Council incumbent David Reagor

Staff Report:

Republican David Reagor is running for re-election for his seat on Los Alamos County Council. He recently answered questions from the Los Alamos Daily Post about the local election.

This is part of a series of Q&As with political candidates that the Post will publish ahead of the June 4 Primary Election.

How long have you lived in Los Alamos? 

Since 1986.

Where do you work? 

Retired after 32 years at LANL. Currently serve on the Los Alamos County Council.

Why are you running for a second term on County Council? 

To represent small businesses. To represent the working-class people who are being priced out of the town.

County Council requires a significant time commitment, usually 4 council meetings a month, committee meetings and other events as well as reading preparation prior to those meetings. How do you feel you have successfully fit this in with your other commitments? 

I do not have other major time commitments, except hobbies like rafting and backpacking.

Based on your experience serving on council, what do you believe is the role of the Council in our community?

The national media world is full of intellectual fraud, or more specifically, corporate marketing that masquerades as news or information. There are many examples of this, but some do not affect our county policy. Some examples of this and relevant to our county were all the Covid measures that harmed our children and small businesses. Another example is the Climate Crisis fear campaign that is the basis of the LARES report and the proposed ban on natural gas. It is the role of the council to disregard the nonsense and pursue the best interests of the county citizens.

Do you think you have any personal or professional relationships that could become a conflict of interest while serving a second term as a Council member?

No. I am a big supporter of all small businesses in town, but not an investor. I also support developers and contractors, who are often not actually small, but they still all need advocacy.

Based on your experience serving on council, what is your approach to handling controversial and complicated issues?

The campaign against all the lies around Covid is over. I think I was proven right about everything, while I lost every vote on the topic. There is no way to give in when you are advocating for the best interests of the public. The national news and the Governor were advocating for the best interests of some giant corporations. There is often no public counterweight to their misleading information, and we can never give up on being that counterweight.

The same applies to climate change. Due to the electrification of China, India, Brazil, etc. the carbon budget of the world is approaching a cap, yet our food production is undiminished and growing. The climate models that emphasize man-made climate change ignore natural climate change that has and will always occur. Our little community should ignore the disinformation and focus on responsible management.

What skills and experience have you gained on council that would benefit you in a second term?

The budget is very complicated. It takes a few years to understand the structure and even read the documents.

Currently, the council is practicing no budget constraint on the county government. The endless rubber-stamp approvals will leave us in a deficit in a few years. We need to stop adding long term recurring expenses and focus on infrastructure items that the public and use when the current windfall era is over.

What previous community involvement have you had in Los Alamos or another community?

I used to be on the Parks and Recreation Board. I did lots of youth sports volunteering.

Based on your time in County government, what do you see as the top priorities?

Putting our resources into capital items that have long term value:

• High speed internet.
• Reliable electricity.
• Replace aging infrastructure.
• Increase housing at all income levels.
• Maintain our hospital and local health care.

Our operating budget is best spent on maintaining existing facilities. We need to limit new hires as the current era is likely a windfall period, and we need to be prepared for lower future budgets.