Editor’s note: Boulder Reporting Lab will profile all mayoral candidates as they enter the race, as well as city council candidates later in the election season. Next up: incumbent Mayor Aaron Brockett.
Boulder entrepreneur Aquiles La Grave is running for mayor, becoming the first candidate to challenge incumbent Mayor Aaron Brockett.
“I didn’t wake up one morning deciding to run for mayor,” La Grave told Boulder Reporting Lab. “I woke up over a series of mornings, over a prolonged time, realizing that the city had lost its ability to adapt and deliver.”
La Grave, an entrepreneur who has never run for political office, said he has been involved in local government and civic issues for 30 years, including the campaign to preserve the Iris Ball Fields. His campaign centers on a more visible mayor who takes a larger role in setting council priorities and remains accessible to residents.
La Grave is proposing regular mayoral office hours, a larger role for the mayor in setting the Boulder City Council’s agenda and a more vocal approach to advancing priorities. He said the mayor should publish opinion pieces, call councilmembers before meetings and vote first during council deliberations. He also wants to create a Mayor’s Office of Constituent Affairs that would respond to residents within 48 hours and establish a public dashboard tracking the city’s goals and results.
Boulder voters overwhelmingly approved the direct election of the mayor through ranked-choice voting in 2020, replacing a system in which councilmembers selected the mayor. Brockett won the first direct election in 2023, and voters will choose a mayor directly for the second time this November.
Under Boulder’s council-manager government, the mayor has the same voting power as other councilmembers but presides over meetings and represents the city publicly. La Grave wants the mayor to exercise more influence within those limits, arguing that voters directly elect a mayor to advance a specific agenda.
“The residents of the city sent a message that hasn’t been answered when we expressed that we wanted a directly elected mayor,” he said. “We want our mayor to come and make his case for a mandate to us directly, every two years.”
From Venezuela to Boulder
La Grave, 48, moved from Venezuela to Boulder County with his mother and sister in 1995, when he was 15. He became undocumented after losing his immigration status at 18. His family initially stayed in a friend’s guest bedroom and later moved into the basement of a University of Colorado student from Venezuela. His mother worked as a caretaker and housecleaner.
La Grave became a U.S. citizen in 2022. He now lives near Broadway and Iris Avenue with his wife, Megan, and their 13-year-old daughter.
He graduated from Naropa University in 2003 with a degree in writing and poetics and has helped found several marketing and technology companies. He is currently a partner at Sphere Labs, a technology holding company.
La Grave has served on several local boards and committees, including the Louisville Historic Preservation Commission and the Boulder Valley School District’s Bond Oversight Committee. Last year, he led the Save Iris Fields coalition, which opposed the potential redevelopment of baseball fields in North Boulder. He also served briefly on the board of Open Boulder, the political organization that initiated the ballot measure establishing direct mayoral elections.
La Grave said his mother and sister went on to build successful careers, and he attributed his family’s success to the Boulder community.
“Looking back on my life, I don’t think my story, or my sister’s story, or my mom’s story is possible anywhere but Boulder,” he said. “That is the result of a community that gave first, and sent a bill never.”
“There was no program that accounted for me when I came here in 1995,” he said. “There was no ‘we’ve got a teenage illegal immigrant that we want to see succeed’ [program]. People had to rearrange programs to make those programs accessible to me.”
La Grave said he worries that a young immigrant arriving in Boulder today would not have the same opportunities.
“That really worries me, because my outcome is a signal of how great we’re doing in this town,” he said. “If we are not providing the basis for kids like me to come and be safe and build a life here, then I think we’ve broken the promise of this community.”
Concerns about city governance
A central premise of La Grave’s campaign is that Boulder has become too focused on explaining why it cannot accomplish something instead of determining how it can. He argues that the council should be more adaptable and give city staff clearer direction.
He cited the process leading to the council’s recent decision to keep Boulder Municipal Airport open indefinitely as an example of what he called a “rudderless” city. Councilmembers initially endorsed that direction in a 5-4 informal vote during an April study session, without holding a public hearing. The council formally reaffirmed the decision in an 8-1 vote last week. Councilmember Mark Wallach, who cast the sole vote against it, resigned immediately afterward.
La Grave also said the council should have exercised greater control over the city’s contract with Flock Safety, which provides Boulder’s automatic license plate reader cameras. The company has faced national scrutiny and a local class-action lawsuit over privacy concerns and other law enforcement agencies’ access to its data, including searches conducted on behalf of federal immigration authorities.
After facing public opposition, city staff put the contract out for competitive bidding in March. The city manager’s office is expected to select the winning bidder.
“How does the city explain being a sanctuary city at the same time as having AI-assisted mass surveillance with a company that has, at best, a checkered track record of sharing that information with the very agencies that we’re trying to protect our immigrants from?” La Grave said.
“Council feels comfortable enough with being told by the city manager that that’s an administrative contract, and therefore, they have no say in it.”
Where La Grave stands on major issues
La Grave said the city’s budget shortfall and deferred maintenance should be addressed through greater transparency before officials ask voters for more money. He called for a detailed public accounting of revenue from the Community, Culture, Resilience and Safety tax and a prioritized inventory of city-owned buildings.
On housing, he said Boulder should stop repeatedly debating zoning and speed up its permit approval process. In addition to requiring decisions on accessory dwelling units within 30 days, he wants the city’s Planning and Development Services office to maintain regular weekday business hours.
Although he criticized the process that led to the decision, La Grave said he supports the council’s decision to continue operating Boulder Municipal Airport indefinitely, describing it primarily as a financial question.
Asked about Boulder’s camping ban, La Grave praised the city’s recent enforcement efforts and said officials have been “pretty consistent” in carrying them out. He also supported moving homeless outreach efforts out of downtown public spaces, citing recommendations in a recent consultant report.
He identified Boulder’s preparations for the Sundance Film Festival as an immediate challenge, saying the city has substantial work ahead to prepare the necessary infrastructure before the festival arrives in January.
La Grave was less definitive when asked how he would vote on the city’s tipped minimum wage. He called it a “gut-wrenching decision” and said both restaurant owners and workers face significant financial pressure. When pressed to take a position, he replied, “Thank God I don’t have to vote.”
“We wouldn’t even be making this decision if the downtown businesses were doing well,” he said. He also said the city should require city employees to work in person to bring more people downtown.
Candidates have until late August to qualify for the ballot.
Got my vote.
Does he wants a full time paid mayor instead of a city manager? Our mayor is just a figurehead in the council that sets priorities and policies but doesn’t run the day to day business of the city like major cities.
Good ideas but his lack of public office knowledge will hurt his campaign.
For those who would like a mayor in the manner of a Bob Yates, for example, La Grave would be a great choice. Now where is our candidate of similar competency and vision on the progressive side?