Since 2017, I’ve done a lot to make living in Longmont better. In the face of worsening air quality, we got rid of fracking within city limits. That initiative began because, on my first day in office, I refused to leave the city attorney’s office until he agreed to put a different option for getting that done before the council. And it worked. The last well in Longmont is plugged and abandoned, and there won’t be another.
But we can’t control surrounding communities, or wildfires. I was a strong advocate for Longmont’s advanced program to monitor our air quality and the origins of the pollutants we endure. I'm an insistent advocate for Longmont being active in expressing our support and opposition for policy at the state level. The Legislature weighs the opinion of cities like Longmont carefully, and we shouldn’t toss away that opportunity. It’s one way we influence what happens outside our borders. As an activist city, the time will come when we can use the air quality data we’re collecting to achieve the statewide change we need to give our people the air quality they deserve. Cities up and down the front range are following our example.
We’ve changed the math on affordable housing, but people are still forced from their homes, and sometimes the city, because of the escalating cost of housing. We are only about half-way to meeting our goals on the production of affordable housing. We can’t rest on our laurels when three years with our affordable housing ordinance in force has only taken us half as far as we need to go. By addressing parking regulations, incentivizing attached housing, and building in new, more walkable patterns, we’ll finish the job, and make Longmont a place where everyone who works in Longmont can find their home here. Housing is a matter of equity and a matter of commerce. Our goal is to serve both ends fairly.
Despite years of paying taxes to RTD to build public transit, we are still reliant on cars, making it harder to get around with each passing year. Our city’s greenhouse gas emissions can’t be controlled until we can reduce the number of trips taken by internal combustion vehicles - and their replacements need to be powered with renewably sourced electricity. I introduced our 2018 resolution for 100% clean electricity by 2030, and I have been the strongest advocate for keeping us on that track. The Council needs the expertise I bring from my decade of experience as a leader on clean energy in the private sector.
In four more years, I can get us a lot closer to fixing these problems.
My beliefs and goals haven’t changed. If you work in Longmont, you should be able to live here. A community like ours, with limits to growth, must be planned and nurtured. We must protect our fragile natural environment in ways large and small. Working together is the way to get things done.
I’m running again because there is much more to do. In the next four years, we can improve air quality by staying on track for our 100% clean energy by 2030 pledge. We can finally bend the curve on the cost of housing. And we can hold RTD accountable for their broken promises and create public transit that meets Longmont’s needs. I believe the city is on a path to creating a brighter future. As we begin to see hope for a strong recovery, now is the time to take up the vision and move forward once more.
Marcia Martin
Longmont City Council Member, Ward 2
