2023 Boulder Voting Guide

This voting guide is largely based on information provided by former Boulder Mayor Suzanne Jones and former Boulder County Commissioner Elise Jones. You can find more information about the ballot from the following sources:

• Colorado Blue Book (official, non-partisan guide)

• Progressive Voting Guide (provided by Progress Now Colorado)

• Sierra Club Endorsements (provided by Sierra Club Indian Peaks Group)

If you do not have a ton of time to do your own research for every single candidate and issue, this guide can help you get started.

• First Choice: Aaron Brockett. We sincerely like and respect Aaron Brockett, Nicole Speer, and Bob Yates as people, and think they have all served the community well on Council. However, we enthusiastically endorse Mayor Aaron Brockett to continue being Boulder’s mayor. We believe our community needs an experienced and progressive leader who can: help guide Boulder’s future; be a committed spokesperson in local, statewide, national and international forums on key issues from climate to democracy; and work well with other elected officials across the region. 

Aaron and Nicole are both long-term Democrats with strong progressive values, but Aaron has valuable experience as the current mayor, and as a well-known, well-respected, elected official within our region, where his voice carries a lot of weight with other mayors, county commissioners, and the Governor. We feel Aaron has done a great job as our mayor, showing up everywhere around the community, learning Spanish so he can better communicate with our growing Latinx community, and actively representing us down at the State Capitol. He is a rare politician, choosing to do the right thing for the community, even when it's not the easy, politically expedient choice. Aaron has been an outspoken champion of making Boulder more inclusive and affordable, ensuring that we are leading the way on climate action, and working to effectively and compassionately address homelessness while also ensuring public safety. 

Aaron has been endorsed by the Sierra Club, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Boulder Weekly, Governor Jared Polis, Colorado Energy Office Director Will Toor, (Boulder) Senator Steve Fenberg, (Boulder) Representatives Junie Joseph and Judy Amabile, Boulder County Commissioner Ashley Stolzman, and many many more.

• Second Choice: Nicole Speer. While Nicole is also a good choice, since her Council seat is not up for election this year, she will get to continue serving on City Council if she isn’t elected as mayor (this is not the case for Aaron), so we can continue to benefit from her service – and she will be even more effective as a leader in the future with additional years of experience under her belt. 

• Third Choice: Bob Yates (or leave it blank). While Bob has been a fine public service servant during his time on the Council, we believe Boulder deserves strong progressive, Democratic leadership; Bob’s moderate Republican views are not the best fit to be the mayor of Boulder. Over his last year in office, Yates has opposed efforts to bring more affordable housing to Boulder, opposed stopping evictions during the pandemic, opposed creation of a Boulder library district, opposed setting a minimum wage for Boulder County, opposed municipalization, and threatened local non-profits for taking positions on housing policies. 

Potential regional and national implications of the Boulder Mayoral race: If a progressive city like Boulder elects a mayor with these voting records, it will not only hinder the momentum for the Colorado State Legislature to pass policies that would address the root causes of the homelessness issue (namely the lack of affordable housing and fair pay, according to the largest homelessness study done in decades), but also send a national shockwave, potentially paving the way for conservative candidates everywhere to win in their districts by exploiting public fears of homelessness, migrants, and crime, as well as capitalizing on the desire of those in power to maintain the status quo instead of pursuing public policies that will help build inclusive and diverse communities.

The following candidates have been endorsed by the Sierra Club:

• Ryan Schuchard: Ryan is an articulate, well-informed and experienced advocate on transportation, housing and climate issues, as evidenced through his service on Boulder’s Transportation Advisory Board where he led efforts to create the Core Arterial Network to upgrade Boulder’s safe bikeway system. He’s been endorsed by a long list of groups, from the Sierra Club and Run on Climate to the Colorado Black Women for Political Action.

• Waylon Lewis: Born and raised in Boulder, Waylon knows Boulder inside and out, and is committed to safeguarding its uniqueness and environment while also working to foster a more inclusive, affordable and climate-friendly future for it. As a neighbor of ours, we have found Waylon to be someone who is always listening and learning, with the goal of solving problems holistically and building community wherever he goes. He is a Buddhist, the founder of Elephant Journal (a successful 22-year-old local business), and bikes everywhere.

• Tara Winer: As a current member of the City Council, Tara has exhibited a refreshingly authentic, open-minded approach, centered around listening to people before taking a stand on an issue. While we don’t always agree with all of her votes, we appreciate her transparency and thoughtfulness, as well as how she shows up at so many community events and bridges across political slates. She’s put in lots of work as a city council member and deserves another term.

• Taishya Adams: Taishya would provide some much-needed diversity and a unique perspective to the City Council as a strong woman of color. Her environmental background and experience includes serving as the first black female commissioner on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission and a member of Colorado Natural Areas Council – good matches for Boulder’s environmental values. Taishya also served on the inaugural Boulder Police Oversight Panel, where she was an advocate for accountability and transparency.

• District A: Neil Fishman. While both Neil and Jason Unger would make good BVSD Board members, Neil’s years of community activism and LGBTQ advocacy tipped the scales for us. We appreciate his dedication to being a voice for ALL kids, his emphasis on equity and inclusion, on mental health and keeping students safe from bullying, and on being science-based on issues like vaccines. But both of these candidates have run strong races and have strong followings.

• District C: Alex Medler. Alex is the strongest candidate for District C by far, with 30 years of experience in education policy, and  a commitment to social justice and student equity. He is widely endorsed by many current and former BVSD Board of Directors, the Boulder Valley Education Association, and others.

• District D: Andrew Brandt. The District D race is another tough one with two strong candidates: Andrew Brandt and Lalenia Quinlan Aweida. We lean Andrew because he is such a passionate candidate with compelling data-driven ideas and genuine commitment and expertise in pursuing equitable, sustainable, fiscally responsible, and inclusive education policies.   

• District G: Jorge Chavez. Chávez immigrated to the U.S. from Guatemala when he was five and credits the public education system for helping him learn English and become an associate education professor at CU-Denver. To quote Boulder Weekly, which also endorsed Chavez: “The combination of Chávez’s life experience, volunteer positions, connections with parents and staff, and his academic background inform the policies he supports, and will make him an excellent board member” – we agree!

• Proposition HH: Vote Yes. Prop HH would reduce property taxes for homes and businesses, including expanding property tax relief for seniors, and backfill counties, water districts, fire districts, ambulance and hospital districts, and other local governments and fund school districts by using a portion of the state surplus up to the proposition HH cap. This measure is being proposed by the Democrats and Governor Polis to help defuse large increases in property taxes, in exchange for reducing taxpayer refunds under TABOR for at least the next 10 years. The measure would change how property taxes are calculated in order to limit the rate of future increases; property tax bills would still rise, but not as fast, saving homeowners hundreds of dollars per year for a decade—with a larger proportional impact on less expensive properties and favorable treatment to homes that are occupied by their owners, as well as to multifamily buildings. To make up for the loss of tax funding for local governments and schools, the state would be allowed to keep more tax money each year, which would reduce or eliminate TABOR refunds. Democrats claim the measure would have a relatively small effect on refunds while helping to reduce much larger leaps in property taxes. 

• Proposition II: Vote Yes. Without raising taxes, should the state retain the $23,650,000 in tax revenues already collected on cigarettes and tobacco, and use the money to expand Colorado’s free preschool program (rather than returning it to cigarette and tobacco distributors). This is on the ballot because if the state didn’t correctly predict how much a tax like the tobacco tax would raise when voters approved it a few years ago, they have to give back any extra that came in above the estimate. It’s a no-brainer to retain this money for free preschool!

• Boulder County Issue 1A – Open Space: Vote Yes. Without increasing taxes, this measure asks if voters want to extend the County’s existing 0.05% open space sales tax for another 15 years so the County can continue buying and maintaining our open space. This is an easy one in our view - of course, we need to continue to take care of and expand protection of the beautiful open space in Boulder County that is so important for wildlife habitat, recreation, local food production, water quality, and the scenery we all love so much.

• Boulder County Issue 1B – Affordable and Attainable Housing Sales Tax: Vote Yes. Issue 1B asks if, without increasing taxes, voters want to extend the County’s existing 0.185% sales tax (approved back in 2018 to pay for an alternative sentencing facility at the County Jail) for 15 years in order to fund affordable housing efforts. Specifically, this repurposed tax would be used to build, purchase or maintain for-sale and rental homes for low and moderate income residents and workers, and provide supportive housing services. The cost of housing in Boulder County has skyrocketed, making it hard for the people like teachers, firefighters, grocery store clerks, bus drivers, etc. who work here to live here. The result is more traffic and pollution as workers drive in from farther away, more people experiencing homelessness, and a community that is less inclusive, diverse, and affordable except for the very wealthy. Issue 1B would counter these trends by providing much-needed investment in housing.

• City of Boulder Ballot Issue 2A - City Sales and Use Tax Extension: Vote Yes. This measure would extend the City’s existing 0.15 % sales tax for another 20 years, directing 50% of monies to General Fund Purposes (i.e., basic city functions like emergency response, public safety, and human services) and the other 50% to support arts and culture programs (including funding for art education and programming, public art, and related efforts). Historically, this tax, which was initially approved in 2003 and is set to expire in 2024, went 100% to the General Fund, but this time a compromise was struck with the arts community (which had proposed a measure directing all of the tax to go to the arts) to split it 50/50. Boulder funds the arts at lower rates than most of our neighboring cities, and yet the arts - music, theater, public art, etc. – are vital to our community – which is why we urge a yes vote.

• City of Boulder Ballot Question 2B - Elections Administrative Charter Cleanup: Vote Yes. These are administrative changes and clarifications recommended by the City Council’s charter review committee to make the election process for collecting signatures for petitions and candidates easier. There is no organized external support or opposition to this measure. 

• City of Boulder Ballot Question 302 - Safe Zones 4 Kids: Vote No. This citizen-initiated Charter Amendment would prioritize removal of prohibited items within 500 feet from schools or 50 feet from any sidewalk. We believe everyone should feel safe in their community, including long-term residents as well as the unhoused. But this initiative, despite its name, would not make our community safer, nor is it well-written public policy. Police already prioritize enforcement of laws and removal of homeless encampments near schools. And including all sidewalks effectively covers most of the city; by prioritizing everywhere, you prioritize nothing, and effectively would decrease the current emphasis on schools. 

Data shows that an enforcement-only approach to addressing homelessness is not effective. Instead, we know what is required is a thoughtful, multi-faceted, community-based and humane approach that provides for public safety while addressing root causes of homelessness and treats people with compassion and respect – solutions which the current Council is already working on. In sum, this measure is poorly written,  will be ineffectual, and shouldn’t be locked into the City Charter (so it only could be changed by another ballot measure) – let’s focus on real solutions instead. 

For more information, visit Solutions Not Safe Zones. We are joined in our opposition to 302 by the Daily Camera, Boulder Weekly, Boulder Area Labor Council, Boulder Progressives, Boulder County NAACP, New Era Colorado and many others.