El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark this month became president of the National Association of Counties. Clark, of Colorado Springs, is the first Colorado commissioner to ever hold the post. (Provided by NACo/Sallie Clark)
As the daughter of a mayor, Sallie Clark answered plenty of calls at home from people wanting to talk to her dad about barking dogs and garbage pickup and potholes, but she never thought she’d go into politics.
“I was really shy growing up and I didn’t like to talk to people,” she said. “Obviously, I’ve gotten over that.”
Obviously.
Clark, an El Paso County commissioner, this month became president of the National Association of Counties — the first Colorado commissioner ever elected to the post. For the next year, she’ll do a lot of talking as she travels the country.
“It’s so important to have a strong voice for counties on issues that impact our citizens and local government,” she said. “NACo is focused on pushing back against unfunded federal mandates and over-regulation.”
Seal Beach Mayor Thomas Blackman and his daughter, Sallie, in the 1970s. (Provided by Sallie Clark)
Clark was born in Long Beach, Calif., in 1959 to Thomas and Barbara Blackman. Her dad taught in the Long Beach public school district for 40 years and served as mayor of Seal Beach in the 1970s.
During his tenure, the city built a fire station and a police station, put bike trails on the highway and oversaw a downtown renovation project. She noted that those issues still resonate today. Her father, she said, “really believed in the vision of communities and how government could help build communities.”
Thomas Blackman grew up in Pueblo and Clark spent summers on her grandmother’s chicken farm outside the city. When she and Welling Clark married in 1980, they spent a part of their honeymoon in Colorado.
“I’ve always loved Colorado,” she said.
After her husband left the Navy, the couple moved to Colorado Springs in 1985 and opened up the Holden House 1902 Bed and Breakfast. Clark sat on the Colorado Travel and Tourism Authority Board, and helped start a statewide bed-and-breakfast association.
She became a neighborhood activist when the city manager and the fire chief proposed closing Fire Station No. 3 on West Colorado Avenue. She became president of the Organization of Westside Neighbors, which was successful in keeping the station open.
El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark takes the oath of office as president of the National Association of Counties at its annual meeting in Charlotte, N.C., in July. Her husband, Welling Clark, is behind her. (Provided by NACo and Clark)
Clark ran for mayor of Colorado Springs in 1999 and lost, then successfully ran for the City Council. She again tried for mayor, in 2003, and lost, and then was elected county commissioner in 2004.
“I love this job — although maybe not every day,” Clark said, with a laugh. “You have to make decisions and somebody is going to be unhappy. Sometimes both sides are unhappy. But the job has allowed me to do all kinds of things, especially on issues relating to preventing child abuse and neglect, public health and public safety issues.”
Among those who praise Clark’s efforts is state Rep. Pete Lee, a Colorado Springs Democrat. Clark is a Republican.
“Sallie Clark is clearly one of the hardest working public servants in El Paso County,” he said. “She digs in. She is completely energized and that’s important.”
On the gubernatorial campaign trail in 2010, Clark frequently was mentioned as a likely running mate for Republican Scott McInnis, but he lost the primary. If at one time she didn’t like talking to people, it didn’t come across when she stumped for McInnis.
“I’ve talked to a lot of women in government and many say they were shy growing up,” Clark said. “But then something enthusiastically gets us, we’re on a mission and we forget all that shyness, leave it behind and move forward with whatever we have to do.”
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