Candidate: Aaron Neyer
Office: Boulder City Council
Website:
QUESTIONS FOR CANDIDATES:
Yes/No Questions – Please answer only with yes/no.
Are you a homeowner? No
Do you think your City should add more beds to the homeless shelter? Yes
If the City police force was fully staffed, would you advocate for adding more officers? No
Do you believe there’s a need for more housing? Yes
Do you believe the City should spend more money on homelessness services? Yes
Longform Questions – Please limit responses to 300 words or less.
Why do you want to be a council member?
“I am interested in helping to foster a more connected community in Boulder, building better relationships within our city and beyond that helps us to more effectively address the systemic problems we face today. It seems to me that we are at a bit of a turning point for humanity, and it’s vital that we participate within our political systems to support a healthy movement forward. I am running so that I can do my part.”
When was the last time you paid rent, and where was that?
“September 1st, for my house in North Boulder.”
Boulder County has experienced extreme natural disasters over the last decade, including flooding and wildfire. How do you plan to address these challenges?
“Put more energy into Cool Boulder, fostering better collaboration between city, people, and local organizations; moving on solutions such as pollinator pathways, canopy corridors, and absorbent landscapes. Energizing and expanding this will be crucial to effectively leveraging our capacity in Boulder to not only mitigate flooding and wildfire in Boulder, but to meaningfully bring forward solutions to the climate crisis affecting all of us.”
How do you think you stand out from other candidates?
“I bring a fresh, youthful and optimistic perspective. While I am less experienced in many political issues than other candidates, I use this as an asset, because I am willing to admit when I don’t know and be in communication with experts so that I might learn. Further, I have deep networks in the technology world as well as experience working at the forefront of modern technology, that will enable me to effectively address the problems that are sure to come in the near future related to topics like AI and other tech advancements. I am deeply embedded in a diversity of communities throughout the area that would support me representing a really holistic and often under-represented group of people in Boulder.”
What question would you ask a fellow candidate on the ballot?
“I would ask Terri how much she knows the unhoused populations around here. I’m genuinely curious, with her being such a strong advocate for increased policing of the homeless, if she’s gotten to know any of them, and if she’d be willing to invite one or several of them in for dinner at her house to talk about their struggles.”
What are your solutions for the growing population of people experiencing homelessness?
“24/7 shelter. Sanctioned camping. Iterating on solutions that couple outreach with enforcement to more effectively nudge unhoused towards solutions while fostering better understanding of the needs of the unhoused.”
What’s your plan for creating more affordable housing in Boulder?
“Intelligent densification and inclusionary zoning reform; in line with recent proposals coming from Lauren. Further, we need to allow for more creative housing options, such as cottage communities.”
How will you address climate change? How do you plan to meet some of the City’s climate goals, like reducing emissions by 70% by 2030, becoming a net-zero City by 2035, and becoming a carbon-positive City by 2040?
“Increase resources and community awareness/engagement with Cool Boulder, supporting much more effective and efficient ecological restoration. Leverage the best science; and bring more experts into the table. We should have Paul Hawken’s book Regeneration as one of our manuals for implementing better solutions here. Further, we need to create better public private partnerships with values-aligned organizations to support us evolving our infrastructure in Boulder, to be renewal, efficient, and friendly to people and planet.”
What are your goals for transportation and how will you achieve them?
“I want to see a Boulder that is less and less car-dependent, by creating infrastructure that makes it possible and even appealing to live a car-lite or car-free lifestyle. We need to be more creative with how public transit works. If we are seeing 10% occupancy on some bus routes, we should scale those bus routes back in favor of shuttle services, subsidized programs that can bring people from Point A to Point B. This can be supported with better technological infrastructure through public-private partnerships, giving people the knowledge and the means to get where they need to go with minimal inconvenience. Further, we need to continue to iterate on walking and biking pathways in Boulder, allowing for people to safely get where they need to go.”
How do you plan to engage with non-English speaking constituents?
“Leveraging the network. While I am limited in my capacity to speak other languages (working on it), I have many close humans in my network who are able to effectively relate with a much wider community language wise. I will leverage my network, both inside and outside of government, to ensure that communication is flowing where it needs to; both in the sense that I am able to reach with my voice the masses of Boulder, but also that they are able to reach me.”
How does diversity factor into your policy making?
“It’s essential. One of Boulder’s largest struggles is its lack of diversity. We could explore the historical roots of this, but what matters is where we are now and where we are going. We need to ensure that as we lay out new programs, we are optimizing for increasing diversity in Boulder, which means increasing access but it also means playing an effective role in the culture we are creating in our society, and looking to be inclusive and welcoming of all.”
How will you reach residents who have different lived experiences than you?
“This is one of my favorite things to do. I think a diversity of perspectives is essential and much of my work beyond this campaign centers around creating inclusive spaces for dialogue and seeking to foster connection across different social spheres. I will continue strong with my intention of initiating connections of people who are outside my typical social sphere and inviting people to connect me with more people. I want to know the full lived experience of Boulder and I’m well aware that my experience is limited.”
Rank your top 5 issues in priority.
- Increasing diversity in Boulder through better access and fostering a welcoming culture
- Regenerating ecosystems in open space and in back yards
- Evolving our technological infrastructure to increase efficiency
- Effectively connecting homeless people to services
- Ensuring public safety through addressing drug epidemic and violent crime
