Arvada Election 2017: Meet Jim Whitfield, City Councilmember-At-Large Candidate

ARVADA, CO -- Jim Whitfield is running for Arvada City Councilmember At-Large in a crowded field against four other candidates, Jordan Hohenstein, John Malito, Dot Miller and Dave Palm.

Candidate Questionnaire Jim Whitfield

Age: 55

Previous political experience:

• Apex Park and Recreation Board (www.apexprd.org) - 12th year.
• Colorado SDA Board (www.sdaco.org) – 6th year

Previous community experience:

• Arvada Economic Development Association, (www.arvadaeconomicdevelopment.org)
• Arvada Community Food Bank Foundation, (www.acfbfoundation.org)
• Red Rocks Community College Foundation, (www.rrcc.edu/foundation)
• Arvada Vitality Alliance, (www.arvadavitality.org)
• Arvada Soccer Association – (www.realcoloradoedge.net)
• Arvada Hockey Association – (www.arvadahockey.com)

Occupation: Managing Director at High Country Workplace Technologies (www.hcwt.com) for the past 16

years. HCWT discovers ways for organizations to save money so they can invest in new workplace technology.

Education:

• Masters of Science, University of Houston (Geophysics), (www.uh.edu)
• Bachelors of Science, Colorado School of Mines (Engineering). (www.mines.edu)
• Arvada High School.

Website: www.jim-whitfield.com

What are the three biggest advantages Arvada has today?

Arvada’s biggest advantages are its strong community, location, and financial status. Arvada
has long been a vibrant family-friendly community. It is located between Denver and Boulder
and provides quick access to the high country and all its associated outdoor activities. Other
than recent road and transportation issues Arvada has offered core city services like public
safety, roads and transporation, water and sanitation, city services, and quality of life (i.e. parks,
arts, and outdoor activities) very well. Arvada has earned and maintained a good financial
standing.

What are Arvada’s three biggest challenges? Arvada’s biggest challenges are related to growth and maintenance of its roads and infrastructure. We need to improve our road capacity in western Arvada and fix the roads and sidewalks in eastern Arvada that are in disrepair. These figures below show the last documented status of our road conditions.

And this next figure shows you the critical point at which road repair can become quite
expensive and we have a significant percentage of our roads in this zone

So we need to give road repair some priority as it is a core service offering. We also need to complete our sidewalk and other transportation improvements, especially to allow for safe access to our schools. We need to ensure that we have plans in place to improve infrastructure like roads before or as new developments are approved. We need to make these improvements without a sales tax increase.

Our Urban Renewal Authority has also been busy with new developments near our Olde Town
Transit Hub and this growth and the associated TIF has also caused some concern. Urban
renewal usually works by taking some city sales tax revenues as startup funding and using that
money to provide financial incentives for a developer to reconstruct designated areas that are
deemed blighted. Urban renewal will typically also establish a TIF or Tax Increment Financing. Here is a chart that explains a TIF.

Basically as the property (and sales) taxes rise in the redeveloped area over time (the area
shaded in yellow in the chart) those revenues that would normally go to Jefferson County, Jeffco
Schools, and Special Districts (i.e. local small governments entities) are redirected to Urban
Renewal and the Developer. The tax revenues that are shaded in red for the 25 year TIF are all
that the local small governmental entities receive. At the end of the 25 year TIF, the local governmental entities start receiving the tax revenues shaded in green. So there is no question that the Arvada Urban Renewal Authority (AURA) has done their job well in the areas that have been designated as blighted in Arvada. AURA has achieved the results that were assigned to them and these areas have been improved and are now more vibrant. Jefferson County, Jeffco Schools, and Special Districts will completely benefit from the increased property values as each of the TIFs expire. However, until that time I am concerned the citizens are shouldering an extra burden for some of the associated effects of AURA’s success with the cascading infrastructure and social issues we currently face with escalating rents, school funding issues, more traffic congestion, and roads that are in disrepair. Are rents getting too high ? Did Jeffco Schools ask for a $533,000,000 bond last year ? Did the City of Arvada want to raise our sales taxes to fix our roads last year (https://arvada.org/city-hall/election-info/arvada-issue-committee-

information) ?

I helped pass House Bill 15-1348 that now dictates that the County, School Board, and Special Districts have representation on any new or amended urban renewal districts. I would hope then that if these new members approve any new projects that they will weigh the loss of future tax revenue to a TIF versus the needs of their constituents. I have some concerns about some of AURA’s most recent opportunities and would like to know more detail about them to ensure we are implementing thoughtful growth principles. If elected, I will
be a voice for citizens looking for more accountability with regard to new developments. I encourage anyone that is interested to go to the Colorado Municipal League (CML) Urban Renewal website or view a recent presentation to the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB) 2017WC-UrbanRenewal. There are numerous annual reports from many of the Urban Renewal authorities in our state on the CML website.

What’s the best way for Arvada to manage growth? We need to revise our land use code and City strategic master plan and ensure our infrastructure can accommodate more growth. And we need to ensure any Urban Renewal projects do not place an additional financial burden on its citizens. And we need to engage our community into our planning process as we discuss and determine how we best balance

economic growth & efficiency with our quality of life, community, and environment.

What is your opinion on new proposed Arvada Convention Center: I would like to learn more about the convention center project and its affects to the existing Arvada Center and the existing list of prioritized improvements. I would like to learn more about how it will be financed relative to the other priorities and how the surrounding infrastructure will be improved. What improvements are we going to delay in lieu of building this facility ?

Are there areas where Arvada could be providing better service to
residents? How? In addition to fixing our roads and reducing traffic congestion the City can offer improved “frictionless” services to its residents. We should offer a “My Arvada” app that enables residents to obtain information associated with their interests, concerns, and services. We should be able to then provide more information to citizens seeking more information about developments, finances, water issues, master plans, bicycle routes, etc. and getting updates and payment updates would be much easier.

What other issues do you feel will be important for the next Council to
address? How should they be addressed?

The top issues for this council to address will be with regard to infrastructure and growth. The next council will need to prioritize how our infrastructure will be improved and maintained. The next council will revise Arvada’s land use code and this will have a very important bearing on the character of our City as we consider new developments. If elected, I will be a voice for citizens looking for more accountability with regard to new developments.

Watch at-large candidates at the Arvada City Council Election forum:

Image via Jim Whitfield