The 2017 Election of Boulder City Council members will happen on Tuesday, Nov. 7. The Council members are elected at-large, represent the entire city, serve for 2 or 4 years, and may serve 3 terms. This year’s roster includes 5 candidates endorsed by Together 4 Boulder (T4B).
T4B is a grassroots coalition of leaders from 20+ Boulder neighborhoods (including the East Boulder Leadership Committee) and environmental groups. T4B supports candidates committed to hearing community voices. The 5 City Council candidates T4B is endorsing this year are (alpha order): Cindy Carlisle, John Gerstele,
Mirabai Nagle, Sam Weaver, and Mary Young.
Candidate: CINDY CARLISLE
Cindy has been in public service since 1985 when she was first elected to Boulder City Council. She created the first Transportation Master Plan Committee, built early bike paths, helped develop the East Campus Research Park, and enacted the first “Bubble Zone” ordinance, which became a model for Denver and other cities.
She continued her community involvement in Costa Rica, as a Gates Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and in the Netherlands at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and Boulder’s Campaign Finance Reform Initiative Organizing Committee. She was on the University of Colorado Board of Regents for 6 years, and since 2009, has been a board member and Officer of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory.
Issues: Cindy’s top three issues are:
- Affordability of Housing and Spaces for Small Business in Boulder to ensure economic diversity.
- Public Engagement to ensure hearing all local voices.
- Climate Change.
Candidate: JOHN GERSTELE
John is a life-long Boulder resident. He is an environmental and water engineer who owns and operates a small local business. He was a member and the chair of the Boulder Planning Board from 2014 to 2017 and a member and chair of the Boulder County Planning Commission from 2008 to 2013.
Issues:
- Making community benefit a high priority in development.
- Taking climate action to achieve the 2030 climate and emission goals, including municipalization.
- Creating open, consistent, responsive City Government. He supports making it easier for resident voices to be heard.
- Managing growth and sustainable land use: cooperation between City and County, sub-community input, improved public transit, and community-wide EcoPass.
- Preserving existing and creating more affordable housing and commercial spaces.
- Creating fiscal responsibility and economic resilience by preserving a strong capital reserve.
Candidate: MIRABAI NAGLE
Mirabai is a former resident of Thistle Affordable Housing, a current homeowner in Gunbarrel, a younger business owner, and a volunteer fire fighter. She sees local issues from several viewpoints and feels she can bring ideas that bridge many interests.
After graduating in business Administration from University of Colorado at Boulder, Mirabai worked at the Crocs corporate offices. She joined her family jewelry business in Boulder in 2011 and now owns one of their product lines.
Mirabai is a volunteer with the Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District. In 2014, she became a certified Emergency First and won “Fire Fighter of the Year.”
Issues:
- Improving Public Process – A major component of Mirabai’s campaign. She would work on improving how and when the City incorporates public input to benefit the entire community.
- Affordable Housing – Mirabai lived in Thistle Affordable Housing before buying a home with my husband and understands the issue first-hand.
- Transportation – Favors a regional approach that addresses transportation, housing, and jobs together. She supports providing shuttles to bus lines.
- Energy and Climate Change – As a firefighter, she sees the effects of climate change directly and links solutions to building codes and transportation.
Candidate: SAM WEAVER
Sam Weaver is President, CEO and a co-founder of Cool Energy, Inc., co-founder of Colorado Photonics, and Co-founder and Board member of Proton Power, Inc.
He was a professional researcher in electrical engineering at CU-Boulder for 10 years. His 15-year involvement as a volunteer firefighter and his service on a County advisory committee brought him to City government. He has been on the Boards of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association and the Colorado Clean Energy Development Authority.
Issues:
Sam brings environmental, technical, and business perspectives to governance in Boulder, focused on 3 vital areas:
- Supporting a healthy environment for Boulder businesses.
- Achieving aggressive carbon emissions reductions.
- Creating a sustainable community for all people. He believes in balancing business, governance, regulation, and democracy.
Candidate: MARY YOUNG
Mary believes in putting community first and people above profit.
Her engineering career covered a range of assignments until 2008, when she entered the non-profit world. In 2012, she received a Rose Community Foundation fellowship to develop a transportation project that focused on the well-being of Latino elders.
Mary Chaired the City of Boulder Planning Board and was a member for nearly five years until her election to the Boulder City Council. She was Mayor Pro Tem from November 2015 through November 2016. She recently won the 2017 Multicultural Award for Government.
Issues:
- Campaign Finance – Supports Boulder’s initiative to limit the influence of money in local politics and ensure that participation in the political process is affordable.
- Energy – Supports continued exploration of a municipal utility.
- Transportation and housing – Supports City-wide EcoPass and bringing balance between Commercial development growth potential which currently outstrips residential development potential per current zoning.
- Marijuana – Supports creating effective and enforceable local laws.
To fully explore candidates’ backgrounds and stands on issues, check out their individual City Council election websites.