Finance
I’m honored to be a long time member of the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee, including as Chair in 2023. The city of Golden’s financial record has made it very successful. This city is known for its high credit rating as a result of adherence to prudent fiscal policies and appropriate planning. We need to simultaneously be conscious about finances, while not boxing ourselves in with a “small town” mentality that limits our ability to effect change and maintain a consistent, community-focused vision. Examples of our creativity, consistency, and intentionality are Golden’s ongoing support for the expansion of the Thriving Community Grants program, leveraging the new income streams from the lodging tax and marijuana sales tax programs. Thus, I support Golden in securing funding for many consequential projects, like grants for essential services, low–income housing programs, food insecurity, senior assistance, and most recently the newly developed Arts & Culture Commission. As city council member I will fight to make sure that these programs continue to be responsibly funded and expanded, so that every member of Golden can feel comfortable in the city that they love.
Housing
In recent years, one of the most pressing challenges that many face in Colorado and around the country is affordable housing. With limited geography in Golden (only about 10 square miles), tackling this issue head on requires unique solutions. We don’t need all of our housing to be dedicated multi-family units, nor do we need all of our housing to be dedicated to single family residences. It breaks my heart to hear from folks who’ve long established their lives within our community only to be priced out later on. I’d like to see Golden move to having diversity in our housing inventory wherever possible. With creative solutions like the zoning code rewrite, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, lower-cost housing developments in partnership with JeffCo and non-profit entities, and with the community ownership grant provided for our Ward 4 mobile home neighborhood, we’ve got a lot of positive outcomes to look forward to. These programs help us maintain vision and consistency with our desires for Golden. I look forward to advocating for all opportunities to make this city feel welcoming with space for us all.
Accountability
I am so grateful for all of the community members who continue to contribute to Golden in a myriad of volunteer positions, either in Council appointed committees or on our larger volunteer drive initiatives that bring so many wonderful events to the city. I believe that being a councilor is a position that requires absolute accountability not to one's personal views, but to represent the community at large. Like all other humans, I have my own subconscious bias to account for, and that’s why I continue to spend my campaign listening and speaking with our community members. Every day, I look to broaden my understanding of what people in our city want to see from the Council. It’s important that we don’t just celebrate being in Golden, but that we also make sure to not close the door behind us to that opportunity for others.
Oversight also goes beyond holding our representatives accountable. As councilor, I will also look to make sure that large entities in our city are held up to their promises. For example, I will look to make sure that CoorsTek delivers on their promise to support affordable housing with an initial cash-in-lieu contribution to establish the Affordable Housing Trust fund and additional developmental projects. As your councilor I will advocate for requirements for large businesses to reinvest into the community of Golden, like CoorsTek, in order to do business with us. I will also strive to work with the Colorado School of Mines to ensure a mutually beneficial relationship. Mines is a part of our Golden community and they don't exist in isolation. I'd work to ensure their impacts and benefits to Golden are balanced.
Safety
We all deserve to live in a community that makes us feel safe, welcome, and included. That’s part of why the Thriving Community Grants program is so near to my heart. I believe that addressing housing and food security are vital elements to providing that foundational safety for our community. If we’re not intentional with that desire and our goals, we can unintentionally create a community that’s welcome for some, but not all. That desire is what led me to the Golden Anti-racism Collective, and then further into working closely with GPD in recent years as part of the Community Engagement Group. I fully support GPD’s recently updated Mission, Vision, and Values, outlined to practice “Compassion, Integrity, Equity, and Courage.”