Better Boulder Hearts and Minds Podcast

Philip Ogren
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This podcast features interviews with members of Better Boulder, candidates we endorse, and other friends of our organization. We explore ways to make Boulder better with special emphasis on improved housing access and transportation infrastructure. Better Boulder is a nonprofit political action committee that endorses candidates and ballot measures and develops and promotes policies that we believe will make Boulder more vibrant, livable, and connected. We are working hard to create and enhance sustainable, walkable neighborhoods and to champion well-designed infill and redevelopment that reduces our impact on the climate, encourages less driving, and keeps our community welcoming and economically thriving. This podcast is not governed by a consensus driven approval process that carefully regulates messaging. Opinions expressed on this podcast are solely those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Better Boulder organization. We hope you enjoy the diversity of opinions and perspectives and that these conversations spark improved dialog in the community. Please visit betterboulder.com for official positions on a wide variety of topics. While you are there, please consider donating money if you value our work.

Episodes

  1. 3d ago

    010 Jill Grano, City Council Candidate

    Welcome to the Better Boulder Hearts and Minds Podcast.  Folks, my ballot has arrived!  I'm so thankful for mail-in ballots where I can sit in the comfort of my own home, open it up, read through it carefully, research the candidates and ballot measures and vote carefully.  I remember 20 some years ago walking into a church building lobby with a vague idea of some of the candidates I would vote for, seeing my ballot for the first time and making weighty decisions about issues I had some uniformed, prejudiced intuitions about and either voting when I thought I knew enough to weigh in or leaving it blank when I did it.  That's no way to vote and I'm so thankful for the movers and shakers who had the political will to make universal mail-in voting a reality in Colorado.  I hope it goes nationwide. So, we have our ballots - it's time to vote!  There are many great candidates to choose from and I hope you will consider the candidates endorsed by Better Boulder.  We endorsed seven city council candidates and we hope this series of episodes is helpful as you get to know them and make your choices.   Our slate is the result of numerous one-on-one conversations, in-person interviews in front of the entire board, lively discussions, and multiple rounds of voting.  To see our full list of candidates, please visit betterboulder.com and click "Elections". Our sixth candidate interview in this series is with Jill Grano.  We met on a Saturday afternoon at her place in North Boulder and sat on her back porch and talked about fiscal responsibility and housing, among other subjects.  We hope you enjoy this conversation with Jill Grano.

    010 Jill Grano, City Council Candidate

  2. 5d ago

    009 Ryan Schuchard, City Council Candidate (Incumbent)

    Welcome to the Better Boulder Hearts and Minds Podcast. Folks, I received a text message from Boulder County notifying me that my ballot is in the mail which means it's time to make big decisions about who and what to vote for. There are many great candidates to choose from and I hope you will consider the candidates endorsed by Better Boulder. We endorsed seven city council candidates and we hope this series of episodes is helpful as you get to know them and make your choices. Our slate is the result of numerous one-on-one conversations, in-person interviews in front of the entire board, lively discussions, and multiple rounds of voting. To see our full list of candidates, please visit betterboulder.com and click "Elections". Our fifth candidate interview in this series is with Ryan Schuchard who is running for reelection after serving his first term. We met on a Saturday morning at the main branch of the Boulder Public Library and decided to bike up Boulder Creek a ways where found a couple of logs to sit on in the shade. We talked about housing, transportation, wildfire resilience, and fiscal responsibility among other subjects. We hope you enjoy this conversation with Ryan Schuchard.

    009 Ryan Schuchard, City Council Candidate (Incumbent)

  3. 6d ago

    008 Sam Fuqua, City Council Candidate

    Folks, I received a text message from Boulder County notifying me that my ballot is in the mail.  I don't know about you, but I plan to cheat like hell by filling out my ballot and dropping it off at one of the Boulder County ballot drop boxes so that it can be counted along with all of the others.  It won't be easy because there are a lot of important choices to make and great candidates to choose from.  This year Better Boulder endorsed seven city council candidates that we hope you will consider and we hope this series of episodes is helpful as make your choices.   Our slate is the result of numerous one-on-one conversations, in-person interviews in front of the entire board, lively discussions, and multiple rounds of voting.  To see our full list of candidates, please visit betterboulder.com and click "Elections". Our fourth candidate interview in this series is with Sam Fuqua who is a first-time city council candidate.  We met on a Tuesday evening at the NoBo branch of the Boulder Public Library. We talked about his service on the board for BVSD, his extensive work with the library district, and affordable housing, among others. We hope you enjoy this conversation with Sam Fuqua.

    008 Sam Fuqua, City Council Candidate

  4. Sep 30

    007 Aaron Brockett, Mayoral Candidate

    It's election season, ballots will be mailed soon,  and it's time to get to know your candidates.  We hope you are enjoying this series of Better Boulder endorsed candidates.  The selection of our endorsed slate required two thirds of our board to vote in favor and this year we endorsed one mayoral candidate, Aaron Brockett, and seven city council candidates.  This slate is the result of numerous one-on-one conversations, in-person interviews in front of the entire board, lively discussions, and multiple rounds of voting.  To see our full list of candidates, please visit betterboulder.com and click "Elections". Our third candidate interview in this series is with Aaron Brockett who is running for Mayor.  We met on a Monday evening at the Wild Sage community center in the Holiday neighborhood.  There were children running about and doors opening and closing - but hopefully most of that is minimized here.  We talked about his accomplishments as Mayor, housing, transportation, the city budget, the Alpine / Balsam project, the bond measure, and the role of mayor, among other subjects.  We hope you enjoy this conversation with Aaron Brockett.

    007 Aaron Brockett, Mayoral Candidate

  5. Sep 23

    006 Jamillah Richmond, City Council Candidate

    It's election season and ballots go out early next month and so it's time to get to know your candidates.  I think one of the most exciting things I get to do as a member of Better Boulder is to participate in the candidate endorsement process.  It's always interesting to get to know the candidates and to see who will garner the support needed for an endorsement.  The selection of our endorsed slate requires two thirds of our board to vote in favor and this year we endorsed one mayoral candidate and seven city council candidates.  This slate is the result of numerous one-on-one conversations, in-person interviews in front of the entire board, lively discussions, and multiple rounds of voting.  And this was a heavy lift because there is a large field of candidates this time around.  But we didn't do all of the work for you because you will only get to vote for five city council candidates.  So, to help you get to know our endorsed candidates better, we are going to interview as many of them as we can in the next few weeks for the podcast.  We will try to keep these episodes short and sweet so they are easier to get through and we hope you find them useful as you try to decide who to vote for.  To see our full list of candidates, please visit betterboulder.com and click "Elections". Our second candidate in this series is Jamillah Richmond.  We met on a Sunday morning and sat in a beautiful garden that she helped create called the Giving Grove Food Forest at Tantra Lake.  We talked about why she's running for city council, the voices that go unheard in our communities, how she learned Spanish and other languages, and the municipal bond measure on the ballot, among others.  We hope you enjoy this conversation with Jamillah Richmond.

    006 Jamillah Richmond, City Council Candidate

  6. Sep 21

    005 Tara Winer, City Council Candidate (Incumbent)

    It's election season and ballots go out early next month and so it's time to get to know your candidates.  I think one of the most exciting things I get to do as a member of Better Boulder is to participate in the candidate endorsement process.  It's always interesting to get to know the candidates and to see who will garner the support needed for an endorsement.  The selection of our endorsed slate requires two thirds of our board to vote in favor and this year we endorsed one mayoral candidate and seven city council candidates.  This slate is the result of numerous one-on-one conversations, in-person interviews in front of the entire board, lively discussions, and multiple rounds of voting.  And this was a heavy lift because there is a large field of candidates this time around.  But we didn't do all of the work for you because you will only get to vote for five city council candidates.  So, to help you get to know our endorsed candidates better, we are going to interview as many of them as we can in the next few weeks for the podcast.  We will try to keep these episodes short and sweet so they are easier to get through and we hope you find them useful as you try to decide who to vote for.  To see our full list of candidates, please visit betterboulder.com and click "Elections". Our first candidate in this series is Tara Winer.  We met on a Saturday morning and sat outside her house and talked for well over an hour but only recorded about 20 minutes of it.  We talked about why she's running for re-election, the Core Arterial Network, the municipal bond measure on the ballot, and responsible governance.  We hope you enjoy this conversation with Tara Winer.

    005 Tara Winer, City Council Candidate (Incumbent)

  7. Aug 2

    004 RTD Director District O Candidate Forum

    Did you know that RTD is governed by a 15-member board of directors that are publicly elected?  If you live in Boulder, Niwot, Superior, or Louisville, or anywhere in Boulder County west of Boulder then you probably live in RTD Director District O.  Elections for these positions are often uncontested and sleepy affairs with little attention given to them. However, this year we have the good fortune of having two excellent candidates campaigning for your vote.  The two candidates are Audrey DeBarros, who is the executive director of Communing Solutions a regional transportation management organization that serves the Northwest Metro Area including Boulder and Jack Rosenthal who is a daily RTD rider and a data driven technologist. On Monday, July 27th, Better Boulder in partnership with Community Cycles hosted a live candidate forum for RTD Director District O featuring both candidates.  The forum began with opening statements from both candidates which was followed by Q&A on a variety of RTD related topics.  Please note that Community Cycles as a 501c3 does not endorse candidates.  Better Boulder, on the other hand, is a 501c6 and frequently endorses candidates and ballot measures.  However, at the time of this forum and subsequent release of this episode, Better Boulder has not endorsed either candidate.  Please visit betterboulder.com later this fall for a complete list of endorsed candidates and ballot measures.   Sue Prant who was featured on this podcast in episode 2 was the MC for the evening and read the questions.  The first part of the forum featured prepared questions that the candidates were provided ahead of time and the second part of the forum feature questions submitted by audience members.  We hope you enjoy this live recording of the RTD Director District O candidate forum.  Chapters (00:02:26) - Opening statement - Audrey(00:07:01) - Opening statement - Jack(00:10:59) - Top 5 problems question - Audrey(00:14:00) - Top 5 problems question - Jack(00:16:42) - Board culture change question - Jack(00:18:30) - Board culture change question - Audrey(00:21:32) - General manager qualities question - Jack(00:23:33) - General manager qualities question - Audrey(00:25:42) - Bus stop accessibility and placemaking question - Audrey(00:28:35) - Bus stop accessibility and placemaking question - Jack(00:31:06) - Ridership recovery question - Audrey(00:34:28) - Ridership recovery question - Jack(00:36:30) - Bus electrification - Jack(00:38:47) - Bus electrification - Audrey(00:41:36) - Part 2(00:42:18) - Best book on transit question - Audrey(00:42:37) - Best book on transit question - Jack(00:43:12) - Budget cuts question - Audrey(00:44:20) - Budget cuts question - Jack(00:45:43) - Paratransit challenges question - Jack(00:48:04) - Paratransit challenges question - Audrey(00:49:55) - Bus and bike shelters question - Audrey(00:51:50) - Bus and bike shelters question - Jack(00:54:18) - District O focus question - Audrey(00:55:46) - District O focus question - Jack(00:57:55) - Closing remarks - Audrey(00:59:24) - Closing remarks - Jack

    004 RTD Director District O Candidate Forum

  8. Jul 19

    003 Betsey Martens & David Ensign

    For episode 3, I sat down with two Better Boulder members Betsey Martens and David Ensign to talk about housing.  Betsey is the president of the Boulder Housing Partners Foundation's board of directors and has spent her career in various roles advocating for affordable housing and building community.  David is a long time Boulder resident, community volunteer, local politics junkie, and former planning board member.  We sat down in David's dining room and talked about Boulder Housing Partners, affordable housing, missing middle housing, and talked about ways to make our community more inclusive and resilient.  Betsey and David were driving forces behind a missing middle housing event that Better Boulder hosted early this year and helped create an event report named Creating Middle-Income Housing: Ideas into Action which you can find at betterboulder.com.  Chapters (00:00:17) - Better Boulder: Housing Podcast(00:01:59) - Better Bolder Hearts and Minds: Betsy and David(00:03:43) - Betsy and David on Middle Income Housing(00:06:12) - Heart and Minds: The Fight for Housing(00:10:04) - What is a Housing Authority? Boulder Housing Partners(00:16:57) - The President of the Boulder Housing Partners Foundation(00:23:04) - BHP's Housing Challenges(00:30:06) - Boulder Housing: The Future(00:37:09) - What Would You Love in Boulder?(00:44:34) - Boulder resident on the future of the city(00:49:43) - Boulder on Missing Middle Income Housing(00:56:37) - The Better Boulder Report: A Community Engagement(00:59:17) - Boulder City Council: Zoning, affordability(01:08:03) - Better Boulder: On Housing and the Future

    003 Betsey Martens & David Ensign

  9. Jun 9

    002 Sue Prant, Walk and Bike Month

    For episode 2, I sat down with Sue Prant at Community Cycles where she is the executive director to talk about her organization, Community Cycles, and their work in the community to promote riding bicycles and improving cycling infrastructure in Boulder in addition to their involvement with making Walk and Bike Month a success.  We also talked about transportation improvements happening in Boulder and teens on e-bikes. Chapters (00:00:00) - Boulder Walk and Bike Month(00:02:08) - Meet the Executive Director of Community Cycles(00:02:24) - March is Walk and Bike Month(00:04:15) - Boulder B360(00:07:23) - Community Cycles Bike to Work Day(00:12:00) - Back to School: The Bike(00:12:44) - Community Cycles offers E-Bikes(00:18:23) - Half of the committee's work is advocacy and outreach(00:20:49) - Biking and pedestrian safety in Boulder(00:25:44) - Biking on Folsom and Cannes(00:30:29) - Bicycle riders on Boulder's streets(00:31:53) - Bike to Work Day and Walk in Bike Month(00:37:36) - Are E-Bikes Too Fun for Kids?(00:42:19) - Biking to Work in Boulder

    002 Sue Prant, Walk and Bike Month

  10. May 12

    001 Scott Rodwin, Abundance in Boulder

    In this first episode I sat down with Scott Rodwin at his office in downtown Boulder where he works as an architect.  Scott is obsessed with sustainability in the built environment and is a leader in green design in Colorado and is an active board member of Better Boulder.  We talked about why it's so difficult to build attainable housing and build great places in Boulder. Along the way we also talked about construction defect legislation, ADUs, the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, and Title 9, among others.  Chapters (00:00:00) - Better Boulder(00:02:49) - Bolder Bolder Hearts and Minds(00:04:55) - Boulder on Abundance(00:16:00) - The culture of arts in Boulder(00:24:02) - Colorado's approach to building housing(00:34:13) - Boulder's downtown design guidelines(00:43:16) - The challenges of building a sustainable city(00:45:02) - Can we Build More Condos?(00:46:43) - Recommended Stories For New ADUs: Colorado Housing Market(00:49:03) - Boulder Planning Board member on the City's development process(00:58:12) - Pro-development arguments get twisted(01:05:49) - Boulder Planning: We've Made Life Too Hard for ourselves(01:13:04) - Better Boulder: Hearts and Minds Podcast

    001 Scott Rodwin, Abundance in Boulder
  • 10 Episodes

About

This podcast features interviews with members of Better Boulder, candidates we endorse, and other friends of our organization. We explore ways to make Boulder better with special emphasis on improved housing access and transportation infrastructure. Better Boulder is a nonprofit political action committee that endorses candidates and ballot measures and develops and promotes policies that we believe will make Boulder more vibrant, livable, and connected. We are working hard to create and enhance sustainable, walkable neighborhoods and to champion well-designed infill and redevelopment that reduces our impact on the climate, encourages less driving, and keeps our community welcoming and economically thriving. This podcast is not governed by a consensus driven approval process that carefully regulates messaging. Opinions expressed on this podcast are solely those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Better Boulder organization. We hope you enjoy the diversity of opinions and perspectives and that these conversations spark improved dialog in the community. Please visit betterboulder.com for official positions on a wide variety of topics. While you are there, please consider donating money if you value our work.

Information