My Platform

Protecting Golden’s Small Town and Historic Character

I’ve been a strong proponent of protecting our historic buildings and character, supporting important voluntary historic designations and historic preservation easements around town. I strongly support neighborhood planning as a way of giving neighborhoods a clear voice in shaping their own future. I support an updated plan for downtown Golden that maintains economic health while protecting our historic and small town character. And I’ve worked hard to keep the Billion Dollar Boondoggle out of Golden. I support a transportation solution that improves congestion in the region and reduces the noise and pollution impacts to Golden, and I will continue to vigorously oppose the proposal for an overpriced and damaging beltway cutting through Golden.


Ensuring that our Community Thrives

I am committed to protecting Golden's great quality of life. I support making Golden more bike- and pedestrian-friendly, and I helped secure federal funding for a new bike and pedestrian path to connect the southern part of Golden with the rest of the community. I strongly support protecting our open space and trails, supported establishing a number of new parks around the community, and support creating additional parks in underserved areas of town. I supported closing a loophole to help keep our water clean, and am working with our neighbors across the region to reduce air pollution in Golden. I also understand that our quality of life depends on the economic health of the community, and support creating economic opportunities here that help our community flourish.


Spearheading the Golden Sustainability Initiative

Last fall I proposed to city council and the community that we launch a Golden Sustainability Initiative to help shape the future of the community. More than 200 people participated in the community forum and now dozens are actively involved in community working groups. We’ve already taken some important steps including the conversion of all our traffic lights to highly energy efficient and long-lasting LEDs, and I worked with staff to make our new city maintenance shops as energy efficient as possible.


Ensuring that our Government Remains Open and Accessible to the Community

I am committed to promoting transparency, equal opportunity, and fairness for everyone in the community. I proposed that Golden join the Inclusive Cities Parternship to signal our commitment to these basic principles. I have long supported televising city council meetings, and I worked with the City Clerk to make our agendas more understandable and to ensure that everyone in the community can easily get all of the memos and background information provided to city councilors. I also support expanding the public notice requirements on land use decisions to ensure that everyone who might be affected by a proposal has a chance to weigh in on the issue.  We continue to look for ways to make city government more transparent and accessible. 


Ensuring Fiscal Responsibility

I believe that city government should spend the community's dollars wisely, and I strongly support a balanced, conservative budget for the city. We frequently win awards for the quality of our financial reporting and we have consistently maintained a very high level of financial health for the city.