1. As the City Budget tightens in response to the economic downturn, and in response to a projected long-term revenue gap, which programs and services should receive the highest priority?
It’s rather too simple to list public safety, water utilities, local road maintenance and the like as priorities of any city government. Boulder’s citizens have long supported a very high level of city services, including libraries, recreation centers, human services, housing, Open Space, and many others, and they too have become priorities, and essential components of the high quality of life we enjoy. So along with the traditional set of “essential” services, programs that support the most vulnerable must continue to be funded, and in fact Boulder has done an admirable job of maintaining strong support for a wide range of human and housing services. As times and needs/desires change, we must reevaluate all services; severe budget cuts over the past seven years have forced much reevaluation and numerous services have suffered significant budget cuts. And it is my hope that, while we must continue to find ways to lower the costs and improve the efficiencies of city programs, our citizens will continue to support a higher level of city services than are perhaps typical, as well as innovative and model programs and policies that set Boulder apart.
2. The current City Council has identified as one of its priorities creating a welcoming, inclusive and safe community for all. How can our police department best support this vision?
I would like to think that our police department does a good job in helping to create the type of community you describe, and on council we have heard very, very little to the contrary. But that does not mean that there aren’t problems or concerns (especially from underrepresented communities that often do not have ongoing dialogue with the city and council, or who might feel uncomfortable raising such issues), and I think that dealing with the issues raised in your questions # 3 and # 4 below would help all of us better understand those concerns. More specifically, I don’t know what type of training the police get regarding inclusiveness and cultural sensitivity and awareness, but such training must be both ongoing and a high priority that is taken seriously and which produces recommended actions and techniques that are a key component of evaluations of police activities.
3. The City has made many fine efforts to solicit input from underrepresented communities, such as the “Meetings-in-a-Box” component of the last community survey. Participants often feel, however, that they do not know what happens as a result. How can the City do a better job of following up with those underrepresented communities on their input?
Thank you for the best question of the many candidate questionnaires we have received – not because I have a great response, but because you have raised an important issue that I haven’t thought much about. Council often gets reports about how the city has created a public process and received input from residents, but we rarely if ever are informed about what types of follow-up is done. While this problem no doubt affects all interested residents, it is clear that it would more directly affect those from underrepresented communities and groups that do not have sufficient informal channels of communication with the city. So I think we need to make this a priority, and a plan for following up with those who have provided input and demonstrated interest must be part of our public process. And, as noted in your next question, we must find ways to get leaders from these underrepresented communities to become more involved with city affairs in leadership roles, since that will help open communication channels.
4. What is your position relative to the City’s diversity initiative and what more can or should the City do to support expanded leadership representation for underrepresented communities on Boards and Commissions and on City staff? Would you, for example, support a City Charter amendment to allow resident non-citizens to serve on Boards and Commissions?
I’ve worked on the issue of getting more diverse representation on city boards since I was on the city council in the 1990’s. I think city boards are an essential part of our government, and provide a critical path for residents to get involved with the city, open communication channels, provide representation for a diverse set of viewpoints, and create opportunities to rise to elected leadership positions. While there has been some limited improvement in this situation, far more needs to be done via more outreach from the city and the creation of a real partnership with the communities – particularly with the leaders of those communities. And city boards are of course not the only avenue for representation, nor is joining one desirable or possible for everyone given the time requirements, so other approaches need to be included. As for allowing all city residents to take part in their government by serving on a city board, I strongly supported that charter amendment in 2007 and still hope that our voters will see the importance of that concept so that we can more fully integrate all of our residents and all of their important views into our city government.
5. Mobile homes provide some of the most affordable housing in Boulder, but mobile home residents are quite vulnerable because landlords control pad rent and park management. What should the City's role be in preserving this form of housing and protecting mobile home residents?
Mobile homes are indeed an essential component of our affordable housing program. For that reason, we have rezoned them so that they must continue to be used as mobile homes and cannot be converted to other uses, and I have strongly supported every such rezoning. But as you note, that alone isn’t sufficient to protect the residents of these mobile home parks because the current regulatory environment gives tenants little if any protection from inappropriate and threatening actions by landlords. I don’t think it is likely that the state legislature will allow cites to engage in any sort of rent control, so protecting tenants from rent increases is currently not something the city can do. However, we must lobby the legislature to allow us to implement a number of resident protection measures, such as advance notice of rent increases, protection from retaliation, requirements related to park upkeep and maintenance, and handling of older mobile home units, among others. Council has just agreed that this lobbying effort will be a top priority for us this year when we talk with our local legislative delegation. We have also directed our city attorney to investigate what authority the city might currently be able to claim that would allow us to better protect residents.
6. Many in the community feel that the contamination issue at Valmont Butte, a sacred Arapaho site and home to an historic settler’s cemetery, remains unresolved. How would you propose to address this issue?
The city is cleaning up Valmont Butte and remediating the contamination under the auspices of both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which have jurisdiction in this matter and which are charged with protecting public health. I think that is the correct approach, and I would hope that by fully meeting the requirements of those agencies the city will be able to remove itself as a potentially liable party to any additional remediation efforts that might be required. Certainly if there is compelling evidence of unresolved issues those must be considered by the regulatory agencies, but again, they, not the city, have control over this issue. In addition, the city is actively engaged in efforts to get prior owners of the site to take responsibility for their role in its contamination and fund the remediation efforts. Regardless, the historic cemetery and mill site, and the sacred native American sites must be preserved and protected, although that still should leave considerable land at the Butte for creating something appropriate and of significant community benefit, such as a solar farm or other approach to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.
7. Would you consider ensuring access to recreational and sports activities for children and youth of all backgrounds a priority? If so, how would you accomplish this?
Access for all of our residents to all of our recreational facilities and programs is simply essential, and that access must be not just in name only but fully realized. I have made that clear many times, most recently during a discussion with the city’s new director of Parks and Recreation when I referenced my long-standing concerns with our soccer programs. While we understandably have essentially turned over these programs to several private non-profit organizations, it is not at all clear to me that all children/youth are fully welcomed, or that the outreach to those who are all too often underrepresented in these programs is as aggressive and effective as needed. Since these programs are essentially given control over fields that are owned by the city and built with taxpayers’ money, it is critical that the city ensure that the programs fully meet all of our diversity goals. I don’t mean to single out soccer; I’m not an expert on this issue and it is certainly possible that the soccer programs are reasonably successful in this regard. And it is likely that there are other programs and sports that are lacking. As a councilmember who sets policy and gives direction – but does not operationally run the city – I believe my role is to raise these issues, talk with communities and groups who believe there are issues to be resolved, and make it clear that ensuring full access is both a critical goal and a top priority for Parks.
