Two city council incumbents are vying to become Longmont’s next mayor on Nov. 2, both certain they can best usher in a new era for the city. The other candidate is an outsider, critical of a perceived left-ward drift by the city council and its policies.
Two at-large city council seats are also on the ballot while Marcia Martin runs unopposed for her Ward II council slot.
All the candidates laid out their positions in a series of forums in October and have been featured in profiles in local media outlets including the Leader.
Tim Waters, Joan Peck and Gregory Harris are running for a two year term for mayor, a post held by Brian Bagley for four years. Bagley is not seeking another term.
Tim Waters, 73, has been on the city council since 2018. A grandfather and the head of an education research and development company, Waters said he wants to permit new housing without cutting corners, support and fund preschools, attain climate goals and push to make Vance Brand Airport a regional transportation hub.
“I can provide the leadership Longmont needs to move forward from the pandemic,” Waters said.
Joan Peck, 71, has two sons and is a 44-year-resident of Longmont. Peck led the effort to amend the city charter to ban fracking and has served six years on the city council. As mayor, Peck said she would continue to head up climate mitigation efforts and work to get commuter rail to Longmont and free local bus service for Longmont.
“We can’t give up on commuter rail,” Peck has said.
Gregory Harris, 60, has two grown sons and is a property manager and retired construction executive. Harris said Longmont leaders are guilty of government overreach including backing a “healthy beverage” ordinance and attaching its name to a national climate accord. Longmont should also work harder to provide more attainable housing for working residents, he said.
“I think residents are tired of the same old policies by our city,” Harris said. “It’s time for a change.
Some on social media and in local letters to the editor, have criticized the number of out-of-town donors contributing at least in the early days leading to the certification of the Waters campaign. As many as 13 businesses in Santa Monica, Calif., donated $260 to the Waters campaign through the month of June, according to city election records.
The contribution limit this year is $260 per person which is defined by city code as “any natural person, partnership, committee, association, corporation, labor organizations or other organizations or groups of persons, '' Longmont City Clerk Dawn Quintana, said via email.
Waters — through the reporting period ending Oct. 27 — has collected $15,777 in contributions for his campaign while his expenditures total $25,403, according to city election records.
Peck has received $6,768 in contributions through Oct. 27 and spent $8,699, the records state. Harris has $4,505 in contributions and $3,318 in expenditures.
Peck has received one contribution of $260, four for $250 and two for $240, according to election records. All were from private donors.
Waters said he has sunk $7,000 of his own money into his campaign and denies the suggestions that he is beholden to any contributor to his campaign.
" I don't think you can find anyone, a developer or anyone else, who would think they could exert any kind of influence on me," Waters said.
“I have put my own resources into this campaign and I haven’t asked for a dollar from anyone else,” Waters added. g a vast majority of his donors are private citizens in Longmont.
Waters on Saturday provided the most accurate and up-to-date summary of his campaign finances:
- During the course of the campaign, Waters' has received 146 donations.
- 80% of these donations were made by individuals; 123 of them.
- 20% of these donations came from non-person entities (LLC's law firms); 30 of them.
- The 146 donations total $27,922 for an average donation of $191.
- Individuals donated $20,317 or 73% of the total with an average donation of $165.
- Non-person entities donated $7,605, 27% of the total with an average donation of $253.
- Of the 30 non-person entities, 13 donations were received from LLCs suing the same address in Santa Monica, CA.
“People who have written checks for me have made their own decision,” Waters added. “Maybe they believe I will be a better mayor than anyone in the race.”
He said many of his detractors are those who previously backed him for the city council and wanted him to vote certain ways on issues. “I am too independent for that,” Waters said. “I have been more interested in good ideas” than getting direction from someone else. That hasn’t set well with everybody.”
Peck said she is not concerned about the amount of donations Waters has received. “That’s never been my focus, my focus has been to go after the votes, not the money,” Peck said.
“It doesn't necessarily mean he has a lot of people supporting him, it just means he knows a lot of people with money who are supporting him,” Peck added.
She added that a large donor might expect something from her should she become mayor. “That would make me kind of nervous,” Peck said.
Harris spokesman Doug Barnert said Harris has attracted funding from “just plain folks” and friends of Harris.
“A lot of our contributors are people we have known for many, many years,” Barnert said. “And it’s from people who like where Greg stands and what is campaigning for.”
Shiquita Yarbrough leads the pack in contributions among the at-large candidates with $15,082,52 in contributions collected with $13,024 in expenditures. Sean McCoy recieved $8,393 while spending $5,698. Tallis Salamatian falls in the middle with $6,465 donated to his campaign, He spent $7,688.
Incumbent Aren Rodriguez brought in almost exactly what he spent with $4,343 and $4,300 respectively. Jeremy Johnson and Diane Crist’s campaign had the least financial support of the six at-large candidates. Johnson brought in $3,015 with $2,432 in expenditures while Crist saw $2,185 in contributions and $1,593 spent.
