Policy Overview

Longmont can be a community where everyone can afford a home. I’m running because Longmont needs solutions that lower housing costs for most people, not just subsidized housing for a few.

Housing affordability is not an accident but a choice we make through policy. 65% of the city’s residential land only allows the most expensive type of housing. Should we really be surprised that housing is expensive?

My Solutions

1. Legalize Townhomes Everywhere: Allow duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes in every neighborhood, creating paths to homeownership not just rentals.
2. Streamline Development Process: Our current process subjects a duplex to the same level of review as 300 apartments. We’re incentivizing what people don’t want. We should create administrative approvals for incremental change, with permits issued within a day for complete ADU applications. I’ll establish a library of pre-approved ADU designs for immediate approval.
3. Focus on Infill Development: Building in existing neighborhoods makes better use of infrastructure and reduces costs compared to sprawl. This strengthens the city’s tax base and ensures long term financial resilience without having to raise taxes on anyone.

Longmonters are losing trust in local government’s ability to solve their problems. This is an existential threat to democracy, and one we must solve by making government more responsive and effective.

We have countless strategic plans, but lack delivery on the outcomes residents want. Because we spend an inordinate amount of time making sure the plan is perfect, too many creative ideas get left unimplemented. There is more good left undone because it got stuck in the planning stage than harm prevented by trying to prevent even minor errors.

The only way to get better at implementing is to do it, learn, and then try again. That’s the real secret to innovation — creating a culture where we learn from mistakes, instead of punishing people for them.

• Focus meeting agendas on outcomes. As Mayor, I’ll ensure Council meetings are prioritized to address our biggest challenges, instead of getting mired in procedures that don’t impact residents’ lives.
• Empower staff to test and learn. City employees know how to solve problems but need authority to try, measure, and adapt. Instead of spending 2 years drawing the perfect bike lane, we can learn from cities like Atlanta that build them in a weekend for $10,000.
• Support smart risk-taking. When staff tries something creative and it doesn’t work, we must have their backs. We waste more time avoiding minor mistakes than we’d lose by occasionally falling forward.

Corporate power and outdated regulations tilt the scales against local businesses. Zoning forces entrepreneurs to pay commercial rent before they’re ready. Neighborhood businesses that could thrive with proximity advantages remain illegal. Local stores face predatory pricing from monopolies. The result: fewer distinctive businesses, less vibrant neighborhoods, and an economy serving outside interests over Longmont residents

• Support local businesses. Legalize neighborhood corner stores, carnicerías, and veterinarian offices to give local businesses a competitive advantage chains can’t match—proximity. When families walk to neighborhood shops instead of driving to big boxes, local entrepreneurs thrive and traffic decreases. Streamline permitting and reduce penalties for honest, low-stakes mistakes so businesses can safely try new things. Lobby the state to enforce predatory pricing laws preventing monopolies from undercutting local stores.
• Make starting businesses easier. Allow entrepreneurs to launch from home—bakeries, machine shops, clean-energy producers. Starting from home means no commercial rent on Day 1, no debt if it doesn’t work, and more people getting chances to build Longmont’s next iconic business. Even part-time home businesses help families weather economic downturns.
• Raise the minimum wage. I’ll vote for $16.50/hour starting January 1, 2027. A regional minimum wage helps Longmont workers without disadvantaging our businesses against nearby cities. This pairs with Council’s responsibility to halt cost-of-living increases for housing and transportation so workers keep what they earn and wage inflation doesn’t burden local businesses.

Traffic in Longmont isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a symptom of how we’ve designed our city. Too many residents must commute elsewhere for work, and our streets weren’t built for this daily exodus and return. The result? Dangerous intersections, congestion, and neighborhoods where families depend on cars for even basic needs.

My Vision

By providing robust alternatives to car transportation, we can reduce traffic while simultaneously making our streets safer. Children will be able to safely bike to school, families could stroll to local shops, and streets can bring people together instead of just moving cars.

If a child can ride their bike safely across town to visit a friend, then everyone will believe they are safe enough to want to use them.

The Benefits

Safer streets transform our community by:

• Saving families thousands in transportation costs
• Reducing traffic by offering viable alternatives to driving
• Building a healthier, more connected community
• Reduced carbon emissions from transportation

I’m committed to making Longmont a city where our streets work for everyone. The time for planning is over. More Walk. Less Talk.