Local elections are critically important, in fact, it is said we have more power over our local political landscape than national.

Unfortunately, many of our local races are being influenced by outside money, with a concerted effort to take over school boards and city councils by larger, national influences.

However, on the flip side, there is a LOT of new blood running. It appears the 2021 races could be quite interesting. Out with the Vanguard and in with the new? There is a new generation inspired to make their community better and are ready to step up. But not all are running for the right reasons. Pay attention to your school boards, and who is running for the city council. It does matter. These are local elections and should be policy-forward.

While we offer our endorsements, we leave conclusions up to our readers by providing the answers in our interviews. However, there were several races where we truly had a difficult time choosing.

Longmont has four really great candidates running for two seats. We loved Shiquita Yarbrough, Aren Rodriguez, Tallis Salamatian, and Sean McCoy. We hope all four can serve on council together sometime in the future, but for this year there are only two seats. We had a very difficult time narrowing Longmont down to just two, and know that all four of these would do a great job for the community. We ultimately weighed in but strongly think Longmont should work to get all four of these elected in the future.

Boulder was also difficult to choose among, but it always is. This year Boulder has 10 candidates for 5 seats with only one incumbent on the ballot. Many have similar-sounding messages.

However, we do know we are not endorsing Ballot Issue 302 (Boulder),  Steve Rosenblum (Boulder City Council), Natalie Abshier (SVVSD School Board) or Kara Awaitha Frost (Boulder Valley School District).

Read on and study your candidates wisely. Know who you are voting for and why. The day of races being uncontested are over. Your local election is where voters have the most power.

YS staff interviewed just about every candidate running, we asked the hard questions, and are reporting those results here. Unfortunately, in a digital world, not everything goes as planned. In a few cases our transcription was lost to a new phone that had technical difficulties. In those cases, we provided links to their website, and our understanding of each candidate. As transcripts are able to be salvaged we will upload them here.

Boulder | City Council

Matt Benjamin (Endorsed)

Background: I have lived in Boulder for over 20 years and live in South Boulder with my wife, and two kids. I formally taught astronomy and managed Fiske Planetarium at CU Boulder. I am now a photographer and science educator.

Infrastructure and Transportation: We are simply not meeting the call on climate action to remove cars and to reduce our dependence on vehicles. We have a very cycling-friendly town, and we’re not building the protected safe bike infrastructure that’s necessary.

Housing: We have completely neglected middle income housing over the last ten, perhaps even twenty years or more. Most of our housing is zoned single-family and that means that we simply don’t have zoned into our codes the ability to build many duplexes, triplexes or quadplexes.

Economic Growth: I think we can really help [restaurants] with financial assistance… keep West Pearl closed, we allow and we make permanent the opportunities for restaurants to have parklets and to be able to expand out onto sidewalks or into the right of way of parking areas.

DEI: If we did fair pay for council, I know that we could attract an even greater diversity of people. Their choice to run for council doesn’t have to be an economic decision.

Final Remarks: I’m going to try and get us away from criminalizing being unhoused and build a more empathetic and compassionate approach that’s more housing first and service based approach to actually get them the resources they need.

Michael Christy (Endorsed)

Background: Family lawyer by trade, Air Force Veteran, deployed to Kuwait and Afghanistan shortly after 9/11, certified mediator and collaborative law lawyer. Serving on the Cannabis Licensing and Advisory Board for City Council

Infrastructure and Transportation: I would eventually like to see Boulder and our neighboring cities create their own regional electric bus transit system. Within the city, I’d like to see improvements on the biking infrastructure. There is a need for having safer biking paths [and] more north to south biking corridors.

Housing: I don’t think by just increasing supply you’re going to reduce cost. Let’s look at rezoning some of the older dilapidated strip malls around town, for mixed commercial housing use and provide a wide range of housing options for people at all stages of their life.

Economic Growth: People cannot afford to live here, so instead of commuting into Boulder they are trying to obtain work where they live. [Continue to] provide affordable housing for workers, continue to support local businesses. I also think public safety is an issue for our businesses.

DEI: There are obstacles in place that don’t make it easy for people to get involved and proportionately those tend to be people of underrepresented communities. There needs to be more outreach into underrepresented communities. There’s a lot more we can do than just creating a racial equity plan.

Final Remarks: I don’t pretend to have all of the answers but I do believe that given my background and my experiences that I can add value to the conversations around the issues that we’re facing.

Jacques Decalo

Background: Born and raised in Boulder, Jacques went to Western Washington University, Fairhaven College, and has ‘a vision of Boulder becoming one of the most sustainable cities in the world.’

Infrastructure and Transportation: We have to build with sustainable materials, we have to implement greywater recycling to reduce the cost of utilities. We have to implement solar and battery pack storage to reduce the demand for fossil fuels and reduce the dependence on excel.

Housing: High density housing allows more people to access housing while minimizing space impact. We have to look into duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes. We have to work with neighborhoods and residents in order to establish areas where the whole neighborhood can be comfortable with the change.

Economic Growth: City reserve funds are needed for catastrophes such as this pandemic. We have to be able to help out businesses and stimulate [them] …and make sure their workers are taken care of.

DEI: We have to look at ways to be more inclusive. One of my ideas is to put QR codes around the city and have the option [for] citizens to scan the QR code [and] submit something that they feel the city could improve upon.

Final Remarks: My main platform is that I guarantee no one will fight harder for climate activism than me. We have to take advantage of [100% renewable and sustainable technology] before these huge gas and oil and power and electric companies come in and try and monopolize green energy.

Lauren Folkerts (Endorsed)

Background: A sustainable design architect by profession, Lauren has been a resident of Boulder for ten years and currently serves as the Chair of Boulder’s Design Advisory Board.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Having 60% of our workforce live outside of city limits is causing a large amount of traffic and congestion. We need to press for a free bus system within city limits. Scooters and e-bikes provide great options. Incentivize pushing those alternative mobility options.

Housing: Our co-op ordinance is written so tightly that we have seen almost no new co-ops since its implementation. Most of the co-ops have just been the legalization of existing projects. [I’d like to] look at relaxing some regulations around duplexes and triplexes around transportation hubs.

Economic Growth: City council needs to be pushing at the state and federal level to make sure that we’re getting our fair share of benefits for our community. Housing is [still] a big portion of this, lacking workforce housing means that it is harder for our businesses to hire.

DEI: We miss out on some really qualified people in our community being able to run for [elected] positions. I would push for a liveable wage for city council members. It’s important for us to value people’s work and the work they do for our community.

Final Remarks: None.

Steve Rosenblum

Background: Steve Rosenblum is an economist and a mathematician with a twenty-year career investing in communities, analyzing government budgets, and creating housing for the elderly, disabled, and the unhoused.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Invest in transitional housing, much better mental health support, [and] mental health and social services professionals. I also want to focus on improving our roads and making them safer for alternative types of transports – bikes, ebikes, pedestrians – and making them work better with a new electric mass transit system.

Housing: CU student population grew by 40% [since 2000] and hasn’t built adequate housing; the city has been forced to accommodate. Focus on… and all of our 70’s and 80’s strip malls and shopping centers – redevelop those into communities with [a] mix of housing options.

Economic Growth: City needs to be more vocal about the distribution of rental assistance. I’m going to do all I can to help maintain our local businesses. Putting [them] at the front of the line for permitting processes, looking at property tax abatements for commercial landlords, and listening to the community.

DEI: We need to… increase representation both in our city government and how we make investments as a city. We need to recognize we have a regressive tax system, funded through sales tax which has an…impact on people who are most struggling to live here.

Final Remarks: We’ve fallen prey to the worst parts of our national political discourse. I’m going to work to try and solve that by bringing people together and having discussions about the way to move forward on the big issues like housing, homelessness, and climate.

Nicole Speer (Endorsed)

Background: I’m a scientist, parent, businesswoman, and champion for inclusion. I am running for Boulder City Council to help our community rise to the challenges of housing, equity, and climate change.

Infrastructure and Transportation: I would really love to see our city start focusing on designing in a way that doesn’t center cars quite as much. Designing our neighborhoods [so] that it’s easier for people to bike and walk around and to take public transportation rather than having to rely on a car for transport.

Housing: Rethink the way that we do zoning. A majority of our residentially zoned land is single-family. That does not mean that I want to build giant apartment buildings. That means giving people more options like [turning] their single family home lot into a duplex or triplex.
Homelessness: We are currently moving our services to the outskirts of the city, where they are harder for people to get to and access. That really needs to change.

Economic Growth: This comes down to an issue of housing and wages that enable people to live here in Boulder.

DEI: The biggest thing I can do is listen to the voices of people of color. I’m a privileged white person. I’m not the person that should be generating the ideas; rather, I’m a person that should be helping to implement the ideas of the people who are being affected by racial injustice.

Final Remarks: I’m really trying to elevate climate resilience, and not just from the perspective of protecting us from extreme weather, but from a perspective of ‘how are we building up our communities in a way that is strengthening the social connections that we have to each other?’

David Takahash

Background: David Takahashi not only asks the world to leave no trace, but he walks the talk. David is involved in regenerative organizations at the individual, neighborhood, city, regional, state, national, and global levels.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Our jobs/housing imbalance encourages commuting, resulting in 60,000 single-occupancy vehicles streaming into and out of Boulder each working day. By providing a diverse housing palette, Boulder could turn some of these into inhabitants free to use alternate modes of transportation.

Housing: My solution is to encourage housing in under-utilized low-contest areas such as church parking lots, declining strip malls, declining shopping centers, and other places that are relics of our automobile-centric building codes.

Economic Growth: The first thing is providing affordable workforce housing. Second, we must consider weatherizing and making our 44,000 dwellings energy efficient. Third, I would ensure that building these new housing options is done in a walkable mixed-use style, encouraging smaller, locally owned, community-enhancing businesses that create meaningful and community-building jobs.

DEI: The roots of racial discrimination go so far back as attempts to alleviate its expression in our 14th Amendment are so unsuccessful that I grieve to discuss this. Education that furthers embracing cultural differences rather than cultural intolerance will be better than the alternative of ignorance.

Final Remarks: We are in a code-red climate emergency. It is a time to act and not vacillate. I have been working with the council, city staff, and boards for over six years and have established relationships the other candidates will have to begin building.

Mark Wallach (Incumbent)

Background: Mark Wallach is currently a member of the Boulder City Council and is running for a second term. He has previously worked as an attorney and a real estate developer. Mark has been with his lovely wife, Joan, for 35 years.

Infrastructure and Transportation: [Our] needs are various and pressing, everything from road and bridge maintenance. We have highly inefficient buildings and rec centers that need to be deeply retrofitted to be more energy efficient.

Housing: The core answer is we have to build more affordable housing. Boulder Housing Partners has been doing a great job. There has to be some degree of realism here… Boulder is a desirable place to live. You can’t build yourself out of the problem.

Economic Growth: We’re always trying to increase economic vitality. Just as we did with the outdoor dining, which we’re going to extend to 2022. My only comment is that the economy is stimulated and is recovering. It’s been a very strong end of year for Boulder in terms of sales tax collections.

DEI: The city has adopted an equity lens. It’s a relatively new program, so I don’t know what the results are going to look like [or] whether we have to take further steps, but our city government has been very much on top of these issues.

Final Remarks: I don’t want us to lack experience on the council. It takes several months to know which end is up and having too many rookies on the council I’m not sure that’s going to be good for process or substance.

Dan Williams (Endorsed)

Background: Dan Williams wants to make Boulder a place for all of us. He’s focused on the climate emergency, social justice, housing, and open space.

Infrastructure and Transportation: I’m for exploring ways to make the bus in Boulder free; make it something people incorporate into their daily routines and [free] actually speeds up the buses. The city should be subsidizing or even giving away e-bikes to front line workers who are living in town.

Housing: The missing middle housing crisis is the result of failed policies; we just haven’t built enough housing. There was a time when people could do things, like subdivide lots and build more housing in currently single family neighborhoods. We can make it a lot easier to build multi-family housing.

Economic Growth: Some of the emergency measures just need to continue, [such as] keeping Pearl Street closed from 9th to 11th. The amount of outdoor seating we have has been great. Those are things we can make permanent even though we may have a modest reduction in parking spaces.

DEI: The exclusion of BIPOC communities in Boulder – historically – was intentional and we can intentionally deconstruct that… with more inclusionary housing policies. One of the things I hear from communities of color is that we’re policing in an unfair way. That’s completely unacceptable.

Final Remarks: I’ve loved living in Boulder for the last fifteen years. I can’t imagine living anywhere else and I’m committed to working to make Boulder a brighter place that’s more welcoming and inviting for all of us in the future.

Tara Winer

Background: Tara has developed an expertise in forming partnerships, listening to people, understanding problems, and developing solutions in both her extensive public service here in Boulder and as a small business owner for over 25 years.

Infrastructure and Transportation: I strongly approve of [Issue 2I] because to me infrastructure is vital, that’s one of the primary jobs of the city, to have good infrastructure. I would like to see lighting in the bike tunnels and more protection on the bike lanes.

Housing: The problem with permanently affordable housing is the developers have to pay for [it] with cash in lieu or them adding a few units of affordable housing to their market rate housing so that’s slow going… but at least it’s something and we’re definitely adding.

Economic Growth: We have a big mess on our hands in this country. [Business owners] can’t seem to hire employees, and then we have people that can’t find jobs. Why is there a disconnect between those [groups]?

DEI: I feel [it] was great, that the city [held trainings on DEI], and [that] they continually work on their racial equity plan and continue to really push it in every way that I’ve seen. They always put racial equity and inclusivity and diversity first.

Final Remarks: One reason I am running is because post-COVID all cities have really had some challenges – budget-wise, safety, environmentally – and I feel it’s very important, going into the next few years, to have people that are balanced and think for the whole of the city.

Broomfield | Mayor

Kimberly Groom

Background: Kimberly has proudly served as Broomfield Ward 4 Council Member, has over 25 years progressive corporate experience, earned two master’s degrees, and served on the Board of Directors of Senior Resources of Broomfield.

Infrastructure and Transportation: It’s our east-west corridors that are most important to build out and support the growing transportation needs. What we need to do – to get the funding – [is] work with the state because this northern region is not getting their fair share of transportation dollars.

Housing: My hopes for attainable housing is [that] a dual family income can still live here… and that’s what I think affordable housing needs to equate to.

Economic Growth: [Small businesses] cannot get people to work. They can’t open their business at full capacity because of employee employment issues. I do see Broomfield being able to play a role in that through our current workforce center. There’s a lot of resources available.

DEI: We’re a very accepting community. However, there are chances you can have a blind side and I think by having a staff dedicated to diversity, it will help us ensure that we don’t have blinders on. I support making sure that everyone in our community feels included.

Final Remarks: We need to make business decisions and ensure that our 34 square miles [are] built out appropriately to sustain our financial future. We need to make sure that we have economic diversity in each of our communities.

Guyleen Castriotta (Incumbent) (Endorsed)

Background: Guyleen was the first openly lesbian candidate elected to the Broomfield City Council and was unanimously appointed to Mayor Pro Tem in 2019.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Our transportation has been woefully underfunded in Colorado. We’re hopeful to be able to get some of that funding to improve Highway 7. [It] is our biggest pinch point right now. We are a transit desert and it’s not equitable for people who can’t drive.

Housing: [When Broomfield was first planned] there was never a focus on workforce housing. We need to be flexible, work with developers, allow more variances, allow more smaller footprints, and allow the density and height that it’s going to take to fill these gaps.

Economic Growth: I support helping people who are still looking for work. I believe the way out of this is to lift people up from poverty and increase wages. They haven’t increased with the cost of living. We’ve got to do a better job investing in people.

DEI: In 2018, we passed the charter amendment with 75% of the vote to replace the male-only pronouns with gender neutral pronouns and titles. We are working toward [an] equitable environment for our staff and our residents. It is definitely one of my priorities.

Final Remarks: I want to encourage people to get vaccinated to protect each other. It’s not about the ‘me’. It’s about the ‘we’. That’s what we’re all about. We want to lift each other up. We want to take care of each other.

Broomfield | City Council (Ward 1)

James Marsh-Holschen (Endorsed)

Background: After receiving my law degree from Georgetown in 2013 I moved to Broomfield, worked for the public defender’s office, and now I work with a company doing financial compliance and anti-money laundering work. I also serve on the Health and Human Services Board and the Community Justice Partnership.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Redesigning streets with traffic calming devices can prevent dangerously fast driving. Developing a circular road network can alleviate traffic. Establish mixed-use developments on unused parking lots. Transition away from cars by providing biking and pedestrian lanes, offering multimodal transportation capabilities, and developing a bus system that reaches all main points of the city. 

Housing: Help individuals afford homes by raising wages to keep pace with costs of housing. Provide property tax deductions for landlords who rent at affordable prices, offer tax credits for low-income homeowners, and modify our ordinances to increase stock of affordable houses and ADUs.
Homelessness: I support voucher programs that give homeless people access to hotel rooms, and assistance programs to provide them with the services they need.

Economic Growth: With people working remotely and many office buildings vacant, we can redevelop those spaces into commercial properties. Only attract companies to Broomfield that pay high wages, and we should provide them with incentives to move into empty existing spaces rather than creating new buildings.

Pandemic: The narrative that people are sitting at home because they are lazy is not supported by the data. The workforce decreased as the economy changed; companies need to pay higher wages to attract workers. Support small businesses by using COVID funds to help them recover and adjust to the economy.

DEI: Working in the government or living in a community requires us to work together despite disagreements. But there is no compromise on issues of diversity, equality, and human rights. We’re fortunate that Broomfield has been good about increasing its minority population and embracing its diverse residents.

Final Remarks: Property crime has been rising in Broomfield. It’s most likely due to the increased struggles caused by the pandemic. We can work with law enforcement and neighborhood watches to help reduce the rates of property crimes and to make everyone in the community feel safe.

Chriss Hammerschmidt

Background: I’ve lived in Broomfield for 24 years, and throughout my scientific career I’ve worked for NASA and ITS.  But I disagree with some decisions of the city council, so I’ve been attending meetings, conducting research, tracking resolutions, and now I’m running for office.

Infrastructure and Transportation: We have to upgrade our main thoroughfares; traffic is increasing as the city reaches build-out. We should redesign Midway Blvd, complete the construction loop around Highway 7, and fund infrastructure projects for the roads connecting to northern Broomfield.

Housing: Have homebuilders develop affordable options, including small home communities and ADUS. Reduce zoning restrictions and building regulations to optimize the efficient use of our land and decrease the overall costs of our homes.
Homelessness: Help by providing facilities and nonprofits that can take them off the street, improve their lives, and help them at a community level.

Economic Growth: We should encourage small and large businesses to operate here, mix stores better within our residential areas, and revitalize our existing commercial areas, such as the Flatirons Crossing Mall and the Broomfield Town Center.

Pandemic: The unemployment benefits have to stop because it’s discouraging people from getting back to work.  However, rather than ending it all at once, we should phase it out gradually so the recipients can still afford to make purchases during the transition.

DEI: I’m happy that Broomfield has a diverse community with residents from very different backgrounds. I’ve never seen any group be disrespected or excluded here, so we should avoid introducing a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.

Final Remarks: Public safety is a big issue.  Restrictions on police departments have reduced the police presence on the streets, and this has increased property crimes throughout the communities. But we can also reduce crime by alleviating the angry rhetoric, fearful attitudes, and divisive tendencies in our society.

Broomfield | City Council (Ward 2)

Brent Hultman

Background: I’m a nonprofit volunteer, leadership coach, army veteran, published author, and I’m solution-focused based on what makes sense and how we can achieve the best outcome.

Infrastructure and Transportation: We have problems with our aging water and sewage infrastructure. Constant leaks are wasting exorbitant amounts of water, so modernizing our water and sewer systems need to be a top priority. Regarding roads, we need to repair and improve the conditions of the surface streets running through and around the city.

Housing: The construction defect rule and risk of litigation prevents condo development. I would encourage our mayor to pressure state legislators to address that issue. I would collaborate with developers to create a wider variety of housing styles, and modify height restrictions / density limitations to increase our housing inventory.
Homelessness: I support the hotel voucher system in place.

Economic Growth: We need the tax revenue from the business side rather than the residential side. I would communicate with our small and big businesses, provide the resources they need to flourish, and I’d also provide an inviting atmosphere to make it easy and advantageous for new companies to operate here as well.

Pandemic: We should give access to trade schools and technical training opportunities, so workers can meet the needs of companies, and we should provide match-maker programs that connect skilled workers with hiring employers.

DEI: It’s important that we can be honest and candid about everything. But we all have to unite together rather than polarize further apart, so I love MLK’s vision of us all coming together despite our various differences and then moving forward together as a unified community.

Final Remarks: The basis for my campaign is safety, affordability and quality of life. Quality is the big bucket that everything else goes into, so we must identify how to maximize the conditions of our lives and the quality of our community.

Austin Ward (Endorsed)

Background: I was born and raised in Wyoming. I’ve lived in Denver metro for the past 10 years; Broomfield for the last three. I’ve been an RTD bus operator since 2016. I volunteer for the Colorado Rail Passenger Association. That lets me advocate for expanded rail service and increased public transit.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Effectively bring people in by completing the B-Line and FasTracks, and by increasing public transit. Implement a local bus service or municipal shuttle system. Improve our multi-modal infrastructure by creating wider lanes that can be used to walk or bike to our shopping centers or office buildings.

Housing: I support mixed use developments and high-density neighborhoods that would add housing without stretching infrastructure. I want to eliminate single-family zoning for new builds, pass an ADU ordinance, and eliminate parking minimums, so we can use the empty space to construct new housing.
Homelessness: Increasing funding for mental health services, providing stable housing opportunities to improve their lives and alleviate the issue.

Economic Growth: Attract big businesses by increasing transportation infrastructure, making sure we have housing to support employees, and having beautiful stretches of open spaces. Mom and pop shops are the heart of the city; we must provide better support for them by offering assistance programs that help them get started.

Pandemic: The pandemic gave people the ability to reassess their lives. Increasing the wages of workers could belie the scope of the labor shortage. Unemployment benefits should not have relaxed; vulnerable people are struggling and immunocompromised people are unable to work.

DEI: We should all support each other because we’re all interconnected and the success of our neighbors benefits the rest of the community. Though we have to make more progress, especially with equal housing, DEI has been helpful in improving the treatment of immigrants, people of color, and LGBTQ communities.   

Final Remarks: Sustainability and environmental problems are plaguing our society and destroying our world. I would increase the use of solar panels, electric vehicles, and composting programs. We’ve run out of time, and so incremental solutions would be ineffective; instead we need dramatic transformations.

Broomfield | City Council (Ward 3)

Deven Shaff, (Incumbent) (Endorsed) 

No transcript available due to recording error.

Learn more: www.deven4broomfield.com

In a news release, Shaff stated he wants to continue the progress the City Council has made the past three years and through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am proud of my record of supporting the Broomfield community, enhancing the creative economy, improving our local and regional transportation systems and ensuring the public health and safety of our residents,” Shaff stated in the release.

The release cites Shaff’s role in helping implement the mural at Highway 128 and U.S. 287 designed to shine light on mental health and diversity, as well as his work to build support and foster communication surrounding the 2021 transportation funding bill.

“As a father of two students at Kohl Elementary School and a substitute teacher, I interact with Broomfield residents on a daily basis,” Shaff stated in the release. “In these conversations, I listen and take note of how to show up and respond. I offer transparency and inclusion of ideas on all matters important to them. As we move to a new normal in our community, I look forward to spending more time with constituents and continuing the work of the people.”

Brian Peotter

Did not return multiple requests for an interview.

Broomfield | City Council (Ward 4)

Mindy Quiachon, Uncontested

Background: I am a small business owner of two successful UPS Stores, a mother, volunteer, and resident of Broomfield for 20 years. I believe in our residents and local business owners, and will passionately serve our community, listen to and take action on resident concerns, and put Broomfield first.

Infrastructure and Transportation: It is imperative that we spend on non-recurring expenses such as our sewer and water. In addition, Broomfield is growing faster than it can meet demand with expanding roads and addressing public transportation issues.  I will advocate for timely, efficient solutions.  

Housing: Member of the Broomfield Housing Advisory Committee.We need to explore and prioritize all options to see what works – tiny homes, duplexes, or higher density, mixed use developments. There is a shortage of affordable housing for seniors, veterans, and the disabled.  Our economy and smart growth go hand in hand. 

Economic Growth: I understand the need to support, recover, and invigorate our local business economy to provide good paying jobs and opportunities for all Broomfield residents. I will be a champion for new and existing businesses, and will support economic growth to stimulate innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship.

DEI: I care about diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. I wish for every resident to succeed and live with dignity. I will advocate to bring people together. Broomfield is an incredibly compassionate and giving community. I care about making sure Broomfield is diverse in providing the best services, amenities, and opportunities.  

Final Remarks: My priorities are providing a safe community, economic vitality, and smart growth. I have 3 kids and retired parents here. I am committed to being a voice for, and engaged with, residents. I am a leader invested in the future. I believe in Broomfield and will get it done for Ward 4.

Bruce Leslie

Background: I have been Cheryl’s husband for 52 years. We have three children and eight grandchildren, two attending CU and one a senior in BVSD. My career as a community college president has given me skills in strategic planning, accountability, fiscal management, academic quality and student success. My skills are in collaboration, goal achievement in politically complex environments, accountability and strategic planning. I am currently Treasurer of the Rocky Mountain Performance Excellence Board.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Ward 4 residents are concerned about Route 7 and the need to widen and improve the road in light of the on-going growth in the region. Residents want to preserve if not expand open spaces and ensure that our water assets are secured and air quality, especially related to drilling. Collaborating with developers will be an important focus of my work. Increasing arts and cultural assets, such as the relocation and expansion of the Butterfly Pavilion and stem school.

Housing: More affordable housing must be built to provide homes for our teachers, firefighters, police and other critical members of our community. My vision is that our grandchildren and great grandchildren will be able to afford to work, live, and raise their families here. Thus, starter homes, alternative energy and related sustainability measures must be pursued. Our issues, whether affordable housing or homlesness, are best addressed regionally.

Economic Growth: Affordable housing, cultural amenities and a well trained workforce are assets that attract corporate and small businesses. By maintaining our open spaces, building adequate housing stock, increasing cultural amenities, improving transportation, providing secure water and energy as well as strengthening education, Broomfield can attract the companies that align with our values and goals.

DEI: A strong society is one that values everyone, educates and trains everyone and provides access to jobs, business ownership and includes their voices. I’ve received diversity awards at each college I’ve served, for both me and my institution. I’ve expanded access and success for all cohorts of students, equalized student success and assertively employed faculty, staff and administrators who looked like our students.

Final Remark: I am experienced in leading large, politically complex organizations. I have gained substantial leadership skills over my career and have the fortitude, experience and capabilities to serve Broomfield. I have proven my capabilities, empathy, creativity and innovation. I am retired so I have the time and desire to continue my career of service to our city. I have no interest in higher office. I am unaffiliated in this non-partisan race, wishing to serve my Ward 4 neighbors with the best representation possible.

Broomfield | City Council (Ward 5)

Grayson Hofferber

Background: Grayson is a small business owner that moved to Broomfield in 2015, ran for City Council in 2017, and was the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Board of Equalization.

Infrastructure and Transportation: The biggest challenge will be two-fold. First, making sure our transportation access is multimodal. We’re [also] going to have to continue to be ahead of the curve in terms of thinking about what future transportation looks like, especially when it comes to autonomous vehicles.

Housing: [One of the biggest issues is] making sure that the city and county has the vision and the planning necessary to zone specifically for smaller footprint housing… and allowing for our builders to bring forward these projects in a way that’s timely and cost effective.

Economic Growth: The biggest thing that we can do is provide market competition for wages. Bringing good commercial projects… that are going to provide high paying jobs will set the market tone for businesses to continue to pay above a fair market wage.

DEI: Our role as policy makers here, locally, is to make sure that we provide equal opportunity for all of our residents. [We need] to make sure that we are setting a level playing field in the policies that we create.

CRT: Critical Race Theory at its core is not appropriate for our school-age children. I do think it is the role of families and parents to raise their children in such a way that their children grow to embrace differences.

Final Remarks: My goal is to have a more moderated voice on City Council, making sure that differences of opinion are met and understood with the idea that we need to have compromise.

Todd Cohen

Background: Todd was appointed to Council in 2021 after serving on the Open Space and Trails Advisory Committee. He is an AVP at Regis University and previously was at Great Outdoors Colorado.

Infrastructure and Transportation: We’re looking at improving our bus systems as well as providing better bike and other transit [infrastructure]. Specific to electric cars, one thing we can do is require a certain number of electric car charging stations in developments.

Housing: We’re having a particular shortage in homes that the average income person can afford. It’s going to take a public-private partnership to make a significant dent and that might mean acquiring land for affordable housing or acquiring existing developments to prevent them from being redeveloped into more expensive units.

Economic Growth: We’re going to be focused particularly on the Flatiron Crossing Mall because it’s been a significant source of our revenue in sales tax. We need to provide jobs in Broomfield. We’re going to have to recruit as best we can to bring more businesses into the community that have living wages.

DEI: Inclusivity is very important. I want every member of the community to feel welcome and safe. We need to make sure that there is ample representation on all our advisory committees and everything else.

Final Remarks: [It’s] very important that Broomfield continue to have progressive leadership on the council so that we are productively addressing our growing pains as well as climate change. [The] city is still growing and we need to make sure it develops in a way that’s safe and healthy for everybody.

Lafayette | City Council

Brandon Stites (Endorsed)

Background: I got interested in local government in high school while earning my Eagle Scout Badge and fulfilling citizenship missions. After college I began working as a software engineer, established Lafayette as my home, and began attending city council meetings because I’m passionate about the community and want to participate with the process.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Traffic congestion is a problem with the corridors of Arapahoe, South Boulder Rd, and Baseline. I support Lafayette’s comprehensive plan, but we also need to create auxiliary side-road options to reduce traffic on major roads, and connect RTD and bus routes to our networks to increase mass transit options.

Housing: Reduce the number of residents who are cost-burdened. Develop Willoughby Corner to provide 400 affordable houses, encouraging ADUs, and rezone single-family areas to allow attractive duplexes to accommodate households.
Manage homelessness with free access to mental and physical healthcare, with support programs to help them escape the homelessness cycle.

Economic Growth: To stimulate growth, I would employ experts to increase business growth while maintaining the intimate atmosphere of the community. To fund the government, I would support a ballot to increase property taxes on wealthy homeowners whose house values have skyrocketed and who can help fund the programs we need.

Pandemic: I strongly support unemployment benefits and rental assistance for people who couldn’t attend work due to the pandemic. The hiring difficulties reflect a larger problem in which employers have been underpaying working citizens for too long, so we need to raise the wages of workers to match the expensive [cost of living] of the area.

DEI: I support the DEI movement entirely, and I also believe that schools should teach history honestly so we can alleviate racism effectively.

Final Remarks: Although fracking can create jobs for workers and revenue for the city, we must protect the community by restricting any drilling near schools, homes, parks, and water sources.

Enihs Medrano (Endorsed)

Background:  I grew up in Lafayette, went through its schools, and now I’m in my third year at CU Boulder studying sociology. I was on the Youth Advisory Committee in HS. At CU I joined many programs that entailed social justice work, that equipped me with knowledge of social issues, and strengthened my skills with local governance.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Make transportation more accessible; reduce rates for bus passes, offer rideshare or carshare capabilities, and programs to encourage people to use public transit. This would also reduce pollution. I support continued efforts to create safe streets for people to walk or bike while traveling around town and fulfilling various activities.

Housing: Lafayette isn’t accessible for some families. I live in one of the mobile home parks. Partner with the BOCO Housing Authority to help people go from renting affordable units to owning. I support the city acquiring land to build affordable housing and complete diverse development projects.
Homelessness: I strongly support the needs of the homeless. Add more job opportunities, offer more housing options, and provide services to prevent people from losing their homes.

Economic Growth: The growth of small businesses is crucial for economic development. Support those businesses by distributing grants that enable them to thrive, increase employment opportunities, improve domestic comfort of families, and create more tax revenue for the town.

Pandemic: I support the financial assistance provided for vulnerable residents. We definitely need workers to keep the town running and sustain economic growth. Addressing workplace conditions would be beneficial, as making sure the workplaces are safe, that they’re following COVID protocols, and that residents have access to health care can help alleviate their fears and make them comfortable returning to work.

DEI: The DEI movement is great. Its concepts might be hard and uncomfortable for some, but it is important to provide the right training for people. We must continue the movement and improve the training to effectively serve the community and accommodate all residents.

Final Remarks: Being only 20 years old and almost finishing college influences my perspective. I grew up in this town, the community shaped who I am, and my hope is that people will see that I am excited to reinvest in my community and to represent groups that aren’t being represented.

Nicole Samson

Background: I’m currently on the Adams County Planning Commission, the Northwest Parkway Authority Board of Directors, and I filled a vacancy on the Lafayette council in 2019. My 17 years working in local government has equipped me with broad experience regarding economic development, recreational management, grant administration, housing programs, ordinance codes, and policy issues.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Water infrastructure is important. We need to fix cracked pipes and replace old pipes. I would consider establishing a new broadband network for the entire community (deal with frequent outages). With transportation, we can improve the safety of highway 7 and the flow of highway 287. It’s important to also increase public transportation, fulfill commuter rail projects, and ensure bus routes connect to those rails.

Housing: Provide downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers, offer tax credits for low-income residents, and modify municipal codes to increase ADUs and mobile home options. Use grant funds to give developers subsidies when they build both luxury units and affordable houses with their projects.
Homelessness: work with nonprofits to determine what resources we can provide and what strategies we can implement.

Economic Growth: Small businesses are the backbone of our community. We have brilliant people who are ripe with innovative ideas, so we should offer support and work with the chamber to help small businesses grow and new startups flourish.

Pandemic: The problems facing this new economy are perplexing. We should have the chamber facilitate discussion groups that would let experts offer advice, businesses express their needs, and the city determine what resources can help keep companies alive and workers employed.

DEI: Lafayette prioritizes being an eclectic and diverse community. I love having people with different backgrounds, experiences, thoughts, and ideas enhance my perspectives of the world and enrich the diversity of Lafayette.

Final Remarks: I love this city, the community, and its residents. My personal mission is to leave this world a better place, and that’s why I want to be a city council member here in Lafayette.

Brian Wong (Incumbent) (Endorsed)

Background: I’ve lived in Lafayette for over 14 years. I work as a human resource director. I got into local government by serving on the Planning Commission for seven years, four as Chair. I learned about land use, planning, development, and then jumped into city politics and spent the last two years on city council.

Infrastructure and Transportation: We made progress with RTD, the Lafayette shuttle for all residents, and the call and ride program. We still need to increase public transit to help residents travel around Lafayette and connect to Boulder. We need to improve our high speed internet, especially with adults working from home and kids learning remotely.

Housing: Work with developers; incentivize them to build affordable housing. Increase the density. Our mobile home parks need support with zoning/policy changes to enable parks or the city to purchase mobile homes that go up for sale. Tiny home communities are efficient ways to use open land and provide affordable units.
Homelessness: solve at a regional level by collaborating with other partners to determine how we can address the issue and apply our resources.

Economic Growth: We lured Medtronics to build a new campus, which means that in a year the largest employer in Boulder County will be in our city. We need to decide what to build on the land that King Soopers vacated. We need to support our small businesses, identify what they need to grow, and make sure that they are effectively integrated into our community.

Pandemic: I’m proud that the city offered two grants to assist small businesses. Further amplify our support for these companies by hosting job fairs as community events or offering perks for hired workers. But building recreational facilities or community amenities can also attract tourists to visit our city and support our businesses.

DEI: As an HR professional, this issue is at the forefront of what I’m doing. I’m glad our community has been addressing injustices in society. After the George Floyd incident, our police chief facilitated multiple forums to encourage citizens to gather together, share thoughts, and engage in open and honest dialogues.

Final Remarks: I am privileged and honored to be given my first term. With COVID and the cyberattack there is much more that I want to do. I would be grateful for the opportunity to serve another term for Lafayette, and I would be eager to continue building an amazing culture for our residents.

Tonya Briggs (Incumbent) (Endorsed)

Background: I own a plumbing company, I’ve lived here for 13 years, and I’ve been on council the last two years. I volunteered for East Boulder County United, which enabled me to advocate for the banning of oil & gas activity, and I’m an animal lover so I volunteer for animal rescue organizations.

Infrastructure and Transportation: RTD is failing us despite our efforts. Work with Boulder County to increase taxes to fund a public electrified transportation project to protect the environment, and is reliable and free for all residents. Our new multimodal transportation and environmental sustainability plans would create more lanes for bikers and pedestrians.

Housing: Protect our affordable housing, especially the mobile home parks. Implement policies to require developers building single-family homes to also provide a reasonable percentage of permanently affordable homes.
Homelessness: We need more funding to provide rental assistance to prevent people from losing their homes, and mental health services for people already entrenched in that situation.

Economic Growth: Our King Soopers is about to move to Erie, so placing a performing arts theater in that massive empty space would provide an exciting new feature for the city, an artistic venue for our residents, and tax revenue for the government as people come to see the shows and then spend money at our restaurants. Medtronics will create over 2,500 jobs, and then I’d also like to partner with other companies that match our values, protect the environment, and benefit the community.

Pandemic: Benefits were crucial for helping people and preventing homelessness, and we should continue the assistance because many people are immunocompromised. We’re putting together grants for the small businesses that need them most, and we should also help to connect skilled workers with ideal companies.

DEI: DEI is a necessary movement that connects to everything. We should embrace all residents, make all groups feel welcome, and ensure the lens of equity and the views of diversity are considered in all decisions that we make as a community.

Final Remarks: I love Lafayette, and I’m very excited to get to some of our initial priorities. Although the pandemic put some issues on pause, I look forward to returning to the issues of environmental stewardship and affordable housing while also helping our community recover.

Longmont | Mayor

Gregory Harris

No transcript available due to recording error.

Learn more: www.greg4mayor.com

From his website: We all know Longmont will grow. Businesses want to come to Longmont. To meet this need, we must support the construction of Middle-Class apartments and houses for those employed in Longmont.

Without addressing our infrastructure, our current growth is unsustainable. It will increase our vehicle emissions, especially during commuting hours with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Longmont has many roads that go North and South, but East and West we only have Highways 66 and 119. In 1957, the fences on Highway 66 were moved back to expand into a four-lane highway — but it never happened. Then we were taxed for a train from the south, but it was never built and we didn’t get our money back.
I oppose all excessive policies, codes, regulations and any fees attached to new construction since they would add to the costs for consumers.
I oppose any increases in water rates, connection fees or tap fees.
If it’s necessary to fund some city program, the money should come from the general funds.
Longmont has an inclusionary housing ordinance. I oppose any expansion of the ordinance.
I oppose all efforts to limit residential growth. We must support all efforts to substantially increase the number of homes built in Longmont.
I support increasing the budget for public safety and oppose any effort to defund the police.
The City and State should not decide which businesses should close and which stay open. I think the recent action by the Boulder County government requiring masks everywhere was excessive government overreach. As Mayor, I will do what needs to be done to keep all businesses open.

Joan Peck, City Council Member

No transcript available due to recording error.

Learn more: www.joanpeckforlongmontmayor.com

From the website: As a proven advocate for Longmont’s vibrant community and a strong supporter of programs popular with our city’s residents, Councilwoman Peck intends to continue her work and complete projects around the major issues that originally won her a seat on City Council. These issues include:

• Securing the RTD/FasTracks build-out by holding RTD accountable for tax dollars already contributed
• Achieving pragmatic, safe solutions for services to the unhoused
• Meeting affordable housing challenges
• Addressing climate change
• Supporting early childhood education
• Taking decisive steps to defend Longmont’s rights to clean air and water

Tim Waters (Endorsed)

No transcript available due to recording error.

Learn more: www.timwaters4mayor.com

From his website:

Economic recovery, growth, and resilience

Every municipality in the country is focused on a rapid recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The question for all of us is, what will differentiate Longmont from every other municipality with similar ambitions?

To be certain, we will continue collaborating with Longmont’s Economic Development Partnership, Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown Development Authority. These associations and relationships are instrumental to the recruitment of primary businesses to Longmont and supporting Main Street businesses through challenges like the ones faced during the pandemic.

Beyond compliance-based planning

We need more than compliance with zoning, the imagination of developers, and coincidence to shape Longmont’s future.

New development and redevelopment of land and property in Longmont needs to be more vision and less compliance based. Decades of compliance with zoning ordinances have produced results that, in many cases, fail to meet our standard of “highest and best use” of land and opportunity.

Examples of vision-based development opportunities include Longmont’s Main Street corridor plan and our Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) area. Both efforts reflect the aspirations of Longmont residents and possibilities for development and/or redevelopment of land that rises to the standard of “highest and best use”. Summaries of the Main St. corridor and STEAM area projects can be reviewed on the city’s Engage Longmont platform.

Why should we care about these initiatives? Because these are creative and vivid approaches for signaling to developers what Longmont leaders wish to see proposed for development. They go beyond basic compliance with zoning requirements to reflect the best hopes of the community. We will also want to hear the ideas of Longmont’s developers for development and/or redevelopment of our land.

Currently, the leadership of Longmont’s Downtown Development Authority describes the downtown area are vibrant, clean, and safe. When fully developed, the Main Street plan will result in a corridor from HW 66 to Plateau Rd, that takes vibrant, clean, and safe to new levels.

As the vision for the STEAM area is translated from possibilities to planning, proposals and then to projects, Longmont’s entire lower downtown will be transformed. Amenities will be developed that will benefit generations of Longmonters for years to come. Imagine never having to leave Longmont to access and enjoy world class education programs and facilities from pre-school through post-doctoral degrees. Imagine best-in-class performing arts and conference venues and 21 ^st century library facilities and services.

Sugar Mill to Vance Brand Airport

Along with the Main Street corridor and STEAM area vision-based planning already underway, we deserve clarity on how we will proceed with development when property that has been in a flood plain is removed from the flood plain along St. Vrain River. Completion of the next stretch of the Resilient St. Vrain Project (RSVP) will present unprecedented opportunities to reimagine responsible, environmentally sensitive, planning and development that will extend from the Sugar Mill to the Airport.

The City is already engaged with the Urban Land Institute to assess and evaluate possible land use from County Line Road to Martin Street. The STEAM project offers a vision of possibilities from Martin Street to Main Street.

$140 million in local, state, and federal funding will eventually be invested in restoration of the St. Vrain river corridor. Following restoration, protection of this natural amenity, along with a commitment to “highest and best” use of land that will be removed from the flood plain, should be captured in an effective vision for the corridor.  When flood restoration work between Main St. and Hover is completed in in 2023 or 24, 800 acres of land will be out of the flood plain and we will be presented with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset expectations for development of the corridor.

Among the many development opportunities we need to “get right” is the Vance Brand Airport. The airport should be instrumental to Longmont’s future. It should be a driver of economic development and prosperity. This is only possible if our community shares a vision of a regional airport that becomes a leader in research and development of green/quiet aviation.

Both private and government investment in research and development of electric powered aircraft is rapidly increasing. Municipalities, along with private sector partners, are positioning to take advantage of investments in research, development, manufacturing of electric aircraft. Electric airplanes can also become assets in a regional transportation system. If we want to quiet the skies over Longmont, attract capital, create high-end jobs, recruit talent, connect Longmont with other future-focused cities in a the 21^st Century world, and create a new hub of robust economic activity in the post-pandemic era, it’s time to get started.

Housing

Housing Insecurity

Too many Longmont residents are one automobile accident, health crisis, or lost job away from losing their homes.

Housing, and reducing housing insecurity, remains a significant challenge to municipalities throughout the country. Longmont, located in Boulder County, rated as the 7th most expensive location in the country for housing costs, faces a more challenging situation than most.

Too many Longmont homeowners are housing burdened, which means they spend more than one third of their monthly income on housing costs. This leaves too many Longmont residents one medical emergency, one auto repair, or one layoff away from losing their homes.

Housing insecurity is a precursor to homelessness. If we want to prevent homelessness, we must reduce housing insecurity. To reduce housing insecurity, we must continually update ordinances that lower the initial costs, and total costs, of home ownership.

Affordable Housing

Every Longmont resident who wants safe, stable, permanent housing should be able to find it and afford it.

Reducing homelessness was a challenge before the Covid-19 pandemic. It is likely to become a much more daunting challenge in the post-pandemic era. Homeless can only be reduced or eradicated when every Longmonter who desires to live in safe and secure permanent housing enjoys access to it. We cannot house the homeless without developing more affordable housing options in Longmont.

In December 2019, the City Council adopted an Inclusionary Housing ordinance that was a positive step toward creating more affordable (subsidized) housing for residents who qualify for subsides. This was a necessary, but wasn’t a totally sufficient step in the right direction.

Work remains to be done to grow Longmont’s inventory of housing options for eligible residents. To assure, with confidence, that all Longmont residents are unburdened in safe, secure, and permanently affordable housing, we must leverage every available resource, both public and private. This means optimizing Longmont’s housing authority, courting investors in tax credit funded housing development, and partnering with developers of affordable housing.

This also means working with business owners and neighborhoods on the design of affordable housing projects, so they are congruent with neighborhood design standards, even as housing options are more diverse.

Attainable Housing

Home ownership and child-care are the two biggest expenses for many Longmont families. Affording both should be achievable for working families in Longmont.

If Longmont is to be a community in which young individuals or couples can purchase a home, start their careers, raise their families, invest in the community, and mature along with their children, then housing stock must be available and attainable for them. These are individuals or couples who do not qualify for subsidized housing but aspire to purchase a home, raise their families, and build equity in the city in which they work.

Today, the housing stock in shortest supply is what housing experts refer to as “attainable” housing. This is housing priced so working families, earning $85,000 to $115,000 can qualify to purchase market rate homes priced between $375,00 and $400,000. This combination of income and housing costs requires no more than one third of homeowner income being obligated to mortgage, interest, and fee payments.

Here is the problem. There are very few homes in Longmont available for sale in Longmont in this price range. The median family income in Longmont is $75,000. This is why 20% of homeowners in Longmont are considered “housing burdened” and so many young families who want to live and work in Longmont are unable to do so.

There is a direct correlation between City Council adopted housing ordinances and the development of attainable housing inventory. The interests of teachers, City of Longmont employees, entrepreneurs, and other young professionals aspiring to own a home in the city in which they work have not been served well by Longmont’s housing policies. More imagination, creativity, learning, and willingness to work with builders of attainable housing is needed if Longmont is to avoid becoming older, less diverse, and less vibrant.

Just as a relationship exists between City housing policy and available, attainable housing stock, a relationship exists between housing policy and Longmont’s carbon footprint. Prior to the pandemic, 60% of people who work in Longmont commute from outside of Longmont into the city. Understanding that the total percentage of commuters into Longmont each day may change slightly in the post-pandemic era, we need to make it feasible for people who work in Longmont to live in Longmont. Living near where one works decreases the use of automobiles and reduces traffic congestion. Biking and walking to work increases.

Economic recovery, growth, and resilience will be, at least partially, tied to the success of Longmont’s primary employers. Primary employers located in Longmont note that current housing costs and the shortage of attainable housing is an obstacle to recruiting talent. In the post-pandemic era, we should be able to differentiate Longmont from other Front Range municipalities based on a variety assets. Attainable housing needs to be among them.

Talent Recruitment

Child-care

Talent recruitment is essential to our community if we are going to recover economically. Potential new, talented employees are unlikely to locate to communities without high quality, reliable, affordable child-care options.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, high quality child-care and early childhood education was understood by economists to be a solid investment in human capital with a return on investment anywhere from 7 to 16 times the cost of child-care and early learning opportunities.

High quality child-care and early learning opportunities was understood by educators as essential for children to be “school ready” by the time they enter kindergarten. School ready children are far more likely to succeed in school and graduate from high school than children who are not.

High quality child-care and early learning was understood by military leadership as a national security concern. Children who experience high quality child-care and early learning opportunities are far more likely to qualify for military service as young adults and are better equipped for the personal disciplines required for success in the military.

Now we’ve seen what parents of children younger than 5 years old have always known. Every sector of the American workforce is dependent on access to high quality, reliable, affordable child-care and early childhood education programs. When access to child- care is not an option for working parents, parents of young children are not an option for employers.

Child-care and early childhood education options for parents simply disappeared during the pandemic. If our local economy is going to recover quickly, with resilience, and grow in the post-pandemic era, working parents of young children must be able to access high quality, affordable, reliable child-care.

The 2020 and 2021 City of Longmont budgets included funding to salvage (in 2020) and grow child-care capacity (in 2021). Building on these investments, Longmont’s economic recovery, growth, and resilience into the future will depend on the capacity of our child-care and early childhood education industry.

City government cannot do this alone. In partnership with Longmont’s Early Childhood Community Coalition, Longmont’s Economic Development Partnership, our Chamber of Commerce, the Early Childhood Council of Boulder County, the Bright Eyes Coalition, and the St. Vrain Valley School District, we will continue leveraging opportunities to grow and sustain a “best in class” child-care and early childhood education system.

There is no question that child-care is critical to economic recovery in every community. The same can be said about attainable housing. The combination of costs for housing and child-care account for a majority of monthly income for most young families. Add costs for ongoing education and training and it is easy to understand why the Building STEAM vision includes bringing a four-year college or university campus to Longmont along with growing Front Range Community College’s presence. If we want to attract the kind of talent that carries Longmont into a productive future, we need to grow affordable, high-quality, child-care, attainable housing, and education options in Longmont sooner rather than later.

Reduction of Longmont’s Carbon Footprint

Every municipality in the world must commit to reduction of their carbon footprint. We owe this to future generations. If not now, when? If not us, then who?

Sustainability Plan

The best time to implement Longmont’s Sustainability Plan was 25 years ago. The next best time is now.

Longmont’s Sustainability Plan is thoughtful and comprehensive. While it addresses a variety of environmental concerns critical to Longmont’s future, my focus remains on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the strategic, consistent, and effective use of the Sustainability Evaluation System (SES). The SES is an organized collection of criterion and standards for evaluating potential development projects. It was initially developed to evaluate City of Longmont projects. We are now positioned to use it to evaluate private sector development proposals.

When considering approval of development projects, the SES evaluation process should ensure that future projects contribute to the “triple bottom line” of people (social equity), planet (the environment), and profit (to developers and broader economic benefits to the community).

Climate Action Taskforce Recommendations

If sustainability plans represent what we need to do over the next 25 years, then our Citizens Climate Emergency Taskforce recommendations are what we need to do now so we can think about Longmont 25 years from now.

In the summer of 2020, recommendations from the Citizens’ Climate Emergency Taskforce were accepted by City Council. Priorities were established for 27 recommendations based on their impact on the reduction of Longmont’s carbon footprint, the cost to implement, and the time required for implementation. The most promising of these recommendations are:

• deployment of state-of-the art meters
• public education and engagement
• development of a beneficial electrification plan to be phased in over a 10-year period
• Benchmarking of commercial buildings
• Distributed energy resources
• Commercial efficiency and rebates
• Building codes
• Low-income residential efficiency

The next Mayor and Council will need to remain disciplined in listening to members of the taskforce along with all Longmont residents in setting budget priorities for implementing the recommendations with the greatest impact on reduction of Longmont’s carbon footprint while mitigating potential negative, unintended impacts, on vulnerable members of the community.

Local Public Transportation Options

We need a clearer, shared, future-focused understanding concerning the future of local transportation.

Longmont needs a local transportation plan that integrates with a regional plan and that reflects the future of transportation. A sustained public engagement process, to educate all Longmont residents on the future of local transportation, should be implemented in 2022.

Current efforts are underway to consolidate transportation recommendations from multiple studies into a “transportation roadmap”. This effort needs to be vetted through a vision of the future of local transportation. This is likely to include autonomous electric vehicles, ride hailing or subscription services, and smaller electrified buses. All of these support living in Longmont without dependence on car ownership.

Regional Transportation Options

Mid-sized cities like Longmont deserve transportation plans that seamlessly connect them to both centers of commerce and transportation hubs.

Commuter rail to Longmont is long overdue. The only way to make this happen in the relatively near future is through a thoughtfully developed and effectively executed political strategy. Longmont needs to play a pivotal role in strategy development and implementation. If this is going to happen, Longmont’s Mayor must provide serious, focused, and persistent leadership along with City Council members in Longmont and the other municipalities in Boulder County.

Funding required to meet regional transportation solutions promised in the 2004 RTD “FasTracks” vote is unlikely to materialize any time soon. Longmont, along with RTD and other Boulder County municipalities, must organize and prepare to compete for additional (federal) funding. In addition, we need to recruit private sector investors, to deliver state-of-the art regional transportation solutions to Longmont. If FasTracks is not feasible in the near-term, then work needs to be done with other Boulder County elected officials, the RTD board, and others to identify and pursue creative alternatives.

Solid Waste Diversion

Longmont’s current efforts to divert solid waste from the landfill to recycling and composting centers are necessary, but insufficient for future reduction of our carbon footprint.

Longmont has made substantial progress in recent years on diverting solid waste from our landfill through our recycling and composting initiatives. It’s a good start. But, it’s only a start. The next Mayor and Council must work effectively with City of Longmont staff members, Longmont residents, County Commissioners, and service providers to create regional partnerships and solutions. This includes commercial landscapers, builders, the hospitality industry, and multi-family dwelling properties to divert solid waste from the landfill to commercial composting and recycling centers. Regional options for “hard to recycle” items in addition to demolition waste, building materials, and commercial composting, will have a meaningful impact on our zero-carbon goal.

Platt River Power Authority’s Integrated Resource Plan

PRPA is critical to achieving the City Council adopted goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030.

Platt River Power Authority (PRPA) supplies Longmont with electricity. PRPA is critical to achieving our goal of 100% of electrical energy consumed by Longmont residents being generated by renewal energy sources (wind, solar, and hydro) by 2030. PRPA’s Integrated Resource Plan, which will be updated by 2025, needs to reflect their commitment to this goal. The City of Longmont is obligated to continue informing residents about progress toward the goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030 and the composition of RRPA’s Integrated Resource Plan as it prepares the 2025 update.

Longmont | City Council (At-Large)

There are four strong candidates running for two seats. We have endorsed all four because they would all bring to the city the energy needed, however, we narrowed it down to our two top choices with an * by their name. 

Tallis Salamatian (Endorsed)

Background: I started my first business when I was 19. Later I served as CEO of an aerospace company. I’m now devoted to supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs, as I taught at CU Boulder, published a book on business, hosted a TV show on public media, and volunteered with Energize Colorado to host business community events.

Infrastructure and Transportation: I’d like to expand the routes of public transit to reach Denver, Boulder, the airport, and the trailheads of our open spaces. We should also create multi-use paths for bikes, implement green technology for buses, and improve digital infrastructure for neighborhoods.

Housing: Attainable housing is beneficial for resident living conditions and workforce productivity. Increase stock of attainable homes by using smart development with new technology, and by converting office buildings into condos.
Homelessness: I work with the Our Center in Longmont, and I support programs that equip the homeless with the skills and training required to find available jobs and earn living wages.

Economic Growth: Extend the runway at our airport to bring in more flights and support more travelers. Promoting small business growth is also crucial. I would establish a unique startup environment in Longmont by using the strategic resources, manufacturing capabilities, and funding mechanisms that are already available.

Pandemic: Broaden the scope of which businesses qualify to receive assistance. Many startup companies that have raised hefty investments, but that have not yet generated revenue were excluded. Small companies need support to fulfill their potential, create their products, and advance our society.

DEI: As an immigrant of color, I strongly support diversity and oppose racism. But we need to also let every citizen express their opinions and foster a free exchange of ideas so we can engage in intellectual conversations about the topics.

Final Remarks: The anti-growth movement in Longmont is regressive and unsustainable. We can debate how or where to grow. But we must always strive to stimulate vibrant growth so we can improve our community, thrive in the future, and accommodate the younger generation of families and workers.

Jeremy Dejuan Johnson

Background: I’m originally from Alabama, but I’ve been a Longmont resident for ten years. I’m a veteran of the US Army. I worked in oil & gas for 16 years, and I own an insurance business. I also coach high school basketball, and I’m passionate about supporting the youth in our community.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Longmont is growing at a rapid rate that outpaced our current roadway system. The funding to expand Highway 66 should help. We need to add lanes and improve the stoplights at Highway 119 to reduce congestion during rush hours. We should allocate more funds to restore downtown Longmont and add more multi-use buildings to the area.

Housing: The affordable housing initiative lowered the amount of attainable homes available. Many workers have an income level that doesn’t qualify for subsidized homes. We need a happy medium between attainable and affordable, so workers can live here and we can benefit from their tax dollars.
Homelessness: Use taxpayer dollars to increase funding for organizations that provide support.

Economic Growth:  Longmont was founded on small businesses. Family and community businesses are crucial. We’ve lost track of that, and so we need to let small businesses know that they’re needed in the community and that they’re pivotal for our survival.

Pandemic: People pay a certain debt to society, so if they qualify for unemployment they deserve assistance. For Longmont we need to help small businesses hire more people, ensure workers feel safe going back to work, and provide them with the tools they need to succeed.

DEI: I’m a true-born Christian, and God said that we were all created equal. Regardless of someone’s religious beliefs, ethnic background, sexual orientation, or financial status, in God’s eyes we’re all equal and our society needs to go back to those roots of treating people how we want to be treated. 

Final Remarks: I don’t owe anything to any group, and instead I owe everything to the citizens of Longmont. I will always listen to their issues, create plans to solve their problems, and make sure our children know that we have them set up for success with our schools and recreation centers.

Aren Rodriguez (Incumbent) (Endorsed*)

Background: Born and raised in Longmont, I was a performing opera musician until 2012. Then I began running a real estate appraisal business. I served as the leader of the outreach and inclusion team for the BOCO Dems. I was then appointed as Zoning and Planning Commissioner. I’ve been on the council for the past four years.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Infrastructure is important, and water is a big issue right now. Modernize the water infrastructure system, and provide rebates for people installing low-flow toilets and taps. Upgrade our electric grid to handle increased power required for renewable energy. I’m dissatisfied with the poor service from RTD and support a supplemental municipal bus service.

Housing: Aim for 12 percent (+) affordable housing stock. Establish policy with an inclusionary zoning ordinance to get more funding. Then convert existing properties into affordable residential, get more land to build new dwellings, and update our designs to build a diverse range of aesthetically pleasing units.
Homelessness: Struggling, since we don’t have a camping ban. Address homelessness from a regional perspective to create universal strategies. Partner with non-profits to provide resources and shelters.

Economic Growth: Longmont is in a strong position. We don’t have commercial linkage fees, our commercial lease rates are more affordable, and so we have interest from many companies to relocate here. We should only provide economic incentives to companies that pay high wages. We should have new companies move into vacated spaces.

Pandemic: I was a proponent of unemployment benefits. Some employers aren’t willing to pay the necessity of the living wage, and seeing those wages finally go up has been a net positive from the pandemic.

DEI: As a former leader of the outreach and inclusion team, promoting DEI concepts has been a big priority. Our council deployed cultural brokers to identify the specific needs of groups and to help Longmont become an equitable community in all aspects of governing, including hiring, planning, development, energy, and water.

Final Remarks: In such divisive political times, it benefits the community to think about what community means. We’re all neighbors, we eat at the same restaurants, shop at the same stores, we’re all going through our issues and facing challenges, and so a little respect and kindness would go a long way towards bringing people together.

Diane Crist

Background:  I’m a business growth professional, I’ve worked with small businesses for over 25 years. I typically help them develop business strategies, manage money, fulfill aspirations, and actualize dreams. Now I’d like to apply those strategic and financial skills to help the city implement new projects and achieve goals.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Longmont needs to get on board with hyperloop. The high-speed, magnetic, passenger pod system would go 700 mph (fastest rail system in the world). The hyperloop would solve many problems; allowing residents to travel quickly to other cities, enable people to also reach Longmont, and minimize traffic congestion on the roads and greenhouse gases.

Housing: Rapid population growth and limited house building has increased market prices. Building more units and keeping taxes low can help reduce costs on landlords, rates for renters, and prices for homebuyers.
Homelessness: It’s best to identify why they became homeless and then solve those problems. Some fell beneath the poverty line, so we should equip them with jobs, while others were harmed by drugs or mental issues and so we should provide them with treatment.

Economic Growth: All the parts relate to community growth like a symphony. We should be attracting big companies to the city, and cultivating exciting small businesses so they can grow. But we should locate the businesses in pockets where people live because letting everyone walk to the shops and restaurants enhances the camaraderie of the neighborhoods, the profits of the companies, and the revenue for the city.

Pandemic: The pandemic was hard on small businesses because receiving assistance was difficult; many local companies worried they would go bankrupt. Small businesses badly need the support and that keeps all of their money in the town; we should provide those similar financial incentives, land deals, and tax breaks to small businesses.

DEI: I support DEI. I love that my neighborhood is an immigrant community with diverse races, ethnicities, backgrounds, and ages. This inclusive atmosphere is a trend throughout Longmont. I hope the DEI movement can create that same sense of diversity, compassion, and camaraderie throughout our entire society.

Final Remarks: We’re a military family. My husband was military, and so were both of my sons. This is my way of serving my community. I’m very passionate about Longmont and I love its residents, but we’re under distress so I want to help address our issues and improve our city.

Shaquita Yarbrough (Endorsed*)

No transcript available due to recording error.

Learn more: www.shiquita4loco.com

From the website:

I have spent most of the last decade deeply investing my time in the Longmont and Boulder County community. From serving on nonprofit Boards like KGNU Community Radio to the League of Women Voters, to supporting racial equity work with my role at the YWCA of Boulder County, my commitment to this community is evident.

Sean McCoy (Incumbent) (Endorsed)

No transcript available due to recording error.

Learn more: www.mccoyforlongmont.com

From the website:

I am a 56 year old Longmont native. I attended Central Elementary, Longs Peak Junior High, and graduated from Longmont High in 1984. I have an undergraduate degree in political science, masters in education, and I am only a pesky dissertation away from a doctorate in education from the University of Northern Colorado. I have been married to my wife Maureen O’Brien-McCoy for 29 years and we have two beautiful adult daughters Claire (Silver Creek, class of 2014) and Mollie (Silver Creek, class of 2018). 

I was a Longmont city council member from 2007 to 2011 and fought for many issues throughout my term including affordable housing and the right for the public to speak at council meetings. I had been on multiple boards and commissions prior to serving as a Longmont City Councilperson, including

• Longmont Housing and Human Services Commission

• Longmont Planning and Zoning Commission

• Longmont Police Standards board

• Boulder County Open Space commission

While on council I continued my service, including

• Longmont Museum Board

• Liaison to the Art in Public Places commission

  

• Golf Board

• Longmont Housing and Human Services Board

• Longmont Youth Council. 

I have earned a Bronze Level Certification from the National League of Cities for the professional development courses I took while serving the community of Longmont. After my council term I served on the

• Historic Preservation Commission

• BVSD District Accountability Committee

• Colorado State Future Business Leaders of America Board of Directors representing District 2 FBLA Business Programs (SVVSD, BVSD, Westminster, and the Denver Metro Area)

I teach US government at Monarch High School and believe as a teacher. I believe I would bring to the City Council a strong grasp of the serious issues concerning Longmont’s residents, including transportation (RTD or AMTRAK rail lines), affordable housing and homelessness. During the past year these important community issues have become more prevalent than ever before. With COVID many people have had to go outside of our community to gain a livable income, without access to a rail in between commuter communities from Longmont to Denver this challenge of commuting to work to many has become insurmountable. With access to public transportation throughout the front range we would be able to help our fellow citizens gain access to higher paying jobs in outside communities for their field and bring in new talent from other communities as well. With layoffs and wage cuts from 2020 still showing its true repercussions we are entering an era of extreme need for affordable housing. As individuals struggle to make a living wage we as a community must lift our neighbor up, and help them to have a place to lay their head. We don’t only want to give them a place to stay but also a place to raise their families and help to hopefully contribute to the end of generational poverty. The first way to end homelessness and poverty is to give people a house, and the tools they need to succeed.

Longmont | City Council (Ward 2)

Marcia Martin (Incumbent/Uncontested)

Background: I’m a software engineer. I was the first woman to become a research fellow at the Storage Technology Corporation. I joined Smart Grid Communications to work with renewable distribution technologies. When I joined the council four years ago, the city was transitioning to renewables and I was uniquely qualified to help facilitate that transition.

Infrastructure and Transportation: I was the (‘19) liaison for the Climate Action Task force to help the city set goals to lower greenhouse gas emissions, transition to renewables, and now we’re implementing those recommendations. Many areas of infrastructure need upgrades. We must improve the water, sewer, and electric distribution.

Housing: Affordable homes for single families might be out of reach for low-income residents. Use multi-family arrangements such as duplexes, condos, and townhouses. Reclaim asphalt being wasted as unused parking lots to build affordable multi-family units.
Homelessness: Low-income housing would reduce homelessness. Ensure that people who need city services to stay housed know how to utilize those. Provide transitional housing for people trying to escape the homeless lifestyle.   

Economic Growth: Increasing our urban density and building workforce housing can help us attract more companies and generate more revenue. We should also build recreational amenities and entertainment venues to bring tourists and increase the profits of our businesses.

Pandemic: I advocated for unemployment benefits. The biggest problem was that the pandemic broke day care, as many day care services had to close due to health issues, staff shortages, and COVID protocols… which prevented many parents from being able to return to work. Increasing day care capabilities can help alleviate workforce problems.

DEI: I don’t oppose anything about the DEI movement except for the ‘defund the police’ phrase. We have an exceptional police force that is in good shape and that doesn’t need reform. But we should always strive to improve hiring practices, training programs, and DEI education.

Final Remarks: My contribution to policy and implementation is that I’m a big picture thinker. When it comes to solving Longmont’s problems we’re all in this together, and all the parts fit together regarding urban density, traffic congestion, the housing market, and economic growth.

Louisville | City Council (Ward 1)

Keith Keller (Endorsed)

Background: Education – engineering degrees and MBA. Work experience – 25 years technical project management. Community service – served 2 years on city historical commission and 1.5 years on historical preservation commission

Infrastructure and Transportation: Repair aging roads and bridges, add pedestrian underpasses throughout the city to provide safe passages for pedestrian and bicycle traffic crossing railroad tracks and busy highways.

Housing: Update city zoning laws to allow creation of smaller residential lots with smaller, more affordable homes. Allow accessory dwelling units (ADU) on existing residential lots which would increase the inventory of available dwelling units within the city.

Economic Growth: Repurpose vacant commercial property in the city (such as Sam’s Club, Kohl’s, Alfalfa’s market) for new residential developments. These empty buildings are no longer providing a service or tax revenue for the city.

DEI: I support equality and fair treatment of all residents, regardless of nationality, gender, skin color, or sexual orientation. This applies to education, occupation, and housing opportunities.

Final Remarks: My primary objectives are to promote more affordable housing options and environmentally-friendly city policies.

Chris Leh (Incumbent) 

No transcript available due to recording error.

Learn more: www.lehforlouisville.org

From their website:

Open for Business

Louisville businesses supply us and the world with goods and services, create jobs, and generate a large portion of our City’s tax revenue. That helps us to maintain roads, provide clean drinking water, ensure safety of our residents and others, and so much more. We need to be mindful of the crucial role that the business community plays. We should demonstrate that our City is welcoming to business activity. Consistent with other City policies, we should ensure that our City’s ordinances and regulations, decisions, and actions help foster their success and growth. We should sustain an ongoing dialogue with the business community in order to encourage their continued positive contributions to Louisville.

Louisville | City Council (Ward 2)

Maxine Most 

Running unopposed.

Learn more: www.most4louisville.com

From the website:

SUSTAINABLE LIVING

The unmistakable impacts of climate change can no longer be ignored. We are seeing this on a global, national, and local scale. Louisville should be a leader in all aspects of sustainable living….

From government processes and infrastructure, to retail and commercial spaces, to our schools and homes.

I will fight to make Louisville a beacon for what is possible while helping make our little corner of the world a better place for generations to come.

THRIVING INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY

Louisville is a great place to live, work, and play. To keep it this way, we need to maintain our small-town character and feel while prioritizing:

• Parks and open spaces

• Infrastructure that works us all.

• Support for the arts, entertainment, innovation, and entrepreneurs.

• Retail that meets community needs and provides a strong sales tax base.

• Inclusive support of all community members regardless of age, race, religion, ability or disability, gender identity, orientation, or family status??

I believe our City Council and professional staff – driven by community values – should strive to create the highest vision of what our community can be.

 SAFETY, HEALTH, AND WELL BEING

Kyle Brown 

Running unopposed.

Learn more: https://kyleforlouisville.com

From the website:

I grew up in Louisville and have been a member of this community nearly my entire life. I want the best for my family and all families in Louisville.  I am a lifelong public servant and my experience sets me apart. I am currently leading efforts to provide new, high quality, affordable health insurance options to people in Louisville and all Coloradans. I have advised two Colorado Governors as well as senior U.S. Senators, crafting legislation and advocating to protect health coverage for everyone.

A Vibrant Economy

• Attracting and retaining local businesses.
• COVID-19 relief to Louisville businesses totaling $1 million.
• Expanding economic development efforts including implementing a new strategic plan.

Sustainability

• Taking climate action by securing 100% of our electricity from renewable energy.
• Expanding open space by using our open space fund to preserve and protect properties.
• Reducing plastic bag use by implementing our new, voter approved fee.

Protecting our small town

• Ensuring that new developments are consistent with the small town we love.
• Preserving our historic old town through landmarking of properties
• Fighting airport noise and excessive traffic, while promoting quiet zones.
• Supporting the library and our historical museum while expanding opportunities to celebrate Louisville through the arts.

A Louisville for All

• Making housing in Louisville more affordable.
• Assisting those most impacted by the COVID-19 economic downturn, by providing utility assistance and other economic assistance through community organizations.
• Promoting Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and promoting policies that make sure everyone is welcome in Louisville.

Westminster | Mayor

Anita Seitz (Incumbent) (Endorsed)

Background: I have been on city council since 2013. I have served as the Environmental Advisory Board liaison, the Planning Commission, and the Youth Advisory Panel. I was formerly the president of the Colorado Communities for Climate Action, director of the Denver Regional Council of Governance, and treasurer for the North Area Transportation Alliance. I’m proud of my record and the progress of the city.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Some of our infrastructure needs to be upgraded. Our new comprehensive transportation plan integrates multimodal capabilities into the city, such as additional stations for public transit, increased lanes for biking, and enhanced walkability. I understand concerns about water rates, but we need a new treatment center for our water, and so we created a three-tier system that enables households who use less water to also pay lower bills.

Housing: We implemented the city’s first housing plan. We added over 700 affordable housing units. Affordable units will also be included in the new downtown. We want to preserve the beautiful atmosphere of our open spaces. I got $1.4 million in the budget for open space acquisition.
Homelessness: We have professional navigators who can meet with homeless people, connect them with services, and ensure access to mental health vouchers, food meal services, and nonprofit shelters.   

Economic Growth: We’ve brought over 20 new businesses to Westminster, added over 4,000 new jobs, and generated substantial revenue. We’re implementing a holistic development plan. This focuses on economic resilience to support small businesses, cultivate entrepreneurs, and promote placemaking investments.

Pandemic: The unemployment benefits were crucial for the economy, and I’m glad we chose not to furlough any city employees during the crises. But the pandemic facilitated a transition in which many people are reshaping their careers and modifying their priorities. We recently raised the minimum wage to $15 in the city, and companies will likewise need to increase the wage rates and improve the working conditions to meet the demands of this new workforce.

DEI: We have DEI consulting to guide government operations, an Inclusivity Board to understand the needs of different groups, and a mental health program in the police department to de-escalate situations. Some people might be uncomfortable with cultural changes or increased diversity. But change is always uncomfortable, and we must be more considerate, thoughtful, and inclusive as a society.

Final Remarks: In every decision I make I try to focus on sustainability so I can really understand how our decisions and actions impact the social, environmental, and fiscal strength of our community now and in the future. I’m proud of my track record on the council, and I’d like to keep working with all of Westminster into the future.

Nancy McNally

Background: I was Mayor of Westminster from 2004 – 2013. I taught leadership development for 20 years and trained women. I’m a facilitator for Christian churches in Westminster. I’m running for mayor to offer my leadership skills, solve problems that I see happening, and train the next generation of council members to be exceptional leaders.

Infrastructure and Transportation: FastTracks isn’t going to happen in our corridor. We have good bus service. Regarding infrastructure, our roads have become a mess over the last 8 years, our residents are angry about the high water rates, and so we have to address those two issues.

Housing: Developers can build affordable houses, but we need to account for longevity. We need contracts to ensure the prices of the houses stay low in the future.
Homelessness: For the homeless, we need churches and nonprofits to offer food so they don’t starve and shelter so they don’t freeze.

Economic Growth: With the pandemic, I blame the panic-stricken doom-and-gloom people for scaring everyone about the virus and for discouraging us from going out. Our businesses suffered from that, so now we need to host roundtables to learn what businesses need, what changes we can make, and how we can help them recover.

Pandemic: I resent that the government was giving people more than they were making on their job. That removed any incentive for them to ever return to work, and now every store I see has a “help wanted” sign on the window.

DEI: For Westminster, I support us being a welcoming community, showing compassion for everyone, and remaining civil even when we disagree.

Final Remarks: I want every resident of Westminster to know that their voice matters in this city, we have a lot to offer for everybody, and I urge people to get involved with any matter they are passionate about and to become part of the solution.

Westminster | City Council

Kristine Ireland

Background: I’ve lived here for 35 years. I have management experience in retail, and my husband and I have run several small businesses. I’ve also been on the HOA as treasurer. I kept dues down because I used money wisely, and that’s what I would also do on the city council.

Infrastructure and Transportation: City planners focus on high-density housing but infrastructure can’t sustain the high volume of people coming to the city, and the high-density housing is occupying a substantial amount of our open space. The water situation: we have outrageous rates, make sacrifices to compensate for the costs, and many neighborhoods have brown lawns.

Housing: Corporations are buying up neighborhoods to flip the houses, which makes it impossible for first-time homebuyers to purchase. It should be illegal. We should offer low-income housing for residents who are trying to better their lives by attending school or fulfilling jobs.
Homelessness: Provide people who want help with the resources they need to become self-reliant.

Economic Growth: We should focus more on retail and less on high-density housing. We don’t have enough parking spaces because high-density housing developments don’t provide enough spots, so the difficulty of parking can discourage people from shopping at our centers.

Pandemic: Unemployment benefits were good during the pandemic, but now that the pandemic is subsiding we should end the benefits to encourage people to go back to work and help companies find employees.

DEI: I don’t think most Americans are racist, so I don’t think that they want that implication perpetuated throughout society and I don’t think we should be teaching children that they’re racist in our schools. The divisiveness is bad for the country, and there are issues we can all come together on.

Final Remarks: I got into this race because I love the city of Westminster. I’m disappointed to see the problems that are occurring. I want to help develop solutions to our problems and improve the conditions of our community.

Kathryn Skulley (Incumbent) (Endorsed)

Background: I’ve lived here for 29 years, and I’ve worked at Front Range Community College as a professor, advisor, and director. My experience on council and community longevity enhanced my knowledge of our history and visions for our future. My biggest qualifications are the ability to conduct research, analyze information, and determine good pathways.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Maintain our roads, fix problems, and provide efficient transportation. We should create a system where we can instead walk, bike, and bus. With water, rates are high, but we live in a desert city where water is scarce, our treatment center needs to be replaced, and we must ensure that all residents can access clean water.

Housing: We have to spread out affordable homes and ensure they are placed near transit, schools, and open spaces. Our council added 800 new units of affordable housing, and mid-level and luxury housing, and the new downtown will also include twenty percent affordable housing.
Homelessness: I’ve been working with our two counties and neighboring cities to put in homeless navigators that track the homeless population and ensure services, food access, and shelters.

Economic Growth: We alleviate costs on residents by having the lowest property tax rates (city level) in the metro area. For sales tax, our majority source of income, bringing Ball Aerospace, Max Mart, and Trimble into the city helped provide jobs and revenue. We attracted them by providing transportation and housing for workers.

Pandemic: We worked with experts to keep businesses open and workers employed. We facilitated non-profit food pantries, outdoor restaurant dining, outdoor library systems, testing and vaccination sites, and funding to open spaces so everyone could enjoy the parks during the pandemic.

DEI: I’ve always advocated for minority rights and we have an LGBTQ member in the family. Equity relates to everything, including housing, infrastructure, education, and employment. We must achieve equity by providing our most marginalized populations with opportunities to use their skills, fulfill their goals, earn a living, and remain included.

Final Remarks: We shouldn’t be overwhelmed by the challenges we need to overcome. I call it the ‘wheel of concern.’ We should take each issue one step at a time so we can ensure that all citizens have equity, food, water, safety, roads, and everything they need to thrive.

David DeMott (Incumbent)

Background: I work as an IT professional at the executive management level, I also teach part-time to instruct the next generation, and I have been serving on the city council for the last four years.

Infrastructure and Transportation: Expensive water rates hurt our neighborhoods. It’s important to maintain the infrastructure so the water is safe to use, but ensure affordability. Improving our roads is another main issue. Our paving index has dropped, so we need to use our tax revenue to increase the funding and improve the quality of our roads.

Housing: Partner with builders to increase the affordable units. Spread these units throughout the city and mix them with other properties to increase the socioeconomic diversity. Offer affordable stock for both young families and retiring seniors.
Homelessness: Identify the challenges regarding mental health and substance abuse, provide resources, and balance their needs with public safety.

Economic Growth: We have to continue our relationships with the big businesses in the city. But small businesses are crucial because they create the jobs, help the community, and provide the tax revenue that helps us maintain our parks and provide our water. Thus, we must remove all barriers to make it easy for big businesses to move here and for small businesses to succeed here.

Pandemic: The length of unemployment has made it hard for companies to find workers. But I support the city helping businesses operate during the pandemic by providing necessary resources, protective gear, and updated information.

DEI: I’m a big believer in liberty as the greatest aspect of the country. Liberty means we should allow other people to live the way they want without society obstructing their lifestyles, but liberty also means we need to accept other people even when we disagree with their views.

Final Remarks: We live in a representative government, which means the government answers to the people.  It’s been a pleasure to represent Westminster for the last four years, the interests of the city are my only priority, and I would appreciate representing the city for the next four years as well.

Kathleen Dodaro

Background: I have 35 years of experience working as a human resource manager and organizational leader in various industries, including oil & gas, health care, and manufacturing. I’ve started three businesses. Now I teach as a full-time professor in the master’s program at Regis University.

Infrastructure and Transportation: I am committed to conducting research to identify what areas of infrastructure can help us best manage controlled growth. Be transparent regarding the budget, be judicious regarding how we allocate funds, and prioritize which areas require the most attention and which projects can most effectively solve the given problems.

Housing: Collaborate with builders to establish low-income housing. The city claimed they were going to build low-income housing, but the prices wound up being $1,700 a month. That’s not conducive for low-income residents. We need a new plan to build low-income houses and place them in ideal locations.

Economic Growth: We need a comprehensive plan to attract all kinds of businesses to move and operate here. The plan needs to cater to small, independent, and big businesses so we can ensure that diverse companies are successful in the city and that we have lucrative tax revenue to fund our services.

Pandemic: We can overcome the pandemic by increasing sustainable work opportunities for residents, by supporting the businesses in our city, and by providing the companies with the resources they need to achieve success and hire workers.

DEI: We need to value each other. I prioritize diversity as an absolute necessity in any community or organization, and I have experience in achieving that goal through the work I’ve done teaching diversity and through my time serving as an affirmative action officer.

Final Remarks: I’m a lifelong resident of Westminster. I care about the community, I’ve been a successful leader for organizations in the past, and now I want to apply my leadership skills for the city as we forge into the future.

Karen Kalavity

Background: I’m a landscape architect and site planner. With the high water rates being such a huge problem in Westminster, my unique knowledge and beneficial skills regarding effective and inexpensive water treatment methods are highly conducive for the needs of the city at this moment.

Infrastructure and Transportation: The city is stealing water from reservoirs and open spaces. Now they’re building an expensive infrastructure system with outdated water treatment methods. We should use holistic, progressive, and biological water treatment methods to improve water quality and reduce bills. For transit, redesign downtown to be walkable, and implement a shuttle system so people can get around town.

Housing: Rent control is the biggest problem. We’re allowing rent to be raised by 20 percent every year. We should change that policy and restrict annual rent increases.
Homelessness: The 2008 housing crisis, the ensuing recession, and the lack of affordable housing have all exacerbated homelessness. We can best manage the problem by providing more affordable condos and rent-controlled apartment units.

Economic Growth: We should change our priorities regarding commercial development. We emphasize large retail chains and fast food restaurants. Focusing instead on small businesses, local companies, and exciting shops would attract larger crowds downtown and provide more tax revenue for our city.

Pandemic: We should encourage residents to support locally owned shops. However, the vaccine mandates have been detrimental for businesses and are unnecessary for our community.

DEI: I’m glad that our society is finally recognizing the abuses and prejudices inflicted upon minorities and immigrants. But we should also address the Native American community that often gets neglected and that needs more resources.

Final Remarks: I want to represent Westminster because I love the city, I love the people, and I love the beauty of our open spaces and mountain views.

Sarah Nurmela (Endorsed)

Background: I have 20 years of experience working for cities in urban planning, economic development, and city management. I worked for Westminster for eight of those. I helped plan the new downtown, where I managed real estate by establishing the hotel, office, commercial, and affordable housing for the site.

Infrastructure and Transportation: A lot of our infrastructure is aging out of its life span. We need to improve city infrastructure. For transportation, we need to develop creative solutions with regional partners to provide public transit options, expanded bus services, and extended rail lines.

Housing: Provide ownership opportunities so residents can accumulate wealth, achieve generational stability, and invest into our community. Forming partnerships with the county and private developers would enable us to build mixed-use, affordable, and senior units to accommodate diverse income levels and unique housing needs.
Homelessness: Meet the immediate needs by supplying food and shelter. Address causes so we can provide them with assistance and connect them to services before they become homeless.

Economic Growth: This new economy is going to be more local and based on small businesses. Form partnerships with financial institutions, enable local companies to access capital funds, and provide loan programs so residents can open small businesses and entrepreneurs can develop innovative products. Diversify our revenue stream by capitalizing on the sales tax revenue from marijuana dispensaries.

Pandemic: Job security is a quality that workers value most and that was absent from the previous economy. The city should encourage companies to provide increased job security, higher wage rates, and better employee benefits to more effectively attract available workers.

DEI: We need to remove the racial inequities in our system. We need to focus on providing all groups with equal access to high-quality education, homeownership capabilities, and other wealth building opportunities. The message of inclusivity and equity in the DEI movement will increase compassion among citizens and enhance the camaraderie of our society.

Final Remarks: I’m also on the Westminster Environmental Advisory Board, so I want to see us make better strides on sustainability to protect our environment, mitigate climate change, and conserve our resources.

Bruce Baker

Background: I went to high school in Lakewood, graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Pharmacy, and then I spent three years as a lieutenant in the Army and another 38 years as a retail pharmacist.

Infrastructure and Transportation: The exorbitant price of water is damaging the city. They want to increase the population, but we don’t need an increased population because the growth just raises water rates and reduces open space. We don’t need to focus on mass transit; we’re a suburb that should embrace cars.

Housing: I don’t support population growth and so I don’t support new housing, affordable or luxury. We have finite limits, and we shouldn’t be jamming in apartments while water is being taken away from residents.
Homelessness: We should not enable homelessness, and now our programs are enabling it by giving them food, clothing, and shelter. They think they’re doing a good thing, but in the long run they’re not because it’s like giving alcohol to an alcoholic.

Economic Growth: We stimulate growth by making Westminster a desirable and beautiful city with green lawns in the neighborhoods. The incentives the government gives out increase the greed of developers. We should stop the incentives, and businesses should come here because it’s pretty, safe, and easy to get around in cars.

Pandemic: People need a reason to work. For many people work is part of their identity, and for other people it’s to make money. But if you have a pleasant place for people to live, it will be a pleasant place for people to work.

DEI: Westminster recently engaged in an abusive instance of depriving voter rights. In 2020 a group gathered signatures for a recall. The council clerk used city lawyers and money to throw out signatures, challenge the petition, and drag out the process. I think it was a blatant wrong to suppress the voters and obstruct the recall.

Final Remarks: If we don’t have enough water for people to water their front lawns, how can we have enough water to build new apartment complexes?

BVSD School Board Director (District B)

Nicole Rajpal

Background: MS in Curriculum & Instruction. Worked as a Dietitian at Children’s Hospital and as Adjunct Faculty at FRCC. Parent of 2 BVSD students, volunteered in their schools over [the] past 8 years. Served on the School Accountability Committees (SAC) (two schools) for 9 years. Represented those schools on the BVSD District Accountability Committee for 6 years, two as chairperson. 

Pandemic: Rely on recommendations from our public health partners. I believe the layered approach, and high rate of vaccine participation, has allowed in-person learning to occur as safely as possible. If cases rise, I would like BVSD to consider increasing the frequency of its school-based coronavirus screening program. 

Infrastructure: BVSD relies on bonds and mills, or the BEST Grant to support improvements; PTOs are stepping in to purchase furniture and equipment which is inequitable. Top of mind projects include: upgrades and expansions of high school facilities, electrifying our bus fleet, athletic facilities and grounds maintenance. 

Students and Staff: Ensure that our students have equitable access to high quality courses and programs. Implement the Strategic Plan and Unified Improvement Plan. Continue to leverage parent engagement groups. Build on relationships with local governments and organizations. Ensure district staff is supporting and training our teachers so they can meet student needs.

Sustainability: Think about transportation, facilities, and green building practices. BVSD is working to improve and promote safe walking/biking routes, and is encouraging carpooling. Work with localities to improve bus routes and include electric busses. I would like to see all 56 BVSD schools participate in the Green Star Schools program.

DEI: Our staff should be teaching standards adopted by the state and district; CRT isn’t one of them. Students and staff should see themselves, their families, and the richness of their ancestral histories reflected. It is important to have honest, age appropriate, conversations about our histories and to challenge discrimination and bias.  

Final Remarks: I have spent 8 years meeting with, learning from, and advocating for BVSD. I understand the varying issues and perspectives. I care deeply about the success of BVSD. By working together, elevating historically marginalized voices, and leveraging talent we can create the conditions for BVSD to flourish.

William Hamilton (Endorsed)

Background: Former bilingual elementary teacher. Served on the board of trustees of two schools. Currently serves as the Vice President of Foothill Elementary PTO. Bachelor’s degree in Spanish and MBA in International Marketing. Transitioned to the business world and worked as a technical educator and project manager. I have two young children.

Pandemic: The best way to ensure that students can learn in-person, without masks, is for everyone who can get vaccinated to do so. Science shows that masks work to lower transmission rates indoors. BVSD should maintain masks inside until Boulder and Broomfield Health Departments determine that they are no longer necessary.

Infrastructure: The “digital divide” needs to be addressed to reduce the achievement gap. The district needs to look at Information Technology across the district to ensure that all students have equitable access to devices and internet access. This includes getting internet access to students when they are outside of school grounds. 

Students and Staff: Teachers need training on how to assist struggling learners, especially teachers in schools with high levels of inequity. BVSD needs to provide extra support (specialists and paraprofessionals) to English language learners to ensure they do not fall behind in coursework due to a language barrier.

Sustainability: BVSD needs to transition all buses to electric. I would also like to see solar panels on all schools that have roofs to support it. The district also needs to look at school boundary lines to reduce or remove the drive times for families.

DEI: We must include honest conversations about America’s history on our campuses. A shared, honest understanding of the past bridges divides. Students must be taught the history of race to understand how legal systems and policies (e.g. Jim Crow laws) came about. Trust kids to make up their mind about the facts.

Final Remarks: My experience as a teacher, technical educator and project manager will allow me to make the best decisions for BVSD. As a married gay man with two mixed-race children, diversity is key to my life and my campaign. I will provide a diverse voice to the Board of Education.

Gala Orba

Withdrew from race.

BVSD School Board Director (District B)

Beth Niznik

Background: I have been in education for over 15 years; as a special education teacher, school psychologist, and special education administrator. I work with CDE as a special education conflict mediator. I am the parent of a first-grader. My professional experience on every level prepared me to serve. 

Pandemic: I am pro-in-person learning, with layered measures of protection until otherwise directed by health experts. I would support vaccines for students as well. We need to have a good relationship with the state to facilitate seamless support, open communication with teachers and parents, and school board leadership that can be responsive. 

Infrastructure: We have a bus driver shortage and with increasing concerns around climate we need to incentivize students to take alternative means of transportation. We must do this with an eye to safety. This is not consistent across BVSD; not all students have a safe path to school. 

Students and Staff: Declining enrollment will be a major challenge. Fewer students means less funding. Priorities lie in creating a sustainable budget. We have a staff shortage on multiple levels. We need to attract, hire, and retain the most talented, diverse workforce possible. We need to support policies that narrow the achievement and opportunity gaps.

Sustainability: I think reducing the carbon footprint for BVSD requires coordination between the district and the city in the area of transportation. I would support electrification of our buses, incentivizing alternative modes of transportation (e.g., bike to school), and finding novel ways to increase the efficiency of our current transportation infrastructure. 

DEI: I am in favor of taking a look at BVSD’s curriculum and approach to race relations education. It is undeniable that we have issues to address. I support rewriting the narrative to represent history more accurately. As a board member, I would rely upon the recommendations of the Equity Council.

Final Remarks: I am prepared and I am willing to put in the work to represent all of BVSD. My tagline is “we’re all in this together”. A vote for me is a vote for collaborative leadership, for someone who can bring a broad level of experience to our board and address the challenges ahead.

Deann Bucher (Endorsed)

Background: Boulder County resident for 35 years. Boulder Valley teacher for 27 out of my 31 years in education. I am licensed as a teacher and a principal and have a Master’s degree in  Information and Learning Technology. I have been an instructor at CU Boulder and Jones International University.

Pandemic: Support wearing masks so that we can offer in-person classes. Students are struggling with focus, following directions, and working with others. As the number of students, staff, and teachers with the vaccine increases, the more schools can return to normal.  

Infrastructure: BVSD has done a great job adding security to all schools and AC to many older schools. The infrastructure problems of the future will involve analysis of shifting demographics in the district. The result of these demographics could involve closing some buildings and sharing the resources of the school district.

Students and Staff: Expand the reach of the district to make partnership agreements with local healthcare providers. Expand our offerings of tech ed/vocational training. Address the achievement gap. Resolving this gap will take not only a monetary commitment but implementation over years to come.

Sustainability: Schools need to be role models in chasing energy work! Making a commitment toward replacing outdated HVAC and transportation equipment, reducing traffic to schools, and providing access to programs that allow students to pursue careers in this field are imperative.

DEI: I have been working for 20 years to make the curriculum more inclusive and diverse. My work with the Boulder Latino History Project has been pivotal. I work with the NAACP Boulder Education Committee to the continued advancement of social justice in the world.

Final Remarks: My daughter graduated HS in 2020 and I simultaneously retired from teaching. I had the rich opportunity to be an out member of the LGBTQI community while in the profession. I aim to be the first out school board member for BVSD, where we can continue pursuing educational equity for all.

Kara Awaitha Frost

No transcript available due to recording error.

BVSD School Board Director (District F)

Kitty Sargent 

Running unopposed.

Learn more: https://www.facebook.com/sargentforbvsd/

From the landing page:

SVVSD School Board Director (District B)

Karen Hagland 

Running unopposed.

No website found.

SVVSD School Board Director (District D)

Tyler Gearhart

Withdrew from race.

Meosha Brooks (Endorsed)

No transcript available due to recording error.

Learn more: www.brooks4svvsd.com

From the website: I have lived in Erie with my husband Justin and four St. Vrain Valley kids for 12 1/2 years. I’m an aerospace professional, a former math and science middle school teacher, and a Co-Instructor at the Johns Hopkins University graduate school in Systems Engineering. I have long volunteered as a Boy Scout, Cub Scout, and Girl Scout leader and am a current PTO board and School Accountability Committee Member. I am also an Education Foundation, Colorado Space Business Roundtable, and Colorado Futuretek Board Member. I also enjoy reading, playing volleyball, spending time with my family, and volunteering.

Equity: Quality education is a right for all students

Safety: Schools are meant to be places of positive and healthy development

STEM Curriculum: Adequate collegiate preparation for rigorous curriculum

Alternative Pathways: Options for students to pursue careers in skilled trades

SVVSD School Board Director (District F)

Natalie Abshier

No transcript available due to recording error.

YS is NOT endorsing this candidate for her views expressed regarding Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI). Natalie also advocates for cameras on teachers which is an idea that sprung from Tucker Carlson, out of fear teachers would be discussing racial equity with students. 

Learn more: www.natalie4svvsd.com

From her website:

• Teachers should focus on core ACADEMICS such as math, science, literature, history, etc. first. so that students excel in core subjects, doing so will allow them to be best prepared for their future.
•   Students should be taught without bias in the classroom so that every child has the best opportunity for success.
• Parents should raise their children with the values that are important to their own families. It’s not the school’s job to raise children, it’s the school’s job to educate students.

Sarah Hurianek (Endorsed)

Background: My husband and I attended SVVSD. Our children attend Mead Elementary. I have been involved with the PAC; served as Chair of the Spring Fundraiser. As a teacher, I taught to individual children and made choices based on what would be most beneficial, not easiest. I am here to serve students and will be a fierce advocate.

Pandemic: I support the district’s goal of providing in-person learning as much as possible. SVVSD has done a great job being transparent and communicative while providing a safe and welcoming environment for students. I look forward to working on what could be carried forward and what changes need to be implemented. 

Infrastructure: With growth, the need for additional schools and programs becomes increasingly apparent. However I believe responsible growth can be achieved. I want to support the current board’s trajectory toward financial stability and responsible budget management. We need a sound financial plan to give our children the best education possible. 

Students and Staff: The district has provided wonderful programs and support to meet the needs of each student, through programs like the Innovation Center and the Career Elevation & Technology Center. The inclusion of programs within schools, partnerships with area businesses, and focus programs is something I would like to see expanded. 

Sustainability: There is always room for improvement and innovation; something St. Vrain has been very responsive to. A great example is the Mead High School Energy Academy, which engages students in these conversations. I would love to see additional opportunities for other schools and grades to participate in finding effective and sustainable solutions. 

DEI: The district has committed to ensuring equity throughout its systems and practices; there is always room for improvement. I would like to see increased student and parent involvement to guide this work. In regards to professional development, the district should examine current areas of strength and areas of need.  

Final Remarks: I enjoy talking with and responding to inquiries from voters. I’ve always been involved in the community. It has led me to meet some amazing people and have delightful conversations. If anyone has any questions or would like to chat please reach out to me at sarahforstvrain.com.

Judiciary

Judge Robert J. Frick

Recommended for retention.

Ballot Measures

Boulder

• Issue 2I | The currently existing Community, Culture, and Safety sales and use tax, which is .03%, is set to expire on December 31, 2021. A vote for ‘yes’ will extend this tax to December 31, 2036 and change the name to Community, Culture, Resilience and Safety Tax. The tax would fund a large variety of improvements such as roads, multi-modal paths, replace the central avenue bridge, fund emergency vehicles for Boulder Fire Rescue, and convert street light systems to LED lights. It would also use 10% of the tax revenue to support non-profit organizations. | YES

• Issue 2J | A ‘yes’ would increase Boulder’s debt by $110 million. To pay off the debt would cost $158 million. The revenue from Issue 2I would be used to pay off this debt (if approved). | YES

• Issue 2K | A ‘yes’ would change the Boulder City Charter, Section 9 which dictates City Council rules. It would remove expired provisions and allow City Council to form committees of (generally) two. These committees can not have enough members to form a majority in Council. Other Council members can attend, but can not participate. There will also be a recruitment committee (no more than two) for each of the three council appointments. All meetings will be public. | YES

• Issue 2L | Sections 38A, 44, and 46 of the Boulder City Charter are in conflict with each other. A ‘yes’ will amend them to accurately reflect the number of signatures required for initiatives, referenda, and recall positions (10% of the ‘average number of voters in the previous two municipal candidate elections). | YES

• Issue 2M | A ‘yes’ would change City Council pay schedule to the same as other city employees starting January 1, 2022. | YES

• Question 300 | A ‘yes’ will allow housing units to be occupied by as many people as there are legal bedrooms (plus one additional). Health and safety codes still need to be met. | YES

• Question 301 | A ‘yes’ would prohibit the sale of certain fur products. Certain exceptions exist such as used fur at pawn shops, second-hand stores, or non-profits, previously used fur, fur used or traded by native people, or if it’s ‘authorized by federal or state law’. | YES

• Question 302 | Should the annexation of CU South gain voter approval? City Council approved the annexation on Sept. 21, 2021. | NO on 302

Hygiene Fire Protection District

• 6A | Mill Levy Increase. The measure would increase property taxes on homes in the district, and the money would be used to increase funds for the fire department in the area. Whereas critics oppose the idea of a tax increase, the benefits of funding the department supersedes. The measure would raise taxes to $0.001 of each dollar in property value each year. Everybody vocalizes their immense respect for fire departments, especially at times when unprecedented wildfires occur annually. The superior equipment would reduce the response time of fire professionals, increase their safety on the job, and improve their ability to extinguish fires. | YES

Lafayette

• 2B | Tax increase to fund local safety services, public safety equipment, and operating expenses for things such as mental health response teams, more officers for the fire and police departments, resources for emergency responses, including environmental, climate disasters, and fund fire and police equipment and operating expenses. $1,990,000 annually the first fiscal year, and any additional funds from a .27% sales and use tax thereafter. | YES

• 2C | Tax increase to fund mental health and human services. An increase of $750,000 annually for the first fiscal year, and any additional funds from a 0.1% sales and use tax thereafter. These funds would be used to help local families by, for example, providing assistance with rent, food, medical and childcare services, and for victims of domestic violence. | YES

• 2D | A ‘yes’ would change all gender specific pronouns, such as he, him, his, and she, her, hers, in Lafayette’s Home Rule Charter to gender neutral references. | YES

• 2E | A ‘yes’ would change sections 2.3, 4.5(b), 4.14, and 6.4 of the Lafayette Home Rule Charter. It would remove the word ‘citizen’ because it’s not legally required to be a citizen. It would also change ‘master plan’ to ‘comprehensive plan’.

Examples from charter:
• The Planning Commission will be charged with the preparation of a proposed master plan.
• The expansion of protections of the rights herein enumerated, and the further enumeration of rights, as well as additional prohibitions against rights-denying behavior, through citizen use of the initiative process, is hereby encouraged. | YES

• 2F | The Lafayette Home Rule Charter states that in order to run for office, candidates must be residents for one year before the last day to file petitions for office. State Law, however, says it’s one year immediately prior to the date of the election. A ‘yes’ would change the charter to match State Law. | YES

Louisville

• 2A | Debt Tax Increase for Transportation Improvements. The debt level and property tax increases would allow Louisville to implement the Transportation Master Plan. Implementation would allow the city to address many aspects of city infrastructure by increasing multi-modal transportation capabilities, improved connectivity for bike paths and pedestrian walkways, and the construction of six underpassess to alleviate traffic. The multi-modal features of the plan are especially favorable. The ability to ride bikes and walk on paths to travel to various locations in the city will prevent residents from being car dependent, decrease greenhouse gasses, and enhance the quality of life of residents. Additionally, creating the network of pathways throughout the city will also increase safety. | YES

Lyons

• 2G Construction of Solar Generation and Battery Storage Facility. This measure would enable the city to build a solar farm at Bohn Park. Opponents claim that the vast stretch of space could be used for commercial developments, the small gains of any commercial development cannot match the benefit of constructing this solar farm. Lyons has been committed to environmental sustainability for years and has been attempting to implement a sustainability plan. Lyons is attempting to curtail the destruction of climate change by transitioning away from traditional energy sources towards renewable energy sources. This solar farm project would finally allow Lyons to facilitate the transition to renewable energy. | YES

Superior

• 2G | Sale and Use Tax Increase for Transportation Improvement Funding. Critics oppose a permanent tax increase but the increase would typically just be 2.8 cents for every dollar spent. The revenue would be used to pay for infrastructure improvements desperately needed: repair of roads. Many roads in Superior are suffering from dilapidated conditions. Most of the tax revenue would be directly allocated to fixing these flaws, repairing the roads, filling the potholes, re-coating the concrete, and maximizing the overall conditions of the main roads in the city and the side streets in neighborhoods. Additionally, some of the revenue would also be designated for traffic calming devices. The project would increase the efficiency of driving through the town, reduce traffic, protect cars, and prevent car accidents. | YES