Boulder County Commissioner Matt Jones won't seek reelection
Jan. 20—Boulder County Commissioner Matt Jones recently announced he won't run for a second term, ending a political career that included serving as a state senator and a state representative.
As a two-time cancer survivor celebrating his 20th anniversary of remission from leukemia, he said, he decided he wanted more time to travel, ski and be active.
"It just makes you think about what's important to you," he said. "I love public service. It's very gratifying work. But it's time to do some other things."
Before being elected as a Boulder County commissioner in 2018, he served for six years as the state senator for District 17, which includes Longmont, Lafayette, Louisville and Erie. He also served three terms in the Colorado House from 1986 to 1992 and returned for a fourth term from 2010 to 2012.
He said highlights of his political career included working with former Gov. Roy Romer to establish state air pollution standards above federal minimums, pushing through the first law requiring local governments to create water conservation plans, and sponsoring legislation that doubled the number of well inspectors and increasing the maximum fines for oil and gas infractions.
He also stepped in as governor for two days over a holiday weekend in the '90s when many others were out of town. When he asked what he needed to do, he was told he just needed to let the Colorado State Patrol know how to reach him in case of a disaster.
"I laid low," he said. "I'm proud of it and amazed by it."
As a Boulder County commissioner, he continued his focus on the environment.
He said the commissioners approved the "state's strongest oil and gas protection rules, nation-leading climate action work and the successful conversion of all county buildings to 100% wind and solar power."
About a year ago, the commissioners approved updated regulations that apply to any company seeking to explore for and produce oil and gas from deposits in unincorporated Boulder County. Future oil and gas well pads in unincorporated parts of Boulder County now generally have to be set back at least 2,500 feet from any residential dwelling, school or licensed child care facility.
The county also increased forest health staffing levels to accelerate mitigation work to help protect forests, firefighters, homes and water supplies, he said.
"My passion is the environmental issues, and Boulder County is a great constituency to represent," he said. "It's a wonderful alignment of values with the constituents."
Jones spent 18 years helping to plan and lead Boulder's Open Space and Mountain Parks Department. As part of his open space work, he worked as a wildland firefighter. In his 20s, he was a professional mogul skier.
He was evacuated during the Marshall Fire and plans to focus on helping the survivors for the rest of his county commissioner term, which ends in January 2023.
"The county is going to do everything we can to help people get back on their feet," he said.
