If you re-elect me to the Boulder City Council, I will continue to work to:

Create a more inclusive community

• Create more affordable housing and more housing choices for a variety of incomes.

  Housing prices are going up rapidly in Boulder, and we need to ensure that we provide housing for lower- and middle-income residents, as well as for families and seniors. This is a huge problem that requires many different tools. We should work to increase the supply of affordable housing including a variety of housing types such as townhouses and duplexes that are attractive to families as well as smaller units for younger folks and empty nesters. We should make it easier to build deed-restricted affordable housing, with reduced fees and easier permitting. We should encourage more housing choices, like tiny homes and more accessory dwelling unit options.

• Support our social service nonprofits.

  Boulder has the good fortune to be a relatively affluent community, but our community still has many people who are in need. We should do what we can to support the nonprofits that are working hard to provide a safety net for our community. City government can take action by allocating additional funding for social service nonprofits and by focusing on policies that support the neediest among us.

Protect and maintain the best things about Boulder

• Support for culture and the arts.

  Boulder has a dynamic artistic and cultural community with many extraordinary people working in all art forms. City government should support these individuals and groups by removing barriers to success and by providing funding to and strengthening our public art program. I will continue to work to include public art in new development, enable public art in spaces where it isn’t currently allowed, support our cultural institutions, and create opportunities for artists to perform and display their work in civic and public spaces.

• Support our vibrant business and start-up communities.

  Boulder has an active entrepreneurial spirit that encompasses many different sectors. As a city, we should encourage and build on that innovative spirit. A strong job base and economy create the revenue the city needs to fund the services that benefit us all.

• Implement flood mitigation on South Boulder Creek.

  South Boulder residents are in constant danger from the next major flood on South Boulder Creek. While fortunately no lives were lost in South Boulder in the 2013 flood, property damage was enormous, and the next flood could very well be worse. I have worked hard and will continue to work hard to find a solution that meets CU’s requirements, protects the environment, and gets flood protection done at CU South for the protection of our residents.

• Focus on management in Open Space.

  Our city’s open space program is among the best in the world, a true community treasure. As the system matures, we should turn our focus from acquisition to management. We should preserve healthy ecosystems, restore damaged lands, work on our maintenance backlog, and look for targeted opportunities to add new trails and amenities.

Fight climate change at the local level

• Create more 15-minute neighborhoods.

  If people live and work near the services they need, they don’t have to get in their cars to meet daily and weekly needs. I advocate creating neighborhoods that provide those services, putting housing near jobs and vice versa, and locating services near both. Boulder residents should be able to walk and bike easily and pleasantly to take care of their regular needs. We should look for opportunities like a redevelopment of Diagonal Plaza to add more walkable neighborhoods to the city.

• Promote alternative transportation.

  Boulder has great facilities for biking, walking, and taking transit. We should build on our successes and make these activities so pleasant, enjoyable, and convenient that Boulder residents who are able to do so would rather take alternative transportation than drive. Safety should be a focus of our efforts, with more resources should be dedicated to our Vision Zero program to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on our roads and paths. We should also add the next generation of regional transit, with bus rapid transit lines to Longmont, Lafayette and other places.

• Maximize renewable energy.

  Climate change is the existential threat of our generation. We have established aggressive goals in the city of 100% renewable energy by 2030 and 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In Boulder right now, the only way to accomplish those goals is by creating a municipal utility. A municipal utility would let us move rapidly to 100% renewables, give us local control over our energy, and give us the opportunity to innovate with our energy supply. But we must be able to do it in a way that doesn’t bankrupt the city or burden our ratepayers with substantial rate increases. If that’s not possible, if the courts rule against us, or voters decide it’s not the best path forward, we would need to find other ways to ensure we have clean electricity. Fortunately, the state legislature passed new legislation in 2019 that will open up new opportunities in this area.