EXPERIENCE & RESULTS
For eight years, I've focused on the real work of moving Superior forward. Here is some of what we've delivered together.
Funding the projects Superior needed
Like most municipalities, we have had a never ending list of capital projects that we pecked away at each year. With each year, a finite amount of capital was available, and we knocked something off the list. Unfortunately, street funding has consumed the greatest share and we receive no real funding from the state. As each year rolled on, the list barely budged and cost for repairs continued to rise (the kick the can down the road issue). So in 2024, the supported the voter-approved measure that let us bond for the work. That was about $16 million, and it is finally funding real investment. We are renovating both town pools, the recently upgraded Community Park, and rebuilding streets like Rock Creek Parkway and Indiana. The Community center is next. It's a lot of activity this year, but thank you again to the voters for supporting this short term (20 year) tax increase.
Investing in Downtown and in our neighbors
Downtown should be a place people actually want to be. Going all the way back to 2013 and the work that went into creating Superior Town Center, we've had a million decisions to make. The commitments from the developers have been peeled away (death by a thousand different cuts), but we are getting close!
Our Council voted unanimously to bring a food hall to Downtown. It will draw visitors and hopefully catalyze the empty fronts we have right now. I've also supported Kite Route Crossing, Superior's first affordable senior housing, so our longtime neighbors have a place to stay as they grow older.
But all these things work together - Kite Route works better when there are places to walk to and eat at. Those restaurants work with plenty of residents and an afternoon lunch crowd. Opening a business is an incredibly difficult and expensive proposition and I've supported incentives where they make sense.
Protecting our open space and character
According to our recent Parks Master Plan - parks and open space make up nearly 31% of the total land mass in Superior - nearly 788 acres in a 4 square mile town! An incredibly large number which makes living here so magical. l strongly supported the 2020 Coyote Ridge open space acquisition. It's one of the best long-term decisions we've made. I also supported purchasing parcels to protect the Coal Creek corridor.
Cities like Northglenn or Culver City (CA) have about the same land mass as us, but 2 - 3x our population density. It's important that we protect what makes Superior exactly that!
Helping our neighbors recover from the Marshall Fire
After the fire, I pushed hard to lower the cost of rebuilding, and Superior led the way. We were the first to waive use taxes and rebate permit fees for the families who lost their homes.
We could not possibly stop there. We (me, Town Board, Superior Rising) made the case beyond our borders, and Boulder County (eventually) followed. Eventually the state waived sales and use taxes on rebuilding too. This should have been easy - and it was here in Superior - but it was important that every use tax our homeowners faced (local, RTD, county, State) was waived for those rebuilding homes they did not want to be.
There is more to do. But I'm proud of what we've built together, and I'll keep at it as Mayor.