[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:16] Well, good evening. Once again, I guess we're going to start just a few minutes early. Thank you for being here and and good evening. I'm Sean Pearman, the chairman of the board of the Wheatridge Chamber of Commerce. Like the welcome you to the 2023 Wheatridge candidate forum. We're proud to offer this in conjunction with Wheatridge TV 8. The Wheatridge Chamber of Commerce is a nonpartisan in this election. We're here to empower our residents to understand the
[0:46] the issues and have the opportunity to meet their prospective city council members.
[0:51] Questions were submitted by you in advance of this discussion because of the time constraints.
[0:58] Not all questions submitted will be asked.
[1:01] If we couldn't get to your question, we encourage you to stick around afterwards and chat with
[1:08] the candidates.
[1:10] The goal of the forum is to present the views of the candidates in a fair nonpartisan
[1:16] setting so that you the voters can make an informed decision.
[1:20] This forum is being recorded and broadcast live on Wheat Ridge TV 8.
[1:26] Now I'd like to introduce tonight's moderator, Andrew Hobner, of CBS.
[1:33] Andrew graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, yay Boulder, that's where my oldest
[1:38] son graduated as well, and many years later remains a proud buff. His career in journalism
[1:45] started at KTWO TV in Casper, Wyoming. There he learned the buckhorn role and covered
[1:54] everything from Cheyenne Frontier days to Josh Allen's star turn on the Wyoming Cowboys
[1:59] football team. After that he headed to Eugene, Oregon to lead the sports department at KEEZ
[2:07] TV. There he covered Rose Bulls and Festivals, the College World Series, the NCAA Final
[2:16] 4, and his next role was reporting at CBS News Sacramento, where he covered everything
[2:23] from an earthquake in Humboldt County to the Sacramento Kings playoff runs. Andrews glad
[2:29] to be back where it all began in Colorado. In addition to his reporting across the
[2:35] state. He's a your reporter for Jefferson County. He's glad to be telling stories that are
[2:42] important to viewers often reporting on wheat-rids specific issues. Please join me in welcoming Andrew
[2:49] Hobbner.
[2:58] Well, thank you ladies and gentlemen. Thank you to the city for allowing me to be here and
[3:03] moderate this. We have an award show, the candid form that is starting early, which I can say would
[3:09] never happened in televisions.
[3:11] So thank all of you for the expediency here.
[3:15] In spite of being a Colorado buff,
[3:17] I promise to be totally nonpartisan.
[3:19] Thankfully, I don't think there are any CSU-related questions
[3:21] in here, so we should be good.
[3:23] And I think generally glad to be here
[3:28] and glad that we're able to offer this opportunity
[3:30] for everybody, so.
[3:32] Now we begin our question.
[3:34] So each of our candidates here has two minutes to respond.
[3:37] We're going to rotate the order
[3:38] in which each of you speaks, and everybody has the chance to speak for each question.
[3:44] So the first question, and relatively easy one before we get into the hard fare, what
[3:49] do you love the most about living in Wheat Ridge, and what steps could you take in your position
[3:53] to preserve and protect those things, Corey, you're up first.
[3:58] Okay.
[3:59] Do we do a tune?
[4:04] This is one of the amazing things about live television.
[4:08] Great.
[4:10] Sorry, guys.
[4:13] Excellent.
[4:14] So all candidates whose names will appear on the ballot have been invited and receded in the order in which their names appear on the ballot.
[4:21] the views expressed during this forum will be those of the candidates, not the views of CBS,
[4:27] the Wheat Ridge Chamber of Commerce, or the City of Wheat Ridge. We take no stand in support
[4:31] or opposition to these candidates. We'll begin each section with opening statements from each
[4:36] of the candidates followed by a number of questions for each candidate. Candidates will take turns
[4:41] in responding to the questions and will have two minutes to respond to each question. Each candidate
[4:46] will then end with a one-minute closing statement. And now we are going to hear from the candidates
[4:52] themselves. We'll begin with the candidates for mayor and then the candidates for city council.
[4:56] We have one mayoral candidate and six city council candidates all running for a four-year term.
[5:02] Cory Stites, running for mayor. Kathleen Martell, running for district one. Alex Goldsmith and
[5:08] Scott Ome, running for district two. Patrick Quinn and Justin Slocum, running for district three.
[5:13] and lastly, Mike Okata running or district 4.
[5:17] So each of you guys has two minutes for an opening statement, two minutes to answer each
[5:21] question, and one for the closing comments.
[5:24] We'll start with you, Corey, fall start, so let's give you a chance now.
[5:29] All right.
[5:29] Well, my name is Corey Stites, and I'm one of the luckiest people in the world, because I actually
[5:34] got to grow up here in Wheat Ridge, and I got to grow up in the same house pretty much that
[5:38] I live in now.
[5:39] I lived for the first four years of my life on Allyson Court near the old Lutheran hospital
[5:44] And I then spent most of the rest of my life down at about 35th and ward area kind of in the color strand
[5:50] Lewis, Lewis Meadows Park area. I absolutely love Wheat Ridge and I think most people that know me
[5:57] It's it's like one of my passions and one of the reasons is because when I grew up here
[6:02] My and many people know this my grandfather was the mayor of Wheat Ridge as I was a kid and getting to
[6:08] to see the way people and see the way he interacted with people
[6:12] and solving problems for people,
[6:15] including people on my own street now,
[6:17] my own cul-de-sac is a cul-de-sac
[6:20] because he finally stepped in and made a decision
[6:22] for what was best for the people and not what the city wanted.
[6:26] And I think standing up for the citizens
[6:28] has been really, really important
[6:30] to my entire family, my dad, who spent 10 years on council,
[6:33] myself now after six years being on council,
[6:35] three years as Mayor Pro Temp.
[6:36] I absolutely love what we've been able to do as a council here in Wheat Ridge.
[6:41] Before I get into that, I just want to talk a little bit about myself personally.
[6:45] I'm, again, lucky to have grown up in Wheat Ridge.
[6:47] My family, my wife Sarah, my two kids, Riley and Brandon, were a part of the color strand community a few years ago.
[6:55] Color strand, unfortunately, closed.
[6:57] And now they're a part of the Prospect Valley and Man in community.
[7:00] Absolutely love that.
[7:01] It's fantastic to be a part of those communities and get an opportunity to see
[7:05] community, how those communities are developing and staying together, no matter the change that
[7:10] comes through our Jepco schools or our community.
[7:16] We ridges a diamond in the rough.
[7:19] It's something that people, they drive by it on I-70, they don't know how amazing it is,
[7:25] but that's something that we who live here absolutely know what a great, fantastic place
[7:29] it is.
[7:30] And we're lucky to be here, and we need to keep it that way.
[7:32] So I hope, obviously, if you vote for me, that's something I'm going to be really, really
[7:36] important. I'm going to work really hard to make sure that we continue to work on. Thank you.
[7:40] Thank you, Court. Kathleen, two minutes for your opening statement.
[7:47] We will not start the time
[7:48] run until we get to the point. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Wheatridge Chamber, City of Wheatridge,
[7:56] Andrew, and all of you who are here tonight and everybody watching from home. My name is Kathleen
[8:01] Martell and I'm running for Wheatridge City Council District 1. For those not familiar with the
[8:08] District Lions District 1 is from Sheridan to Wadsworth and it's the southern half of
[8:14] the city from 38th are Main Street and Ridge on 38th all the way down to our
[8:19] quirky southern border which is around 26 to 32nd. I'm running for City Council
[8:25] because I love Wheat Ridge and I'm very excited about our future. As a 25-year
[8:29] resident and a 15-year volunteer my volunteer time and community engagement has
[8:34] very organically involved into my campaign for City Council. I was a member of the First
[8:41] Wheaties Academy cohort and volunteered with a subsequent cohort. Wheaties Academy
[8:45] was a grassroots community and leadership program and a precursor to the current Wheat
[8:51] Ridge 101 and Wheat Ridge 102 programs. I've served on the board of directors for local
[8:56] works and many local works committees. I was co-chair of the 2018-2019 neighborhood revitalization
[9:04] strategy and a member of the recent city plan steering committee which brought forward
[9:09] the city plan recently adopted by city council. As an artist and instructor I serve on
[9:15] the Wheat Ridge Cultural Commission with three years as of the chair and I'm a metal shop
[9:20] captain and welding instructor at Clear Creek Makerspace. I share this to show that my
[9:25] interest and experience in Wheat Ridge is vast and varied. From committees to commissions
[9:30] to city plans. I've worked hard to move differing opinions from equally passionate residents and community members forward.
[9:38] While we might not each get everything we want, I believe in moving forward with the best solution for the most good,
[9:44] retaining what makes Wheat Ridge great. I believe in the power of hyper- local impact, building trust and making decisions together.
[9:51] And through my hands-on involvement as a volunteer and leader, I am prepared to find common ground and provide local leadership as we move Wheat Ridge forward.
[9:59] Thank you.
[10:00] Thank you, Kathleen.
[10:03] Alex, your opening statement, please.
[10:08] I am Alex Kool-Smith, and I'm running for City Council to represent District 2 for my daughter.
[10:13] The decisions being made here today are going to impact her
[10:16] throughout her entire childhood here in Webrich.
[10:19] And I want to make sure that I'm at the table helping make those decisions that she can fall in love with the city just like I have.
[10:25] I want my daughter to grow up in a neighborhood where kids can walk to school safely, get ice cream with their friends,
[10:30] and be able to trick or treat our welcoming streets.
[10:34] I want my daughter to be able to have a freedom
[10:35] to travel throughout our city at a young age.
[10:39] That vision drives my commitment to safer,
[10:42] more accessible infrastructure,
[10:43] especially along 44th Avenue,
[10:45] which is the backbone of District Two.
[10:47] We need to focus on continuous protected corridors
[10:51] for pedestrians and bicyclists
[10:53] to connect our parks, our gathering spaces,
[10:56] our businesses, and our neighborhoods.
[10:58] I am also running for City Council to give district to a choice in representation.
[11:04] Over the past two municipal elections, we've had uncontested races.
[11:08] Competition creates better candidates, forces us to reach out to our neighbors and be able to find out what issues are affecting them and how we can make their voices heard.
[11:17] If elected, I will work with City staff to create education outreach programs so that residents can both run for City Council and be able to also be involved in civic life.
[11:27] Our city is stronger when leadership is reflected by their community.
[11:32] I believe in building community through connection, maintaining connected corridors that bridge
[11:37] our neighborhoods together to create a self-sustaining local economy, where our neighbors can support
[11:43] each other, businesses can thrive, and workers have real opportunities to grow and live in the
[11:50] same community that they serve.
[11:52] We ridges a welcoming community for all, we can embrace each other here and grow together.
[11:58] Thank you.
[12:00] Thank you, Alex.
[12:01] Scott, your opening statement, please.
[12:03] Thank you.
[12:04] I'm Scott O'Me and I'm running for re-election to Weaver City Council District 2.
[12:08] A person asked me if I like politics.
[12:11] I like helping people in my community thrive.
[12:15] I've been in Weaver for 19 years.
[12:17] My wife and I have raised two kids who were able to walk and bike, to parks, to schools.
[12:23] and into their friend's house.
[12:25] I've served in City Weaveridge for four years,
[12:28] creating policies that protect us,
[12:30] provide affordable housing solutions
[12:32] and encourage by pedestrian connectivity in two places.
[12:36] I was on the planning commission for 11 years
[12:37] where my job was to review development
[12:40] for a code compliant with the city
[12:42] and I'm on the board of directors
[12:44] for the Weaver sanitation district.
[12:46] I've approved my record of showing up
[12:48] listening and advocating for my district
[12:51] to constituents so we can identify issues and sell problems together for our community.
[12:56] I'm a landscape architect so I spend my days designing streetscapes affordable housing
[13:00] in projects that conserve water and keep the community safe and deliverable.
[13:05] Working closely with developers, city staff and builders has taught me how to balance
[13:08] big ideas with real, real, real constraints in how to turn good plans into projects that
[13:12] truly benefit we rich.
[13:15] I think we can, we have a lot of challenges coming down the road and we can be proactive
[13:19] initiative by making smart for thinking decisions that strengthen the economy, support
[13:23] vibrant businesses, and preserve the character of our neighborhoods.
[13:26] My vision for Wheat Ridge builds on the strengths of connecting to our outdoor spaces,
[13:31] to create unique places that are destinations for our community to die and shop and provide
[13:36] recreation opportunities that raise the quality of life for all of us.
[13:40] Thank you.
[13:42] Thank you, Scott.
[13:43] Patrick, opening statement.
[13:47] Thanks Andrew.
[13:47] Drew, thanks everyone for being here and thanks Chamber of Commerce for having this.
[13:52] Tell a little bit about myself here.
[13:54] My name is Pat Quinn.
[13:55] I've proudly called Wheatridge home for over 35 years.
[13:59] What started out as a fixed and flipped project became my permanent home and I'm really grateful
[14:05] I did that.
[14:06] You know, I love the community, it's easy to get around, full of great restaurants, shopping
[14:12] and most importantly, I have really great neighbors.
[14:15] I began my career as a heavy equipment operator in the electric line trade through the International
[14:21] Brotherhood of Electrical Workers' Local Union 111.
[14:24] And now, through the experience in training programs, I currently work in the Distribution
[14:30] Design Department at Excel Energy, and I'm responsible for designing electric and natural gas infrastructure
[14:37] for the utility.
[14:39] I believe that I bring a lifetime of experience that I feel make me well suited to serve on the council.
[14:47] During my time in the union, I was appointed as a steward and served on the executive board
[14:52] which manages a multi-million dollar budget and sets policy for over 4,000 members.
[15:00] And during that time on the board, I served as recording secretary and was elected and fulfilled two terms as president of the largest IBW local in our district covering five states in the Rocky Mountain region. I've helped negotiate several contracts advocating for fair wages, safe working conditions, and long-term stability for our members. I also completed a labor lobbying course through the FLCIO where I spent time at the Capitol,
[15:29] supporting initiatives such as the Office of Justice Transition, which will help workers affected by power plant closures find new work opportunities.
[15:39] Locally, I've completed Wheat Ridge 101 and the first 102 graduated from the Citizens Police Academy and currently serve as the Chair of the Planning Commission.
[15:50] I was also appointed to the Tri-State Workforce Board by Jefferson County State Representative
[15:56] she leader, where I help support workforce development across our region.
[16:02] I'm ready for city council because I care deeply about the community and want to help shape
[16:07] the future.
[16:08] Thanks for everything.
[16:09] Thank you, Pat.
[16:11] Justin, you're offering a statement, please.
[16:13] Thank you, Andrew.
[16:14] And thank you for all you wonderful people showing up here.
[16:18] I'm here for you.
[16:19] So that's why I'm here.
[16:21] I'm here because our voice in the citizen has gone silent.
[16:26] So it's important for me and my agenda to bring the education back to the citizens.
[16:35] To get you guys involved in the next election cycle, have to use both these rooms because
[16:41] the participation is so passionate and you guys are so interested in your community.
[16:47] That's why I'm here.
[16:47] I want you guys to have a voice. I don't matter, you do. I'm just the conduit for every
[16:55] single one of you in my district to have that voice because in my experience in this building
[17:04] it has gone silent and it makes me really sad. And one of the things that brought me into
[17:11] this epiphany for this position is I sat in front of a bunch of our senior, our should
[17:22] be most cherished class of people, the people with the most wisdom and community, and they
[17:27] were terrified of their government, and that is unacceptable to me.
[17:30] I will not tolerate our citizens being afraid of this body, that is not okay and I will not
[17:37] stand for it and I will not stand for government getting power over the
[17:42] citizens. So my job is to empower every single one of you to have that voice to
[17:48] keep us accountable. Thank you. Thank you Justin. Mike.
[17:55] Thank you everybody. My
[17:56] name is Michael Conner and running in District 4.
[18:00] I was born here in Colorado
[18:02] and I lived my entire life in the in the front range. I went to I grew up on the
[18:07] North Side of Stanley Lake and I went to college at CSU in Fort Collins.
[18:11] So Andrew.
[18:13] Sorry, we can be friends here.
[18:15] Indeed, indeed, we can.
[18:18] My wife and I have had the privilege of renting our home in nearly a dozen cities throughout
[18:24] the state of Colorado and to name a few, we lived in Firestone in Longmont.
[18:30] We lived in our vata but when it came time for us to purchase a home, when it came time
[18:35] for us to sew down our roots and get a deeper connection
[18:37] to the place that we were living, we chose wheat rich.
[18:40] And it was a wonderful feeling to be able to finally buy a home
[18:43] just in general because that's not something that everybody gets
[18:46] to enjoy, but it was a wonderful feeling to be able to get the
[18:49] afford a home here and be able to get selective and specific
[18:51] with what we wanted to do.
[18:54] I've had the privilege of in my professional career
[18:57] of being a community relations manager and during my time
[19:00] in community relations, I've worked with a whole slew of governmental entities throughout
[19:07] the state of Colorado in particular municipal governments, so different cities.
[19:11] During that time, I've gotten a lot of opportunity to be able to see what works, see what doesn't
[19:15] work, see what real advocacy for the citizenry can do, and then see what happens when that
[19:22] advocacy can get messed up and not go quite right.
[19:26] My time in Wheat Ridge so far has been extremely inspiring because there's been a lot
[19:30] of exposure that I've been able to have the privilege to be able to see. I've spent a lot of
[19:34] time in this chamber watching the mechanisms of government occur and there's something there's
[19:40] something hard to describe when things feel like they're going quite well when when there's an
[19:44] efficacy and there's an expediency to the way that we're getting stuff done and we rich hasn't
[19:49] always have that and if you were to roll a dice and just pick a city at random in the city of Colorado
[19:53] it's likely that they don't have it either so I'm here to be able to contribute what I can to that same
[19:58] kind of a voice. Thank you. Thank you to Mike. Thank you to all our candidates and now we will
[20:03] get into the questions and much like my beloved Buffalo's football team. We'll see if I can overcome
[20:08] a slow start and finish hard. So let's begin with our questions. Each of you have two minutes to
[20:13] respond. We're going to rotate the order in which each of you speak. So everybody has a chance to go
[20:17] first, Corey, you are up first, as we know. What do you love most about living in Wheat Ridge and what
[20:22] steps could you take in your position to preserve and protect those things? That's a great question.
[20:27] And I think I said it in my open statement, I love Wheat Ridge.
[20:30] Wheat Ridge is a place I've grown up.
[20:31] It's a great place to raise a family.
[20:32] It's an amazing place physically and emotionally.
[20:37] It's really kind of a, it's a community.
[20:43] And when Wheat Ridge was first incorporated back in 1969
[20:47] and there was a lot of divisiveness between Lakewood Wheat Ridge
[20:50] and the people, even in Wheat Ridge, who didn't want
[20:52] to be a part of Wheat Ridge, one of the things
[20:54] that my grandfather did was create a the Carnation Festival and the Carnation Festival
[20:58] and now we have Ridge Fest and several other things that go on. The wine walk this week
[21:03] and that the Chamber put on was amazing but it's the community. It's the people coming
[21:08] together and that's will be always wheat rich, the community. Physical things will change,
[21:15] buildings will change, roads will change, roads with will change as we know. But what will
[21:23] will never change is the community and staying together as a community.
[21:27] So it's building things like the green at 38th Avenue.
[21:31] And if anybody was there for the opening of the green, it was an amazing thing.
[21:35] It was so cool to see so many people coming out together and supporting each other.
[21:39] It's amazing to get to go to the business association meetings and the chamber meetings and
[21:43] see businesses supporting each other.
[21:45] It's amazing to come here on a Monday night and have a group of citizens come to us with
[21:51] noise complaint or something like that and be able to step in and solve it as a community.
[21:56] So the more we can stick together as a community the more will always be strong and the better we'll do.
[22:01] So I hope that we can preserve our community, continue to build things that bring our community together,
[22:07] keep our patchwork quilt but make it easy to come back together and always have this
[22:11] Wheat Ridge community forever. Thank you.
[22:24] So, gosh, I love Wheat Ridge. I love everything about Wheat Ridge. And as Quay said, I alluded
[22:29] to a lot of that in my opening remarks.
[22:34] Similar to Quay, I think the community feel here
[22:37] in Wheat Ridge as part of why I love it. There are so many different ways to be involved.
[22:41] There are so many wonderful avenues you can pursue. Personally, for me, it has been through
[22:47] volunteer work, and a lot of that has led to working with different businesses, partnering
[22:53] with different organizations. I think that we have amazing business organizations, we
[23:00] have amazing art and creative organizations, and I find myself bragging about WeRidge all
[23:07] the time. My friends who live outside of WeRidge are probably tired of hearing me talk about
[23:11] all the amazing things we do. But the important part of that question I think is what we can
[23:17] due to preserve what we love about Wheat Ridge and as a City Council member, one of my
[23:24] main plans is to partner with the existing City Council member SNL in District 1.
[23:30] We're already talking about how we can create a cadence of district meetings so that we
[23:36] are not only sharing information with our community to make sure our district isn't formed, but
[23:41] also getting feedback from them as to what's working, what isn't, what's happening, what
[23:46] What are they worried about so that we have that two-way communication going which will
[23:50] allow us to keep the things that we love and make sure that we rich stays the community
[23:57] that we love.
[23:58] Thank you.
[24:07] What I really love about We Rich among all the other things that these other candidates
[24:11] have said so far is the open spaces and the commitment to bringing together third places
[24:18] outside of people's homes and gathering spaces so that we can get to know our community.
[24:22] I'm a Jeff Co. Master Gardener and one of my favorite things in my Bel Air
[24:26] neighborhood is the Happiness Gardens. I love the fact that YY Dennis puts so much
[24:31] effort and energy into creating great spaces where we can have the reward of
[24:35] vegetables and fruit but also have the reward of seeing pollinators happy with
[24:39] our native species. I'm really excited that Randall Park is going to be getting a
[24:43] new community garden and I'm excited to be able to see how that community garden can
[24:47] and bring that community together.
[24:49] Places for people to have a community
[24:53] that can grow together and get to know each other.
[24:56] I also really love the people's passion here
[24:58] on Wheatridge.
[24:59] It is contagious.
[25:00] It makes me want to go out and spend my time, my energy,
[25:04] and my money to make our city and our community great.
[25:07] When I volunteer, I meet people who
[25:09] want to make Wheatridge better.
[25:11] Through my work with the community partners grant program,
[25:14] I've met a lot of incredible organizations
[25:16] that have dedicated their resources and time to create safety nets for our most vulnerable community members.
[25:22] The community spirit drives me to get dedicate my own time and energy and encourages me that the vision for this city will support any family who feels like this is their home.
[25:35] Thank you.
[25:42] Thank you.
[25:43] What I love about Rewards, I think, you know, it's definitely out start with community, I'm very, very pro community, I'm very supportive community and I see the community always sports each other, whether it's, you know, through our business establishments, I had a lot of conversations with our businesses, you know, and how they support each other with our shared parking and these aren't even formal agreements when there's festivals that come up and, you know, and then having, you know, access to all our beautiful parks, our trails,
[26:14] I see people walking their dogs through my neighborhood and I feel like that's kind of like a way to kind of keep some eyes on things in our neighborhood.
[26:23] And saying hi to those people, whether it's the beauty of the trees are open spaces and having the opportunities.
[26:33] I feel like so many times I connect with somebody and they ask me, how can I get more involved in the community?
[26:38] We have a really strong record of having a diverse community that supports each other.
[26:48] We have a really good reputation when it's not just in Wheatridge, but when I travel
[26:53] and meet with other city council members and mayors, Wheatridge always comes up.
[26:58] There's so much respect for the name of Wheatridge because what we do here is something different.
[27:02] We do have a tight community.
[27:03] We have a lot of different celebrations and I feel like between the diversity of people,
[27:09] the diversity in our housing, there's a lot of opportunities to get involved with our
[27:13] city.
[27:14] It's beautiful.
[27:15] I love seeing all the different people that I know and meeting new friends and connecting
[27:21] with them and it's usually about how can I help make Wheat Ridge a better place?
[27:28] Thank you.
[27:29] Thank you Scott.
[27:31] Patrick.
[27:33] Thanks Andrew.
[27:34] Scott stole everything I was going to say.
[27:39] I think that it's hard to answer that question.
[27:42] What do I love about wheat rich?
[27:44] It's probably easier to say what do I not like about wheat rich
[27:47] which there really isn't anything.
[27:52] I've lived in my little house like I said for 35 years
[27:55] and I've seen the neighborhood ebb and flow with kids
[27:58] and folks move in, have a few kids
[28:03] and watching them grow favorite times right around the corner, seeing little kids in their Halloween costumes show up.
[28:10] And I think it's really cool to see the ebb and flow, then they kind of go on to college or school, you know, bigger schools and move on.
[28:19] I think that's what I really love about it. It's the community, the family environment.
[28:23] You see that at, as Cory said, the opening of the green on 38th.
[28:30] A neighbor of mine has a, her grandson is a autistic kid and she's like,
[28:36] this is a really nice, inclusive playground.
[28:39] There was a lot of thought that went into it.
[28:41] And she was really happy and had her grandson or brought her son
[28:45] and the grandson to the opening and they played on the playground there.
[28:49] I think one thing that we need to, you do to preserve that is, as Alex had said, we have
[28:55] that community grant funding mechanism, and I'd like to see that grow a little bit, because
[29:02] in this day and age, there's a lot of people that need help.
[29:06] The food bank, when I was here last Monday for the study session and the community grant
[29:14] committee gave their recommendations. There was a lot of outfits that kind of got cut off and
[29:20] it liked to see them be able to get the grant money to prosper. I like to make sure that we're
[29:26] able to fund roadways to keep sidewalks better so the kids can get to school and that's just a few
[29:42] about words. First of all, I love seeing all of you guys here.
[29:45] It's one of you is an opportunity for me to learn, and that's amazing.
[29:49] You know, my great-grandfather moved to Weeridge in 1951.
[29:53] I'm a Colorado native. He was a boiler maker.
[29:57] He built the, at least help.
[30:00] I'm going to build this team mentioned, part of the team that used to go around lakeside. So, you know, the memories I have from when I was a small child. Going to their house, barbecue's a great grandpa's house, fourth of July, walking across the street to watch the fireworks show. That's what I remember about wheat rich. I didn't know it was like, you know, you don't know lakeside, you don't know wheat, you don't know that stuff. It's just all one big, beautiful memory. And I want to see all of those things in this community grow. You know, we get so busy in this hustle and bustle life.
[30:29] If we have, it becomes so kind of washed with our careers and our busy lives that we forget
[30:37] what really brought us joy as children.
[30:39] And while we actually work for a living, we work for a living so we can afford to enjoy
[30:43] our lives.
[30:44] I see children riding their bikes up and down the neighborhood.
[30:49] It's getting to a point where kids are out planning and this is a beautiful thing and making
[30:54] more opportunities to educate our youth and to get people out there and join this community
[30:59] to encourage the next generation to continue, we ridged the way we see it.
[31:04] And it just to be this beautiful memory they get to live their entire lives, that's what I want to do.
[31:10] I want to create educational opportunities for children so they can learn how the civic side of what things work.
[31:17] From a young age to maybe they get involved in these city-politik things work, or they can start to learn and represent their communities the way I hope I can.
[31:25] and to make their communities just proud of them is I hope you guys will be of me.
[31:31] I get this opportunity.
[31:33] Thank you.
[31:34] Thank you, Justin.
[31:35] Mike.
[31:37] Thank you.
[31:38] I love most about Wearage.
[31:41] I probably won't hone in on one thing, but I love Hynees.
[31:43] Hynees is pretty cool.
[31:45] The 38th on the green.
[31:47] Another pretty awesome feature of our wonderful city.
[31:50] But if I zoom out and I think about it in a broader sense,
[31:53] I, we have a new, we, the community that I live in, the town homes that are at, at Ward
[32:00] Station.
[32:01] We're brand new.
[32:02] A lot of us are first time home owners.
[32:04] Some of us are retirees that decided to downsize and sell their larger homes.
[32:10] And we're a new community that's on the north side of I-70 and we're kind of separated physically
[32:14] from Wheat Ridge to a degree.
[32:17] But I feel like if you were to take our community and just plop it down brand new fresh in
[32:23] a whole bunch of cities we would be kind of on our own and we'd be kind of
[32:26] fending for ourselves. It would be how do we build something that's us and purely us
[32:30] in the context of this larger scheme that is a little bit irrelevant.
[32:34] In Wheat Ridge that certainly wasn't the case. We very immediately felt connected to
[32:39] the community. We very immediately felt outreach not just from city staff but
[32:44] also from the folks that are representing us and doing the civic government
[32:53] And if I were to think about it, since I have the most time out of anybody to think about it,
[32:57] if I were to think about it, I think that might be what I love most about weed ridge.
[33:01] There's something about the passion that was mentioned earlier.
[33:04] There's something about the integration that you feel when you hear, and it's very automatic to feel welcome here in weed ridge.
[33:12] It reminds me of a moment that I had with, when I was gathering signatures at the parade,
[33:17] where often I got a whole bunch of reactions when I asked people for signatures,
[33:21] but one of the reactions that I got when I asked you live in Wheat Ridge was nobody wish I did.
[33:26] And so I was like, oh, well, instead of trying to get a signature for me,
[33:29] tell me more about what it is. And it reflects a lot of what was talked about here.
[33:34] Encouraging people to come live with us, I think, is an incredible thing.
[33:36] I probably left just a few seconds to talk about preserving protect, but when I hear of those words,
[33:40] I think about public safety. Thank you.
[33:44] Thank you, Mike.
[33:45] Now the following questions, the rest of the way
[33:47] have been submitted by residents
[33:49] and for those that are watching online,
[33:50] for those that are here that have submitted,
[33:52] we very much appreciate all of you that did submit.
[33:55] And if your questions were not answered
[33:58] in the course of this candidate forum,
[34:00] we'll also be answering some of them
[34:02] on the city's Facebook page as well.
[34:03] But for now, we will go with the ones that we have
[34:06] and we will start with you, Kathleen.
[34:08] The question is, what do you believe
[34:10] is Wheat Ridge's most urgent challenge
[34:12] and what steps would you take to address it?
[34:17] So I think the most urgent question facing,
[34:21] or most urgent challenge facing Wheat Ridge right now,
[34:25] is housing, it's not just facing Wheat Ridge,
[34:31] it's facing our county, it's facing our state,
[34:33] it's facing our whole community.
[34:36] As a landlocked city are opportunities to create housing stock
[34:42] housing variety is limited to what we have. We can't grow into more space, so we need to be smart and thoughtful about how we use the land that we have.
[34:56] And I think that to have a diverse housing stock is very important. I think that that needs to include affordable housing and it needs to include market rate housing.
[35:09] And I also think we need to be very aware and inclusive of our population that are renters.
[35:17] I believe that renters should feel just as welcome and a part of our community as homeowners.
[35:22] On my block in Wheat Ridge, we have rentals, we have home ownership, we have Airbnb's, we
[35:28] have businesses from home.
[35:30] And I believe that the balance of duplex, of multi-generational family and single families
[35:36] in one space is key to our community being successful.
[35:41] And I think that we do that by looking back to the results of the neighborhood revitalization
[35:47] strategy where we really heard from our community that our corridors are a great place to look
[35:53] at increased density while allowing our neighborhoods to keep their look and feel the look and feel
[36:01] of their, the character of their neighborhood, and with the affordable housing strategy
[36:08] and action plan, we have tools to actually put those types of decisions into place.
[36:13] Thank you.
[36:14] Thank you, Evelyn.
[36:15] Alex?
[36:20] So, I think that you're going to hear a lot about affordability, housing, and cost of living
[36:24] when we're talking about what's most challenging for wheat rich.
[36:27] And, of course, we need more diversity of housing.
[36:30] We have a huge demand to live in wheat rich because we all love wheat rich and we know
[36:34] people are moving here because they not only love wheat rich but they love the Denver metro area as
[36:39] a whole. Housing is a regional problem and we are doing our fair share to try to be able to
[36:45] build 2400 new housing units by 2030 but we need to do more than just building house. We have an
[36:53] aging housing stock as well. I am incredibly proud that as one of the recommendations of the
[37:04] housing fund, which currently brings in about $400,000
[37:07] through short-term rental fees.
[37:11] City Council and City staff are looking for other ways for money to be able to fund that fund.
[37:16] And I want to be able to see new programs being developed.
[37:20] Adding in first-time home owner mortgage assistance programs is going to be able to allow our young farmers
[37:26] to be able to afford the houses that they can't currently afford right now.
[37:30] to be able to stay in the community that they grew up in and that they loved and to be able to know that they have a place that they can always call home.
[37:39] I want to make sure that we are keeping people rooted here because people being rooted here strengthens the fabric of the quilt that makes our community together.
[37:49] When I was canvassing, I talked to a lot of people that were interested in not only having a place to be able to step up for our younger generations,
[37:57] But if you place to be able to step down for our older and senior residents, being able
[38:02] to have spaces that you don't have to necessarily rent but can still own that don't require
[38:07] a lot of stairs and allow you to be able to downsize incredibly important for our city
[38:11] to be able to have that diversity and keep residents being able to age in place in the community
[38:16] that they've loved for decades.
[38:19] Thank you, Alex.
[38:21] Scott?
[38:22] Thank you.
[38:23] I think there's two urgent challenges and so the first one, yes, affordable housing.
[38:32] We absolutely need more affordable housing and the city's crafted a lot of policies.
[38:38] We need a diversity of housing, we have no which is a natural courier of affordable housing
[38:43] and seeing that different housing.
[38:45] The land is at a premium and so it's really hard to find areas in the city we originally
[38:49] So we usually are partnering with the federal, the state, and the county, and helping to fund the foothills housing authority or that affordable housing.
[38:59] The other thing I want on that housing note is that so we have a land, we have the policies in place, but what we are sorely lacking is we don't have the people to do the work, the trade people.
[39:10] But we need to start focusing on not just where these houses are going to go, but we need
[39:15] to start looking at how are we going to train the people of the future, the trade schools
[39:20] of doing the electrical and the plumbing and the construction.
[39:24] And I think that's something that as I look through the, you know, our area here where
[39:29] we have Warren Tech trade schools, you know, we kind of have this donut in the middle here
[39:34] where I think that's something we really need.
[39:36] And I'd love to see some a partnership where we are teaching high school kids how to do
[39:42] these trades, how to have a job when you come out of high school and teaching them how
[39:47] to design.
[39:47] That was something that growing up as a kid, I was able to go through, I had the opportunity
[39:52] to go through a four year program and the end result was going to be at that fourth year
[39:57] that we would all build a house for like an affordable housing project.
[40:01] But unfortunately, my dad got a transfer and I ended up becoming a landscape architect so everything worked out. Thank you.
[40:09] Thank you, Scott.
[40:13] Again, Scott steals my thunder on workforce.
[40:18] I'll pick up what kind of Scott left off because he's not wrong.
[40:24] The trades are, we need a lot of trades.
[40:29] And as a matter of fact, through my work with the Tri-County Workforce Board, they're
[40:35] going to have a forum for high school eighth grade and up October 15th that I'm trying
[40:44] to get the word out to have both my tradesmen there and then the students will show up as well
[40:51] so they can learn a good, you know, they can find out about the trades because it's not
[40:56] I don't want to say that, but it's a very high-demand workforce that we need.
[41:03] Another issue with all the rain that we've had here in the city, so football analogy,
[41:10] I was offensive lineman, so those are like all the hidden, you know, the guys that are
[41:15] no one talks about until they screw up, right?
[41:18] Just like our aging infrastructure.
[41:21] We have storm sewers here that are falling apart and with all the rain that we have, we need to come up with creative ways to figure out how to fund and fix them, whether it's relining, replacing, rebuilding, that's something.
[41:39] If we have a good strong infrastructure, that is the backbone of the mechanism of our community.
[41:46] So we need to have those fixed and working adequately because select the plumbing in our house
[41:51] We don't think about it until it backs up and then it's a big emergency and I know the storm sewer at the bottom of the street
[41:57] Where I live is going to be packed full and it's going to be a lake and one of the neighbors said if you get elected
[42:04] Fix that. So that's what I'm going to try to do
[42:08] Thank you Pat Justin
[42:11] Yeah, so
[42:13] talking to
[42:13] to all my constituents in my area, I'm going to tell you what they think our biggest issues
[42:19] are. They want a sidewalk on 38th Avenue from Youngfield to Kipling. They want sidewalks
[42:28] from Kipling to Wadsworth on 32nd. They want the government to do what they promised
[42:33] they would do. They want things to be easier through the permitting process. They don't want
[42:44] because it doesn't meet some strange code that could have easily been taken care of in our city works.
[42:52] Things like this don't need to happen. We don't need to fight our citizens.
[42:55] We need to find a way to work with them to make their lives easier.
[43:00] And to make this community what we all really, really want it to be our own.
[43:06] We want to put our mark on our property. We want our property to be sovereign.
[43:09] We want it to be crime-free, we want it to be, you know, a welcoming community for
[43:15] guests, you know, the 38th Avenue Park that we just put in the greens.
[43:20] It's beautiful.
[43:21] I was out there for the grand opening and it was just such a beautiful thing and we need
[43:25] a lot more of that.
[43:27] Open space.
[43:28] That is another humongous topic that these people want.
[43:31] So that is what the community is telling me they want.
[43:34] So those were our biggest problems, and I want to find ways to get those problems solved.
[43:40] Thank you, Justin. Mike?
[43:44] Thank you. In regards to most urgent issues in Wheatridge,
[43:49] the one that I'm seeing right now, we have a beautiful city plan that was just
[43:55] approved by City Council, a 15-year city plan, and looking through it, I have a lot of things that I
[44:01] support, a lot of things that make a lot of sense to me, but it's expensive.
[44:06] We have a lot of things that are that we're going to have to pay for quite a lot creative fundraising for municipal fundraising is a phrase that I've heard a few times and it really takes a lot of very critical thought about how are we going to be able to afford the things that we need to do as we bridge.
[44:19] Pat mentioned the storm drains and the sewer systems, which are far behind where they need to be in terms of their maintenance and that's going to be an expensive piece of what we need to do in order to be able to get things fixed back up.
[44:32] So, to me, the most urgent issue, which is a pretty broad issue, is us talking about how
[44:37] are we going to be able to fund these different things.
[44:39] A lot of that takes very long-term planning.
[44:41] A lot of that takes a lot of careful thought processes to, like, what do we believe in our
[44:48] core is justified for a TIFF?
[44:51] What do we believe?
[44:52] Where are the creative sources that we can be able to get game tax revenue and be able to
[44:57] to invite new businesses, isn't that, can generate tax, tax-
[45:00] We're looking at some of the neighboring municipalities that we have and identify some of their mechanisms that they've been able to do. One, to get a little bit more microfocus, one of the issues that I think that has been brought to me by people that I've been talking to, especially on North I-70 folks, is we have a kippling target, a target that calls itself the wheat-rich target. It addresses, is wheat-rich, but technically it's in our vata.
[45:27] So when I point this out to some of my neighbors, they get quite surprised because Cory likes to
[45:34] remind people if you can find a bite in Wheat Ridge and some of us for a period of time,
[45:40] we're thinking that we were actually going and buying that in Wheat Ridge.
[45:45] Thank you, Coltine. I think you're in the audience somewhere. You're the one who originally
[45:48] pointed that out to me and I think it's a critical thing. But yeah, funding. Thank you, Mike. Cory?
[45:53] Great. Lots of great options to choose from here. Housing is definitely a huge, huge thing.
[46:02] Infrastructure, there's a few people in this room right now who have literally had their
[46:05] street collapse underneath them in the last couple years because our infrastructure is so rough.
[46:11] And that's through deferred maintenance over years and years and years of councils not taking
[46:15] care of problems. And when I was elected six years ago, the biggest problem that I heard about
[46:20] was homelessness and crime. One of the first things that we did over the last couple years
[46:23] was enact our hotel ordinance, which helped clean up I-70 in Kipling, and now the American
[46:29] motel is closed. You've seen crime go down, I think calls for services down 50%, crimes
[46:35] down almost 30% down there. That's huge. That frees up our police to be out in our neighborhoods,
[46:39] keeping them safe. I heard about a sidewalk on 38th Avenue. Well, good thing. Two years ago,
[46:44] we passed 2J, which helps pay for that sidewalk that's going to be down 38th Avenue. The plan's
[46:49] almost done. It should be implemented starting next year, starting in 2026. 2J also helps
[46:55] fill sidewalk gaps all through, including 30 second, 44th, other neighborhoods, things
[47:01] like that, and helps solve our infrastructure problems, but it doesn't solve it. The biggest
[47:06] problem we ridge will always have is balancing the needs and the wants of our constituents.
[47:13] the needs are we need police we need infrastructure the wants sometimes is we
[47:18] don't want we hear it all the time we don't want density we don't want these
[47:23] things we don't want new sometimes well sometimes the new is what pays for us
[47:28] to have all the things right so in order for us to have nice things we need to think
[47:32] creatively about our solutions as Mike said if you can find it find it and by
[47:36] find it by we're something my dad used to say all the time when he ended his
[47:40] Council reports, something I picked up because if you shop in Wheat Ridge, you're not just
[47:45] paying that business, that business owner and hopefully you shop at small businesses because
[47:48] small businesses are a lifeblood or a community.
[47:50] But you're feeding sales tax back into our community which helps solve all of our problems.
[47:56] So continue shopping in Wheat Ridge and we'll continue spending that money to solve the sidewalk
[48:01] gaps, to solve the infrastructure and to solve any crime and homelessness.
[48:05] Thank you.
[48:05] Thank you, Cory.
[48:06] We go on to our next question.
[48:08] Alex, we're going to start with you.
[48:09] the city is just updated its comprehensive plan city plan as we know it mapping
[48:14] out over the next 15 years how does your vision for wheat rich over that same
[48:18] period of time align or contrast with the city plan thank you so much for that
[48:23] question the city plan has a lot of wonderful things in its hundreds of pages one
[48:31] of the things that most interest me is the city's mobility plan and mobility
[48:37] network for pedestrians and bicyclists. One of the things that I'm most excited about is that
[48:43] we are looking for ways to be able to keep our residents locally to be able to not only shop and
[48:48] eat but also spend their leisurely time here. By creating more pedestrian and bicyclist quarters,
[48:55] we're encouraging our residents to shop from their neighbors and shop from their local services
[48:59] and businesses that are around their area. One of the things that I would love to be able to see
[49:04] improved is in this mobility network for District 2. The mobility network
[49:11] utilizes the clear creek trail to be able to be a highway for
[49:15] pedestrians. This clear creek trail is utilized to go up to Otis Trailhead to go
[49:21] down Pierce, but that bypasses District 2 almost completely. If we are to create
[49:27] a continuous corridor along 44, District 2 and 44 can become the bridge that
[49:33] connects our city to Getham. There are lots of wonderful things along 44. We have all of our
[49:39] parks, the Happiness Gardens, Apalbocker Park, Hopper Hollow, and Randall Park. We also have some
[49:47] incredible businesses. You can eat at places like King Wings, Curry Kingdom, Salsas, Nepal,
[49:53] Biotaku Bloth, and Grammys Goodies. I'm really am interested in being able to make sure that our
[50:00] residents are able to have a small town feel and shop from their neighbors and continue
[50:05] to have a self-sustaining local economy.
[50:09] We can be a bridge here in District 2.
[50:12] And speaking of bridges, one of my top priorities is to fix the bridge that's on 44.
[50:17] It is impossible, especially with a stroller.
[50:20] And the sidewalks along 44th are narrow, especially when trash cans are out.
[50:24] If I want to walk the less than mile to Anderson Park, I have to go through my neighborhood and
[50:28] have to hope no one is going to be coming along that bridge. Thank you. Thank you, Alex.
[50:33] Over to you, Scott. Thank you. City Plan is a very lengthy robust plan that really took a lot
[50:41] of input from all the citizens, a lot of community engagement. The thing that really excites me about
[50:48] it is place making. And that's something I talked about in my opening remark, where let's talk about
[50:55] what we have that's existing is you know you go to legal piece there and for the price of
[50:58] Rito you can have you know a million dollar views of Crown Hill over on the Clear Creek area.
[51:05] We're putting in you know an outdoor venue for dining and you have views of the South
[51:11] Table of Mountain and there's a pond nearby and then there's the vision of having some type of
[51:17] outdoor amenity next to the Clear Creek that we don't have. We have this Clear Creek that really
[51:23] is kind of, I feel like, that's kind of the sole of the weed ridge that meander through
[51:26] the city.
[51:27] We have no place that really celebrates it, and I'd really like to see something of
[51:31] place making that would do that.
[51:33] And I think there's a lot of opportunities in our city where we have these really unique
[51:37] special places, you know, and that creates the destinations for us and something that
[51:42] really connects us to our community, that nobody else has outside of weed ridge, and I think
[51:50] place making is going to be really, really valid, but it just keeps improving the quality
[51:54] of life.
[51:55] We have the green that we just put in.
[51:56] That is a really special place that become a catalyst for businesses and the school
[52:01] and people to celebrate and watch movies.
[52:04] That's something that's really unique to Wheat Ridge.
[52:07] We have a lot of great places, but place making is really something I think is special for
[52:12] our community.
[52:12] Thank you.
[52:13] Thank you, Scott.
[52:21] The city plan is huge and has a lot of broad opportunities for us to look at.
[52:32] And I think what we've heard here is a lot of, you know, we have to figure out funding
[52:37] mechanism, along with housing, along with, as Scott had said, the place making places
[52:44] This is where people want to go, have thriving businesses that people can get to, rather on bikes, walk, or on cars.
[52:54] It's a huge opportunity for us and I am really excited about seeing the implementation portion of it.
[53:01] It's been a while in the making of it, being on the planning commission.
[53:07] and we've been at each and every step of the way
[53:09] where they gave us updates,
[53:11] participated in the community forums.
[53:17] And I'm really excited about how we get to the end.
[53:21] And hopefully, it's going to be a thoughtful, long process.
[53:25] And I'm really excited about how we're
[53:27] going to connect all the dots in the patch
[53:29] we're quilted that we have.
[53:32] Thank you, Pat.
[53:33] Justin, do you?
[53:35] Well, I think the plan, believe it or not, it's got some good things in it, but I think
[53:41] a lot of that community involvement, that participation, was there with pre-determined outcome.
[53:47] I think there's a lot of missteps in that huge document, that huge plan.
[53:53] There's a lot of community concerns, certain areas around about being one of them on 38th.
[53:59] You know annexation of certain properties and crocheting of people's properties they've had for years
[54:04] I think there's some concerns and I'm concerned the citizens in my district are concerned
[54:09] And I think we need to revisit some of these things and and iron some of these concerns out to make sure it is a plan that we can all live with
[54:16] long-term
[54:17] Obviously infrastructure is a huge thing. We need to consider and it is huge
[54:21] I hear everybody talking about business here, but I don't hear a plan to increase business
[54:26] The Lutheran campus is a huge opportunity for business.
[54:30] Sales tax from businesses is how we fund our services.
[54:35] Property tax is a small, small, roughly 20% that comes back in the city.
[54:40] I don't know why we're focusing so much on housing when businesses are what fund this city and the pay for our infrastructure.
[54:49] We need to start finding opportunities for businesses to come in here that are going to be successful and
[54:54] they're going to encourage community spending to bring those tax dollars back to this city.
[55:00] So we can all have these beautiful new parks and nice sidewalks and streets.
[55:05] That's what funds those things, not houses, not high density housing with no parking.
[55:11] You know, a community that's not pushing back on a state government that's encroaching
[55:16] on our sovereignty here with no parking or a very low parking because they live close
[55:22] to a bus line or a train line. These run realistic expectations for our citizens, and quite frankly,
[55:29] it's discouraging, and it's going to force people to not want to be here anymore. And that's not
[55:33] what I want. We need to make a community that we can all be proud of, not be forced, you know,
[55:37] force-fed things from this, you know, state. This body needs to push back to get what we want.
[55:44] That's what I want here. Thank you, Justin. Thank you. The comprehensive plan is a long
[55:54] read. There's a lot in there. But I would say I align pretty tightly with what's existing
[56:00] in the city plan. The feedback process from my perspective when we were going through
[56:07] and engaging with the city and talking with the city staff, reading the documentation and the posters and being able to participate in those different areas.
[56:17] Definitely had a feeling of engagement to it, so there was a piece where you could identify as a human that I'm doing something here in that regard.
[56:28] Beyond that, I saw the comprehensive plan and the iterations of those pieces and I saw some pieces of that change.
[56:35] In regard to some of the feedback that I was hearing, I gave some feedback myself that didn't cause a change, that is a part of what me and my neighborhood is dealing with up in up at Ward station, but to me seeing that feedback be generated in the moment, being able to talk to those people and understand from the other side of the city what they're wanting to get done, and then seeing the plan change was a critical piece to me.
[57:01] There are definitely details inside of the document that I align with, that I think are critical for us to talk about some of which have already been talked about, but I think one of the things that I align with the most about the city plan is the way that the city engaged with the citizenry to be able to get that feedback.
[57:16] I didn't get everything I wanted. Of course, not everybody did get everything that they wanted.
[57:20] And for some people, it was very much opposed to what they're seeing for in the future, but that's what engagements about.
[57:27] That's what, that's what the, even if you are in a place where you're identifying some difficult conversations,
[57:32] or you know it's an uphill battle, that is not, that is insurmountable for you to be able to get that particular thing that you want,
[57:38] or you're something broad, I feel like that engagement is the piece of what the project for the, for the comprehensive plan was that I aligned with the most.
[57:47] Thank you, Mike.
[57:47] Turn it back around, Corey.
[57:50] Corey, answer that.
[57:51] I heard something earlier.
[57:53] Why are we building so many houses?
[57:56] Businesses need customers.
[57:59] And it's great to have businesses there and all that.
[58:02] But businesses close if they don't have customers.
[58:04] So we need more customers.
[58:05] And you'll see that in the market.
[58:08] As these, as you see, developments.
[58:10] You look at clear, clear crossing.
[58:11] The first thing they built there was the housing, not the retail.
[58:14] And that's because the housing comes in and then it feeds the retail.
[58:17] So as you're looking at that, understanding the market and that's really important for our counselors as they're coming on is to understand more than just what your neighbor tells you but it's to understand everybody in the city because there's a diverse viewpoint here.
[58:31] I was part of the neighborhood revitalization strategy in 2018, Kathleen, myself, Rachel
[58:35] Holtine were the co-chairs of that, and we engaged in, I believe, almost 6,000 people
[58:41] to get that plan together.
[58:43] Not everybody thought the same way.
[58:45] Same thing with our planning for the city plan.
[58:49] There were numbers.
[58:50] There were thousands of people that came, and so that document doesn't look like any one
[58:54] person.
[58:54] That document looks like all of us.
[58:56] That document looks like every single person in this room, and it's that continuous engagement
[59:02] Because I have my viewpoints, everybody here has their viewpoints, but we need to hear everybody not just the people that we like to talk to.
[59:09] So that's really important. And I think as we move forward in acting this plan, it's continually going back to the citizens to do checkups and to ask their opinions about how do we move forward with this and continually going back to make sure that they're engaged every step of the way.
[59:23] Because the 2005 NRS that talked about 38th Avenue fell a little bit flat on its face in 2010 through 13 when the city kind of just went out and did things, right?
[59:34] It's engaging the people and making sure that they're on board with what we're doing as we move forward. And I think that we've seen that we've seen
[59:41] petitions and different things like that fail over the last couple years because the citizens are on board with what we're doing. So that's important that we continue to have that as we move forward in acting this plan. Thank you.
[59:51] Thank you, Court. We're up with Kathleen.
[59:56] So I align pretty closely with the city
[1:00:00] As it was adopted by city council. I was a part of that steering committee that brought the final city plan to city council and was involved in a lot of different conversations between the steering committee and in the open houses with the general public and. Set in on other meetings as presentations for being made to different groups. As Mike said and Coriel so referred to not everyone got everything they wanted and that is.
[1:00:29] I think that's inevitable when you're representing a city of multiple people with multiple perspectives.
[1:00:40] And as I talked about in my opening comments, I think one of the keys for Council and for this plan is to do the most good for the most of us to do the to set us up for the right future.
[1:00:55] The thing about the city plan that I really appreciate was that it includes a recap of
[1:01:03] our values and our priorities as a community and it talks about the tools of applying
[1:01:09] those values and those priorities as we move forward and gives city staff, city council,
[1:01:16] not just current city council or the council that will be elected in November but for the
[1:01:24] leaders of our community, these, like a flow chart of decision points and questions to
[1:01:29] ask around our values and our priorities so that as we're facing the challenges we
[1:01:35] know of now and new challenges, we have our framework to apply as we're making decisions.
[1:01:40] Thank you.
[1:01:41] Thank you, Kathleen.
[1:01:43] Our next question was specifically submitted for District 2, so we'll ask that only Scott
[1:01:48] Ome and Alex Goldsmith answer this one.
[1:01:50] We'll start with you Scott.
[1:01:51] not what is the most urgent issue district two needs to address in the next four years.
[1:01:59] Infrastructure, right now we have stormwater issues or you know we have these catastrophic
[1:02:05] issues they're costing the city 300 to 500K and the city has now we do have a plan, a priority
[1:02:13] which ones to go through and that's just one of the issues.
[1:02:16] the, a lot of our other underlying infrastructure, the water, the sewer, those are, you know,
[1:02:24] 50, some years old, probably put in the 50s. And those things need to be replaced.
[1:02:29] And if they're not replaced in a timely fashion, we start having issues of can growth happen in those areas.
[1:02:38] And so it's going to be a restrictor. And so what the city is aware of and what we're doing is that
[1:02:43] that we, and there's also a cost.
[1:02:45] So anytime you want to, if you want to just do the,
[1:02:47] you know, the water, the sewer, the storm,
[1:02:49] each of those things is a cost, it's also time.
[1:02:52] And I don't want to see, you know, a road ripped up
[1:02:54] for one thing and then the next and the next
[1:02:56] and then our constituents are just constantly
[1:02:59] doing a more construction.
[1:03:00] And so the city is looking at and working,
[1:03:04] talking to all the different districts,
[1:03:06] we have a lot of water and sewer districts and we ridge
[1:03:08] and seeing what are their priorities
[1:03:10] and seeing where that overlap is.
[1:03:11] And then that becomes a cost sharing, not just for the city, but for the utility providers as well.
[1:03:17] And that's something that we really have to stay on top of and start thinking forward about
[1:03:23] what is that priority so that we can keep providing the services to everyone.
[1:03:29] Thank you.
[1:03:29] Thank you Scott.
[1:03:30] How are you Alex?
[1:03:34] So we've talked about housing.
[1:03:36] We've talked about infrastructure.
[1:03:38] I've told you that District 2 and 44 can be the bridge that connects our city together.
[1:03:42] I've talked to you about the bridge that desperately needs to be fixed for 44.
[1:03:46] So I now want to talk to you about us balancing our growth and affordability while maintaining
[1:03:50] the character and value of our cities and neighborhoods that make it so unique.
[1:03:55] Businesses are the heart and culture of our wheat-rich economy.
[1:04:01] Supporting them means a lot more than just asking to shop locally, but to give them the tools
[1:04:06] and resources so that they can have the stability to succeed.
[1:04:09] A lot of our development is building new retail space, which is wonderful.
[1:04:15] Resoning spaces so we can have mixed use residential buildings is a great thing to have because
[1:04:21] it provides those businesses with residents and customers to be able to shop at them.
[1:04:26] My wife and I were fortunate enough to be able to move here and live in the West 38 departments
[1:04:31] and those retail spaces in our mixed use residential building were empty the entire time we
[1:04:37] were there.
[1:04:37] There are empty because we are building blank spaces that have a really high rent.
[1:04:43] I want to make sure that we are building spaces for retail that can be thought out of what
[1:04:50] we want to be there.
[1:04:52] I want Wheat Ridge to be partners with businesses so that local residents can open their businesses
[1:04:58] here and invest their time and their money in their own community.
[1:05:02] making sure that we are allowing these businesses to be able to be in these
[1:05:06] retail spaces is vitally important to having that small town feel that we're
[1:05:11] so proud of here in Wheatrich. I believe the city can create a low interest
[1:05:18] loan program for businesses to be able to allow them to afford that initial cost
[1:05:23] that it takes to renovate those retail spaces to fit their business needs.
[1:05:30] When the
[1:05:31] invest in our people, we will be able to not only keep our character in value but be able to grow
[1:05:37] sustainable. Thanks. Yeah, we have another district specific question here this time focused on
[1:05:43] district three. We'll start with you Patrick. This resident would like to know if you support the
[1:05:48] improvements being done on 38th between it, Kipling and Youngfield, and if you could explain why.
[1:05:55] Oh, thanks for the question, whoever brought that in. Absolutely, I was a very big proponent
[1:06:01] of the 2J bond issue when we ran that last election cycle, what helped get that passed
[1:06:11] because that's going to fund our new infrastructure down 38th to connect the rest of wheat
[1:06:18] ridges with the new clear creek crossing area.
[1:06:22] We're going to get with that, we'll have some new storm drains put in to help divert,
[1:06:30] to help divert the water and keep that under control, it's going to have a very diverse sidewalk
[1:06:37] with the ability to have a big pedestrian access with a large bike lane with a larger sidewalk on
[1:06:47] one side so we can walk with the strollers up and down because I've heard that talked about tonight.
[1:06:54] And the construction of it is going to be within the right of way limits that's going to be there.
[1:07:01] And the alignment is going to help slow traffic.
[1:07:06] I believe there will be the roundabouts there, but studies have shown that that's kind of a continuous intersection.
[1:07:14] Instead of having a stop light where it stops up the traffic, we can keep going.
[1:07:19] I'll be at a slower speed but I think everybody wants everybody to slow down on that road and to maneuver around the roundabouts.
[1:07:27] They have that on Old Golden Road, downtown where the cruise is. It's pretty exciting. A lot of people love to go to the cruise down there.
[1:07:37] And I think with these improvements it's going to interconnect clear-creek crossing with the rest of Wheat Ridge and I think that's a win-win for everybody.
[1:07:46] Thank you, Patrick. Justin?
[1:07:49] Oh, can I be for something against it, too?
[1:07:53] Thank you, Michael.
[1:07:56] I think the improvements are needed. I think the implementation and design is flawed.
[1:08:03] I'm sorry I didn't introduce what I do for a living. I work for the Colorado Department of Transportation.
[1:08:10] And let me tell you what.
[1:08:11] Common lanes and roundabouts. They may look at on paper and studies in Europe may show they work great.
[1:08:16] They do not. They don't work well with our traffic flow. They cause accidents. I've had to, I've witnessed multiple bicyclists run over by cars in those roundabouts because the right of ways are unclear, the education in our drivers education courses are unclear.
[1:08:33] We're getting off of what we know and have learned as drivers into these new realms.
[1:08:41] We haven't been educated on.
[1:08:43] And we're just not there.
[1:08:44] We're not educated enough to safely utilize these roundabouts and calming lanes.
[1:08:50] They cause terrible accidents in a lot of cases, and all intersections are very, very dangerous.
[1:08:59] But, roundabouts, they're a challenge for children.
[1:09:02] It's a racetrack and they're going to go around as fast as they can.
[1:09:06] And there's going to be cars going through houses I would predict,
[1:09:08] more people, pedestrian, bicyclists, children on 38th,
[1:09:12] one of them across from the park there.
[1:09:15] I see them as very dangerous.
[1:09:17] I think we should be piping the ditch and not encroaching on the north side
[1:09:22] of the 38th Avenue area on Parfait. There's a lot of room on that side. Ditches are definitely not
[1:09:31] the greatest thing. They collect trash. They cause setting water, mosquitoes, things like that.
[1:09:37] We could be doing a better job with this plan, not taking over the sidewalk on the north side.
[1:09:41] So I'm very concerned with the plan and I think it could be done better. It does need to be done though.
[1:09:47] Thank you, Justin.
[1:09:49] So we will go to one additional question here from one of our residents.
[1:09:54] And this will start with you, Justin.
[1:09:57] Could you speak to how the City of Wheat Ridge is addressing crime, including some of the
[1:10:01] new technology being used to support our police officers out in the community?
[1:10:05] This resident is especially interested in your perspectives on the new speed campus.
[1:10:10] Well, I am so glad they asked that question.
[1:10:13] I am a new member of the graduating class of citizens patrol or in wheat rich, and let
[1:10:17] me tell you what, we have a fantastic police force.
[1:10:20] And I can't always say that.
[1:10:22] The previous chief was, I was not a fan of the way he was doing things.
[1:10:27] Chief Murtha, because Murtha has been a fantastic breath of fresh air, and let me tell you what,
[1:10:31] he's turned this city around as far as crime goes, the Kipling area.
[1:10:34] We all know it's not in my district down there at the I-70 area, but let me tell you what,
[1:10:38] it's really cleaned up.
[1:10:38] And that, that says a lot for a police force.
[1:10:41] I had a detective call me recently over some political stuff, investigating some crimes,
[1:10:48] and let me tell you what, they were on it.
[1:10:49] And they're interested in getting to the bottom of these crimes.
[1:10:53] They're using drone technology, camera technology, they're using all these high-tech things that
[1:10:59] are fantastic.
[1:11:01] And I believe that it's probably in the interest of our city and the police department
[1:11:05] to probably consider building them a more practical facility for their police force to help
[1:11:12] incorporate their technologies to house our equipment and to house criminals in a proper
[1:11:20] cell environment that meets requirements.
[1:11:23] I'm definitely not for adding a new city hall, but I would definitely be foreign so of my
[1:11:27] constituents mentioned that they before better police station and more facilities for the police
[1:11:32] force because they've really earned it.
[1:11:35] Thank you, Justin.
[1:11:36] Mike, do you?
[1:11:38] Thank you.
[1:11:40] The police again in Wheat Ridge, I deeply agree we have a very strong police force.
[1:11:46] Wheat Ridge PD is quite impressive and I don't say that lightly.
[1:11:50] My father is a retired police officer for Wheat Ridge.
[1:11:54] Excuse me for Westminster.
[1:11:57] And I grew up in a household where, where enforcement is, is a part of our life
[1:12:01] and discipline is an important piece of us understanding and learning and being able
[1:12:05] to follow the correct path and also be safe.
[1:12:08] So I think a critical thing about the policing technology in particular, the speed cameras,
[1:12:12] I'm very much in favor of that type of policing.
[1:12:15] I know that it's not a very popular thing for a lot of different people to be encountering
[1:12:20] speed cameras, but our friends at C dot, the engineers that work at C dot put up the speed
[1:12:29] limit signs at their particular speed limits for reasons, for reasons that are very specific
[1:12:33] that are studied, that are safety oriented, and speeding can be certainly a problem.
[1:12:39] Speaking closer to District 4, both on North and Southside of I-70, I have talked
[1:12:45] to residents that have been living there who have been experiencing not just a lot of high
[1:12:50] speed traffic, excessive speed that is clearly dangerous.
[1:12:54] speeding along 44th is something that I see. I don't even have to leave my car to see it,
[1:12:59] so I can see it running right by me. So those kinds of things are really critical. Up
[1:13:03] where I am, Ward Road is a very, very speedy area, but even that small road on the north side
[1:13:09] of us, 54th, that road is not used to having cars on it. Now that we have the parallel, we've
[1:13:18] got an apartment complex up there, we've got the town houses that I live in, there's a lot
[1:13:22] more traffic and something about having a lot more traffic means that people think that
[1:13:25] they need to go a lot quicker. One piece about policing technology that came up in a recent
[1:13:29] study session that I thought was very interesting was an inquiry on enforcement of traffic noise
[1:13:35] with technology. It sounds like the technology is not there, but I am very much so looking
[1:13:41] forward to a day where we can enforce noise ordinances in that same way. Thank you.
[1:13:45] Thank you Mike go around the corner Cory here. Thank you
[1:13:49] We have the best police force in all of Colorado if not the the nation and we work on community policing
[1:13:56] Our our chief is very big on getting our officers out in the community and
[1:14:00] One of the coolest things that we do is counselors is after they graduate from the academy
[1:14:05] The chief brings in the new officers to come in and meet all the counselors and present to counsel
[1:14:11] And it's it's one of my favorite nights every year. It's it's really cool
[1:14:15] As far as our police forces and what they do on the streets, I already talked about the 50% drops and calls down to I-70 and Kipling,
[1:14:23] freeing up our police force to be out in our neighborhoods.
[1:14:26] Technology does the same thing for us.
[1:14:28] The speed cameras, we can pay an officer to sit there with a little gun and tag everybody that comes by,
[1:14:34] or we can just tag everybody that comes by 24-7 because you shouldn't be speeding whether or not an officer's there, right?
[1:14:40] You shouldn't hate your sister whether or not mom's there, right?
[1:14:43] So, we want to make sure that people are just doing the right thing.
[1:14:47] So, as we use technology, the cameras are huge for that.
[1:14:52] It's been on the news a few times, but our officers are using their body-worn cameras.
[1:14:56] They're using AI to transcribe their reports, and then they're checking.
[1:15:00] And then they're checking it to make sure that it's right, but that frees hours of time for them to get back out on the streets. So they're using more of our tax dollars the right way. Nobody wants to pay police officers to be in here typing reports. We want them out on the streets, engaging with public stopping crime, stopping speeding through our neighborhoods because that's one of our biggest complaints that we get. And just making sure that we're doing the right thing by our citizens and make sure that we keep our citizens safe. So thank you.
[1:15:26] Thank you, Cory. Thanks for watching CBS News. I appreciate you watching our story.
[1:15:31] Kathleen, over to you. Thank you. I'm going to steal somebody else's line and say,
[1:15:36] Cory, just took all of my point. But I fully respect Chief Martha and I think he's doing
[1:15:45] a fabulous job and our force is doing a fabulous job. I am a fan of the cameras for speeding
[1:15:54] and do we have a red light camp yet or is that something that's coming?
[1:15:59] I agree with what Corey said. I think there are excellent tools to allow
[1:16:04] efficiency and allow our officers to be in the community or falling up on crimes
[1:16:11] or other activities where their attention really needs to be focused. I also
[1:16:16] agree you shouldn't hit your sister even when mom and dad aren't around. But I do
[1:16:21] I think that our police force is very accessible.
[1:16:25] I think they are very engaged in the community
[1:16:27] and I think that any technology including the body cams
[1:16:31] and the cameras that we can use to help our force
[1:16:33] be more efficient and more successful.
[1:16:36] I'm a fan.
[1:16:37] Thank you.
[1:16:38] Thank you, Kathleen.
[1:16:39] Alex, my horse.
[1:16:42] So everyone said some amazing things about our wheat rich police
[1:16:45] force.
[1:16:46] One thing they haven't said is that while we aren't
[1:16:49] the highest paying police force,
[1:16:50] We are fully employed, and that's not something a lot of police departments in our area can say.
[1:16:56] That speaks to not only Chief Murtha, but also our department as a whole and our hiring process to ensure that we are creating a space
[1:17:04] that police officers want to be a part of. That we have procedures that police officers want to not only
[1:17:11] take part of our community, but also make sure that they are being able to do their job well and safely.
[1:17:17] I was part of Wheat Ridge 101 and we got to tour the police department and they have some incredible technology from drones to cameras that are able to be able to successfully do their job correctly.
[1:17:32] And we have also reduced crime as Cory has said.
[1:17:35] One thing I'm really proud of as well is that the race and equity task force made a recommendation to create a non-emergency line that people can call.
[1:17:42] And that is something that the Wheatridge Police Department has partnered with other Metro districts in order to be able to make sure that we have space to be able to call people that aren't the police as well, to be able to help us in non-emergency spaces.
[1:17:56] This is incredibly important when it comes to our homeless navigator, when we're just trying to give people the right resources so that they can be able to thrive in our community.
[1:18:05] Those people are the most vulnerable in our community as well and we need to make sure that we are reaching down and helping them out
[1:18:11] And that is something that our police force takes a lot of pride in and that's something our city takes a lot of pride in listening not only to our
[1:18:17] Community but our task forces and our committees as well.
[1:18:21] Thank you Alex or for you Scott.
[1:18:23] Thank you Andrew.
[1:18:24] Back to the speeding cameras.
[1:18:26] I've been advocating for a couple of years.
[1:18:28] I have a lot of constituents that have complained about speeding and their neighborhoods
[1:18:32] And the tools were back then, you know, you could get a speed hump in front of your house, and that might help.
[1:18:38] But sometimes what would happen is then the next street over, everybody would avoid those speed humps and they go the next street over.
[1:18:44] Having police officers patrol helps for about a day or two, and everybody realizes there's a cop there, and then they, after the cop leaves, it's back to speeding as usual.
[1:18:53] But so the speed cameras, what they've done is that they're silent, they don't flash,
[1:19:00] they just take a picture and think to our state of Colorado, change laws.
[1:19:06] The tickets are typically about $40 and it doesn't go on your record.
[1:19:10] This has been what Chief Martha calls a work force multiplier.
[1:19:14] I've been advocating for, I want these traffic cameras to be mobile through my entire district.
[1:19:19] Not so much for the gotcha, but it's like we need people to slow down.
[1:19:22] I've been advocating for red light cameras, I can't tell you how many times I've been trying to get to City Council meeting and as I'm trying to get on my neighborhood, somebody's blowing through the speed light.
[1:19:32] We're not talking 3040, we're talking 50 miles an hour, this needs to stop.
[1:19:37] I want our city to be safe, I want our district to be safe and I think this has been a great idea and then we get to the revenue.
[1:19:48] How do we pay for the speed humps?
[1:19:50] City doesn't have the money.
[1:19:51] Now we have something that's generating revenue.
[1:19:53] So if we want, we can use the revenue from the speed cameras to use that for the speed
[1:19:58] humps.
[1:19:59] And potentially there's some other things that might come up.
[1:20:01] You know, I don't know if we'll have enough revenue to potentially use for affordable housing.
[1:20:05] But I am strongly in favor of where we come with the speed cameras and we're going to have
[1:20:10] red light cameras soon.
[1:20:11] I just want everybody to slow down and be safe in our community for our kids and their
[1:20:17] Everyone else, thank you.
[1:20:18] Thank you, Scott.
[1:20:19] We'll wrap up with Pat.
[1:20:22] Well, going last kind of stinks
[1:20:24] because everybody has said all the good stuff.
[1:20:28] What can you say about the Wheatridge Police Department?
[1:20:31] They're not in the news
[1:20:32] and that's a very good thing.
[1:20:35] You can't say enough about Chief Murtha
[1:20:38] and his relationship based policing philosophy.
[1:20:42] As was said earlier, everybody wants to come to work
[1:20:46] as a police officer in Wheat Ridge, and that's outstanding.
[1:20:53] I think we need to acknowledge the fact that we have some good facilities here,
[1:20:59] the training facility, and I'm going to screw the name up,
[1:21:03] but it's over in our area where they train for the school shootings.
[1:21:11] And I think that's really super important, and something to be proud of.
[1:21:15] And we also have two awesome school resource officers.
[1:21:20] And I think that's important with the events that had happened.
[1:21:24] I happen to be taking the bus to go get my truck.
[1:21:27] And 38 thing kippling when the kids had a big protest that day.
[1:21:33] And I watched the officers there take the time, talk to the kids,
[1:21:38] get them safely back and forth.
[1:21:39] And it was organized chaos and our folks, they're outstanding.
[1:21:45] And what I would do as counsel is listen to what Martha comes to you with.
[1:21:52] He's a great advisor, and he will, you know, he's told the counsel on the drones that we had purchased, the cameras.
[1:22:03] He's informed the counsel on the income that comes from that where it goes into the general fund and how we can use it.
[1:22:09] He's a great resource. He's a great man.
[1:22:11] and as a council member, I would support him as much as humanly possible.
[1:22:18] Thank you Pat. Thank you to everybody who submitted audience questions. As we mentioned,
[1:22:23] we flooded with so many that they will also be answered on the city's Facebook page as well
[1:22:28] for anybody who did not get their question heard this evening. Now, let's move on to the ballot question
[1:22:34] of to be. Now back on August 25th, 2025, Wheat Ridge City Council voted to refer a ballot question
[1:22:41] on whether to amend the city charter to eliminate the elected positions of city clerk and city
[1:22:47] treasurer. Now the measure would take effect upon a vacancy in either office or on November 2nd,
[1:22:53] 2027, whichever one comes first. Shall the home rule charter of the city of Wheat Ridge,
[1:22:58] Colorado be amended to eliminate the elected positions of city clerk and city treasurer effective
[1:23:04] upon the vacancy occurring in set offices or November 2nd, 2027, to make the necessary changes
[1:23:11] conforming within the charter, would you support this charter amendment? Why or why not?
[1:23:17] Cory, we'll start with you.
[1:23:25] Oh, it's Cory on the list. Sorry. Mike, over to you. You're going to.
[1:23:28] I almost got away with it. That was close.
[1:23:31] The way you almost had the chance to let everybody go first and build a little sum up.
[1:23:36] Thank you for the question.
[1:23:37] I really like the chance to be able to address this publicly because I do think I am in favor of the ballot question, eliminating the elected positions of city clerk and
[1:23:50] treasurer. The language on the ballot is something that I've been talking to a lot of my neighbors about because the wording makes it definitely seem like we're not going to have a
[1:23:59] and we're not going to have a city clerk.
[1:24:03] We certainly will have people doing those duties.
[1:24:05] And I think a critical thing about understanding that change is that we are definitely far behind a trend of this change happening in the state of Colorado.
[1:24:14] We are one of very few municipalities who still elect our city treasurer and our city clerk.
[1:24:20] And I love that it's going to the ballot because the voters should be the ones deciding whether or not we're going to be going down that road and making that change.
[1:24:26] And despite my support for it, whatever happens at the ballot box on that piece, whether passes are not, I will be supporting what the results is as well.
[1:24:38] One thing that I think is really critical to think about in the choices that we have about where we could go with having what might be called a professional treasure in a professional city clerk is the possibility that if those positions are not performing in the way that they ought to or
[1:24:54] having forbid they go way off the rails and they do something very terrible, then we would have the ability to dismiss those people very quickly.
[1:25:02] If we had those people in elected positions, then we would have to go through the process of recalling, and that's a much longer process, and it's a little bit less nimble for us to be able to approach it.
[1:25:12] The other reason why I support the ballot measure is because we have a very strong set of professionals in the state of Colorado who do this work.
[1:25:20] They don't do this work in the context of never having done it before and then getting elected into a place to do it.
[1:25:27] They do this work because they believe in it, they believe in the civic process, and they believe deeply in how that stuff is done.
[1:25:34] Our senior deputy clerk, Margie, is I think a very shining example of what people can be in that regard and I support this balance.
[1:25:42] Thank you, Mike.
[1:25:43] Corey, about a couple of minutes.
[1:25:46] Well, finally, I get to say it.
[1:25:47] Mike just took everything I would have said.
[1:25:49] I've been fortunate.
[1:25:51] I ran six years ago with Chris Miller
[1:25:53] and with Steve Kerpatrick.
[1:25:54] And Chris Miller is our fantastic treasure,
[1:25:57] getting us tons of return to our investment.
[1:26:01] Steve Kerpatrick was a fantastic clerk.
[1:26:02] Unfortunately, he's passed away.
[1:26:04] And Margie Greer is stepped in as our deputy clerk.
[1:26:08] And she's done a phenomenal job.
[1:26:11] And we don't have very many clerks floating around the city of Wheat Ridge.
[1:26:16] So it's very difficult to find somebody who has that skill set, that training,
[1:26:20] and just to be able to elect them and be ready to go.
[1:26:23] What's happened in the past is most people get elected,
[1:26:25] and then they have to go through training, then they go get certified.
[1:26:28] So really we're paying them to go get training and go get certified.
[1:26:32] Well, I'd rather hire somebody that does that.
[1:26:34] And I certainly don't want to have our treasure or be somebody who
[1:26:37] We're lucky to have Chris Miller who's I assume a CPA and all that stuff works for Denver knows how to do
[1:26:44] financial accounting for cities
[1:26:46] But the next person that we elect could be anybody we we have no idea who that could be and Chris is run on a post the last two
[1:26:52] Cycles so we have no idea who that could be and if they don't do a very good job, it's great
[1:26:59] Sounding to be at the will of the people, but I don't think most people in the room have thought about the city clerk of the city
[1:27:04] treasurer very much in the last year. You have no idea what they've been doing.
[1:27:09] Thank you. Again, we have a fantastic staff and criticism and amazing treasurer, but it's
[1:27:14] important that we have people to supervise those people and to make sure that they're
[1:27:18] doing the best for our citizens. And this does that. It's a little bit close if you were
[1:27:23] here in the 90s when they did the switch from the strong mayor to the council and manager
[1:27:34] in the city will be able to pull the best
[1:27:37] part of the best treasure from wherever we can open
[1:27:40] that up to a national search if we want.
[1:27:42] So we're going to pull in the best people.
[1:27:44] We're going to make sure they're supervised and they're going
[1:27:45] to do the right thing.
[1:27:46] So I would definitely support to be.
[1:27:48] Thank you.
[1:27:49] Thank you, Cory.
[1:27:50] Kathleen?
[1:27:51] Thank you.
[1:27:52] I absolutely support to be.
[1:27:55] For many of the reasons Cory said, I think that
[1:27:58] But we have been very fortunate with Chris and with Steve Kirkpatrick that we have had
[1:28:03] very good elected officials in these roles.
[1:28:06] I'm worried that our luck might run out.
[1:28:09] And I think that if we had hired positions of qualified candidates, it will provide stability
[1:28:15] and longevity in those very important roles.
[1:28:18] So yes, I've sported.
[1:28:19] Thank you, Kathleen.
[1:28:20] Alex?
[1:28:25] To be is actually a combination from the Race and Equity Task Force recommendation.
[1:28:28] One of my core memories of the Racing Neckarie Task Force was that we sat through and read
[1:28:35] through the charter to be able to understand and point out discrepancies that the charter
[1:28:41] might need to update with our modern times.
[1:28:44] Steve Krapatric, the late Steve Krapatric, came on and told us that a elected city clerk
[1:28:51] was something that was rare to find these days.
[1:28:54] The biggest problem with having an electric city clerk is that the city clerk oversees the
[1:28:58] election process as a whole and so the city clerk is overseeing their own election.
[1:29:04] To be able to make this into a professional position that is appointed by our city manager
[1:29:10] means that we're able to focus on the duties of these positions.
[1:29:15] I don't know if you guys have listened to Chris Miller present on the budget as treasure,
[1:29:19] but he is very good at what he does.
[1:29:22] And as Corey mentioned, not everyone that gets elected is very good at what they do.
[1:29:28] And so we want to make sure that when we have these very important positions here in
[1:29:32] the city, that they are managed and appointed by the boss, by the city manager so that they
[1:29:39] can focus on their duties and they don't have to go through the training required just because
[1:29:42] they were elected.
[1:29:44] Thank you, Alex.
[1:29:45] Scott.
[1:29:47] Thank you, Mike.
[1:29:49] You got this.
[1:29:51] I just want to say that in addition we've been very, very happy with our
[1:29:57] Our treasure and we had a robust conversation.
[1:30:00] We want to see, like, how to, you know, Steve Krupatrick and Chris Miller, how, what do they think of this process? And, you know, how do they feel about us, even considering us? We had a lot of conversations. And for the reasons that they've been discussed, we decided, like, you know, we should, this is something I think that's really important. We should put this before on the ballot to the people. I'm definitely in support of it. I think we're really fortunate, lucky to have Margie as our deputy.
[1:30:29] city clerk, very professional, very credentialed, and I think, you know, having a staff members
[1:30:39] to the city is something that we're very proud of.
[1:30:42] We have such an excellent staff all around, and the city makes really good decisions
[1:30:47] in hiring staff, and so I am 100% in favor of this.
[1:30:50] Thank you.
[1:30:51] Thank you, Scott.
[1:30:52] Over to you, Pat.
[1:30:55] Yeah, when I first initially heard about this measure, I kind of reacted a little emotionally.
[1:31:02] It's like, oh, we're going to get rid of some elections and that was a little hesitant.
[1:31:07] But then you sit and you think about it logically.
[1:31:10] Those are very highly skilled positions and require people that, you know, let me put it this way.
[1:31:22] I don't want any journeyman lineman, I know that decides he wants to run for office and be a treasurer because they can't balance their own checkbook.
[1:31:30] I want somebody that's a professional that can make sure that treasury funds are taken care of as with the clerk.
[1:31:41] you sit and think about it as a whole, those are highly skilled positions and I think
[1:31:48] it's a good idea to have a professional clerk and a professional treasure in those spots.
[1:31:56] And so I would be, I'm very much in support of this going to the vote of the citizens here in
[1:32:04] and then support, and personally I am in support of the measure.
[1:32:09] Thank you Pat.
[1:32:11] We end with Justin.
[1:32:13] Oh hot man now.
[1:32:17] I tell you what, I can't argue with a single thing anybody said here and Mike said it best.
[1:32:23] But there's always a button life, right?
[1:32:26] I am not for giving away your vote and your power for a hired position.
[1:32:31] I am not for a greater good argument.
[1:32:34] We're losing this country for greater good arguments, and that's not going to be good
[1:32:37] enough for me.
[1:32:38] It's our job to manage these things.
[1:32:41] You know, when I was getting involved in running for office here, I did have a discussion
[1:32:44] with Margin.
[1:32:46] And you know what she said?
[1:32:47] She loved the election process.
[1:32:48] She loved doing it.
[1:32:50] You know, she had a passion for the city and the community and to help all of you, to help
[1:32:56] us.
[1:32:57] I'm not partaking that away from anybody, and I'm certainly not partaking away your vote
[1:33:01] and your power.
[1:33:02] So no, I'm not for it, but I do agree with every argument here.
[1:33:06] There's a cost associated with that, and we have to be willing to either eat that cost for, you know, this election process.
[1:33:16] Or do you want to give away your power because you believe the city is going to manage things correctly?
[1:33:25] You believe our current city manager is going to do the right thing and hire somebody that's going to be nonpartisan to your, you know, to the community and to listen to all your views and not his views.
[1:33:35] I have a hard time believing that.
[1:33:37] So no, I am not for it.
[1:33:40] But I'll let you guys decide you tell me what you want me to do and that's what I'll do.
[1:33:45] That's all I got to say about it.
[1:33:48] Thanks everybody.
[1:33:49] It's now time for the closing statements.
[1:33:50] audience. Everybody has one minute each. Corey, we'll start with you.
[1:33:59] I just want to
[1:33:59] say thank you. I want to say thank you to everybody that I've been around in the city
[1:34:03] of Rearage for the last 42 years. I want to say thank you to Bud Starker who's been an
[1:34:08] amazing mayor of the last eight years. Bud has been a mentor to me. Bud and my dad served
[1:34:14] on council together back in the mid 2000s and honestly didn't like each other very much.
[1:34:20] and Bud's given me an opportunity to be myself and not be Mike's son
[1:34:25] and I really appreciate that.
[1:34:28] I also want to think that Citizens of District 3 who have trusted me
[1:34:31] for the last six years to be your representative.
[1:34:34] I have absolutely loved it. I hope that I've done a good job for you guys
[1:34:37] and I guess since I'm running out of post here today I think you must have felt
[1:34:41] I've done something right. But I just really want to say thank you
[1:34:45] and I want to tell you that I will do my very best to make sure
[1:34:49] that I live up to the legacy of the mayors of the city of Weirige going all the way back,
[1:34:53] but especially I walk past a picture of portrait of my grandfather every single time I walk
[1:34:58] through here and he was the most honest man I've ever met and one of the best people I've
[1:35:02] ever met and I look at that and I reflect on that every single time. So I really appreciate
[1:35:08] all of the voters, all of the citizens for giving this opportunity. Thank you.
[1:35:12] Thank you, Cory. Kathleen.
[1:35:13] closing said. Thank you. I just want to thank everyone, the Chamber and the city for hosting
[1:35:19] us and everyone who's here tonight and everybody watching from home. I, as I said, I've been
[1:35:28] a volunteer for a long time in Wheat Ridge and it never was a plan of mine for the City Council
[1:35:35] and I thought I'd be more effective and I've really enjoyed being a volunteer. But when this
[1:35:41] This election came up and I decided maybe it was time to kick it up a notch and run for
[1:35:45] City Council.
[1:35:47] I just so appreciate the support I received and I'm thankful to everybody who was like
[1:35:52] duh or of course or I support you or how can we help and I'm honored and I'm humbled
[1:35:59] by that and similar to Corey, I'm running on a pose so I'm very excited to join Council
[1:36:06] and I make a promise to everyone that I will do my best.
[1:36:12] And if I don't know the answer to a question,
[1:36:14] I will never make something up. I will always tell you I don't know.
[1:36:17] And I will do my best to find the answer and to make everybody proud.
[1:36:22] So thank you very much for this opportunity.
[1:36:25] Thank you, Kathleen. Alex, your closing statement.
[1:36:28] Thank you to the Weaver Chamber of Commerce for hosting us and to the city for organizing this
[1:36:32] so that our constituents can listen to their candidates' voices and vision of their city
[1:36:36] to make sure that they're being represented.
[1:36:39] I have talked to you a lot about me being able to be privileged enough to let my daughter
[1:36:44] grow up here in Weepridge, and I'm really excited about the opportunity that she has to
[1:36:49] live the dream that I wanted when I was a kid, to have a city and a community that not only
[1:36:53] loves and cares about her, but also that she can grow up in and love herself.
[1:36:58] I am really excited to be able to represent District 2 so that I can represent not just my neighborhood but the community at large.
[1:37:06] The businesses improve the infrastructure so the residents can be able to be connected together and to make sure that we are building more third places gathering spaces so that we can be able to connect as a community and put our hands into the dirt.
[1:37:21] Thank you.
[1:37:22] Thank you all. It's Scott closing state think area one for this opportunity tonight. Our city is growing the world is changing. There will be tough decisions tight budgets. I believe we have everything we need to see strong community resilient neighbors and the people who show up speak up and work hard.
[1:37:40] I will leave with the experience, courage and vision to make this community stronger.
[1:37:44] As for your support for another four years so that together, we'll build a reawerage
[1:37:48] that is safer, with improved bike and pedestrian connections where our trail walk safely
[1:37:51] school, where our businesses thrive to reinvestments in our roads and infrastructure, where sustainability
[1:37:57] and affordability are our core values.
[1:38:00] Let's keep moving reawerage forward together.
[1:38:04] Thanks, Scott.
[1:38:05] Close and statement time.
[1:38:07] Thanks, everyone. Thanks for leading us on this journey and appreciate the chamber and all
[1:38:13] of you putting up with this tonight. In closing, I believe Wheatridge deserves sensible,
[1:38:20] healthy economic growth. Growth that respects our character while creating opportunities.
[1:38:26] We need diverse and inclusive housing options, smart zoning that supports both residents
[1:38:31] and small business, and mobility solutions that keep everyone safe whether you're walking, driving, riding a scooter, riding a bicycle, or riding a horse like my neighbor's behind me.
[1:38:45] Traffic issues on 32nd, 38th Avenue's need real attention, and I fully support given our police department tools they need to manage those.
[1:38:54] Public safety and smart infrastructure go hand in hand, and I'll work to ensure both are prioritized.
[1:39:00] I'm committed to building a city that works for everyone, where we plan thoughtfully, grow
[1:39:05] responsibly, and make sure every neighbor feels heard and supported.
[1:39:09] Thank you for your time, and hope to earn your vote.
[1:39:12] It's going to be hard work, but I'm never afraid of hard work.
[1:39:16] Thank you, Pat.
[1:39:18] Just in your closing statement.
[1:39:20] Well, thank you all again for being here.
[1:39:23] A lot of my supporters in this audience is fantastic to see you on my heart.
[1:39:28] Thank you very much.
[1:39:29] I want to continue to meet the rest of you out there and talk to you and hear what you have to say, because that's what this really is.
[1:39:36] It's all about you, you know, from questions about funding the Rec Center to the way it's supposed to be and bringing up operation hours.
[1:39:47] So people have better options to go visit during hours that fit their needs or, you know, to, you know, have in relationships with our neighbors and understand and, you know,
[1:39:57] the needs of those neighbors and having a great relationship in our community and managing
[1:40:05] the budget being physically responsible and bringing integrity back to government.
[1:40:09] That's what this is about.
[1:40:11] Just bringing that integrity back and hearing your voices, cultivating an environment of inclusion
[1:40:16] and participation with this community and that's all I want.
[1:40:21] So I hope I can get it from you.
[1:40:23] Thank you all.
[1:40:24] Thank you, Justin, wrap up with Mike.
[1:40:27] A obligatory thank you to everybody, but genuinely thank you guys all for being here and participating in the process.
[1:40:33] Thank you to the organizers and our moderator.
[1:40:37] This is a lot of fun.
[1:40:38] It's, I believe very strongly in the power and the importance of disagreement.
[1:40:45] Of us not having the same minds of us being able to collaborate and talk through and be able to find the best collaborative method to be able to get to some of our results.
[1:40:54] and so we've seen some disagreement here and maybe I'm weird but honestly that's a beautiful thing and it's something I really enjoy.
[1:41:02] For those of you that I haven't met yet, people I haven't had conversations with, please don't be afraid to disagree with me.
[1:41:07] I honestly feel very deeply about that and if elected this November, I'm committed to good governance, honest and true representation and transparency.
[1:41:19] Thank you all.
[1:41:21] Thank you very much to our candidates. Thank you all for joining us this evening. This concludes the 2025 Wheat Ridge candidate forum. Appreciate you allowing me to be here as well. It's kind of an interesting aside. You know when we talk in our morning meetings at CBS about, you know, what is happening all over the country. What is happening in the state.
[1:41:39] We end up with a discussion that all politics ultimately is local.
[1:41:42] And so any distractions that might be happening on a larger scale or larger scale conversations for myself as a Jefferson County reporter.
[1:41:50] This is what we do and this is what Karen Morphid myself do every day and it's a very neat thing to see the process up close and personal.
[1:41:56] So appreciate you all for participating.
[1:41:58] Commend you for your interest in serving the public.
[1:42:00] Thanks to the viewers to all of our audience members for taking the time to learn about all these great candidates you have up here.
[1:42:05] Election Day is November 4th.
[1:42:07] All active voters will be mailed a ballot the week of October 11th.
[1:42:11] If you need drop-off box locations as well as the nearest polling center,
[1:42:14] you go online to jackco.us slash elections.
[1:42:18] If you choose to mail in your ballot, be sure it's mailed in early enough to
[1:42:21] arrive no later than 7 p.m. on November 4th.
[1:42:25] To be safe, consider mailing it on or before October 30th.
[1:42:28] Voter service and polling centers open on October 30th.
[1:42:31] You can visit them to register to vote, update your registration.
[1:42:34] get a replacement ballot and cash
[1:42:36] revote all the way up through
[1:42:37] Election Day. Questions concerning
[1:42:38] registration and ballot mailings can
[1:42:40] be directed to the Jefferson County
[1:42:42] clerks office at 303-271-8111. There is a
[1:42:47] jingle in there somewhere I think. Thank
[1:42:49] you for watching and be sure to vote on
[1:42:51] November 4th and I get to go back into
[1:42:53] my office and tell my producers that I
[1:42:55] didn't go past 8 o'clock. So thank you
[1:42:57] all for joining us tonight. Have a great
[1:42:59] evening.