Since some people have asked... I voted for Sam Weaver, Micah Parkin, Andrew Shoemaker and Ed Byrne. I care a lot about the muni utility, but its not the only thing that I care about. I will be very surprised if we dont end up with at least 5 if not 6 or even 7 pro-muni folks on council. Tim Plass, Suzanne Jones, Lisa Morzel, almost certainly Matt Appelbaum and Sam Weaver, very probably Macon, possibly Micah or Mary. So Im not willing to spend all my votes on one issue. The other biggest issue for me is de-suburbanizing Boulder. Sam is very smart, and is susceptible to data driven arguments -- to the point of being able to change his mind -- which I think is a strength. I also suspect that he has a broad enough base of support to remain on council if he wants to, with or without PLAN Boulders endorsement, and I like that he has been supportive of piecemeal neighborhood infill development that increases density to the point where you can have walkable neighborhood retail and full, frequent transit service that largely pays for itself... He has also played pretty well to younger voters, which is a constituency I would like to see more candidates try and develop. Micah started out as a pretty narrow candidate, focused on climate (since thats her background from Colorado 350), but I think shes grown a lot, and more than anyone else, I think she can tap into a youth constituency if she wants to -- based on her community organizing work around climate change. She has also been the most vocal supporter of changing the laws that make it nearly impossible to create new affordable, sustainable, convivial housing co-ops in town. I also appreciate that she bikes around town with her two young daughters -- I think to move beyond the spandex-clad recreational vision of cycling that prevails in Boulder, we need more people with that visceral experience -- especially moms. I voted for Ed because he is the only serious stridently pro-development candidate. A lot of people think thats a weird thing to hear from an environmentalist... but I believe that really good, human scale cities are the platform on which we build a sustainable, low energy, low material consumption, high quality of life civilization. We cant build that kind of city if were not willing to build at all. I am working with Ed in Better Boulder to come up with good definitions of what human scale, sustainability enhancing development would look like. Read Jan Gehls Cities for People to get a sense of what I think it looks like... or check out my review (linked below). Of the people I voted for, I know the least about Andrew Shoemaker. I know he sued the city of Blackhawk when they banned bikes, and won. I know he organized the Boulder stage of the USAPCC. I know he wants it to be easier to hold events in public spaces in Boulder, and I hope that he will be potentially supportive of creating more livable urban space in Boulder. My impression is that he is interested in retaining more of our entrepreneurs and successful startups in town, which is good economically, and should also bias him in favor of creating more vibrant, livable, urban spaces. Hes also gotten endorsements from several people I trust a lot, including Jason Vogel (from BMA), Sue Prant (from Community Cycles), Will Toor (Godfather of the Co-ops), Tim Hillman and Steve Fenberg (from New Era). It feels much better to say why I voted for someone than why I didnt, so Ill just leave it at that.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 06:45:47 +0000
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