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All in Adams--Commissioner Emma Pinter
29 Plays1 month ago
In this episode of All In Adams, we sit down with Adams County Commissioner, Emma Pinter, to learn about her passion for public service and her dedication to Adams County. From her journey into leadership to the initiatives shaping the community, Commissioner Pinter shares what drives her to serve and how she’s working to make a difference. Tune in for an inspiring conversation about commitment, community, and the future of Adams County!Commissioner Emma Pinter
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Transcript
Introduction to 'All In Adams'
00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome to All In Adams, the official podcast of Adams County government, where we're all in for our residents, our employees, and our community. So whether you live here, work here, or you just want to know more about what makes Adams County a great place to be, thanks for tuning in.
00:00:21
Speaker
We're all in, Adams.
Commissioner Emma Pinter's Journey
00:00:23
Speaker
Welcome back to the next edition of All in Adams, where we're all in, all for you, our employees and also our residents of Adams County. Today, we are really excited to have Commissioner Emma Pinter with us.
00:00:33
Speaker
um I know many of you know Commissioner Pinter. She's going into her sixth year serving on the commission. But, you know, for those for those that don't, we because we have a lot of new people moving here. we do. A lot. um Tell us a little bit about about yourself.
00:00:46
Speaker
I'm a parent. I live in Westminster. i have been on the commission for six years. I love local government because we're generalists. we get to do a little bit of everything. I'm an attorney by training.
00:00:57
Speaker
um I just love Colorado and I love being of service. And you have been in public service for a while. What what is what fueled your passion for that? I think that what filled my passion is really the example of my family.
00:01:08
Speaker
um i was just listening to a podcast about women veterans because it is Women's History Month. um My grandmother was a member of the Waves in the Navy, and my grandfather also ah was in service, and my mom was a public libraries librarian.
00:01:22
Speaker
And so watching the service of my family members really inspired in me. um That we join, we serve. We've talked about this on an earlier podcast with Commissioner Malika. You know, it really is those that that um those women like your grandmother that did all this work for us that having four out of five commissioners be female just isn't is now normal.
00:01:44
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that that's great. It's the example. And hopefully we're the example for someone else. We do have a lot of firsts with our commission as well. But hopefully we're the example for others coming behind us.
00:01:56
Speaker
OK, so we want to dive deep a little deeper and um give the people a chance to get to know you a little bit better. um Can you tell us about a time or an event that really just shaped who you are as a person today?
Personal Challenges and Community Support
00:02:07
Speaker
Yeah. You know, the event I usually talk about because it was so affirmative is when my mom passed away when I was 20 years old. My mom raised my sister and I as a single parent. um I was 20 and my little sister was 16.
00:02:19
Speaker
And when I got the call that she had passed, I had to call my sister's summer camp where she was a camp counselor and call her into the office and tell her that our mom had passed. But more than that, I had nowhere for her to go.
00:02:29
Speaker
Once she was done with summer camp, I didn't really have a plan, and we didn't have a home to go back to. So working with friends, everyone said, what can I do to help? And finally, um my college president um offered that he would call a local boarding high school and help find a connection for her.
00:02:45
Speaker
And with his help and the help of other friends, we got her a full-ride scholarship. So that she was able to have a place to stay, house moms to look after her three meals a day, and she was safe and could continue ah continue and finish high school and I could continue and finish college.
00:02:59
Speaker
And that community rallying around us so that I could stay in school and she could stay in school and finish high school on time really taught me that you need a community and you need a strong safety net.
00:03:10
Speaker
And that we were really lucky to know the right people, and you shouldn't have to be lucky to make it. And I want to make Adams County a stronger place where you don't have to be lucky to make it here and thrive.
00:03:22
Speaker
you know And I've been working with you for a little ah over two years. um I hadn't heard that story yet. And I mean, not only does it um share with me that you're i been just surrounded by strong women, but it really sheds light now on why I hear and see you do a lot of the things that you do for others.
Community Initiatives in Adams County
00:03:37
Speaker
um You know, some of the programs that you're most passionate about, can you share those with us that that we offer? You know, i what I do appreciate is that we are generalists and we get to a lot of different types of things. I'm really privileged to serve on the board of our housing authority, make our housing partners.
00:03:51
Speaker
I really support our libraries. I love that we had our first poet laureate. We're looking out for our next poet laureate to bring that arts into community. And libraries are some of the last free spaces and where folks can just come in. You don't have to buy a coffee. You don't have to buy lunch. You can just come in.
00:04:06
Speaker
And I've been trying to be in libraries more recently to soak that up. And I just see people doing homework or having business meetings and the study carols. ah Anything Library also offers a ghost hunting kit. Like it's my new favorite library fun fact. Oh, that's fun. Yes. So they have try it and they have different things you can check out.
00:04:23
Speaker
And one of the things you can check out is a ghost hunting kit. I don't know it works. Okay. But I was told by the ah chief librarian, Mayor of Bennett, that it's their most popular item to be checked out of their library.
00:04:35
Speaker
So are there like super haunted places around here? that oh that's a whole other podcast that I am not qualified to lead. But ah The Haunting of Riverdale Road is really like, you know, it's your search history. You look up whatever you want to look up.
00:04:49
Speaker
um But yes, people have a lot of beliefs. The Haunting of Riverdale Road. people know I'm totally looking at this up. People have a lot of beliefs about the history. But, you know, from you this question came from is like, what do I enjoy doing? I enjoy learning about community and leaning in And I really appreciate the work we do on human services from Workforce Center, through child support, support and foster kids and making sure that we do.
00:05:13
Speaker
um child abuse investigations thoroughly and fully and having that fully funded human services program so that folks can
Responsibilities of Adams County Government
00:05:19
Speaker
take advantage of the services they need. There's just so many different types of things from oil and gas inspections to making sure your highway is paved and plowed.
00:05:29
Speaker
We do it all in Adams County. Yeah. And i know I know a lot of people really appreciate your voice and things that you've done. um And, you know, that's one thing I wanted to say is I i hope, you know I know it's not easy running for office. Right. And we're in crazy times where it's it's um ah running is one thing and then serving is another.
00:05:47
Speaker
um But I really hope that when you go home at night that you feel appreciated because I really do hear that from a lot of people. That's kind of you to say. I think that we have a legacy of um leadership in Adams County and serving community.
00:06:01
Speaker
i came on the heels of people who really put community first and put in place a lot of ethical principles to make our county better and stronger for the next generation. And I feel really um that responsibility is that big, that's a big trust to be like, we're trying to build an Adams County that's better and stronger for the future.
00:06:20
Speaker
I want to get into some more lighthearted, fun questions. But first, before we do that, um i want one more that i I want to talk about specifically for Adams County and, you know, in our our government and um our employees, our residents.
00:06:31
Speaker
What your vision for the next four years?
Vision for a Stable Government
00:06:36
Speaker
I know that's a big that's a big question, right? I know. but But are there certain things that you're really focused on on doing with this particular board, um passions that you have that you want to share, and things that and and just goals that you want to see come to fruition?
00:06:51
Speaker
I think that we have a responsibility on behalf of our residents to have a strong, stable, accessible government. For me, that means showing up, that our services can continue despite um the climate in ah D.C.
00:07:07
Speaker
the new presidential administration, um which doesn't seem to take kindly to cooperation. We have an obligation to the best of our ability to make sure that people can keep their cancer medications. They can keep food in their home.
00:07:20
Speaker
They can keep a roof over their head. They can apply for a job. And so many people here in Adams County are working people, and they deserve to have dignity and respect, safety in their community.
00:07:33
Speaker
And I want to do as much work as I can for as long as I can with my colleagues um around the community to make sure that we are keeping as many people safe as long as possible and as much as possible.
00:07:44
Speaker
And again, I know that's most ah much appreciated. Thank you for sharing that. Okay, so to the more lighthearted stuff, um if you had a theme song, What would it be and why?
Dolly Parton's Influence on Pinter
00:07:56
Speaker
um That is a great question. and um i i recently had to choose a a theme song for an event, and I did go with Dolly Parton's 9 to 5. It is a work on working people's song. It's about, you know frankly, worker protections, labor unions, and supporting ah women in the workplace and supporting just a fair workplace for everybody. Plus, I love Dolly Parton. And that movie was just everything. I mean...
00:08:22
Speaker
Honestly, it's a great movie. and it you know I should go back and rewatch It's been a couple years, but yeah Dolly Parton's 9 to 5. i I love it. That's a great one. And who doesn't love Dolly? Okay, so if you could have dinner with any historical figure or famous person, um they could be deceased or or currently with us, um who would it be and what and why?
Dream Dinner Guests: Roosevelt and Obama
00:08:41
Speaker
um that That's a tough one. i um I had sort of thought about i've thought about this question before, I sort of thought about it historically. If I can cheat and like do two two answers. Historically, I'd really love to talk to Eleanor Roosevelt because I think we're facing conversations – in the United States that are both local, domestic, but have international implications, and her being part of founding things that have led to the modern United Nations and the work that she did, as well as the work of her husband, the president. I'd be really curious to hear her candid reflections of how you moved
00:09:16
Speaker
a country from the the Great Depression to success, ah global interconnectivity, and stability. That's a great one. I think in today's terms, we would call her boss, right? Yeah, she did a lot. She did a lot with not a lot of overt power. She did a lot influence and also probably had a bird's-eye view to what her husband, the president, did with overt power.
00:09:36
Speaker
And was there was there there was a second part? Yeah, so from a contemporary basis, I would just love to have dinner with Michelle Obama. would be a good one. Right? I just like, I don't even know what I would ask, but I am sure she has so many stories.
00:09:51
Speaker
was born in Illinois. I'm from Illinois. I um would love to hear. My mom was actually from the same town that she was from, Gary, Indiana. oh yeah. And still working town. And um reading her first autobiography, her story growing up, really did mirror the timeline of my mom's story growing up.
00:10:09
Speaker
And I'd be really interested to hear what she saw change what matters and what happened to our blue collar communities and how can we protect them? Yeah, those are two, two fabulous choices. Absolutely.
00:10:21
Speaker
Okay. um Next, this is, we're kind of doing like the lightning round of the fun stuff. um The next one is, um is, is there a piece of advice that you've ever received that really um maybe the best piece of advice, something that, that shaped or changed you, whether it's a quote, something someone said,
00:10:38
Speaker
um There is a piece of advice that leaves to mind. um i don't know if it's really transferable. um In my teenage years and early twenty s when I was going through a lot of these hard things, um I came to Colorado first ah to be mountaineering guide and was up in the Arkansas River Valley and um was sitting really one day having a really hard time on a day off or on a quiet day in between sessions and with our basically our pastor who was with us at camp and explaining how unfair it was that I was facing all of these challenges and she didn't have any answers and she was just sitting with me and she said one day this will give you a lot of empathy
00:11:16
Speaker
And I was really mad. and didn't want to hear it. um i don't know that you really should say something like that to somebody who's in the middle of grief, but it is what she said. And the more I think about it, the more I think about having the opportunity to have empathy for what our community is going through and providing pathways to stability has become my driving mission in the work that I do.
00:11:37
Speaker
Makes a lot of sense because, you know, in public hearings, when I'm watching you, I see you really, you know, empathize and connect with people when they're bringing their stories to the podium. So that makes a lot of sense. Yes, not great to tell somebody at 20 when they're in the middle of grief, but good advice all the same. Okay, just a couple more questions.
Celebrating Adams County Parks
00:11:55
Speaker
um So I i know you're you've lived in this area for quite some time. You've been serving this area for quite some time. um Any like ah hidden gems or favorite restaurants or favorite spots, whether it's like your favorite restaurant, a park, anything like that, that people absolutely have to check out if if they're here?
00:12:11
Speaker
i I love all of our parks. I'm kind of biased. um You know, like I said, I came here ah in the 90s as a mountaineering guide as my first live in Colorado. It's very Colorado. Get my first job here. um And having lived other places, if you don't have that immediate connection to nature, it can feel really easy to be disembodied. I love watching shows about New York City, but I just I'm like, where do they go to rest?
00:12:32
Speaker
Yeah. where where's where's the pause and i think what's beautiful about the way we have our open space funded and our parks funded and our community connectivity anywhere in adams county anywhere you are you are minutes from a park or a trail where you can reconnect with nature and um find that sense of peace even if it's just for a few minutes that's beautiful i mean i i absolutely love living here except for the hail the hail is the thing Like that is the thing that took me a little by surprise. but times Yeah. Yeah. the new starring um that
00:13:03
Speaker
Okay. so the the last question that I really like to ask um frequently is what didn't I ask? what What do you want people to know about? Oh, I don't know. um i'm just I'm just glad to be here. I'm glad to be of service for Adams County.
00:13:15
Speaker
And I think that one of the things that I think about a lot, and I think about with my kids, about this moment in time you asked about the next four years, and I think that we have to build resiliency and community, take care of each other, ah take a deep breath, and that we are in for a long conversation, long, difficult conversation as a nation about what does it mean to protect freedom What does it mean to feel safe in your own home?
00:13:38
Speaker
What does it mean to not worry about your neighbor's safety? So as we engage in those conversations and we do the business of day to day, please take care of yourself. It's going to be a long journey and we need to cultivate and find hope and faith and community.
00:13:54
Speaker
I can't think of a better way to wrap up, especially because the the ending of our podcast, um which you'll hear in just a moment, um to those listening and watching, but it's prerecorded and it says take care of each other.
00:14:04
Speaker
Exactly. Thank you, Commissioner Emma Pinder. We appreciate you taking time with us today. Thanks, Nikki. That's a wrap for this episode of All in Adams. Thank you for joining us as we explore the people, programs, and the policies that make Adams County a great place to live, work, and thrive.
00:14:20
Speaker
If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and share with your friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Have a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know. We're all in for bringing you the stories that matter most.
00:14:31
Speaker
Until next time, take care of each other and stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, and X. We're all in, Adams, and we're all in for you.