Moderator Chase Cromwell introduces Boulder city council candidates at a local election forum in the Wolf Law Building on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (Ann Marie Vanderveen/CU Independent)
The University of Colorado Boulder hosted an election forum for local mayoral and city council candidates in the Wolf Law Building on Wednesday, Oct. 25. The public discussion focused primarily on homelessness, affordable housing, student safety and university-government relationships.
CU Boulder Student Government Tri-Executive Chase Cromwell moderated the event, posing questions that students were invited to submit prior to the forum.
“We all share a vision of Boulder that is inclusive, safe, resilient [and] sustainable,” said Terri Brncic, city council candidate. “We just have differing opinions on how to execute on that vision.”
Ten candidates are vying for five open positions on the city council while four, including Paul Tweedlie, who did not attend the forum, are competing for Boulder’s first directly elected mayor. This has historically been a position appointed by council members.
“The mayor is still one of nine members of council and doesn’t have any special powers,” said mayoral candidate Bob Yates. “I think you want to pick someone who you’ll be proud of as that mayor represents Boulder for the rest of the world.”
As for this election’s relevance to students, candidates were given an opportunity to discuss the connection and partnership between the university and city government.
“We hear this, really unfortunately often, of students being portrayed as a problem; that somehow, the city is worse off because we have a lot of students in town,” said Aaron Brockett, incumbent mayoral candidate. “And I say absolutely to the contrary.”
Nicole Speer, mayoral candidate and director of research services at CU Boulder’s brain imaging facility in the Institute for Cognitive Science, said she found that the university and the city had built a problem solving relationship that was impaired by the recent passage of further noise and trash ordinances.
“We need to stop as a city viewing the Hill as sort of the troublesome teenager and actually connect with you guys and see what you need,” said Waylon Lewis, city council candidate, regarding the broader Boulder community’s relationship with the CU Boulder student community.
Among other topics, candidates discussed homelessness and support for unhoused individuals. Recently, Boulder released summer data from its Point in Time Count Dashboard, which tracks homelessness on designated days. The most recent count stood at 171 unsheltered people in the city of Boulder on July 27.
Jacques Decalo, the youngest city council candidate at 27, said he would like to see Boulder create a 24-hour shelter and a stimulus program for those experiencing homelessness, similar to the one being executed in Denver. Other candidates discussed extending affordable housing through measures such as zoning use changes given the amount of students that move into city housing every year.
“People deserve to live well and to live decently, and that goes for students as well,” said Tara Winer, incumbent city council candidate, when asked about ways to encourage property upkeep by landlords. “So I do actually feel like we need to hold landlords accountable… and we can hold back those rental licenses if we want, and we should have more code enforcement.”
While no diversity or representation related questions were brought up in the forum, Taishya Adams, city council candidate and former commissioner for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said in her opening statement that she wanted to focus on cultural resilience in the Boulder community given her own experiences here.
“That looks like me coming to Boulder and not being seen at all — not in the photos, not in the stories, nowhere,” she said. She stated government staff have recently begun mirroring the variety of communities they serve in Boulder, and she wanted to continue that trend.
Following the mayoral and city council forums, candidates for the Boulder Valley School District election were invited up to give brief statements on their campaigns.
“I think all students should have an opportunity to make their preferences for candidates,” said Cromwell on what inspired CUSG to host the event. He mentioned that the Vote Center — available at the University Memorial Center starting Oct. 30 — would be a resource in registering students and helping them cast their votes.
“We’re excited about the turnout. We appreciate all the candidates showing up tonight,” he said. “Get out to vote.”
Contact breaking news editor Ann Marie Vanderveen at ann.vanderveen@colorado.edu.
