Effectiveness

Boulder should be a place where residents can count on local government to work well, and anticipate that it will, both in the process it follows and the results it delivers. That means being responsive to what the community needs, striking a deliberate balance between efficiency and resilience, and holding city services to the same high standard any good service provider would meet.

What I'm Working On

I've focused on making city government work well at every scale, from the budget's biggest commitments down to how council spends its own time.

Great results for great value. Championed Boulder's shift toward outcome-based budgeting, connecting spending directly to outcomes, and helped create a streamlined review category that cuts red tape. Working to build a long-term financial dashboard, hold major commitments like airport obligations and a downtown development authority to real scrutiny, and rebalance revenue toward a more durable, diversified base. Backed council-level controls, including performance audits, and transparency that lets residents trace spending directly to results. The full picture lives on the Budget priority page.

Productivity with care. Elevated the idea that one of the biggest bottlenecks to better policy is council and staff time itself, and pushed to protect that time for the decisions that need it most, delegating most landmarking to the Landmarks Board and using boards and commissions more strategically so resident expertise translates into better decisions. Helped craft council procedure reforms addressing chronic meeting disruptions that had caused 19 recesses, restructuring comment timing and format so meetings could function again while protecting residents' rights to expression, and supported a new, depoliticized protocol for selecting Mayor Pro Tem. On big, exploratory policy initiatives, pushed for clear goalposts set at the start, so council knows what a decision needs before getting deep into it, applying a precautionary principle alongside genuine urgency, since moving fast and moving carefully aren't opposites when the stakes are high.

Dynamic systems management. Pushed to update the council memo packet so sustainability, equity, and resilience considerations apply consistently to every proposal, strengthening a system already working. Pushed back when council was asked to make a consequential, binding decision on the airport through a study session straw poll, and insisted on a full public hearing, retiring a shortcut that wasn't serving the city well. Role-model transparency directly through a public progress report, journal, and regular office hours, treating transparency itself as a system to build and maintain over time.

What's Next

I'm working to:

☐ Ensure major decisions come with full alternatives, clear evaluation criteria, and enough public process before council votes

☐ On the airport, keep pushing past surface-level review so this consequential, long-term decision gets handled properly

☐ Push for performance audits at the council level

☐ Continue improving how council interacts with boards and commissions so resident expertise translates into better decisions

☐ Build clear goalposts into any major exploratory policy initiative from the very start

What We Stand to Gain

Cut the costs of living. Decisions that get scrutiny up front, and everyday systems designed around how people use them, cost less to fix later and save residents money directly.

Adapting to a changing world. A government built to make big decisions well, and organized enough to know what's working and what isn't, is what lets Boulder move fast when a wildfire, flood, or budget shock demands it.

Creating a trustworthy, effective government. This priority is closest to the goal itself. Great results for great value, care paired with productivity, and systems that keep pace with reality are what turn good policy into something residents feel and believe in.

Climate-aligned decisions. Automating climate consideration into every decision, and building the systems to keep pace with what's working and what isn't, only works if Boulder's decision-making itself works in the first place.