Boulder City Council Chooses Sam Weaver As Mayor

BOULDER, CO — Boulder City Council selected Sam Weaver as the city's new mayor Tuesday night. Bob Yates was chosen as mayor pro tem at the first regular meeting of the new council after the Nov. 5 election.

Four new council members were elected in November: Rachel Friend, Junie Joseph, Adam Swetlik and Mark Wallach. Friend and Joseph will serve four-year terms, and Swetlik and Wallach will serve two-year terms.

Council members Aaron Brockett and Bob Yates were both re-elected and will serve four-year terms. They were sworn in for their terms Tuesday morning.

They join Mirabai Kuk Nagle, Sam Weaver and Mary D. Young to form the nine-member 2019-2021 council.

Council members are elected at large and represent the entire city. The members are elected to four-year or two-year terms, depending on how many votes they receive. The City of Boulder has a council-manager form of government, which means the council sets the policies for the operation of the Boulder government. The administrative responsibility of the city rests with the city manager who is appointed by the council.

In a Boulder League of Women Voters candidate forum Oct. 12, community members submitted questions to the candidates. The first question asked was about density versus neighborhood character — a debate that ties in climate change, affordable housing, public transit and social justice.

"Some places, density does make sense," Yates said. "But we also have to be very very respectful of neighborhood character. Many of you ... have invested your life savings into your home and you bought into a neighborhood that has a certain character and you have expectations."

In areas such as the Alpine-Balsam neighborhood, the city has to make sure "the density does not exceed what the neighborhood can carry," Yates said.

Friend said her concern is that neighborhood character isn't very definable, but climate change is.

"I prefer that we drill down to something that is a tangible fact. Are we talking about noise? Are we talking about traffic? Are we talking about the volume of people living in a home?' Friend asked. "In terms of density, I think we need to look in the context of the climate crisis, and I think that housing and transportation and the climate are pretty inextricably intertwined ..."

Swetlik said he believes that boosting Boulder's population would drive out some residents who moved here for the "small-town feel."

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The city thanked outgoing council members Suzanne Jones, Cindy Carlisle and Lisa Morzel for this service to the community. Jones served as mayor from 2015 to 2019.