New Mayor In Lafayette

Last night the Lafayette City Council elected Chris Cameron as the new MAyor to replace term limited Mayor Chris Berry. David Strungis retained his Pro-Tem spot, after an initial tie with new Councilor Alex Schatz. A strong showing for a brand new Councilor, who was also up against incumbent Jay Ruggeri for the spot. In a three-way vote, Ruggeri received none?

What will Cameron's leadership be like? similar in tone to Berry's; that is I expect a calm respectful tone even in light of challenging topics and rambling public participation screeds.

Swapping Space

Tonight Lafayette's City Council will decide whether or not to approve a lease swapping agreement with the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber would move into vacated space in City Hall left by the Police Dept, and the City will get the Chamber's digs on South Public Road.

When this first was discussed on November 6 (election night) citizen Brian Herzfeld spoke in opposition to the whole deal; the perception of impropriety at least may be a violation of the city's ethics ordinance. I don't think it goes that far, and the City perceives the old town space it would gain as being a new option for community gatherings.

The Council can set up a legal, technically sound agreement. But the relationship with the Chamber will raise eyebrows in a way that may not be worth it politically. The whole set up will be described though the grapevine in less and less accurate, context-less ways: "Did you hear the Council gave the Chamber free rent in City Hall?" and all the presumably nefarious aspects of having business advocates so close to city staff. We'll see if they approve it; I hear that is likely.

Should Chambers of Commerce and a city have such a close relationship? Absolutely, especially in a town of Lafayette's size. Economic development concerns are going to be expressed to city staff and leadership wherever the Chamber is located, the terms of the lease aren't any kind of sweetheart deal, and showing support for the business community's collective efforts via the Chamber is a worthwhile effort. Take a look at the Chamber's membership. Is this a group of companies whose collective motives are at odds with Lafayette's small town feel?

Outgoing and Re-entering

Today's Camera had an interview with outgoing Lafayette Mayor Chris Berry, who has hinted at further political aspirations at the state level. This isn't new info, just a reiteration of his interests in the civic realm. I would expect we will see Chris back in the public eye again within the year, unless the comfort of "regular" life outside elected office is stronger that he anticipated.

Good and Bad in Lafayette

The Lafayette City Council is mulling the SWOT analysis presented by Community Development Director Bonnie Star last week which identified a range of issues affecting the city from an economic point of view. I would add to the Threats/Weaknesses column a point regarding the specific debt items guaranteed to earmark X percentage of the budget going forward in the face of uncertain tax revenue income. (this may be covered under "weak general fund budget", but that's a bit vague).

I like the idea of a SWOT analysis being presented to a "new" Council, although only Alex Schatz is new to the Council, and he's actually up to speed on most issues anyway. So the SWOT analysis should be full of surprises to the Council, and I'm curious to see if any substantial changes in Council goals will result. Outside of Old Town merchants and possibly some eastern edge residents, I don't perceive much concern about the city's future. The election would have been different if there was a rising tide of discontent.

Phillips, Schatz, Bensman, Oster

That's how I intend to vote in Lafayette for City Council. If you haven't voted by yet, you're probably open to suggestion, so let me throw these names out:

Frank Phillips, Alex Schatz and Kerry Bensman have shown a deep commitment to analyzing complex issues, willingness to put up with the frustration that is podium-pounding/well-meaning/often not completely informed citizens (my words, not theirs) and ultimately that admirable mixture of civic duty with just the right amount of confidence(arrogance?) to believe they can make an impact on Lafayette's future I trust their voices and minds on Council as part of the overall group.

Notice I didn't exactly say the other candidates lack these attributes. Fans of the others, I simply don't see them as being as strong as these three.

In particular, Frank shares my interests in the challenges facing Lafayette's current growth (It's not all bad by my point of view) and is an effective and knowledgeable force within numerous niche issues; Alex's LOSAC and Planning Board background has demonstrated an encyclopedic grasp of our policy decisions' consequences and he has great skills at weighing impacts of decisions; and Kerry has been a staff and budget watchdog sharing insights with me for years - his sober skepticism has a place on a Council that is often too trusting (busy, disinterested, naive?)to recognize conflicting details, or lack of detail in staff reports. Caveat - I'm not supporting the boot Klaphake platform though.

Laura Oster will be a new voice on Council and I like what I know of her current involvement and understanding of issues. New faces have a steep learning curve but can also bring an unjaded view point to offset some of the knowledge of hard realities Frank, Alex and Kerry can't escape.

Anyone willing to put in the time Council roles require is someone I respect. My journalist/activist role has educated me enough to know the job is necessary but largely thankless. I hope to be able to thank these four for their work very soon.

Lafayette Ballot Issues

In Lafayette we have five Questions and two Issues to decide. See their complete language here.

Ballot Issue 2A asks for $9.2 million worth of bonds to pay for street traffic and parking improvements. The bonds will be paid back through the city's general fund. Vote No. I'm not comfortable with that much credit card financing for roads as opposed to paying for such repairs with current funds. Which I know aren't available, and so major trade-offs must be discussed in 2008, or a tax increase. But tapping into years' worth of sales tax for traffic lights and signs today is not prudent. If the argument is that last winter worked over our roads, then a special assessment (a new tax) is the solution, not the credit card of bond financing.

Ballot Issue 2B asks for $980,000 worth of bonds to pay for Recreation Center upgrades for families, seniors and disabled patrons. The bonds will be paid back through the city's general fund. Vote No. In the realm of community needs and how to spend nearly $1million on the credit card of bonds, a changing room just doesn't rise to the status of crucial.

Question 2A asks for an extension of the 200/+50 residential permits per year limit for an additional six years. Vote No. The history of approved permit numbers combined with the general hand-tying of future Councils' ability to consider housing needs adds up to a no vote for me.

Question 2B is a Charter language cleanup item clarifying when ordinances must be enacted by City Council. Vote Yes. Housekeeping.

Question 2C outlines protocols for City Council actions re: Mayoral selection, meeting schedules and vacancy issues. Vote Yes. Slight improvements to process to avoid finger pointing down the road.

Question 2D will remove redundant language from the City Charter and place the language for fines in City ordinance instead of the Charter. Vote Yes. Housekeeping.

Question 2E will require City Council to create a code of ethics ordinance (as opposed to the current Charter language re: ethics). Vote Yes. I love watching the slippery slope of ethics debates.

Okay, what am I missing? Still plenty of days to change my mind.

Signs and Lies

I remember the first time I saw the sign on Baseline Rd and Aspen Ridge Dr in Lafayette that said "No access to Super Wal-Mart". I was compelled to drive down the road and see what sort of cul-de-sac was created to stop this back way from being used. Turns out there IS access to Wal-Mart.

For reasons having to do with traffic congestion, this little white lie by the city is meant to help direct traffic to the main entrance to WalMart on Hwy 287. I can't recall seeing a city sign before that was so blatantly wrong, and wrong intentionally.

This is a bad precedent. The City instead should put up a sign saying "Want traffic lights here? Vote yes on 2A." Trying to be cute with false statements just annoys intelligent citizens.

Small Town Feel /Massive Federal Raid?

I think the juxtaposition of having "dozens" of federal agents with equipment and vehicles swarm a local business here in Lafayette, a smallish, up and coming bedroom community is fascinating. Who knows what other seedy activities are going on right under our comfortable suburban noses? My mind reels with the possibilities, and it makes Lafayette seem somehow more hip in a dangerous, we're-on-the-feds-short-list kind of way.

This raid on Rocky Mountain Instrument, involved 50 vehicles and included agents from the Defense Criminal Investigative Service which investigates terrorism, computer crimes, illegal technology transfers and public corruption.

Here's the Camera's version of the story, and the Rocky Mountain News.

Less Store, Same Deal?

Target's developers have scaled back the size of their intended store on Hwy 287 in Lafayette, yet the economic incentives hashed out earlier when they planned a SuperTarget were left unchanged by staff. The City Council asked for some time to review this for their Tuesday October 16 meeting.

I'm sure I can get the scoop on that from the faithful commenters on this blog. I'm not opposed to economic incentives; I would say I start from a place of considering them in general and scaling them to the project as opposed to not wanting them to start with. However to think that the terms of the construction would change - which I perceive as meaning a development that would not bring in as much revenue - and yet the incentives do not scale back proportionally makes me bristle as a tax-payer. Hardball negotiations are necessary! I look forward to Council's discussions and directions to staff next Tuesday.

Seven West Seized!

Just a sad recognition of another Lafayette food joint getting caught failing to pay taxes - 7 Est was a pizza bar in old town that has "seized" across the door this morning. Hopefully this prominent spot on old town's north end won't be vacant for too long. Hopefully we'll get a different menu than pizza in there too...

The Buck Stops Where?

Well, this is interesting. In the Lafayette News the spotlights on candidate Laura Oster and current Councilor/candidate Kerry Bensman include the now obligatory question of City Administrator Gary Klapahke's performance. While Laura admits to needing to learn the details, Kerry lays out a quick list of financial missteps that apparently put the city into crisis.

This is not sarcastic, but a real question I don't know the answer to: To what extent were Gary's decisions ones that required a Council approval? I know Kerry voted against some financial incentives; I still say if people chose for good reasons not to shop WalMart they wouldn't get any of the $2.3 million kickback, but that's just one topic. Other decisions on where to allocate money etc. - who signs off on it? How do such glaring issues slide through?

Kerry's points cannot be dismissed out of hand, although the primacy of this issue as a campaign strategy is unappealing enough for me to look elsewhere with my votes. It's not shooting the messenger, it's just asking who the message is really from.

So I'm just askin', as usual.

East BoCo Candidate Forums

Here are details to various candidate forums I've found for East Bock:

Louisville:
The League of Women Voters sponsored a forum on Saturday, September 29, it will be televised live on Cable Channel 8, and rebroadcast throughout the weeks leading up to the election.

Lafayette:
The Lafayette Youth Advisory Committee held a forum on Saturday Sept. 29 at Canon Mine Coffee; hopefully they'll be some coverage Wednesday in the Lafayette News.

Council Candidates have been invited to participate in a forum sponsored by the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County and the Human Service Alliance on Friday October 5, 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM at the Lafayette Public Library, 775 West Baseline Road, Lafayette, CO 80026.

On Thursday, October 18 the League of Women Voters will sponsor a Candidates Night at City Hall in the Council Chambers at 6:30 pm. Candidates will have an opportunity to answer questions and share their opinions. This event is open to the public and will also be televised on Government Access Cable Channel 8 and will repeat throughout the weeks leading up to the election.

Longmont:
(From the TimesCall)The Longmont Area Democrats organization is devoting its monthly meeting to a candidates and issues forum from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday October 3 at the City Public Works Building, 375 Airport Road.

At 6:30 p.m. Oct. 11, voters can meet St. Vrain Valley school board and Longmont City Council and mayoral candidates at the 2007 Longmont Candidates Forum in the Albert E. James Auditorium at Longmont High School, 1040 Sunset St.

The mayoral and council candidates also have been invited to discuss their views on the Longmont area’s nonprofit organizations, and how local government can support such groups, during a Thursday luncheon sponsored by the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County. That 11:30 a.m.-to-1:30 p.m. Thursday forum will be at the Longmont Museum & Cultural Center’s museum classroom, 400 Quail Road.

What do you think of forums?What is the best format? My dealings with the 22-person/seven seat race in Boulder leads me to believe we need much higher signature thresholds to get on the ballot.

Lafayette Candidates Need Better Questions

Lafayette's City Administrator Gary Klaphake's job performance has somehow become a highlighted election issue, as opposed to the goals, successes and vision of the current and future Council itself. In the Lafayette News this week, two candidates are spotlighted, Alex Schatz (whom we know well) and Bob Brown (anybody have context on Bob?) . As I read through the articles I see the typical "What qualifies you for Council" question, an open ended (and hyperbole-inducing response by Brown) question on key issues, then a specific reference to Councilor and candidate Kerry Bensman's suggestion Klaphake should be replaced, and what do the candidates think of that.

Seriously?

What a lousy tone and topic to inject into a candidate debate. I know Kerry's felt strongly about this, and that's fine. He should pursue that as he sees fit. But for the paper to champion the cause of one candidate as an across the board campaign issue is way off base. This isn't a policy or vision question, as Councilors should address, it's a potential personnel choice, with an undercurrent of scape-goating and mis-applied responsibility. It's not even and off-base topic people know much about, like should Silver Mine Subs stay open late, or do we need another cop on Hwy 287, or where the heck's the Cheese Importers? Just asking the question asserts a premise most people aren't qualified to evaluate. I want to know what Councilors intend to achieve, not who they intend to hire and fire. It should be a solid assumption of the citizens the Council will direct staff and move people in and out as necessary to achieve their goals. The Lafayette News needs better questions.

Lafayette A Model For Others Part 2

After Wayne Laugesen's chiding of Boulder and kudos to Lafayette as an example of municipal decision making (the Silver Mine Subs scenario), I see that Lafayette's single stream, city-wide recycling program has caught the attention of Louisville's new City Manager Malcolm Fleming. At the Louisville City Council study session earlier this month, Councilor Dave Clabots mentioned Louisville could see how Lafayette’s program worked and possibly use it as a guideline.

So, at the risk of pushing unsolicited advices, what else is worth copying in Lafayette? And don't go negative and say "I'll tell you what isn't worth copying, blah blah blah.." We cover that stuff nearly every day.

By the same token, what should Lafayette copy from others? What are the municipal best practices out there? I like Louisville's highlighted reminder to turn off cell phones, the public meeting detail equivalent to keeping the potholes filled around town. Little things can go a long way.

Lafayette Budget Request

The Discussion over the speeding tickets as revenue generator topic grew into a larger budget debate, and I'm just starting this post to offer a clean beginning. The comment by Anonymousish about coming forward with a whole recipe not just one ingredient to grow the pie was clever. I know on the state level, aw, that's another topic. Anyway, what kind of bundling of budget items could be the "perfect world" scenario? Essentially, how to we rank spending priorities? Can a Council ever truly be expected to be that corporate-minded?

Lafayette Decision Making a Model for Boulder

We went around on this before, and had some more agitated exchanges, but I want to bring it up again because the more well read folks in Boulder are now aware of the Silver Mine Subs issue from a source beyond the (yawn) Camera.

The Boulder Weekly's Wayne Laugesen has highlighted this recent topic as a way to chide Boulder's leadership for their proclivity to take "strange little anonymous complaints seriously and reacting with authority. In doing so, they empower mean-spirited oddballs, turning their silly pet peeves into menacing pit bulls that cause pain."

Wayne's versions of things are often fast and loose with context and he rarely fleshes out all the facts, especially if they would water down his argument. But his point in this week's column is that Boulder's officials could learn from the Lafayette Planning Commission's decision reversing the staff reaction to a noise complaint. He quotes Commissioner Alex Schatz: “A complaint alone is nothing, You need a finding of fact.”

Wayne continues: "Did we hear that correctly? Have we ever before, in modern times, heard a city official question the sanctity and credibility of an anonymous complaint? Not in Boulder, to be certain, but Lafayette apparently hasn’t completed the process of full Boulderization."

Of course the complaint wasn't anonymous; that just makes for a more solid gripe. Read the full smackdown here. Wayne's take is similar to the the point I made in my post - one person's gripe can set into motion huge changes by bureaucrats and officials alike, who take complaints at face value and without contextual analysis as to the scope of the problem. For East BoCoers who like to point at Boulder and make fun, Wayne's article will be a treat. Better yet, recognize when such indulgence of a single complainer happens and a whole new policy is created in your town. And gripe accordingly.

$300K Short in Traffic Tickets?

The Lafayette News reports that the city's budget has been impacted by a nearly $300,000 decrease in expected revenue during 2007 from a particular source: court fines. Depending on the version you read, or heard or saw, there may be some expectation that the city police department needs to and can "step it up a bit"(my words) to help make up lost ground.

If I take the explanation for the decrease at face value, the alternative would presume the police should have been and/or always were involved in mighty prolific traffic ticket writing. On the surface, it just doesn't seem to square with how I imagine the cops spending their days. At $50 a ticket, (and I don't even know if that's a proper assumption), that would mean year-to-date the city is short writing about 6000 tickets - more than 600/month less than predicted? nearly 20 a day, every single day?

I bring it up because I feel the newspaper article stops short of truly analyzing the quotes included in the article. If it is true, I'm guessing the Hwy 287 corridor should be recognized as its own money-generating entity, regardless of the commercial development on the sides.

Green Building Meets "Silver" Building

Lafayette City Council passed a building code ordinance last night requiring 25% of all new home construction to meet relatively strict design standards meant to provide easier access for disabled residents. This was reduced from the original 85% metric originally proposed. While there are exemptions for various scenarios, such as multi-story , multi-unit developments and homes built in areas of steep grades I'm torn between the notion that Lafayette is either incredibly visionary or proudly micromanaging the market for a special interest. Can you be both?

It's a policy debate, not so much a personal one (As is my forte - my uncle in Denver with MS has retrofitted part of his 1920s home to handle the needs of a wheelchair, so I'm not clueless to the challenges of disabled people.) If the "silver tsunami" does hit Lafayette in the future, will the homes ultimately being built under the ordinance be affordable to most of the intended residents? That's just one of several question that come to mind. Plus the cash-in-lieu loophole is always a fascinating hedge on a supposed smart idea. It is the quiet, ultimate compromise.

Like the concept that energy efficiency should be mandated to some level in design and construction, this visitability ordinance addresses another societal value. Fair enough, it was vetted at Planning Commission and passed Council unanimously. Yet energy efficiency can be extrapolated to affecting the planet; visitability doesn't resonate as being quite so "global" a concern. Design mandates are a slippery slope. The special interest-ness of this ordinance may be why only a couple Colorado communities have anything even close to it.

The Subs Will Roll On

Silver Mine Subs in Lafayette must use the front door for all deliveries after 10:00 PM and the city will only consider violations ruled on by a judge as fodder for shutting them down in the future.

Bravo to the Lafayette Planning Commission in Lafayette for placing a defensible policy made up of metrics and logic around this land use issue.

That this arrangement had to become an agenda item instead of a face-to-face conversation with neighbors and staff shows there was a mixture of indifference and intolerance on both sides. This resolution should be a message to other businesses to be aware of their neighbors' concerns. It also raised awareness of nontraditional services and their worthwhile place in town - the fact that Silver Mine frequently serves emergency responders up late highlights a part of the town's activities most people don't think about.

And They're Off - The EastBoCo Races Officially Begin

Here are the candidates for various East BoCo races:

Lafayette has four open seats on the seven-member council, all at-large. The three top vote-getters will serve a four-year term, and the fourth will serve a two-year term.

• Kerry Bensman (incumbent)
  Robert Brown
  Brian Herzfeld
  Stacia Lupberger
  Melinda Medrick-Nye
  Laura Oster
  G. Scott Penfield
  Frank Phillips, (incumbent)
  Jay Ruggeri, (incumbent)
  Alex Schatz

Louisville has four open seats on the seven-member council - one for each Ward in the city, plus the Mayor's spot.
Mayor's seat
Chuck Sisk, (incumbent mayor)
Randy Luallin
Ward I seat
David Clabots, (incumbent)
Annie Hughes
Ward II seat
Sheri Marsella (incumbent)
Ward III seat
Matthew Jones
Hank Dalton

Longmont has four open seats on the seven-member council - including the Mayor's spot.
Mayor's seat
Karen Benker (incumbent)
Doug Brown (incumbent)
Roger Lange (incumbent)
Ward I seat
James De Vore
Brian Hansen
Aaron Rawlins.
Ward III seat
Bonnie Finley
Sean Patrick McCoy
At-large seat
Sarah Levison
Gabe Santos
Paul Tiger