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Boulder County residents favor more funding for transportation improvements, better wildfire mitigation and wildland emergency response. They are also worried about the rising cost of living, homelessness and climate change.
At least that’s according to the county’s annual public opinion survey presented to the Boulder County Commissioners on Tuesday.
Commission Chair Marta Loachamin said in a county news release that she is not taken off guard that wildfire concerns have suddenly become a top priority for residents.
“Following the Marshall Fire, it’s not surprising to see that wildlife mitigation and wildland emergency response are at the front of residents’ minds,” Loachamin said. “Wildfire mitigation didn’t even feature when people responded to surveys in previous years, but it’s now the second most important issue, according to the recent poll.”
“People understand,” Loachamin added, “that mitigating against future fires and responding to wildland-urban emergencies are two parts of one approach to preventing tragedies like the Marshall Fire.”
She also said that the strong link between climate change and the Marshall Fire, it’s not surprising that climate change continues to be an issue of importance to Boulder County voters.
“Residents also clearly valued extending or increasing the existing transportation sales tax, which has funded 44 significant transportation projects since 2009, including commuter bike connections, safer shoulders on highways, and local transit,” County Commissioner and vice chair of the board Claire Levy said in the news release.
“A sustainable and inclusive transportation network is a priority for Boulder County, but rising costs, a growing population, and new technologies mean we need to use all available funding sources to plan for future projects,” Levy said.
“Issues like the rising cost of living and its relationship with housing and unhoused residents are topics the Board hears about regularly when speaking to Boulder County residents,” Commissioner Matt Jones added. “We are still recovering from two years of pandemic, and the survey results we received this week confirm a lot of what we heard during our American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Community Engagement Survey specific to the challenges facing our residents. We will continue to work with community partners to address pandemic recovery in housing, mental health, and economic challenges as we did last week when we allocated $36.5 million in ARPA federal funds for projects and programs across the county.”
In order to assess public opinion on a range of events or issues of interest to county residents, the Board of County Commissioners regularly conduct public opinion surveys, the news release states. Typically, the surveys are conducted on an annual basis. The survey results were presented to the Board of County Commissioners at their business meeting on June 21, 2022. A recording of the meeting is available.
Drake Research & Strategy, Inc. conducted the survey on behalf of Boulder County. A random sample was drawn from a list of Boulder County voters, containing both landline and cell phone numbers. The results are now available on the Boulder County website.
The news release states that If the Board refers any ballot measures for the November election, public hearings on those measures will be held in July or August. Sign up to receive the Commissioners’ Advance Agenda of Meetings.
