House District 12 candidate interviews

Tracey Bernett (Democrat):

Background: Bernett received an engineering degree from Cornell University and a Harvard MBA. She helped lead the effort to revitalize the Butterfly Pavilion, and also led the OUR Center's homelessness prevention efforts during the Great Recession, helping more than 16,000 area families get back on their feet.

Schools/Mental Health: "I believe you need to have a partnership with the local law enforcement and with the school, and recognize that every school has different needs. We need to make sure that mental health is being addressed and create free counseling for students. I also passed the Public School Contract Terms & Conditions bill this year that will help schools save money and protect students' data privacy: the money saved will be directed towards improving education resources."

Guns/Militant Groups: "I grew up on a farm and it made sense to use a hunting rifle, but no one should ever be in possession of an assault rifle. There needs to be more laws that will prevent gun-related suicides. Police departments also need to be doing a better job of screening applicants to make sure they don't recruit members of hate groups."

Environment: "We passed a lot of bills last session on wildlife mitigation and to help rebuild their homes. I've also passed numerous bills on limiting greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing Colorado's electric grid resiliency, and agriculture efficiency programs."

Drugs: "We need a balance between passing sobriety programs to help addicts, while also increasing penalties."

Homelessness: "We need to provide services to help homeless families, children, and veterans get off the street or end their couchsurfing journeys. It's important that we invest in mental health programs and permanent supportive housing. I've also worked to decrease the cost of utility bills to prevent homelessness."

Infrastructure: "We need to foster different kinds of transportation such as bicycle paths and public transportation. It's important that we do whatever we can to decrease air pollution."

Anya Kirvan (Republican):

Background: Kirvan is a registered nurse and received a Master of Science degree in business administration. She is committed to individual freedoms, personal responsibility, and limited government.

Schools/Mental Health: "I believe we need SROs in schools to keep kids safe. If teachers are okay with carrying guns to protect themselves and their students, then the school board should consider arming teachers. We also need stronger mental health programs for our students."

Guns/Militant Groups: "We need to keep guns away from people who are on drugs or have mental health issues. I haven't heard of any reports of right-wing militia groups in Colorado and I believe it is all conspiratorial. The real violence is coming from the Southern open border."

Environment: "I don't believe in climate change: the sun controls the climate, and moves in 100 and 1000-year cycles. In terms of the Marshall Fire, the people who lost their homes don't need green materials that are state of the art; they just need to rebuild their homes with the money that's there."

Drugs: "We need to re-criminalize fentanyl as the drug cartels and child traffickers are coming from across the border."

Homelessness: "A lot of these homeless people come from out of the state, because of Colorado's lenient policies on drug possession and the easy access to obtain drugs. They don't enter homeless shelters because you have to stay sober while you're there and sometimes the best way to stay clean is by going to jail."

Infrastructure: "The government has redirected our infrastructure money towards COVID relief. It's going to be difficult to allocate that taxpayer money back to fixing our roads."

Parental Rights: "Defending parental rights will be a cornerstone of my service when elected. Whether it's school choice, curriculum, masking, vaccinations, sports, sex education, or medical decisions the progressive democracts in the Colorado legislature have been chipping away at parental rights for years. These complete strangers truly believe they know better for each child than that child's own parents."