The Upside-Down World of the “Boulder Progressives”
Kathleen J. Hancock, October 31, 2023, Guest Opinion submitted to Daily Camera. An abbreviated version was published in the Daily Camera on Nov. 4th.
In the upside-down world of Boulder politics, the BPs – who have a majority on the City Council and include two mayoral aspirants, incumbent Mayor Aaron Brockett and council member Nicole Speer – have taken positions more aligned with free-market libertarians than what most of us consider progressive. They supported removing our right to plan for housing as we see fit. And, despite having the majority, they have not passed legislation that would increase permanently affordable housing by raising more funds for programs such as higher cash-in-lieu payments or commercial linkage fees.
These government policies are known to work, creating more housing for the lowest income members of our community as well as people with disabilities who need more support (so-called supportive housing). But the BPs have not passed any legislation to increase these funds and programs. They have supported building more housing, without policies to control prices. Similarly, they passed legislation that allows more unrelated people to live in a house together but with no protections to insure affordability. This simply enriches owners, allowing them to charge the same per person cost, but with more people packed into the same space. Without those controls, our city will become more crowded without seeing relief in housing costs.
The BPs’ lax policies leave the unhoused vulnerable. Our bandshell and Central Park have become open air drug markets and places for people to sleep. A motorist recently drove his truck through this site, intentionally running over sleeping bags (that were thankfully empty); he’s been charged with attempted murder.
The BPs seem to lack compassion for all residents, including those in low-income communities, who suffer from the behavioral issues and crime that have been linked to some unhoused people. Visitors and residents avoid our public spaces, such as the Boulder Creek path. Children are endangered by exploding propane tanks and harassed by those who want to sell them drugs. Yet, the BPs oppose Safe Zones 4 Kids.
Some extreme BPs have engaged in underhanded, potentially illegal behavior. In 2021, one of their leaders created a fake social media account to attribute false information to a council candidate that he opposed, an action that may well have cost that candidate the election. Apparently, when it comes to winning elections, the end justifies the means, no matter how much it degrades our electoral process.
Many community members recently received a postcard from an ally of the BPs – the Working Families Party – maliciously and falsely linking one of the mayoral candidates, Bob Yates, with the Jan. 6th insurrection in DC. (To his credit, Mayor Brockett defended Yates, saying he knows him to be “a good and decent human being who in no way supported or condoned the events of Jan. 6.” Speer declined to offer a similar statement, essentially saying, that’s just politics. Well, Council Member Speer, it didn’t use to be like this in Boulder. The BPs have changed that.)
Finally, the BPs have repeatedly, and without foundation, attacked our police department, led by Chief Maris Herold. Chief Herold has won awards for community collaboration and large-scale problem-solving projects to reduce crime and improve services for at-risk populations; she is probably the most progressive police chief in the nation. Why are the BPs so intent on attacking her and her senior staff?
As a progressive, I will not vote to give the BPs a continued majority on City Council and the mayoralty. They have had their chance to improve our city; I have seen our quality of life, both for those housed and unhoused, decline because of their control in the past two years. It is time to vote in new leadership. Vote for Bob Yates for Mayor and Terri Brncic, Tina Marquis, Jenny Robins, and Tara Winer for City Council.
