Matt Scherr - Journey to Eagle County Commissioner

Though my path to becoming a county commissioner was winding, in hindsight I couldn’t have planned a better one.

Upon leaving CU Boulder, I first took up professional residence in the telecom world (as one does with a bachelor’s degree in psychology). That chapter of Dilbert cubicles led me to leave the corporate world for the mountains and a girl (who would later, in a moment of weakness, agree to marry me).

Shortly after arriving in the Eagle River Valley, I found work at the Vail Leadership Institute. There I learned to understand leadership in terms of service. Several years later, I left to lead the Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability, to help our community re-imagine how we live and work in the world through discussions and policies around waste, energy, transportation, and food systems. I always believed the Alliance was a community organization, rather than an environmental one; we were simply looking for a better way for communities to be communities. That led me to town government, where I felt I could contribute to shaping actual policies to do that. I was twice elected to Minturn town council, and then twice for mayor.

There was a break in my town council terms when our family lived in Ecuador for a time. Diana and I both suffer from a bit of wanderlust, and both feel that travel changed who we are by expanding our perspectives and introducing us to new ideas. We decided to expose our young children (4 and 6 at the time) to a different world and provide them with perspective in their formative years. While the kids were in school, Diana and I took the time to learn Spanish, immerse ourselves in the culture, and try our hand at business in Ecuador.

After returning home to Eagle County, I had the opportunity to provide strategic consulting for a number of local organizations, help open Castle Peak Senior Life and Rehabilitation, serve on the board of the Education Foundation of Eagle County (EFEC), and be part of the Eagle County Housing Development Authority Advisory Board. I was also re-elected to Minturn council and shortly after that, to mayor. During my second term as mayor, county commissioner Jill Ryan was appointed by Governor Polis to his cabinet to lead the Department of Public Health and Environment, and I was appointed in February 2019 to replace Jill as county commissioner.

The twists in my career have allowed me to be involved in many of the diverse challenges this county faces. Through those experiences I learned the critical importance of community, the tremendous potential of individuals to contribute to that community, and the essential need to enable every person to realize that potential.