This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
To the Editor of the Longmont Observer,
Longmont is at a crossroads. We have been fortunate recently with our economic and downtown revitalization, but our growth has created some
challenges. Balancing our growth, maintaining our quality of life, affordability, managing traffic, helping people in need and making sure our neighborhoods are safe are among the challenges that must be addressed. That is why I am running for City Council for Ward 3. We need to focus on a long term growth plan that is sustainable and forward thinking to make sure we take advantage of the good fortune of people wanting to move to, live in and work in Longmont.
We are limited in how we grow so we must be efficient with the space we have and deliberate in those decisions. In order to preserve our quality of
life and the things so many of us love about Longmont we have to first look at the things we have in common. First, we need to work on things like
clean water, reliable utilities, maintaining the wastewater treatment plant and our best-in-the-nation internet so we can preserve our current quality of life. Growing up in this county I have witnessed growth my whole life. I have seen growth managed well at times and also the opposite. That is one reason why it is so important to focus on the things we all have in common, and that is the daily operations of the city and planning for its future.
If we are spending time focusing on things that are not city issues, we distract ourselves from managing our growth and we will find ourselves in a position of having to react versus being prepared. Having grown up here, I loved everything that our environment offers us. We have amazing recreation, wildlife and scenic escapes the rest of the country envies. It has always made me sad to see swaths of land leveled flat and paved over. We must think of efficient growth because outward sprawl, thankfully, is not an option. In managing our growth we must be efficient. We must be careful to efficiently develop areas to have available housing inventory and also incorporate space for businesses. Increased traffic is also a major concern as a result of growth, and smart planning and redevelopment can help to alleviate this problem by creating neighborhoods where people can live and shop in close proximity. Further, by creating these new more walkable-bikeable areas we can create new economic nodes that will increase the prosperity and safety of our neighborhoods.
The residents of Longmont can expect from me transparency, honesty and to be ethical. I will listen to all residents and report back. My mom taught
me a few simple guiding lessons growing up. 1) If you do what you say and say what you do you don’t have to worry about your story. 2) Treat others the way you want to be treated.
I am running for City Council and ask for your vote because I am so passionate about this town. I have seen and experienced good and bad stewardship of our communities and that helps give me foresight to be a great advocate for the residents of Longmont. We have to plan for the future, including working with neighboring towns in regard to our growth
and traffic. Let’s work toward policies that enable people to have a better life and take advantage of the great opportunity that comes from people
joining our community. Let’s focus on building our prosperity and being proactive. Developing new ideas on transportation with our neighbors, creating new, efficient economic nodes and job opportunities can help abate multiple problems at once.
I have grown my business from scratch focusing on the good I can add, not what I can receive. I have volunteered without asking for things in return.
I have worked hard in helping others to make a difference in their lives and to make my boys proud. I stayed positive through hard times, loving my
family, and having a strong belief that the more good I put into the universe the more there is to come around. It is the value of compound good that we can all benefit from. We should be working on what we have in common, harnessing the positive energy and the great problem we have of people wanting to be here. It is that reason that I know we can take the challenges facing Longmont and create an amazing community for ourselves, our children and grandchildren. I will help to build the smart long term vision that allows us to manage our growth and preserve what makes this the best place to live, raise a family, start a business and grow old.
If you agree, I ask that you vote for me this election for City Council for Ward 3 and let’s get to work turning our challenges into great opportunity.
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Regan Sample
Candidate for Longmont City Council Ward 3
