Longmont City Councilmember Susie Hidalgo-Fahring is running for mayor and plans to prioritize housing, mental health, early childhood education, and safe transportation should she be elected this fall.
Hidalgo-Fahring was first elected to the City Council in 2019 as the Ward 3 representative and was reelected in 2023.
Ward 3 generally includes the northwest region of the city.
Hidalgo-Fahring is also the city's mayor pro tem, which requires her to act as mayor in the event of the current mayor’s absence or disability.
“I’ve built up that level of experience and expertise in this leadership role and I feel like I’m ready for the next step,” Hidalgo-Fahring said.
She filed her candidate affidavit for mayor last month.
Since being sworn into office as a councilmember, Hidalgo-Fahring said housing has been her priority.
She commended the city and the Longmont Housing Authority for its work on securing additional affordable housing and wants to make inroads on getting more attainable and missing middle housing.
Affordable housing is typically defined as housing where the occupant pays no more than 30 percent of their gross income on housing costs including utilities, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s website.
Hidalgo-Fahring said many people in the local workforce, whether it be teachers, firefighters, police officers, or retail workers, often make too much money to qualify for affordable housing benefits, yet they still can’t afford a market-value home.
Having served on the Longmont City Council for several years, Hidalgo-Fahring has heard plenty of concerns from residents about developers wanting to build high-density apartment complexes in existing neighborhoods. Hidalgo-Fahring made clear that she is more likely to support a new housing project for which the developer makes a concerted effort to work with existing neighbors.
“[Developers] will build their development. They’ll move on and it's the neighborhood, the people who live in and around that area, who have to live with the consequences of what’s there,” Hidalgo-Fahring said. “So, I feel like they should have a voice in that process.”
In addition to housing, Hidalgo-Fahring is adamant about mental health and ensuring that people who are in need have access to the proper resources, especially in emergency situations.
Hidalgo-Fahring commended Longmont Public Safety’s Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement, CORE, team, which is a specialized co-responder unit made up of a specially-trained police officer, a behavioral health clinician, and a paramedic that responds to 911 calls indicating a mental health crisis. Hidalgo-Fahring said that diverting people to the right kind of support system is critical.
“Some people need to go to jail. Some people need the hospital. Some people just need that opportunity to calm down and reflect,” Hidalgo-Fahring said.
Hidalgo-Fahring is a third grade teacher and has lived in Longmont for more than 20 years. Bringing more early childhood education opportunities, particularly quality preschool, to the city is important to Hidalgo-Fahring’s campaign, as well.
“If we’re looking at early intervention [and] how do we support families, it’s quality childcare, quality preschool opportunities,” Hidalgo-Fahring said.
She also insisted on continuing the city’s work on Vision Zero, which focuses on achieving zero traffic fatalities and severe injuries among all road users by 2040.
“This isn’t my first rodeo,” Hidalgo-Fahring said, pointing to her experience and the relationships she’s built while in public office. “I feel like I could do good work for our city.”
The mayoral election will occur on November 4.
