Summit County Commissioners
Karn Stiegelmeier | Thomas Davidson | Dan Gibbs
Karn Stiegelmeier, Chair
Summit County Commissioner
Karn is a fifth generation Colorado native born in Colorado Springs. Upon graduating from CU Boulder with a degree in Environmental Conservation, she took a series of assignments with the National Forest Service and National Park Service including wildland firefighter, wilderness ranger, fire dispatcher, naturalist and park ranger.
She taught environmental education with Yosemite Institute in California. Karn completed graduate work at San Francisco State University leading to a multiple subjects teaching credential. She taught all subjects, primarily science to a range of ages in public and private schools. She was the director and a science teacher at the Alpine Charter School in Dillon.
Karn believes we have an unrivaled quality of life in Summit County. The challenge of the future is to balance growth and community needs without impairing this precious Rocky Mountain high elevation quality of life.
Karn served as the director of the Friends of the Lower Blue River, Chair of the Blue River Group of the Sierra Club, board member of the Continental Divide Land Trust, mountain representative on the I-70 Mountain Corridor Collaborative Effort team, and a volunteer in many other community efforts. She enjoys skiing, hiking and river running in Summit County with her husband and daughter.
Contact Karn at:
PO Box 68 Breckenridge, CO 80424
970.453.3412
karns@co.summit.co.us
Thomas Davidson, Vice Chair
Summit County Commissioner
Thomas C. Davidson, 49, came to Summit County in November of 1985 from the family farm in eastern Kansas and got his first job at Arapahoe Basin as a chairlift operator. His starting wage was $3.35/hour, and he lived in Sagebrush Employee Housing at Keystone.
He spent the next twenty-two years working at Keystone Resort; his last position was as a Director of Development for Vail Resorts.
In December of 2006, the Summit County Democratic Party selected Thomas to fill a vacancy on the BOCC. He ran successfully for the office in 2008 and is currently serving his first full term.
As Commissioner, Thomas has focused attention on workforce housing, quality childcare and accessibility to health care. He currently serves as the County’s representative to the Summit Combined Housing Authority, and is also its chairman. Thomas has also served the past ten years on the board of Early Childhood Options, which successfully started the County’s Head Start program and won voter approval for funding of the County’s own Right Start program. He also served on a local task force that completed in 2008 a health assessment of Summit County, and a 5-year plan for improving accessibility, affordability and availability of quality health care.
In 2008, Thomas began spending a great deal of time in active negotiations with the Denver Water Board, the Colorado River District and other west slope water users, working toward an agreement on a long list of water issues and mitigation measures. These negotiations have been successful, but are still ongoing.
Thomas served as Summit County’s voting member of Colorado Counties, Inc. from 2007 through 2010, which represents and advocates for the concerns of all county commissioners in Colorado. In December 2010, CCI elected Thomas to serve on its state board of directors. He also serves as one of three county commissioners statewide on the Emergency Fire Fund committee, as the county commissioner representative on the statewide Search and Rescue Fund Advisory Council, and as the sole county commissioner representative on the State Salary Commission.
Thomas also serves on several non-profit boards, notably as a trustee of The Summit Foundation, and as the secretary of its executive board. He also serves on the High Country Regional Council of the El Pomar Foundation, and on the board of directors for the Credit Union of the Rockies.
Contact Thomas at:
PO Box 68
Breckenridge, CO 80424
970.453.3413
thomasd@co.summit.co.us
Dan Gibbs
Summit County Commissioner
Dan Gibbs was elected as Summit County Commissioner during the 2010 November elections. Dan feels blessed to represent the “the heart of Colorado” and is working to make a difference in the community he lives in and loves.
Prior to being elected County Commissioner, Gibbs served in the Colorado State Senate for District 16, which includes Summit, Grand, Gilpin, Clear Creek, and western parts of Jefferson and Boulder counties. And prior to his service in the State Senate, Dan served in the Colorado House of Representatives for House District 56, which includes Summit, Eagle, and Lake counties.
In the State Senate, Dan served as the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and was a member of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. Since being elected to the Colorado State Legislature in 2006, Dan has worked tirelessly to bring a collaborative approach to some of Colorado’s most pressing issues, including the economy, education, transportation, and forest health.
Dan is a certified Willdland Firefighter and is affiliated with the ROSS system in which he is on-call to fight wildfires throughout the U.S.
Dan is a graduate of Western State College of Colorado with a BA in Sociology.
Dan serves on numerous civic boards and committees including Colorado Youth Corps, I-70 Coalition, SOS Outreach, CASA of the Continental Divide, Habitat for Humanity of Colorado, Summit Nordic Ski Club, Breckenridge Heritage Alliance, Bull Moose Sportsmen’s Alliance, Rotary International, and Elks Club.
Dan enjoys all that living in the High Country has to offer such as telemark and cross-country skiing, hiking, white-water kayaking, mountain biking, hunting, and fishing. He is a resident of Breckenridge, Colorado where he lives with his new wife Johanna and his canine companion Tuff.
Contact Dan at:
PO Box 68
Breckenridge, CO 80424
970.453.3411
dang@co.summit.co.us