Question 1

1.	What distinguishes you from those running against you?

Accepted Answer

First, I am not a politician, so I am not seeking any political endorsements.  I’m a soft-spoken, analytical civil servant who just wants his community to meet the needs of all of its residents. City elections are about neighbors, community, and the quality of life we share - not partisan politics.

Second, I worked in our municipal government for over 12 years until 2 years ago which gives me an intimate understanding of how our City government works from the inside.  This unique experience will ensure that community and Council priorities are implemented more effectively than without this perspective on Council.

Professionally, I have worked for over 25 years in utilities and financial positions. Our municipal utilities need to be affordable, sustainable and reliable. As your utility finance director, I worked hard to keep our utility rates low, financial reserves healthy and operations financially disciplined. I’m confident I have more experience in electric and water utilities than the other candidates which will help the whole Council have better insight into how utility decisions impact our community and its sustainability goals.

Finally, perhaps not uniquely, I grew up in a single-parent household with 3 siblings. We moved often, living in mobile homes or apartments until I went off to bootcamp before college which gives me empathy around the housing challenges and financial pressures affecting many in our community.

Question 2

2.	Why are you running for City Council?

Accepted Answer

I believe good local government is a cornerstone of society.  Good local government is aligned with its community’s goals like sustainability, affordability, economic vitality.  It effectively addresses community needs – housing, public safety, economic growth, transit, etc. It is fiscally responsible of public resources and it improves the quality of life for its residents.

I was a part of our local government for over a decade. I valued serving our community in that capacity, but I also saw opportunities for improvement in meeting the needs of our community. I want to better align City leadership’s priorities with our community’s needs and priorities.  When I worked at the City, I realized the best way for me to do that is by being on City Council.

I’m committed to our community’s sustainability – social, economic and environmental – so I want to be on Council to help get us there together.

Speaking of economic sustainability, we are facing some fiscal realities because our city government hasn’t been living within our means the last few years.  I believe my knowledge of how our city government functions from an inside perspective will help the next Council increase our city’s fiscal responsibility and transparency so we can address the other big issues facing us and not push them down the road.

Question 3

3.	What will be your priorities if elected?

Accepted Answer

a.       Fiscally responsible budgets focused on community priorities
b.       Increasing housing supply in a way that meets the needs of all residents
c.       Effective mass transit throughout town to help residents live and work in our community and reduce GHG emissions
d.       Sustainability initiatives that support the community sustainability goals
e.       Building the Southeast Community Center that we voted for in 2015
f.        Building community trust in our local government through increased transparency and open dialogue
g.       Addressing issues and concerns brought to my attention by neighbors in District 3

Question 4

4.	What will you do about our housing crisis?

Accepted Answer

Many of our residents are unable to find affordable or attainable housing and many of those who commute into our community to work each day are doing so because they cannot find housing that they can afford within Fort Collins.  So obviously while the City and this Council have made some progress toward addressing the shortage of affordable and attainable housing, there is still so much more to do to address the significant housing shortage.  If elected, I am committed to working with others on City Council and in the community to close the housing gap.  I believe working together, we as a community, can meet the housing needs of our residents across the income spectrum while protecting existing property values and the quality of life that makes Fort Collins such a wonderful community for all of us.

a.       We need to increase affordable and attainable housing supplies through innovative housing like European co-operative housing, townhomes on land trusts like Birdwhistle, courtyard housing, ADUs if property owners want to build them, and inclusionary housing options
b.       We need to leverage partnerships with organizations in our community to increase supply and keep people in their homes through rental assistance
c.       We need to actively seek partners for our community’s existing land bank properties
d.       And preserve existing housing through home improvement grants
e.       And leverage local and state housing funds to reduce barriers to home ownership through downpayment assistance and establishing a revolving loan fund to lower the cost of the homes
f.         And incentivize builders through streamlined permitting, fee waivers / deferrals, density bonuses ( I expect the proposed changes to the capital expansion fees to better reflect the costs of different housing types and sizes to make smaller and denser housing more affordable make a difference, as well)
g.       We need to do whatever we can to address the number one issue residents raise in the community survey over and over again
h.       What we can’t do is ignore homeowner property rights or forget that Fort Collins’ appeal comes from neighborhoods with diverse character.  We need to add new neighborhoods with their own appealing character beyond just more apartments.

I certainly don’t have all of the answers to this question but what I am committed to doing is having an open dialogue with our community about how we can move ahead with meaningful and measurable progress on this issue because it is critical for Fort Collins resiliency as a community

Question 5

5.	Where do you stand on Hughes Stadium – Prop 303 or 2H?

Accepted Answer

I know that when I voted for the original ballot question in 2021 I voted for what was in the ballot language – the use of this land for parks, recreation, natural areas and wildlife rescue and restoration. I support the civic assembly process so I am a yes on 2H to use the land under the pretense that it was acquired – it’s important that we say what we are going to do and do what we said we were going to do with public funds and respect the voice of our whole community even if it isn’t something that individually we may not agree on.  This is something I am committed to doing on Council.

Question 6

6.	How will you address the budget shortfall?

Accepted Answer

There is the immediate issue that needs to be addressed and then there is the longer-term need for more fiscal discipline and transparency. Just 3 years ago the city’s general fund had a cash reserve of $85M – that is projected to be drawn down to $42M at the end of 2025. This is not healthy or sustainable. The City has not been living within its means for a while. Personnel is our single biggest ongoing expense and that has increased by 24% in just 3 years!  Fiscal oversight is something I will take very seriously on Council.

To address the immediate need, staff has proposed actions to Council in September including reducing salary increases by 1%, eliminating some vacant positions and reducing some maintenance all of which I support. Another proposed action is to shift funding sources for regular expenses out of the general fund which I do not support. Dedicated tax initiatives are intended for incremental services not supplementing existing levels of service.

There have also been discussions around reducing programs that benefit our most vulnerable neighbors like eliminating giving kids bike helmets and reducing the grocery sales tax rebate program which I absolutely do not support – staff needs to better align any necessary reductions with community needs and Council goals – and I will work hard to ensure that happens if elected.

Lastly, if you take a look at the community dashboard you will see no indication that there is anything wrong with the city’s finances – revenues are over budget and have a green light, expenses are under budget and have a green light – so I would ask why are our community metrics showing all is good when we are now hearing that it is suddenly not?  Transparency is critical to building and maintaining community trust in government and I will work hard to have more meaningful transparency - fiscal and otherwise with our government.

Question 7

7.	How will you ensure fiscal responsibility going forward?

Accepted Answer

a.       Fiscal responsibility is a core responsibility of Council and city leadership. 
b.       It involves long-term planning, disciplined budgeting and spending, and accountability throughout the organization to use our community’s resources prudently. 
c.       Transparency is essential to maintain community trust. Frequent financial reporting provides that transparency.

Question 8

8.	How can we make Fort Collins more attractive / affordable for small businesses?

Accepted Answer

Our community only thrives when its economy is healthy, which means its small, locally owned businesses are doing well. We need to take steps to directly attract businesses such as streamlining the development review and permitting processes and costs; meeting our sustainability goals while keeping utility costs low; holding tax rates flat and maintaining the character and amenities of our community. We also need to attract, train and integrate the workforce needed for our businesses to succeed within our community. Through local training programs we can help our neighbors and children stay in Fort Collins. By making Fort Collins more affordable and livable with more attainable housing, more employees and their money will stay right here in Fort Collins supporting our local economy. Council has a role in each of these steps.

Question 9

9.	How can Fort Collins become more affordable for its residents and what role should the city play in that effort?

Accepted Answer

a.       More affordable and attainable housing
b.       Higher wages including a higher minimum wage
c.       No new taxes

Question 10

10.	Do you support a higher minimum wage than the state minimum wage?

Accepted Answer

a.       I do support a higher minimum wage than the state minimum.  
b.       I understand that a higher minimum wage would increase the cost of doing business which will be passed on to all residents.  
c.       I think we as a society should not ask someone to work full-time and still live below the federal poverty level.  We can do better by each other than that.

Question 11

11.	How do you feel about more traffic cameras?

Accepted Answer

While I don't like the idea of getting a speeding ticket in the mail a week after the incident, traffic cameras are an important part of making our streets safer for everyone. Automated speed cameras allow better enforcement of speed limits within the city without diverting police from other duties.  These citations cost less than an officer issued ticket and don’t add points to your license.  It is entirely within my control to not speed and do my part in keeping our streets safe for all.

Flock cameras serve a different purpose entirely and raise privacy concerns. These cameras collect license plates and time and location stamps as you drive across town.  They are intended to help solve crimes so this information is stored in a database for 30 days before it is deleted.  A resident can request that their license plate and location not be stored in the 30 day database by getting on the “Resident Safelist.” These cameras do raise important privacy questions around the use of technology – just because it is possible to track someone everywhere through their phone or vehicle or computer, that doesn’t mean that we should.  How that data is being collected and used should be transparent to residents. Council has a responsibility to ensure the community is safe yet privacy is respected.

Question 12

12. What is your position on parking meters in Old Town?

Accepted Answer

The City has an upside-down parking model with the parking garages intended to alleviate traffic congestion on College Avenue requiring residents to pay to park after an hour while residents who are lucky enough to find a spot on the street pay nothing.  The parking garages increase capacity downtown but they also cost money to maintain so it costs to park there.  Doesn’t it cost money to maintain the parking spaces on College? Shouldn’t residents pay to maintain those spaces? Otherwise even residents using the garages are paying for street parking spaces.

The big pushback from some residents and businesses is a concern that residents and visitors will avoid Old Town completely if parking meters are installed. Looking at other communities, this isn’t the case.  If it actually did impact Old Town commerce then the City could revisit the parking meters but absent that data I think it makes sense to charge for parking on College in Old Town to cover the costs of parking enforcement and to reduce congestion from cars trying to find the elusive open space on College rather than just parking in one of the garages and enjoying their time in Old Town.

Question 13

13.	 What role should the City play in assisting those who are homeless and reducing the prevalence of those who are experiencing homelessness?

Accepted Answer

a.       First, it is important to understand that our residents experiencing homelessness deserve respect like anyone and to be seen as members of our community. 
b.       Beyond establishing more affordable housing and keeping all residents safe, the City’s role in assisting residents experiencing homelessness has been to connect those residents with community resources directly focused on helping them address their situation. The City does this through partnerships with the county and community service organizations including providing some funding to support a coordinated community response. 
c.       I support the Housing First approach to helping this vulnerable population. It’s hard to concentrate on anything else when you don’t know where you can safely sleep tonight. 
d.       In 2025 the city budgeted $1M for homelessness response and related services and additional money for HOPE – the homeless outreach and proactive engagement program. In the 2025 budget there was an offer to consider a 24/7 shelter which is more effective at ending homelessness than overnight sheltering alone but that offer for $230,000 was not funded.  
e.       Larimer County has a responsibility to our community’s homeless residents, as well. So close alignment and collaboration between the City and County through Homeward Alliance for example is critical to provide this support to those in our community experiencing homelessness.
f.         As a Councilmember I would seek to learn from those in our community who are either experiencing homelessness or are helping this vulnerable segment of our community.

Question 14

14.	Do you support the city’s single-hauler trash program? Composting?

Accepted Answer

I do believe that essential services such as utilities and waste services are best provided by the municipality.  This keeps costs down, the interest of the residents top of mind and allows the community to decide on what changes are appropriate.  We wouldn’t be where we are today on reducing GHG emissions with investor-owned services. Curbside composting should be coming in the next year or two with the Larimer County Waste Diversion Center providing a yard waste composting facility and a food waste composting facility.

Question 15

15.	What is the City’s role in advancing sustainability and climate action?

Accepted Answer

In general, I see the City’s role in all that it does as serving the community. Our community has repeatedly shown its commitment to environmental sustainability, so the City’s role is to respond to the community commitment.

To do this the City needs to play a leading role in advancing sustainability and climate action through aspiring to and striving to meet ambitious sustainability goals through policies, community engagement, and direct city initiatives that prioritize environmental stewardship, resilience, and equitable outcomes.  Much of this is done through our municipal utilities as well as through the City’s Sustainability department which also supports social and economic sustainability efforts. Because the city operates its own electric, water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities, we can integrate sustainability initiatives across energy and water sectors.  Municipal recycling and composting are critical as well to achieving these goals.

In my capacity as the city’s utility finance director, I was responsible for making sure that our utilities had adequate funding for energy and water conservation programs, solar rebates and the significant shift to more renewable energy resources.
I worked hard to ensure that our electric rates were kept low through efficient budgeting, long-term financial planning, balancing debt and capital financing of capital investments.  Some of our electric rates are dedicated to energy programs and some of our purchased power costs fund PRPA’s Efficiency Works programs.  Our utility rates are among the lowest in the state yet we have made significant progress toward sustainability and resiliency of both energy and water essential services.  As an owner community of PRPA we have together shifted our energy supply from about 35% non-carbon emitting resources – hydro and solar – to about 55% today and we will be around 85% by 2030.  While this isn’t the 100% goal we set for ourselves by 2030, it is a huge shift from where we were.  And we’ve been able to do that will keeping our electric rates below most of Colorado.

Having said that, I do want to mention that we did recognize that while we as a community have wanted to do as much as possible to advance our renewable energy resources and we felt that we could afford to do so based on the estimated costs in 2018 not everyone in our community can afford to pay more to develop and acquire renewable energy even though they may be just as supportive as anyone else in achieving these objectives.  Rather than slowing the energy transition or forcing some in our community to choose between putting food on their table and keeping the lights on, we developed income qualified utility rates.  That rate structure and the long-term financial planning for the utilities are the two things I am most proud of from my time serving this community in that position.  This is an example of how the community can achieve our sustainability goals without adversely impacting those residents who can least afford higher utility costs.

The City itself also needs to do its part as well through improving building efficiency for city buildings, electrifying its fleets where practical, recycling and promoting alternative transit solutions such as Transfort and our community’s bike paths.

And let’s not forget that the community passed the 2050 Tax last year which will also provide funding for the City to help the community achieve our environmental sustainability goals.

Question 16

16.	What are the most important next steps the city should take in its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

Accepted Answer

As our municipal utility:
·       Provide effective oversight of PRPA
·       Invest in utility scale battery storage to reduce electric demand peaks
·       Effectively capture methane emissions from water treatment
·       Encourage businesses to shift away from backup generation to battery backup

As our municipality:
·       Reduce landfill emissions through curbside composting
·       Refresh existing fleet with EVs on the normal replacement schedule
·       Increase ridership of Transfort and FLEX transit services
·       Increase efficient, affordable housing for residents
·       Lead by example with building energy efficiency improvements

Question 17

17.	How would you ensure 3rd party oversight of PRPA?

Accepted Answer

I listened to the mayoral forum on climate and clean energy which asked this question. I heard the intent of the question as asking how the City Councils of the 4 owner communities would provide that oversight, not that we should seek oversight from another entity like the PUC.  In the 12 years I served our community as its utility finance director I saw different City Councils take different levels of engagement on PRPA.  It is important to remember that our representatives on the PRPA board are there to serve the best interests of our community.  Some have had more experience in the energy sector than others. With the single exception of the two years Kendall Minor was on the Board, we have had either two representatives from City Council with no direct electric utility experience or the Mayor and a Utilities Executive Director with a background in water representing our best interests.  And now with Fort Collins not having a Utilities Executive Director at all we have the Deputy City Manager serving on the PRPA board along with the Mayor.

The question seemed to be more around is this the right representation for our community on the PRPA board to provide adequate third-party oversight and I would say not necessarily.  I would also say that we need to hold our PRPA board representatives accountable for their votes on that board.  Why aren’t the PRPA board votes discussed with the whole community and City Council? This would greatly improve the relationship between the PRPA board and our community.  I would work to have this kind of accountability, if elected.

Question 18

18.	What would you do to improve public transit and alternative modes of transportation?

Accepted Answer

a.       Only scenario 2 in the Transit Optimization Plan would provide even the current level of service to District 3.  We seem to be of the mindset that we should only provide service where demand exists today. I’m concerned this is going to make it impossible to convert anyone who isn’t riding the bus today to make the leap. Our climate sustainability goal will require many to make this transition.

b.       I would prefer that we find the money within the existing budget to hire more drivers and commit to more frequent routes across the city. I know this will mean making difficult decisions about where to find this money but I believe it is necessary. We have to demonstrate effective, reliable bussing before people will rely on it.

c.       More protected bike lanes across the community aligns with our safe streets for all initiatives and encourage more residents to avoid driving themselves where they need to be.

Question 19

19.	What is your understanding of the needs of LGBTQIA+ residents and visitors?

Accepted Answer

We all need to feel respected and accepted for who we are.  This is true of almost everyone in our community but our friends, neighbors and family members in the LGBTQIA+ community need more than this today.  My understanding of the needs of the LGBTQIA+ residents and visitors, while not as thorough as it could be with more outreach,  come from friends in this part of our community who express needs around feeling a sense of belonging to our community as well as a more basic need to feel safe to be who they are as members of the LGBTQIA+ community.  Trans and non-binary residents, in particular, need to feel safe and free from bullying on our community.  We are fortunate that Fort Collins is a more welcoming community than most and that most people in Fort Collins are accepting of individuals from all walks of life, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, first just as fellow humans trying to make our way in this world.

Local organizations like PFLAG and SPLASH are critical for providing peer support, especially for youth, and reducing isolation and enriching social connections particularly among young adults. Still there are challenges around housing stability, isolation and employment opportunities where we as a community can do better. It all starts though with generally making our LGBTQIA+ citizens feel safe, respected and fully accepted by the whole community.

Question 20

20.	How do you view the City’s responsibility in addressing mental health challenges?

Accepted Answer

First, it is important to understand that our residents experiencing mental health issues are valued as members of our community and deserve dignity and our support.

Mental health is also a big issue in our community, as it is in many communities. Mental health is a challenge where the City’s role is more of a collaboration with others in the community who are better equipped to provide these services directly to our residents in need of such services or are experiencing a mental health crisis. Fortunately, our community and the whole county saw the need for a new mental health facility a few years ago so we do have more facilities to help those experiencing such a crisis.  Connections and SummitStone provide mental health services in partnership with the city and county helping residents navigate the behavioral health resources available here.  Fort Collins Police have a co-responder program to help those in need of help and some treatment get that treatment.  Still, reaching those experiencing a mental health crisis and providing them with the resources they need is an ongoing challenge.

Again, as a Councilmember I would seek to learn from those in our community who are helping this vulnerable segment of our community how we as a city can be more effective in our efforts these residents.

Question 21

21.	How will you approach water and growth planning towards Fort Collins' future?

Accepted Answer

Fort Collins residents get their water from a blend of local rivers, reservoirs, and major regional water projects, but face significant risks tied to drought, wildfire, supply cost, and infrastructure age. There are 3 water providers within Fort Collins which complicates any discussion about water for the community.  The city water utility and the two special districts are all actively diversifying supply and investing in resilience to address these challenges.  My experience will be helpful on Council when water comes up.

I served our community for over 12 years as the finance director for Fort Collins Utilities.  I was involved with 12 years of the permitting journey for Halligan and handled the financing for the emergency Michigan Ditch Tunnel project.  That inside perspective has made it clear to me that the most reliable way of securing our water supply into the future is through the Halligan and Glade Reservoir projects.  Both of these projects will cost significantly more than anticipated when the permitting processes began 20 years ago, but they will be the least costly ways of eliminating most of the risk to Fort Collins of losing access to adequate water supplies.  District 3 is served by FCLWD but a large portion of the houses in this district satisfied the City of Fort Collins water supply requirement rather than FCLWD’s requirement through a water sharing agreement.  Which means that Halligan will be the water storage facility for much of District 3 but not all unfortunately.  This is something that no District 3 Council member really appreciated during my tenure with the City.

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