Prowers County Commissioner Wendy Buxton-Andrade retiring August 1, 2024 – being honored by county at “Night at the Museum” July 18

Wendy Buxton-Andrade, Prowers County Commissioner

Wendy Buxton-Andrade will be stepping down from her role as a Prowers County Commissioner effective August 1, 2024.  She is leaving behind a legacy of programs and projects that have benefited Prowers County in countless ways, several of which have providing many much-needed jobs in the area.  She was sworn in in 2013, becoming both the first woman as well as first Hispanic-surnamed person to serve as a commissioner.  She brought a new perspective to the office, determined to give a voice to all who had felt they never had a voice in this office.  The first thing she did was to jump in and learn about all the many county departments.  She immersed herself in Health and Human Services at the local and state level because of the economics in the county and the need for people to receive the right help.  She believes in giving people a hand up, not a handout.

The list of accomplishments she has achieved is lengthy and impressive.  She was appointed to the Colorado Child Protection Allocation Committee and the Works Allocation Committee within the first few months of taking office.  This helped her to understand the formulas for funding for Human Services.  These appointments led to many opportunities for Prowers County to have a voice at the table and helped her to be appointed by the Governor to the Child Protection Hotline Committee.  The first day she attended this committee, she announced to the other members “If we create jobs from this work, I want to get those jobs for my county because we need to help people earn a living wage”.  For over a year and a half, she traveled to and from Denver every Friday for meetings (all at her own expense as the county had not allocated money for this).  Along with Lanie Meyers-Mireles and Lisa Farmer, the Child Protection Hotline and Prowers County’s first state-wide facility to man the hotline were developed.  As a result, 25 new full-time jobs, funded by the State, were created and indirectly, $350,000 went into the county’s General Fund.

In 2014, she was recognized by her peers as the “Commissioner of the Year for Colorado Counties Incorporated.”   She has served at the local level as president of the HOPE Center non-profit board for 10 years.  She has also served as the Chair for the board of RESADA for 6 years and has been a guiding force in enabling RESADA to expand and remodel for rehabilitation services.  She was instrumental in bringing a Community Corrections facility to the area and has since served on the Community Corrections board to evaluate every resident admitted to the facility.

Four years ago, Wendy was again approached by the State because of the success of the Child Protection Hotline, as it was hoped the success of that center could be matched.  As a result, the Mail Center in Granda was born, creating another 35 jobs.  After just one short year of success, the state saw this success and another 25-30 jobs were created with the development of the Overflow Processing Center, also in Granda.  These two centers are built on the same foundation, and an indirect 15% goes back into the general fund to help with other services, as well as allowing for raises and recognition for the hard-working county employees.

Wendy has worked tirelessly on one of her biggest passions – the opioid crisis in southern Colorado and has served for 12 years on the Attorney General’s Substance Abuse Taskforce.  As part of this taskforce, she ensured that a rural perspective about the effects of the opioid and other substance use issues were considered.  She has served as Chairman of SECOR, which represents 9 southeast Colorado counties.  She was instrumental in helping Prowers County receive funds from the national opioid settlement against pharmaceutical companies which has been used for projects serving education, rehabilitation and treatment.  She was also appointed to the Jail Base Behavior Committee.  As a result, the Prowers County Sheriff has received grant funding to supply area jails with behavioral health professionals and services.  The award last year was almost $900,000 for a six-county jail facility and created 6 more jobs. She received the Colorado Consortium of Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Exceptional Service Award for her work in southern Colorado the state for substance misuse advocacy and awareness work.

Wendy was instrumental in assisting with establishing the Big Timbers Transportation Museum as well as the Historic Byway kiosks near the museum and has continually helped with the preservation of the historic AT&T Building which now houses Big Timbers Museum.

She has remained a strong advocate for the Life Coalition, which provides services for mental health and substance misuse.  She, along with Meyers-Mireles, was a driving force to get the Family Resource Center for the county.  It is currently funded through grants through the Health Department and helps many families throughout the southeast Colorado area.

Over the years, she has fought the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and their closures of all small rural landfills, successfully advocating for Granda to keep theirs open. She worked with CDOT to get the safety crossing at Lamar’s Middle School due to the heavy truck traffic.  She advocated with CDOT with collecting data to support them putting the overhead flashing lights in for the safety of our children.

Over the past 7 months as editor and reporter for The Prowers Journal, I have gotten to know Wendy while discussing projects and from my attending meetings and press conferences she has been part of.  She helped me, as a rookie reporter, understand what a county commissioner’s duties are and helped me learn more about the various county departments.  Her knowledge of, dedication to, and love for her county has been evident since we first met.  She has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know and has had nothing but the best interests of the citizens in mind at all times.  She has worked tirelessly to make good things happen for Prowers County.  As she steps away from her current role, she can be proud of what she’s done and the many people she has helped throughout the years.  Thank you, Wendy, for your commitment and hard work!  You are a role model to many.

With her many talents and the multitude of causes she remains passionate about, there is no doubt that Ms. Buxton-Andrade will celebrate many more successes as she moves away from her role as a commissioner. Her loss to our county will be felt in countless ways going forward.  Prowers County is a better place because of all she has done for our area and we wish her only the best on all future endeavors.

By: Barbara Crimond