This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Four years ago, I told Longmont voters that I would be a councilmember who stood up for them. Now, with an election coming up soon, I’m asking for your vote because I believe I’ve been able to do just that. In my first term on council, I’ve stood up to RTD, worked extensively on affordable housing, and done all I could to fight for working families in our city. Yet, there’s still so much work to be done and unfinished business left in front of me. That’s why I’m running again, to finish the job I started, and I hope I can count on your vote.
One of my platform objectives in 2015 was to work on our FasTracks commuter rail from Longmont to Denver. It’s been a challenging project but we have made progress. After over three years of networking, with Mayor Coombs and Mayor Bagley’s help with The Mayors and Commissioners, our RTD Director, Judy Lubow and I have been able to get the elected officials of the five cities on the North West Corridor, the lobbyists and the Governor to approve of the Peak Rail commuter service of three trains in the morning and three in the afternoon on a single track.
This starter service is less expensive and meets the needs of the municipalities. BNSF has come to the table with modeling on their rail as to start times, stops and grades. RTD has given us a green light on the parking garage site and construction for our bus/train depot, putting $17 million towards the project. None of my opponents for this year’s election for the at-large city council seat have the expertise or network to see the project to completion.
Promoting smart development was another area that I wanted to work on. Longmont faces a housing affordability crisis that threatens the working-class character of our community. To address it, I directed staff to schedule a meeting with developers and council so we could better understand what developers needed in our development code and zoning ordinance to deliver an affordable product. The inclusionary zoning ordinance for new development to deliver 12% of housing as affordable was the result of the conversations.
I know from our residents that the homeless population in our city is a huge concern. The OUR Center decided to pull out of the navigation portion of the Coordinated Entry system, which has left a huge gap in the city’s ability to deal with this challenge. In order to better understand what services are being provided to the homeless, I asked staff to schedule Friday work session with all the service providers.
From these sessions, council is tackling one area first which is residents who are living in RV’s and cars on our residential streets. Research is being done on safe lots where their vehicles can park after background checks are done while our housing inventory becomes available.
In 2015, I also promised I would work to address environmental sustainability. Our air quality is not what it used to be on the Front Range. Boulder County has had air quality monitoring on the Boulder Reservoir for a couple of years. When their grant ran out to continue that monitoring, a resident came to me and asked if there was any way we could get Dr. Detlev Helmig to come to Longmont for a presentation. Dr. Detlev is the scientist who ran the monitoring stations at Boulder Reservoir. The presentation he gave was compelling enough for the city to decide to monitor the air quality around our reservoir and at the airport. The health and safety of our residents is one of the duties of an elected official. Our monitoring stations should be up and running by the end of the year.
I have been working steadfastly for the past four years on these issues and many more. I like challenges and don’t give up until I reach the goal which council sets for our city.
With your vote, I will continue to work for you and our city and we will finish the job we started.
Joan Peck
Longmont City Council
At-large
