Luanne Hook

Candidate for Bluff Town Council
My name is Luanne Hook and I am running for one of the new seats on Bluff’s Town Council. Bluff became home to Jim and me in 1988 after we answered a newspaper ad to become managers at Recapture Lodge. In 1990 we bought the Lodge and the Bluff Laundromat and have been owner/operators ever since. We have enjoyed raising our four children in the business, blending homeschooling with attending local public schools.
Before venturing into the tourist and hospitality lifestyle, I worked for the U.S. Forest Service for many years on the trail crew, managed a llama ranch, and earned a teaching degree in elementary education at the University of Northern Colorado.
Our family has a continuing history of serving the community through Bluff’s emergency response teams. Besides my husband being the volunteer Fire Chief for 18 years, we also house a radio base station for the Sheriff’s Office which we use to help in paging and communication for both the fire and the ambulance crews. As a result of raising our children with this activity in our home, our three oldest kids have trained and now volunteer their services to the county departments. One is an EMT and two are firefighters.
Even though this will be my first adventure into serving on an elected board, I have lived with politics all of my life. I grew up in a small rural town where my dad was mayor and then served as a county commissioner in the county seat of Colorado Springs. Once in Bluff, he and my husband were both very instrumental in establishing and then serving many years on the Bluff Service Area Board.
Recently, I was a sponsor of the Bluff Incorporation Feasibility Study and I’m very happy that it has had so much success and support! After 138 years it is time for Bluff to make official what has always been the third town in San Juan County. Self-government at the local level is the goal. I am really looking forward to having, and will work hard to create, a solid structure with one locally elected entity managing all aspects of the new town under one umbrella. Also, “preservation of place” is the main reason residents vote to turn their communities into incorporated towns and as an elected council member, I will continue to work hard to ensure that eclectic Bluff stays Bluff!