Crime and safety, dominant themes in the last two Boulder City Council races, have slipped from the spotlight in 2025. Instead, candidates are focusing more on housing affordability, the city’s strained budget, wildfire risk and, in some cases, the war in Gaza.
In 2021, public safety surged as a central issue with the rise of Safer Boulder, a group that backed candidates pledging to “actively support public safety.” Two years later, the city’s debate centered on a ballot measure to increase enforcement of Boulder’s camping ban near schools, multi-use paths and sidewalks.
This year, no such movement or ballot measure has emerged. The shift may reflect both voter fatigue and the complexity of the crime picture itself: Police data show major categories of crime dropped early in 2025, before rebounding in some areas by midyear.
For example, in the second quarter of the year (April through June), reports of minor violent offenses like intimidation and simple assault rose, while aggravated assault stayed roughly in line with 2024, according to the most recent data from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Murder remained very low, though it ticked up slightly this spring, in part due to the June 1 attack on Pearl Street.
Reports of drug offenses also rose this spring, to rates nearly double what Boulder saw last year during the same period.
On the other hand, property crimes like theft and burglary continued to fall. Car theft, identity theft and burglary have been falling relatively steadily since 2022. Robbery and bike thefts have also declined since last year. These trends are also playing out against a backdrop of a nearly fully staffed police force and tools like license-plate readers.
Read: Crime trends in Boulder: A mixed picture in 3 charts
In other public safety trends, traffic crashes that result in serious injuries or fatalities fell by about half compared with the same period in 2024, from 26 to 13.
The 2025 race has drawn 11 candidates for four open seats. While candidates have addressed road safety, mostly bike infrastructure, much of this year’s safety focus is on non-crime risks like wildfire.
Several candidates have emphasized the urgency of wildfire mitigation. Councilmember Matt Benjamin has said, “I currently serve on a city council that does not take this threat seriously.” Councilmember Mark Wallach has said areas in Boulder located in the wildland-urban interface are “essentially kindling” and have “absolutely no chance” of surviving a wildfire. Rob Kaplan, a former captain with Boulder Rural Fire Rescue, said wildfire hardening rules that only apply to new construction under current law are “meaningless.”
Taking a different approach, Mayor Pro Tem Lauren Folkerts has said she supports “targeted” retroactive measures for wildfire hardening of existing homes, paired with incentives such as rebates and low-interest loans. Rachel Rose Isaacson, a barista at South Side Walnut Cafe and a pollinator ambassador with Cool Boulder, has cited flood mitigation as a top priority as well.
For others, threats to Boulder’s safety aren’t just local but come from the federal government. Councilmember Nicole Speer and others have said the city must remain a sanctuary city and “stand up against this federal administration and any anti-immigration policies.” Speer has also said she has been impressed with the work of Police Chief Steve Redfearn and the police department in building stronger relationships with Latino and immigrant communities.
Two candidates have made the war in Gaza their top issue. Rob Smoke, a former member of the city’s Human Relations Commission, has said, “Morality comes first for me, and we don’t have it right now with our foreign policy.” Aaron Stone, a computer engineer, has made pushing the city to divest from certain companies that activists say are profiting from the war in Gaza a top priority. Stone, who is also an electric unicycle rider, has advocated for PEV (personal electric vehicle) laws with 15 mph speed limits on paths.
For more than a year, open comment at city council meetings has often been dominated by residents calling for the city council to take actions related to Israel’s war in Gaza. Some of the protests have spilled into candidate forums.
In response to a Gaza-related disruption at a candidate forum, Jenny Robbins, a telecommunications consultant and chair of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, said she would “walk off the stage every time that happens and signal the police” and would do the same in council chambers, stating that those on stage “do not deserve to be treated that way.”
Max Lord, owner of the home improvement business Hammer and Driver, has highlighted more traditional issues related to crime. He said his truck was stolen last year and he has had his bike stolen, describing it as “a Boulder thing these days.” He has also frequently cited fentanyl and meth use as top concerns. “Nobody wants to take their family to go get ice cream on Pearl Street with somebody smoking meth in front of it,” he said.
John Herrick contributed reporting to this article.
Crime has long been a popular Faux News topic we hear a lot of hyperbolic fear-mongering about leading up to elections; so am glad people are seeing past that distraction to more urgent issues. Besides, has anyone personally seen someone smoking meth or fentanyl (?) on Peal Street….you know, where even tobacco is banned? As for “foreign policy”, don’t we have enough problems here yet to address? Or do performative statements about international conflict merely stir up divisive politics to avoid offering a strong stance on real local issues. Morality starts at home, so let’s first work on restoring a vibrant, diverse, and prosperous economy…you know, one with local jobs and buisness opportunities to fill the near 50% of empty spaces merely acting as corporate tax shelters. Citizens must start asking whether it’s sustainable for this town to remain capitulated an “investor” economy, developers, and monied interests with a stranglehold on our commercial and residential real estate. As despite our “sobering” budget, it’s amazing the utter lack of dialog on how that might change if fairly taxed these profiteers to promote occupancy with actual people and employers. Because if we don’t soon “arrest” this dizzying decent towards an unaffordable playground and retirement village for the well-to-do; Boulder won’t have any character left worth preserving nor will it be anything but another gated community and land bank for the rich. Four open CC seats have real potential to change all that and promote actual Progressive values…
Garrett Rue:
You make some excellent points. Thanks.
I would love to see Rachel Rose make the cut for the simple reason that local “baristas” being able to afford to sit on council was time and again sited by current council members as the main reason for pushing through their big pay raise. Well, here’s our chance to make it so! Let’s here more from sitting council members about that now. Oh, wait…conflict of interest suddenly.
I thought Rachel Rose was very impressive on the forum. She’s a smart young woman. I agree that she would represent well the needs of younger Boulder workers.