MY PRIORITIES;
As the only Denver City Council At-Large candidate with prior elected experience, I believe that I am uniquely positioned to begin tackling the important issues facing Denver on day one. First, I believe that all local concerns are deserving of City Council’s time and attention. I deeply enjoy listening to my neighbors and fellow Denverites about what matters to them. Here are some of the issues that I’ve been hearing about most:
DATA CENTERS:
I support a full and permanent ban on new data centers in Denver until or unless substantial technological improvements have been made that will increase their longevity and reduce their environmental waste, water and electricity usage, noise pollution and other negative community impacts.
However, I will respect the process and consider the recommendations from the Data Center Working Group that is currently exploring this complex topic to help define data centers, whether to allow some categories of data centers in the future, what criteria will determine where they can be located, and the level of public involvement required.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING:
We have to strike a balance in Denver that allows families of all backgrounds to live and thrive in our great city. Currently, home prices are too high for average households and city council must address the immediate need for more affordable housing. I support the implementation of the revised Unlocking Housing Choices initiative as a good start but more needs to be done.
As a city council member, I will work to address this crisis from several angles including shortening the review time of residential building site plans to reduce homebuilder costs, increasing “landbanking” in which the city can buy blighted properties to build affordable housing, and supporting policies that will foster more community-owned housing.
HOMELESSNESS:
I routinely hear from small business owners that customers stay away when even one person suffering a mental health crisis is near their businesses. Many business owners and neighbors also express concern about the delay in police response and the inability of the police to effectively address homelessness and mental health struggles.
I believe that Denver has made good progress to reduce homelessness but we must do more. First and foremost, I support Housing First, the pledge to immediately house the un-housed, in part by creating more cold weather shelters throughout the city. I will commit to increasing funding for STAR (Support Team Assisted Response) to the level where it can operate 24/7, which I believe will reduce public safety costs. Lastly, it’s vital that Denver work with neighboring municipalities on a regional sharing of responsibility and I will commit to advancing a regional approach to homelessness.
TRAFFIC SAFETY:
I’ve been told countless times that drivers in Denver are too dangerous. We have too many auto-pedestrian and auto-bicycle accidents. In February of this year, I was hit by a car while walking in a crosswalk in central Denver. Luckily, I wasn’t hurt, but many others haven’t been as fortunate.
Traffic safety has always been an issue that I care deeply about. To improve safety for all, I will strive to lower speed on most streets in Denver, prioritize the creation and improvement of sidewalks in all arterial rights-of-way and work in conjunction with neighborhood groups to identify locations for traffic calming improvements such as diverters, speed bumps, raised walkways, bump outs, site triangle maintenance.