In the lead-up to the Nov. 3, 2026, election, Boulder Reporting Lab asked each of the 19 mayoral and city council candidates to answer our questionnaire. Their answers are presented in a random order, but you can jump to each candidate’s responses, listed alphabetically below. See all of BRL’s 2026 election questionnaire questions and candidate answers here.
Mayoral candidates: Taishya Adams • Aaron Brockett • Jameson “Jamo” Goldstein • Aquiles La Grave
City council candidates: Benita Duran • Sam Fuqua • Jill Grano • Rachel Rose Isaacson • Ryan Jamieson • Tina Marquis • Dave Martus • Scott Rendleman • Jamillah Richmond • Ryan Schuchard • Lynn Segal • Tara Winer
Three candidates — Lisa Ann Jacobs, Fred Smith and Lee Gilbert — did not respond to BRL’s questionnaire.
For the final installment of Boulder Reporting Lab’s reader-generated questionnaire series, we asked candidates to look one year ahead and name one specific thing they hope to have accomplished.
Several themes emerged.
Several candidates focused on greater oversight of city spending, proposing ideas including a city performance auditor, a two-year budget or an advisory panel as the city confronts a significant backlog of building maintenance. These priorities overlap with those promoted by Open Boulder, an advocacy group active in this year’s election.
Others said they hope to advance mandatory wildfire hardening for some high-risk homes, expand affordable housing or reform Title 9, Boulder’s Land Use Code, to make the permitting process less onerous.
Others focused less on specific policies and more on how the city is governed, saying they hope to rebuild public trust in local government, remain consistent with their values or help the council function more effectively.
Question: Imagine it is November 2027, one year after your election. What is one specific thing you will have accomplished?
Mayoral candidates
Aaron Brockett
Aaron Brockett
Age: 53
We passed an important wildfire protection ordinance that requires people in the WUI zones 1 and 2 to take manageable but impactful wildfire hardening steps on their properties. Within a few years, this will mean the city as a whole will be substantially safer from the risk of a major wildfire. And one other bonus item, I’m incredibly proud of how successful the Sundance Film Festival was in its first year in Boulder!
Aquiles La Grave
Aquiles La Grave
Age: 47
A year from now, I would like our citizens to be able to tell how much things have changed. Council agenda items will be fewer due to the fact that all major proposals are accompanied by an estimated cost, a proposed funding source, the person responsible for the item, a proposed timeline for completion of the item and evidence that a formal community consultation process was completed prior to the proposal being presented to Council. The priorities identified by Council will be clearly evident in both the annual budget and on a performance scorecard that is publicly available.
An independent performance auditor has begun to report to the public as to where their tax dollars were spent. Businesses now have a responsive partner at City Hall. Public spaces are clean and safe. Instead of funding yet another study, Our Homelessness Strategy has measurable outcomes. Most importantly, Council functions more effectively than it did previously. That is my benchmark for the Mayor. It is not about having more authority or control over the decisions of Council. Rather, it is about providing better leadership.
Taishya Adams
Taishya Adams
Age: 52
Policy pathway for two year participatory budgeting process inclusive of how water supply is considered in all policy and resource allocation decisions.
Jamo Goldstein
By November 2027, I want Boulder residents to be able to open a public dashboard and see an independently audited, project-by-project account of the city’s capital backlog: the cost, urgency, status and repair-versus-replacement decision for each project. That would let residents and council set priorities together and judge any future borrowing proposal against a transparent record.
City council candidates
Tina Marquis
Tina Marquis
Age: 55
I will have a working Capital Infrastructure Advisory Panel that serves to provide oversight of our capital projects and creates a shared understanding between the community, staff and council of what our needs are, how much it costs and how projects are funded.
Jill Grano
Jill Grano
Age: 44
I would like to help rebuild public trust in Boulder city government. That would mean residents believe their voices matter, their tax dollars are being spent responsibly, and the city follows through on what it promises.
That is not the answer I would have given before I began this campaign, but it has become a top priority because I have never seen public trust so low. As members of council, the community is our constituent, our customer, and our sole reason for being. We need to earn back trust through more inclusive decisions, wiser spending, and better communication.
Of course, I would like to do more than that, but that is my top priority in year one.
Jamillah Richmond
Jamillah Richmond
Age: 42
One year from Election Day, I want to have specifically maintained consistency across my policy commitments. This is not to say I will not change my mind or evolve on issues, but that my commitment to my guiding values of equity, inclusion, and human dignity will not falter. If I maintain moral consistency in my judgments and decisions, I will be able to approach Boulder’s challenges with a coherent world view that will not change depending upon the audience or stakeholders I am in front of.
Instead, I will be able to take Boulder as it is and work with my Council colleagues to create a community where everyone can thrive.
Ryan Schuchard
Ryan Schuchard
Age: 49
By November 2027, Boulder will be on track to end damage from power shutoffs while protecting us from wildfire in a timely, cost-effective way. A council task force will drive a public power roadmap, with a plan for battery backup reaching critical sites. An ecosystem of affordable hardening services will protect properties in single transactions. This builds on my work holding Xcel accountable for reliable power and co-developing our wildfire hardening priority.
Benita Duran
Benita Duran
Age: 65
I helped lead the way to a disciplined approach to the rewrite/update of the title 9 land use code, so that it aligns with the adopted BVCP and we can move forward to address our critical housing issues in a more balanced and sustainable manner.
Ryan Jamieson
Ryan Jamieson
Age: 46
An independent City Auditor, appointed by and reporting to council, funded and staffed, with its first annual audit plan published. I think that’s realistic in a year, and it gives residents a way to check whether the city is doing what it says it’s doing, me included. Speaking of which, every November I’ll post on my website what I said I’d do and whether I actually did it, and November 2027 will be the first one.
Dave Martus
Dave Martus
Age: 59
The community and city staff recognize that I ask the right questions. They are detailed and, when needed, tough. Staff comes prepared with rigorous and well-thought-out details, especially the financial impact for all proposals. Answers are crisp, issues get addressed faster, and financial stewardship is improving. Community trust in city government is on the way up. It is a win for the community, city council, and staff.
Sam Fuqua
Sam Fuqua
Age: 62
If elected, I will be one vote of nine. A specific policy achievement is never an individual accomplishment. By November, 2027, I think I will have definitely communicated my priorities to my fellow council members, advanced affordable and middle-income housing plans and made difficult budget decisions while protecting core services and public programs.
Rachel Rose Isaacson
Rachel Rose Isaacson
Age: 29
By November 2027, we will have modernized Title 9 so we can make meaningful and measurable progress in expanding attainable housing including missing-middle and permanently affordable homes, while also strengthening the locally owned businesses, jobs, and community institutions that make Boulder feel like Boulder. Through thoughtful land-use reform, responsible budgeting, climate and wildfire resilience, and collaborative leadership, Boulder can address difficult challenges in ways that create multiple community benefits rather than simply shifting costs from one group to another. If more working families and businesses can realistically imagine a future for themselves here, I would consider that a term well spent.
Tara Winer
Tara Winer
Age: 68
Priorities list we make at our retreat. In a 2026 City of Boulder survey, wildfire hardening was the #1 concern among community members. I agree with the community; this is one of the most urgent things we can do right now. I think it is possible to accomplish some mandated wildfire hardening for the homes closest to the WUI in just one year.
The $2,000 per property offered by the city through the Climate Tax and the $500 per housing from the county will not be enough so we will need to figure out how to fund this. But this priority is something I would like to push for 2027.
If you would like to tell me the one specific thing YOU would like Council to accomplish, I would love to hear about it. Please reach out to my campaign email: tara@taraforboulder.com.
Lynn Segal
Lynn Segal
Age: 73
One thing? Wealth equity.
Scott Rendleman
Scott Rendleman
Age: 58
I will have voted with other members of City Council to pilot an Office of Independent Performance Monitoring that will begin reporting on which city programs are achieving their intended function and which city programs need improvement.
Correction, October 7, 2026 10:09 am: Aaron Brockett's response under Jamo Goldstein's profile in the original article. That has been corrected.