a major national and global health issue, but federal mandates have long required the use of PFAS-containing foams at airports.<\/p>\n

About a year and a half ago, the Federal Aviation Administration stopped requiring PFAS-containing foams when it approved a commercially available fluorine-free foam, he said. Airports nationwide have begun converting from PFAS foams to non-PFAS foams.<\/p>\n

DRO just completed its conversion in December, he said.<\/p>\n

Airports across the country have requested exemptions from cleanup costs and impacts associated with PFAS mitigation because the use of PFAS foams was federally mandated for years.<\/p>\n

Koso also asked councilors to consider adding an emphasis on state support for mental health facilities and utility infrastructure upgrades.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Keefe proposed language that says, \u201cThe city of Durango statewide resources and efforts to provide additional funding for mental health services and facilities in the region,\u201d and similar language for state support of utility infrastructure upgrades.<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

cameras, housing and homelessness initiatives on city\u2019s radar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[394,915,896,28,52,107,994],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-14045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado-legislature","tag-durango-la-plata-county-airport","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-law-enforcement","tag-laws","tag-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14045"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19298,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14045\/revisions\/19298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14045"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=14045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}