Alamosa County Commissioner Mike Yohn won’t run in 2022

ALAMOSA County Commissioner Mike Yohn announced Thursday that he will not seek re-election in 2022. Completing his third term in office, Yohn said it’s time for new ideas and other viewpoints. 

“It’s been 12 years serving the citizens of Alamosa. It’s been rewarding for me to give back to the community and I hope they all appreciate it. I look at the citizens of Alamosa and I was to serve them. I’ve done that honorably and to the best of my ability.”

Yohn’s announcement came as Alamosa County looks to hire a new county administrator following the departure of Gigi Dennis who took a job as Monte Vista city manager. The commissioners were interviewing two candidates for the position this week, Roni Wisdom and Carle Tarnutzer. A third candidate, John Cook of Iowa, accepted another position.

Commissioners Lori Laske and Vern Heersink are in their first year in office. Yohn said the fact both will have two years serving as county commissioners before he steps down at the end of 2022 was helpful in making his decision.

“We’ve got two commissioners now that will have two years experience which will be great,” Yohn said. “I’ll always be in the community and probably will always be involved to an extent. But not to this extent.”

He said passage of a 1-cent sales tax to fund improvements at the Alamosa County Detention Center and a new Alamosa County Judicial Center stand out as key accomplishments. He said Alamosa Regional Airport is another area where the county has made progress during his tenure, and he’s proud of the new Dumb Friends League shelter located near the airport.