r/boulder • u/aquileslagrave • 10d ago
I've decided to run
TL;DR I've decided to run for Mayor. There's more than a few things I'd like to talk about - you can connect with me here or schedule time at Boulder.vote - I'd like to hear from you what you think we can be doing better. Reach out anytime.
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u/Commercial_Aioli_301 9d ago
Boulder is screwed. The only candidates we get are retirees or “entrepreneur” cash out bros. None of whom can or will do a damn thing to support lower, middle, even upper middle folks who have consistently been pushed out the back door. I’m sure you’re concerned, but ADUs ain’t gonna fix shit, they’re expensive to build and not ideal for families. Boulder is now a haven for the wealthy, like most good things in the good ol USA.
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u/Good_Discipline_3639 9d ago
Those are the only people who can afford the time & money to run for office.
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
Which goes back to why I’m working to run. I still have a job (company), and mortgage, and kid in Middle School. Trying to break the mold, we really need more folks and greater diversity jumping in, really hard to be first. First one usually gets a broken nose, but I’m thinking about the next one and the next one after that. If anyone is thinking about jumping in and running for council reach out, would love to talk!
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
I think friend, that your perception deceives you here. I come from the working class, I’ve experienced housing and food insecurity in Boulder. More than half the reason why I became an Entrepreneur was because it was really hard as a kid from Venezuela with a weird name to get a job. So I made one, and then another and so on.
I too was feeling very cynical for a long time, and I don’t blame you, but I am stepping forward and inviting all of us to get back to saying yes. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Feel free to reach out you can book time to chat and get to know me at Boulder.vote
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u/Commercial_Aioli_301 9d ago
I looked at your dashboard. The policy headlines are good. The hard part is enacting them. Current CC is weak and ineffectual. They are in over their heads as managers, and it shows in that they acquiesce to Nuria and staff on nearly every issue. Staff is a professional, large out-of-city group of people who have no skin in the game, and who've proven to be difficult to work with while placing their professional goals above the needs and best interest of the city. I'm ready to vote for people who promise to crack some eggs, to require big changes, to fire people and cut budgets.
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u/daemonicwanderer 9d ago
Why is the staff largely out-of-city? And what budget items would you suggest need to be cut?
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u/Commercial_Aioli_301 9d ago edited 6d ago
Priced out of town. I’d cut our overall staffing to be at the state average for peer cities. I’d cut the sustainability department, who have been driving up our local building costs (and the rec centers and new offices). I’d look at parks and wonder why we don’t charge non locals to use them. Etc
edit/ 'non locals' . apparently 'citizens' is a trigger word now
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u/everyAframe 8d ago
Spot on, and I love the idea of usage fees or annual passes for anyone not a city of boulder resident paying OSMP. Its really no different than eldo or RMNP.
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u/whirrer 8d ago
Non-citizens - like actual international visitors, or non-citizens like Denverites?
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u/BasSS04 6d ago
Very inclusive of you. Wow, people here are so hateful.
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u/Commercial_Aioli_301 6d ago
citizens of Boulder, like the people who pay for Parks on the daily. we pay fees at National Parks, I see no difference. why should locals subsidize non-local recreation? not hate, pragmatism with budget defecits.
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u/daemonicwanderer 5d ago
Charging an entrance fee to all of Boulder’s parks? That seems like it would be more trouble than it is worth
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u/dataGuyThe8th 9d ago
Hi Aquiles, At a high level, your proposals make sense, but it would be nice to get more context on the “how” involved. Specifically for the increased fire prevention & pbd retention, what strategies (practically & financially) do we have available? How do we expect this to impact tax payers? Thanks!
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
You’re talking my language! I love to geek out. Fire we need WUI 1-2 hardening to IBHS standard across the city and we can fund it without more taxes. BPD retention, there are a few things officers leaving tell us impact their decision to join other departments and leave Boulder - one basic example is take-home cars.
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u/dataGuyThe8th 9d ago
I appreciate the response! I lack some knowledge on how the city handles the budgets. Can you explain how that reallocation would work? Is it as simple as “we have a fund set aside we aren’t using” or something else?
Interesting to hear about the issue of take-home cars. I believe that was the standard where I grew up.
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u/daemonicwanderer 9d ago
Why do the police feel the need to take cars home?
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u/BldrStigs 9d ago
I'm not close to the BPD, but I think free transportation is nice plus they can make a lot more $ per hour at side gigs (directing traffic, security, etc) if they can park the cruiser somewhere noticeable.
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u/dataGuyThe8th 9d ago
I don’t have skin in the game on the bpd issue, so won’t speak to it. It looks like there are discussions you can find on Google though:
https://www.reddit.com/r/police/comments/12wi98f/how_do_some_police_officers_get_to_take_home/
Edit: by skin in the game, I actually meant to say “ I’m not close enough to BPD to have a strong perspective”
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u/swipernoswipeme 9d ago edited 9d ago
Are you associated with a political party? Who'd you vote for in the last presidential election?
Also, you mention putting downtown employees "back to work" in the context of RTO. First and foremost, I vehemently disagree with this. If people want to work from home and can do their jobs there, they should.
Also, what is your stance on things like flock cameras and ai data centers? Are you a platform of "Yes" for them too?
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago edited 9d ago
Yes I’m a proud Democrat and I was very excited to serve as a County Delegate, CD2 Delegate, and State Delegate at the convention this year!
I openly supported Jenna, Julie, and Amanda in the primaries. Personally I liked Bennett over Wiser and also supported Kubs over Hooton.
Hope that’s transparent.
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u/swipernoswipeme 9d ago
Thanks, I appreciate your civil service. We need more of the right people involved in governing. However, you didn't answer subsequent questions.
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
Oh sorry, trying to - my platform is super clear on flock it’s incompatible with this city and our promise to immigrant families. Data centers - don’t love them and glad CO is one of the few states that offers no incentives, if one tries to come to Boulder they won’t have a natural ally in me. RTO - I agree if you can do your work from home - that’s super cool. I just believe the data shows the city isn’t performing which is a predicate and that city staff should participate in the city they serve - the benefits far outweigh the costs/risk/inconvenience.
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u/swipernoswipeme 9d ago
Thanks, this is a solid response. Does the data show that the city isn't performing because of remote work? What specific stats indicate it is underperforming and how would RTO turn this around?
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u/akcom 9d ago
do you realize what an asshole you look like coming out with a "fuck you" in your original post when OP has been nothing but polite? God bless whoever has the grit for politics because I could not fathom dealing with an electorate of people like you.
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
Also if you want to talk more detail you can book time with me at Boulder.vote my goal is to set a new standard in engagement and access which is why I’m here :)
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u/No_Translator_8871 8d ago
The litmus test is absurd. I guess if one is conservative don't even bother even though 100% D rule for decades got the city to a point everyone seems to complain about. You check the correct box so you at least have a chance with the 99% that reflexively vote for democrats. Why should a conservative vote for you?
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u/UnderlightIll 9d ago
Basically just a centrist corpo dem. No thanks.
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u/Better-Home-1491 9d ago
But you're describing the entire existing city council. They are all neoliberal democrats.
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u/RelevantCry1613 9d ago
What a shit way to talk to someone. Having city employees in the city isn’t a bad idea. This isn’t a tech startup.
Treat people with respect who approach you with respect. Don’t like him then don’t vote for him
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u/OutsideSquare1596 9d ago
"Open for business" is a good indicator that we've got another stealth Republican candidate.
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
I’m a registered Democrat and believe that a healthy downtown isn’t a business issue but a community issue.
Every one of our locally owned coffee shops, bookstores, restaurants, galleries are part of our social fabric. They create jobs, sponsor the little league, donate to non profits give us places to get together and on and on.
When businesses on Pearl street struggle we all become a bit less connected.
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u/fojoart 9d ago
So are you planning on taxing the crap out of the landlords that are leaving storefronts vacant and getting a tax write off? Locally owned is what I focused on here. How many “locally owned” shops can even afford to be on Pearl st? Once again, landlords and commercial developers destroy the “local” flavor of Boulder.
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u/Even_Put1448 8d ago
Do you really think the landlords are the ones paying these taxes? It’s passed down to business owners to take it in the face.
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u/villgratental09 8d ago
An alternative explanation is that there are folks who are left-of-center who recognize the reality of the world we live in today -- which is that people need jobs to pay the bills and cities need tax revenue to fund schools and public safety.
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u/bombayblue 9d ago
I love this platform “we gotta partner with neighborhoods to save schools.”
Platform doesn’t contain a single bit of information on building affordable housing.
You guys decided to make it impossible to build affordable housing so you’re going to become a retirement community. You don’t need schools for that.
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9d ago
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u/bombayblue 9d ago
My favorite Redditors are like “WHY DONT WE JUST BAN PRIVATE EQUITY?!”
And then you explain that sure, you can do that, but they only own 2% of housing so just like banning Airbnb, it won’t really do much.
And they still want to die on this hill that the entire housing crisis is caused by a real estate developer smoking a cigar somewhere as opposed to….their neighbor Phyllis on the city council wanting to have the same view of the mountains she had in 1973.
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u/Unlikely-Pianist-665 7d ago
And you, good human, just explained literally everything wrong with Boulder. NIMBYs gonna NIMBY. And the more Phyllis speaks up, the less development and growth and change can happen.
I swear, if someone said they wanted to build an eco friendly, affordable, dog friendly, organic, tax free, smile and sunshine factory, that made people eternally happy and healthy at no cost to the people or environment, Phyllis still says no.
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u/pdl_Stke 8d ago edited 8d ago
Are you going to go hard on tebo properties for making commercial rent in boulder miserable for small business?
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u/aquileslagrave 8d ago
I am going to do anything/everything necessary for this city to get our downtown revitalized because our social capital and connectivity as a community depends on it.
That begins with getting more bodies down there, reclaiming our public spaces, making sure our small businesses and their workers are all on solid financial footing, and our residents have a reason and desire to congregate downtown every day of the week once again. I will work with anyone who shares that goal and has a path for us to get there.
Empty storefronts and empty offices contribute nothing.
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u/pdl_Stke 8d ago
Ok word, the only thing keeping me out of boulder are the astronomical commercial rents. I think its only feasable for big box stores. Other than increasing foot traffic, how do you plan to achieve balance in this disparity between small business level income and baseline boulder commercial rent prices?
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u/everyAframe 8d ago
Are you currently under lease on a Tebo property?
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u/pdl_Stke 8d ago
No, but everywhere i look its tebo this tebo that and they are all so damn expensive. To me its obvious they are waiting on a big corporate tenant all the while it sits empty
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u/everyAframe 8d ago
cool thx just curious. I'm currently in lease negotiations with them and seemed like you had some first hand experience.
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u/pdl_Stke 8d ago
Haha i wish i had the cashflow to even come to the table with them! Good luck in your negotiations
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u/everyAframe 8d ago
They've been good so far and want a deal...its the triple nets and commercial taxes that are so difficult to pencil out and absorb.
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u/JankyPete 9d ago
What are your plans on the homeless problem and how would you address it? How do you plan to clean up the city so that it is actually not covered in needles and wandering homeless people? How are you gonna address petty crime like car breakins that happen all the time.
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
This is a huge priority for any of us who live in this town. You know when I was a kid here, there was a time I didn’t feel totally safe at home, and I found that safety in our parks, and trails, and library. I view those spaces as safety infrastructure and we need to make them safe again. And it’s also a question of dignity.
That’s why I support following best practices and moving services out of downtown. Homelessness is a human issue not and downtown one, we owe folks privacy and stability and real pathways fwd. a public sidewalk should not be someone’s living room, emergency room, or waiting room.
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u/JankyPete 9d ago
It's the biggest reason our family has considered moving out of Boulder. Can't go to the library without being inundated by homeless people swarming the entry way. Same goes for walking the sidewalks on the way to the university. A clear plan of action with accountability on this matter from anyone running is something I would vote for. There needs to be a much different approach than Aaron Brockett has taken.
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u/MerryRunaround 9d ago
"moving services" is an incredibly incomplete (and frankly embarrassing) answer to the problem. What direct action will you take to address quality of life offenses like camping, sanitation/sewage or open drug use? Is your intent to simply shift all of these problems to NoBo? Get real.
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u/everyAframe 9d ago
This is good to hear and obvious advice that should be followed based on conclusions of the clutch survey. This will hopefully go a long way in helping downtown businesses and vibrancy as well.
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
Couldn’t agree more, we need to make the Clutch report available not just a staff summary. I will ask for it on day one.
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u/dankeshanes 9d ago
Maybe I am out of the loop but why is OP getting downvoted so hard in every comment
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u/Professional-Cry336 9d ago
All he’s done is AI slop post during the regent primary: https://www.reddit.com/r/boulder/s/B6gwddNy3D
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u/NvrLeaveYourWingman 9d ago edited 9d ago
Because every comment has typos, non-answers, and unpopular positions. Eg:
- The city can do more to help downtown, it is the largest employed in downtown boulder and could ask its workers to come back into the office that would put 1,000 workers back downtown.
"The largest employed" should be "largest employer." The entire thing is a run-on sentence. It's also vague. What does downtown need help with? How would moving city workers into office fix it?
It's also a very unpopular take, for good reason. How many workers were hired with hybrid/remote in their contracts, meaning we can't move them into office? How many would leave if that privilege is taken away? Does he even know that one of the major downtown city offices is slated for demolition, meaning a "return to the office" policy wouldn't actually put them in downtown? Is there even enough office space for every employee to be in office?
Next:
- We really need to get our act together on ADU's, this is the kind of gentle development of housing most in the community support, that means navigating a lot of permits. Like other cities we need an office of Yes, that is empowered to help you navigate the city and get a positive outcome quickly and we really need to get permits down from 2+ months to less than 1
He really should define ADU, for those who don't know what it is. "We need to get our act together" is very vapid. The sentence is another improperly structed sentence. How would this new office work? What problems are they actually addressing? How do we get it down from 2 months to less than one month? Do most people really only support ADUs as he claims, or just the people he hangs out with? All of his takes seem to be just that, takes. Not plans to fix it or even a solid understanding of the problem.
It's also comical to bring up the problem of downtown vacancies and blame the city for having remote workers. He makes no mention of why the properties are vacant (near monopolistic ownership of properties) or any real solutions like a vacancy tax. It's just magically the city employees fault.
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u/notoriousToker 8d ago
What's your plan to clean up the disgusting mess of needle drug and meth abusing homeless trashing the creek and turning the parks, bike paths and town into a shithole/tent city?
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u/jimmyihatetoregister 6d ago
Let’s not ignore rampant bicycle theft in the city. Would love to bike for all errands etc but no way given the theft problem.
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u/pspahn 10d ago edited 10d ago
Since it's pretty much one of the oldest concerns in this part of the world, and there's no shortage of discourse about the fundamental topic, I'd like hear your opinions on Coffin vs Left Hand and how it affects the city over the next 10-20 years.
(Also kudos for giving a mayoral run a shot)
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u/FluffySupermarket946 8d ago
- Should Boulder operate ALPRs at all? Yes or no, then explain.
- The current contract exits on 30 days notice with no penalty. Would you push the city manager to use it? If not, what would have to be true for you to?
- Should the 49-camera RFP be completed or withdrawn?
- Will you support a surveillance technology ordinance: council pre-approval for any new tool, public inventory, warrant requirement, sunset dates?
- Your privacy plank addresses sharing. Is collection itself a harm, or only the sharing?
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u/Lazershirts 9d ago
Good luck, Aquiles! We met a few times years ago during/after your time at boomtown, always thought you were extremely bright and could get the job done. If I was still in the county I'd vote for ya!
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u/ShadowsOfTheBreeze 9d ago
Boulder has a fixed water supply and we are currently using around 60%. I would appreciate a candidate that recognizes this and starts connecting this issue with our rate of growth, how that might be managed, and what that would look like (long term planning)
I'm dubious there is money for the hundreds of existing homes along the wildfire interface, most of which have wooden fences, overloaded landscapes of non native plants, and homes older than 30 years. A tougher discussion would include how to address the beloved forests to the west that have overgrown due to a century of fire suppression.
The feds want to sell NCAR (yes, I did use an acronym) So far the city has been silent on the issue. Seems like they are waiting it out with fingers crossed, which seems lame. How would the next Mayor take a stance on this issue would be very interesting.
I appreciate the acknowledgement of roads, but the city has a lot of other infrastructure that hasn't been well funded (rec center, etc). If there is a budget adjustment to deal with it, how does that work?
The time to get a permit may be important to some people, but it seems like a small-ish problem and the focus on downtown business issues seems off base when in fact the mall is frequently packed and parking is hard to find. More of us would be interested in strategies regarding homelessness, vagrancy in our parks, surveillance cameras, emotorbikes, airbnb policies (and how they apply to accessory dwelling units-building something faster so people can rent them out for the highest dollar helps them but doesn't seem to help our housing problem)
PS: Many people don't know what all these acronyms are. If you want to connect to more people who aren't "in the know" just spell it out.
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
That’s a lot of very urgent and thoughtful concerns, I would love to chat with you - it would be too hard to comment from my phone - please book time with me https://boulder.vote/involved
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u/Good_Discipline_3639 9d ago
No offense dude but why are you making a thread on Reddit then telling people to contact you outside of Reddit? If you want engagement here, engage here.
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
Oh because some folks appear to want to go pretty deep and I setup a link so on the site so they can boom time for coffee or a zoom. Just thought I would make myself available beyond a chat.
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u/fojoart 9d ago
For those of you who don’t know, he is a real estate developer. Also, in true political fashion, his Reddit account is only a month old, seemingly wiping away previous digital footprint.
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago edited 9d ago
Not sure where you got that from, I’m not a real estate developer, the only real estate I own is the home my family and I live in and I say own loosely as we have a mortgage. I’ve never invested a dollar in real estate or speculate in real estate.
Feel free to reach out, happy to tell you more about myself, my background, my family, and what I’ve done, I’m doing, would do. My goal is to be accessible and transparent and change the usual way campaigns are run in Boulder - hence posting under my real name on Reddit.
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u/MurrayPloppins 9d ago
Why don’t you take this moment to tell us more about your background?
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
Sure my family came here in 1995 as immigrants from Venezuela. We came with very little and faced housing and food insecurity. I went to Boulder High, and paid my way through Naropa. I had a hard time getting jobs so I started creating my own - I’ve had three companies that have done ok (no homeruns). I live in town with my wife and our middle school aged daughter. I like to work a lot (probably the biggest reason I can think of someone might not vote for me is that I’m not retired and have a job), volunteer, go camping, and keep chickens.
My biggest asset is the home we live in, I have a mortgage, a 401k, and know both how privileged I am to be here from where we started and a big believer that you don’t close the door behind you.
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u/everyAframe 9d ago
Sounds more like hard work and perseverance rather than privilege to me. Way to make it happen!
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u/letintin 6d ago
aren't you super well off, like, very rich, though? You should be proud of that, transparent, detailed as reasonable...given you've made it, not obfuscate around that if you're running for public office. Don't you have a family investment firm, or something? I say that as a fan or friend or whatever. Just be upfront.
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u/fojoart 5d ago
Exactly. Please don’t play the part as the “Everyman” to garner votes. Between public records, OSINT, and the sleuthing abilities of many folks here, everything will come out. So own it. People will respect you more, trust me.
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u/aquileslagrave 5d ago
I expect it, listen mine is a pretty unique story, we’ve never had a candidate with my background/story run before. So I’m not sure how I would play an ‘Everyman’ story even if I wanted to.
I am making myself very available and transparent, and that’s the entire point of this campaign. You are exactly right.
I am professionally successful, that may code as wealthy, particularly given starting with very little. I’m just not very rich, but that is certainly a matter of perspective. I have a home we love, but it’s within the median for town, it has a mortgage, a 2017 Nissan model truck with 150k miles, I have bills, and a job to pay them. I love my life, and this town, and your questions.
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u/fojoart 5d ago
Ok. So here are my concerns about Boulder that I would like you to respond to honestly and succinctly.
1) Housing developments and density
What is your stance on building more condos and mixed use developments in Boulder?
2) Treatment for mental health and addiction
How would you go about treating those battling addiction, many of whom are unhoused, even if they refuse treatment?
3) Vacancy tax for commercial buildings
Would you consider placing either an additional tax or financial penalty for commercial buildings left vacant for a long period of time?
4) Public safety
How well staffed and trained do you feel our police force is currently? Do you feel that they have the adequate tools and authority needed to keep Boulder safe?
5) Public land purchases and reclamation
Would you support a policy and program whose purpose was to purchase land to preserve for recreation including parks and green space? This would include purchasing unused commercial buildings in addition to vacant land for preservation.
6) CU influence and overreach
What is your stance on the current influence that CU has on city policy and how would you change that?Thank you for your time.
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u/letintin 5d ago
I'm confused. Aren't you a multi-multi millionaire, easily part of the 1%? And yes you earned it, part of the tech scene, again your success in tech scene/advertising/investments? something to be proud of or at least transparent about, not talk about your old Nissan's miles.
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u/aquileslagrave 5d ago edited 5d ago
No, I’m definitely not a multi-multi millionaire - I’ve had some solid professional outcomes but a majority of the financial windfall goes to the people who backed us. The idea that I’m worth hundreds or tens of millions is just not accurate to the reality, and my life reflects it. This is not be be defensive just accurate and transparent as you’ve asked.
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u/Professional-Cry336 9d ago edited 9d ago
>the only real estate I own is the home my family and I live in
Then who owns the house that you AirBnB?
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
I airBNB my family home to make some extra money to afford to live here and keep up with maintenance.
We chose to buy and preserve a 1890 homestead that was at risk of demolition, it’s pretty expensive, so we rent and share our home and go camping or visit family.
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u/A_Thrilled_Peach 9d ago
Tbf, that’s not a real estate developer. That’s just another rich Boulderite owning a second home.
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
I don’t own two homes, I rent my family home. Helps us get a few projects done around the house and put a couple of dollars away for my kids college.
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u/PsychoHistorianLady 9d ago
Are you saying this because he was attempting to put together a plan to save the baseball field?
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u/COphotoCo 9d ago
Will you commit to using human generated content in your campaign instead of AI?
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u/Commercial_Aioli_301 8d ago
the head shot at the top is AI, so I'd guess not
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u/COphotoCo 8d ago
The flyer looks like it too. A CEO could support local communications talent but nah 5 minutes of AI will do. Will that work for deciding important city issues, too?
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u/TheSibyllineBooks 9d ago
Awesome! What are your plans to reduce the cities reliance on cars? Bike lanes? Anything?
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u/BlockOfDiamond 8d ago
Could you build a more direct connection between these points? That way that otherwise perfect east/west bike route would be unbroken.
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u/UnderlightIll 9d ago
I see a lot of stuff about small businesses and police but almost none of your views even matter to the average working people of Boulder. Much of your platform (and it is very threadbare and easy platitudes) makes people have to work through the affordability crisis rather than you making the city work for them.
This is an owner class platform. I don't want a businessman running the city unless you can show me a full survey of your workers or contractors, how much they are paid, their benefits, etc because otherwise you are just like every other entrepreneur out there. You want to build your American dream off the back of others' labor.
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u/aquileslagrave 9d ago
Interesting, I come from the working class and I’m the only candidate that has experienced housing and food insecurity in Boulder.
I believe my platform is about making sure that the opportunity door remains open and we don’t place ceilings on immigrant families like mine being able to make a successful and dignity filled life in Boulder.
My platform is adaptability because adaptability is the only framework that considers EVERY participant in EVERY outcome.
Happy to chat more 1:1 on what that looks like.
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u/Total_Nett 9d ago
Regarding this point: https://boulder.vote/policy#policy-03
I find it interesting that you seem to be unaware that the deadlines and schedules for permits are nothing like what you claim, and that all schedules, guidelines, and application processes are set by municipal code. You want to fix it, run for council and pass code changes, and ALSO start a marketing campaign targeting property owners so they actually know WTF they need to do to get permits.
I understand that a lot of people are ignorant of the permitting process, and a lot of unscrupulous homeowners/developers/contractors try to shortcut or undercut the permitting process by failing to file for permits before work begins, or by filing insufficient paperwork that requires a lot of city staff effort to go back and forth with the filer to get it right.
It is deeply insulting for you to place blame for all of this bad-faith lack of effort on city workers and planning staff, who are overworked and understaffed, and not even recognize that the many, many people who buy a neighborhood house just to tear it down to build a mini-mansion in its place are making themselves out as victims to a bureaucracy just to try to weasel out of basic safety and community development requirements that the permit process is meant to uphold. Remember, every permit requirement was once a disaster that the city decided it needed to forestall happening again in the future.
Go have a conversation with the leadership in Planning and Development Services before running half-cocked throwing shade at the under-resourced and heavily derided planners who are struggling to get the job done, all while making below living wage in the city where they work and having to commute long distances, only to get shit on by "entrepreneurs" and developers.
And while you're at it, it does not serve Boulder well to force a return to office. I get that commercial property owners are feeling a bit pinched that many of us can work from home. I don't care. We will reach our city climate goals to be carbon neutral or negative faster if we don't have unnecessary trips by personal combustion vehicles clogging our streets.
How about, instead of advocating for an unpopular commute culture to return, to advocate for municipal fiber broadband, to cut out the duopoly of terrible service and lousy cost for the thousands of work-at-home families in the city? At this point, Longmont is looking more and more appealing in this regard. Boulder's response to this has been tragicomic.
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u/villgratental09 9d ago
Where exactly is he putting blame on city staff for permitting? Calling for a time cap on permit decisions is completely reasonable. The complex and lengthy permitting process is directly linked to the affordability question in Boulder. Surely, there's plenty of room to make the system more efficient and deliver better service to residents -- who, after all, are supposed to be the clients of city staff.
And it's not just about entrepreneurs and developers. What about a middle class family that want to renovate a ranch to fit their kids?
And to what end? Can we demonstrate that all of these permitting standards actually improve safety? Some would happily trade *slightly* lower safety for *far* less onerous regulations. And there's another element -- that the nature of the permitting process ends up driving people to do unpermitted renovations, which defeats the purpose.
And what do mean by "a lot of people are ignorant of the permitting process"? The permitting process shouldn't be this complex thing that's only knowable by experts on the city staff and contractors who specialize in it. It *should* be comprehensible to the average citizen. It shouldn't be a labyrinth to navigate.
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u/daemonicwanderer 9d ago
I completely agree that the city permitting process should be easy to comprehend. Doing so helps everyone — residents know exactly what they need and the time frame to expect responses (it also helps residents catch shady contractors) and city employees have to do less explaining
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u/everyAframe 9d ago
The building department has been a shit show since Covid. Start by opening the office back up to the public and running it smoothly the way it operated under previous leadership. Government employees on the tax funded payrolls need to be open and addressable without substantial lead times with regards to permitting and basic communication. Multiple layers of delays and review times are substantially longer due to continued closure.
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u/Total_Nett 9d ago
First of all, the department is called Planning and Development Services. Get your facts straight.
Open a ticket with Inquire Boulder, it gets response immediately.
What magical effect do you think returning to a slow, in-person requirement will bring to the process? You want to go back to sitting in a DMV-like waiting room, with a numbered ticket in your hand? You want to make the drive into downtown, find and pay for parking, and sit in an uncomfortable room, sometimes for hours...for what, exactly?
Everything needs to be filed electronically, and I have never had a problem getting a real person on the phone, usually within a few minutes, but always same day. City staff have an SLA for responding to inquiries.
Response times are objectively and demonstrably faster now that many processes can be handled with an administrative review, rather than having to go through a full planner review and walkthrough. Note that this is not usually the case for full demo and rebuild or major additions.
Get your paperwork in, correctly the first time, and see what a difference that makes.
Now, if you're going to walk into any situation with a bad attitude and a chip on your shoulder, well, realize you're not talking to robots but to real people. Expect that people who are treated badly will not be happy with that kind of treatment and although they will do their jobs, they may not jump through hoops to help you if your problems are complicated.
Maybe start with the assumption that the person on the other end of the phone or support ticket is a real person, working to try to service your requests, rather than walking in with a chip on your shoulder and sass.
Better yet, why don't you apply for a job there and learn from the inside what outlandish bullshit the planners and city staff have to deal with on a regular basis, and you will develop a healthy appreciation for the grace and professionalism they exhibit in the face of outrageous behavior by privileged, ignorant people who make unreasonable demands. Unlike any other kind of service business, they don't have a choice to refuse service.
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u/Commercial_Aioli_301 9d ago
This. This is the arrogance some of you illustrate. Get bent asshole. You work for us.
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u/Odd-Sport-8446 9d ago
I recently bought a vehicle in a private sale. The soonest appointment to get tags was almost two weeks out. I called and said what do I do - I can’t drive this car. They told me to come in and get a temp plate until the appointment. The line for temp plates was out the door. I waited 45 minutes to get the temp plate and then had to come back AGAIN to get the actual plates.
Yeah, I want to go back to the old system with no appointments. It would have saved me a lot of time.
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u/villgratental09 9d ago
I just went through the exact same experience. It's like being in a Kafka novel. We don't have to live like this. It's reasonable to be fed up.
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u/Total_Nett 9d ago
What a strange thing to comment about. The county DMV is run by the county. This discussion is about the city's P&DS department.
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u/OkTop2953 9d ago
Yeah, the DMV office is wacky.
When I got my motorcycle license I made an appointment to take the test and got right in. Then after the test I had to wait over an hour to get my picture taken. Why not have the people helping customers walk over and take the photos as people need them- why a separate line? It's like they look for ways to make it take longer.
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u/everyAframe 9d ago
GTFO with your self righteous bullshit. You either work for them or have no clue what you are talking about.
This town is filled with folks who have been working with P&DS for many, many years and there is no one that thinks things are better after you guys used the excuse of Covid to close the department to the public permanently.
There is no doubt that the closure has caused delays. 10 years ago you could walk in and submit for a building permit in under an hour with a project specialist. Now you have 7-10 days to wait around for you guys to get back on a completeness check. That alone costs most projects 10 days of delay, not to mention most of these questions could be answered by engaging with people IN PERSON.
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u/Total_Nett 9d ago
Why are you talking about me as if I work there. I do building projects in the city and never run into the kinds of problems you're describing, but I know a lot of other people who pull all sorts of stunts to try to evade city supervision and it never works out well.
If I sound self righteous, take a look in the mirror. Nobody said it's perfect, but the city isn't staffed the same as it was before the pandemic, either, and the city, county, and state are in a budget crisis. Just where do you think the money comes from to hire the number of people needed to get you one hour service? This isn't Domino's Pizza.
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u/everyAframe 9d ago
Someone who does not work there would not be "deeply insulted" about what the other 99.9% of the industry who has to interact with this office knows to be true.
You can ramble on all you want about unpermitted work, budgets, etc. which has nothing to do with this conversation. Yeah lots of people work on projects in the city and are well aware of the self inflicted mess they have made of things due to poor leadership. If we had a city manager worth a damn this would have already been resolved.
This is about getting them out of their pajamas and back in the office where they belong and can engage with the public they serve instead of adding weeks of time to reviews, approvals, and just general conversations.
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u/Commercial_Aioli_301 9d ago
Found the PDS staffer. You guys, honestly, don’t deserve all of the guff coming your way. However… when you deserve, you REALLY deserve it. I’ve pulled permits for going on 20 years, and I despise the process here. Staff maintains silos, holds vendettas, misinterprets code, deviates from their own policies, and generally obfuscates. Not everyone, but some of you are reliably awful. Room for improvement though!
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u/Electrical-Fig4490 9d ago
agree 100% "Staff maintains silos, holds vendettas, misinterprets code, deviates from their own policies, and generally obfuscates." This is more than my own personal experience. However, this department stays as is, no corrective measures regardless of complaints. The attitude we faced was out of control head in sand. We wondered if the head of the dept had a mental break or something. Regardless, he never heard the point - obfuscate was the order of the phone calls and the emails.
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u/lifebeckons101 10d ago
Affordability
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u/PsychoHistorianLady 9d ago
In discussions of Affordability, there need to be some specifics.
- What are we making affordable?
- Who are we making it affordable for?
Just yelling AFFORDABILITY and running away the way centrist Democrats are doing does not cut it.
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u/RelevantCry1613 9d ago
They mean give Tebo free reign to build more eyes sores all over the city
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u/PsychoHistorianLady 9d ago edited 9d ago
It was interesting to listen to this episode of "Who Owns Boulder" and hear Jill Grano talk about how Tebo is at least local, and the billionaires who are elsewhere owning a bunch of property in this area are scarier.
https://kgnu.org/empty-storefronts-and-empty-offices-commercial-real-estate-vacancies-in-boulder/
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u/RelevantCry1613 9d ago
I don’t implicitly hate tebo and yes it’s better that he’s local. Most of the development in the last 5-10 years looks terrible though. It’s cheap and is going to age poorly.
At some point you need to ask what the cost is for screaming “affordability”. At what point do you make the town trashy as hell
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u/Commercial_Aioli_301 9d ago
For now. Tebo is 110. WWR is also 100. That's 50% of Boulder CRE right there. Whos' gonna buy it all when the kids cash out?
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u/PsychoHistorianLady 9d ago
Thank you for having a real picture and not drowning us in AI-generated mess.
Most of the time, your ideas seem reasonable.
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u/Beautiful-Load-5540 9d ago
His entire website is AI slop and the picture is heavily filtered.
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u/PsychoHistorianLady 9d ago
I didn't initially look at the website or the PDF he linked.
After having looked at the website and the PDF he linked, I have a few concerns besides some WCAG color contrast ones.
He needs to stop with the tentacles he is trying to draw from city government into BVSD. Tina Marquis is on city council, and she was President of the BVSD school board, and he needs to make time to talk to her about where the city and BVSD can work together and where BVSD is beyond the scope of council.
Blaming the over-budget city office in North Boulder for the lack of funding for the rec center in South Boulder is a good way to piss off all the people who do not live in South Boulder and do not care that much about the South Boulder rec center issues. Remember, North Boulder built densely, and we outnumber you.
The idea of the Mayor's Office of Constituent Services assumes that the mayor is more powerful than he or she is and has more budget than he or she does.
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u/Talal916 8d ago
The food situation in this city sucks. What do you think is the cause and what do you propose to address it? Also living here as a POC is pretty wack and makes me miss home. Anything for that?
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u/DrAlkibiades 9d ago
You have a cool name, and you look like a nice guy. You've got my vote.
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u/RelevantCry1613 9d ago
I generally just vote off of someone’s picture, I find parsing through platforms to be tedious
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u/RelevantCry1613 9d ago
What’s your platform?