Jacob Smith for Golden
| Jacob's Golden Update: A Word About the Election |
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As you all know, I use my communications to keep folks informed about upcoming issues (so you have a chance to weigh in on issues you care about before city council makes its decision), about decisions that city council makes (so that you can hold me and my colleagues on the city council accountable), and about other issues I think are important to our community. I work hard to be fair in my description of issues and to be clear where the description ends and where my opinions begin. With the exception of small tidbits in the "Notes from the Campaign Trail" section, I have also avoided talking directly about my mayoral campaign.
This message is the one exception. Most of you have already received your ballot by now or will soon, and I want to ask you to consider voting for me to be Golden's next mayor. I'm running for mayor largely because I believe we should have our own vision as a community for our future. We don't, and as a result our growth happens to us. Developers come to us with their vision and we react to them. I think that's backwards. I am running because we need a different kind of leadership and vision if we are going to chart our own course.
In addition, I have a commitment to and record of getting things done, like getting the radioactive waste along the south side of Clear Creek finally cleaned up a couple of months ago, helping Golden get federal grant money to construct a bike/pedestrian path connecting Golden's southern neighborhoods with the rest of the city, and securing another grant to begin planning for a new local bus system.
I have a commitment to and record of regional leadership and collaboration. Through my work representing Golden at the Denver Regional Council of Governments, the Colorado Municipal League, the Jefferson Economic Council, and other groups, I have established a reputation for strong regional leadership on critical issues like growth and sprawl across the Front Range, regional air pollution challenges, and transit.
My style of leadership blends vision with a commitment to listening carefully to the community. The Golden Sustainability Initiative is a great example of this: I spearheaded the initiative with a vision about saving taxpayer dollars, using more renewable energy, and improving our quality of life by being more bike- and pedestrian-friendly. I also pushed hard for a process that engaged and empowered the community, and in the end the Initiative adopted by city council was a genuine community initiative.
And I am committed to making our city government as open and accountable as possible. My community newsletter is part of this. So is my continued belief in the importance of televising city council meetings, my efforts to make city council agendas more understandable, and evaluating our city manager rigorously and transparently.
For these reasons, I've earned a great deal of support in my mayoral campaign from Golden residents and from friends and family. We've responded to requests for nearly 250 yard signs around Golden, my endorsement list keeps growing, and I received more than twice the number of contributions from Golden residents than both of the other candidates combined.
I encourage you to visit my web site or call or email me anytime with your thoughts, concerns, and questions.
Thank you for considering casting your vote for me to be Golden's next mayor.
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