Candidate Profile: Michael Christy, Boulder City Council

BOULDER, CO — Ten candidates are running for five open seats on City Council in Boulder's Nov. 2 municipal election.

Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

Michael Christy is running for Boulder City Council.

Age: 53

Family

Andree Christy - Wife; two children (Olivia) and (Jack)

Education

UCLA (undergraduate [1991]); University of San Diego School of Law (JD [1997]).

Occupation

Attorney - licensed since 1997

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

I was appointed by Boulder City Council as a community-at-large member to sit on the Cannabis Licensing and Advisory Board (advises City Council on cannabis policy).

Campaign website: www.michael4boulder.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am running because I believe I have the character, leadership ability, core values and unique skill-set to be an active and effective voice at the table in moving our city in a positive direction as we navigate through some of the challenges facing our community. I am a family law lawyer by trade, a certified mediator, and a certified collaborative law lawyer. I have deep roots in public service. I was a JAG officer in the United States Air Force and deployed to Kuwait and Afghanistan shortly after 9/11. I was an intern at the White House during the Clinton Administration. I am a volunteer at the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless. I am a volunteer with Boulder's Community Mediation and Resolution Center and I currently sit on Boulder's Cannabis Licensing and Advisory Board. My hope is to bring my skill-set, particularly as a mediator, to bring people together who have very opposing viewpoints and help them find common ground and come to reasonable solutions. I do not pretend to have all of the answers to the challenges we face, but I do believe I will add value to the conversations around these challenges.

The single most pressing issue facing our city is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Public health and safety is one of the most pressing issues facing our city. In Boulder, our violent and property crime rates have been increasing. We've seen anywhere from a 30% to 243% increase in crime (depending on the crime) since the beginning of the pandemic. Boulder was recently ranked 65th safest city out of 303 cities with populations greater than 100,000 residents, behind Fort Collins (ranked 39th safest) and Arvada (ranked 54th). Public health and safety is paramount for a thriving community. Providing safety is the most basic requirement and obligation of a governing body. We need to expand on the resources necessary to ensure that our neighborhoods are safe, our businesses are safe, our public places are safe, and our residents are safe.

Currently, the Boulder Police Department is understaffed by approximately 30 officers. The Department has lost 16 officers since the end of April. Our police officers are overburdened and are being asked to wear too many hats. Morale and retention is low. We need to be doing better. If elected, I would work collaboratively with the Boulder Police Department to find solutions to lesson some of these burdens, such as the expansion of the Crisis Intervention and Response Team, a new approach to 911 dispatch, and the creation of a non-emergency response team. I'd like to see our Police Department have their full complement of 190 officers.

I support police reform efforts that provide for more accountability (CO SB-217) and social work/sensitivity training for our officers. I support the $2.7 million dollars in funding for the measures Council recently passed which provide for an urban park ranger program, downtown ambassadors, and six new specially trained homeless outreach officers. We need to ensure we do this right and not just create a police presence for the sake of having armed officers in uniform patrolling our streets without the proper sensitivity training. There is too much fear-based policing around our country. I do not think that is as much of a problem in Boulder comparatively, but we can always be making improvements in the relationships our officers have with community members. I think Chief Herold and D.A. Michael Doughtery are moving in the right direction and I applaud their efforts.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I believe my character and heightened level of integrity distinguishes me from other candidates. In addition, my experience as a mediator provides me with a unique skill-set to bring people together to work through challenging issues.

As for issues, I think what separates me from some of the other candidates is that I do not support defunding the police. To the contrary, I believe our Police Department should be staffed to its full complement of 190 officers.

I also support Boulder's camping ban. I believe the ban should be enforced, but it must be done with compassion and with a way to get our unhoused population living in encampments into the services that they need, (for example - mental health and drug addiction services). It is tragic that people in our community have been dealt a set of life circumstances that cause them to sleep in an encampment in public spaces. I feel that it is inhumane for our community to allow those in the encampments to continue to live in the conditions they are subjected to in the encampments (sanitation, crime, weather, etc.). I also feel that it is inhumane for our community to be subjected to the conditions left behind in some of the encampments (feces, crime, needles on the ground, etc.). My wife and children will no longer walk or ride their bikes along Boulder's Creek Path. They are afraid to walk in the grass at the parks along the Creek Path because they are concerned about needles in the grass. My son will not fish in the creek because of sanitation issues. Not to mention the complaints from parents whose children attend Boulder High School. Public health and safety are some of my top priorities.

How do you think local officials are performing in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

I believe the current City Council and Staff have done a great job responding to and adapting to tremendously difficult situations caused by COVID-19. During the pandemic, our city was able to govern effectively through remote systems without requiring in-person meetings. Boulder was able to expand public outreach by providing more flexible opportunities for community members to attend and comment during public meetings. This allowed for more public engagement and involvement in our governing process. Governing remotely also allowed Boulder to reduce its carbon footprint because people did not need to travel to attend meetings. We also learned the importance of ensuring that all our community, particularly those in our lower-income communities, have access to reliable and affordable broadband service.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Housing and growth is another top priority of mine. I stand for thoughtfully planned, strategic growth to meet our community goals - one of which must be affordable housing for low, moderate, and middle-income households. Boulder's voter-approved down-payment assistance program and its capacity to create additional deed-restricted permanently affordable housing is a step in the right direction as an entry way for people to attain home ownership in Boulder. While deed-restricted permanently affordable housing may not provide for the type of generational wealth typically associated with home ownership, it allows entry and access to Boulder's schools, open spaces, vibrant communities, etc.

Boulder should continue to explore in-fill development and rezoning options in underutilized commercial areas to address our affordability crisis and create more 15-minute walkable neighborhoods. I believe we can transform and reinvigorate neighborhoods and provide a variety of housing options like townhomes, cottage houses, row houses, duplexes and triplexes that would be appealing and financially attainable at all stages of life. These developments can be created around mobility hubs to help reduce our impact on the climate. Boulder was recently named the #1 city to live in. I believe we have this distinction because Boulder planned it's growth. Boulder is a great place to live and we should keep it that way.

Transportation and climate are also top priorities for me. We must consider the collective impact transportation is having on our climate. We need to be aggressive in our approach if we're going to be serious about combating climate change - not only to reduce traffic congestion, but also to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The UN's latest IPCC report that came out earlier this month shows that greenhouse gas emissions is a significant contributor to global warming.

I support the continued expansion of a robust and sustainable multi-modal transportation system that is safe, reliable, affordable, and environmentally sound. I support the expansion of safety measures to ensure our biking and pedestrian infrastructure is safer than what we have now. If we can make travel by bike safer by placing bollards at some of our higher-density intersections, biking will be more appealable to more people and we will have more success getting more people on their bikes. We should be looking at what other cities are doing, i.e., mini-transit systems like a regional/city-wide van/transit system under a private-public partnership. I support the exploration of a regional electric bus transit system. We can get funding assistance for these programs through the Federal government's $1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure bill, of which $39 billion is specifically dedicated for public transit improvements.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I put myself through college at UCLA, often carrying a full load of classes and working three jobs. I put myself through law school bouncing between day and evening classes. I started my own law firm, which continues to thrive today. I know what to do to be successful at something I put my mind to. I would also say that serving on active-duty military service, particularly my deployments to Kuwait and Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 taught me to persevere in the face of significant challenges. I truly believe that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

My mom taught me to always be kind, to listen, and ask questions.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I would ask that voters pay close attention to not only a candidate's position on issues, but just as importantly, pay attention to their character. Ask yourself, “Does this person have the character and leadership abilities to sit on City Council.”