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.
Boulder is entering its third straight year of budget cuts in 2027, in part because sales tax revenue is growing more slowly than the cost of providing city services.
The proposed 2027 budget would eliminate 13 filled positions this year while reducing services like pool hours. Final approval is expected Oct. 15. Separately, the city is asking voters to approve a roughly $400 million bond measure to renovate or replace aging city buildings. The debt would be repaid through higher property taxes.
The ballot measure has become a focal point for a broader debate over city spending, transparency and trust in city leaders. It is also a central dividing line among candidates this year.
Several candidates, mostly incumbents, support the bond measure. Many challengers oppose it, calling for more transparency into the city’s budgeting process.
The measure has also prompted calls for independent scrutiny of city spending. Most candidates support the idea of an independent performance auditor to examine the city’s budget. Some also support an advisory panel to review city costs and maintenance needs and improve budgeting transparency.
Some support a recommendation by Boulder’s city manager to move to a two-year budget cycle so council and staff have more time to plan. Others emphasize the need to invest in Boulder businesses to bring in more sales tax revenue over the long term.
Question: Boulder is entering its third straight year of budget cuts while facing a roughly $400 million backlog of major facility needs. How do you assess the problem, and what specific spending, revenue or management changes would you support?
Mayoral candidates
Jamo Goldstein
The backlog and repeated cuts show why Boulder needs to make capital priorities visible before asking taxpayers to take on major debt. I would commission an independent, project-by-project audit of the backlog and publish one accessible list showing each project’s cost, urgency, history of deferral, and whether repair is cheaper than replacement.
I would prioritize urgent safety and maintenance needs in the budget, examine where avoidable delays have increased costs, and give residents a real role in building any future bond package. I oppose the $400 million bond as currently presented. A smaller, justified package could earn my support after the work is independently verified and the public can see its tax impact. The 2011 community-driven process is a useful model for how to set those priorities.
Taishya Adams
Taishya Adams
Age: 52
We must reimagine our budgeting process and timeline. I agree with the City Manager’s recommendation to transition to a two-year budget cycle. This would allow for much deeper analysis of budget versus actuals as well as participatory budgeting process. I do believe that bonds are the best strategy to fund major facility needs; however, the current package lacks community trust and support. The package also includes nice to haves versus what is urgent and important.
We need to revisit the criteria used for prioritization and more clear background on how cost projections are identified. We need to carefully consider how to utilize any proposed funds to address the distrust of the current issue on the ballot. Many of the city’s buildings are not fully functional and are expensive to repair again and again.
The fleet building has to regularly abandon work due to temperature extremes, both heat and cold, and that impact efficiency in a very negative way that makes the cost to keep it running add up in other ways. Some city buildings still have horsehair insulation which often comes with other risks such as asbestos. Perhaps it’s time to break into reserves to address the fire station upgrades considering the escalating climate crisis resulting increased wind events that threaten power lines and wildfires due to hotter, drier temps. Ultimately, we must invest in Boulder to make sure the next generation of residents are not facing the same old problems we’re facing today.
Aaron Brockett
Aaron Brockett
Age: 53
We need to catch up on the facility backlog as our police and firefighters are working in buildings that make it difficult to do their jobs effectively, and our aging rec centers — South Boulder Rec in particular — need large renovations or replacement to continue providing the services the community expects.
If the bond on the ballot this fall is unsuccessful we’ll need to go back to the drawing board and work with the community to determine a new, shorter list of facility priorities that we can accomplish in the next few years. I’m also supportive of having a performance auditor that works with and potentially reports to City Council to look for ways we can improve fiscal efficiencies in the city organization.
Aquiles La Grave
Aquiles La Grave
Age: 47
This is at the heart of why I am running for Mayor. Boulder has tremendous resources and a strong commitment to its values. However, Boulder is becoming less effective at turning those resources and values into tangible results. The Mayor’s primary job is to help Council fulfill its deliberative role. That includes taking the lead on the Council Agenda Committee. As a result, before any major proposal goes before Council, it should include costs, how those costs will be funded, who will be responsible for completing the project, when the project will be completed, what constitutes a successful completion of the project and if there was sufficient public participation in the development of the proposal.
After council makes a decision about a particular proposal, the council must then monitor whether council’s decision has been implemented. To achieve this goal, I propose to institute an independent performance audit function under the direct supervision of council.
City council candidates
Rachel Rose Isaacson
Rachel Rose Isaacson
Age: 29
Boulder’s budget challenges reflect an economic downturn that has weakened sales tax revenue, alongside funding rules that dedicate much of our revenue to specific purposes. We also spent decades acquiring facilities—about 75 buildings—without adequately planning for their full life cycle costs. We cannot repeat this pattern.
My master’s degree in Public Administration and Leadership trained me in public budgeting and fiscal analysis. I would like to see the city bring the operating budget, capital plan, debt payments, and maintenance obligations together in a multiyear forecast residents can understand. Before issuing bond debt, Council should review project scopes and cost estimates, account for proceeds from surplus property sales, and stagger debt issuance where feasible to reduce the impact on households and businesses..
I strongly support an independent performance auditor who reports directly to Council and publishes findings publicly. The auditor could assess whether capital projects are justified and stay on budget, evaluate all city programs and services for clear outcomes and efficacy, and provide needed independent accountability. This will help rebuild trust in our community, help us correct problems early, improve services, make better spending decisions, and show residents what their money accomplishes.
Tina Marquis
Tina Marquis
Age: 55
In short, our increase in revenue of a little over 2% isn’t keeping pace with our expenses. The city’s response to trim the budget is appropriate. However, it is likely that we’ll need another cut next year, so I hope we can move to multi-year budgeting and develop a long-term strategy to address shortfalls.
I am advocating for a Capital Improvement Advisory Panel comprised of staff, community members, and a council member that reviews our portfolio of physical assets, how we fund and prioritize maintenance and construction, and tracks changes to forecast budgets and timelines over the life of each asset. The school district has a similar committee used just for specific oversight of bonds that is successful in providing a clear understanding of how buildings are built and maintained in the district.
Scott Rendleman
Scott Rendleman
Age: 58
These ongoing problems will require creative and flexible thinking on how we address the deferred maintenance backlog. We should first identify which properties in Boulder’s facility portfolio we can sell or repurpose for permanently affordable housing. We should then follow a prioritized and phased plan that puts building serving residents first. I do not support the $400 million bond, because the deferred maintenance backlog and the Alpine Balsam cost overruns have Boulder residents not trusting that the city will spend the money wisely. As far as management changes, I support a pilot of an independent performance monitor to identify where tax money is achieving its purposes and where programs need improvement.
Tara Winer
Tara Winer
Age: 68
The $400M backlog did not happen overnight. Boulder’s largest revenue source, sales tax, has flattened because of remote work, empty downtown offices, and slower retail sales, and the state reduced assessed values which reduced our property taxes. We did adopt a Facilities Master Plan in 2021 but it wasn’t fully funded because of competing fiscal priorities and the need to maintain important city services.
Regarding spending: I agree with the community-led idea for an independent performance auditor who reports to Council. Boulder’s current auditing only checks financial compliance, not whether programs actually work. This type of auditor will rebuild public trust and will save us money in the long run.
Regarding oversight: One of the things the Alpine-Balsam project taught me is that we need regular updates to the Council on big capital projects. I would also like to see comparisons of our costs compared to what peer cities pay for similar work. Learning from mistakes is important to me. That means looking way back to when this project started 11 years ago, and honestly looking at every aspect of the process.
Ryan Schuchard
Ryan Schuchard
Age: 49
Like towns across the country, Boulder faces a waterfall of aging buildings from the 1960s–1980s boom, plus headwinds from shrinking state budgets to an adversarial federal government, and the answer is becoming financially strong enough to weather them.
Boulder has prepared better than most. My council built on robust work by past councils, including the 2021 Facilities Master Plan, which set a best-practice strategy to budget every year for maintenance and plan for replacements like HVAC. On the Long-Term Financial Strategy committee, I helped create Boulder’s first durably funded pavement program. Now the next council must build on ours.
Priorities:
- Keep implementing the Facilities Master Plan. Continue consolidating buildings. Establish a council committee on citywide facilities. Pass the $400 million bond to fix 15 failing facilities.
- Strengthen our finances on four fronts. Build a bigger cushion, make city services work for people, grow local partners, and hold big decisions to a high bar. See my newsletter, “How to Make Boulder Financially Strong.”
- Rebalance revenue. Shift from sales tax toward property tax, with relief so most households other than the highest-income ones pay no more. Support repealing TABOR statewide.
Ryan Jamieson
Ryan Jamieson
Age: 46
Boulder has made it arduous and expensive to open and run a business in town, which is a bold move for a city as heavily reliant on sales taxes to pay its bills as we are. Rewriting big parts of our municipal code and revising our permitting processes are a start to address the revenue side by getting new businesses into vacant spaces more quickly and getting more sales taxes in our coffers.
As for the other side of the ledger, I worked as an internal auditor for American Express and it’s pretty clear to me that we need an internal audit team for our city, too, measuring performance of our projects and helping us understand if the dollars we’re spending are having a real impact towards what we want done, or if we’re vastly overpaying for an ill-defined project. So, let’s make it easier to get sales taxes in while clearly defining what it is we want them to go to, with measurements and reviews along the way.
Jamillah Richmond
Jamillah Richmond
Age: 42
For many years, Boulder was able to rely on a steady, growing stream of sales tax revenue, largely generated by visitors. The increasing popularity of ecommerce, along with consolidation of commercial real estate and related increase in commercial rent, and general economic tightening has led to a situation where sales taxes are no longer a robust and growing revenue stream. At the same time, costs to deliver public services have increased.
We need to help Boulderites understand that the continued vibrancy of our city’s public amenities, like the historic and well-loved Spruce Pool, whose funding is uncertain under the proposed 2027 budget, depends on our ability to levy appropriate taxes on private and commercial property owners. Property taxes in Boulder lag far behind our peer cities in other states, and, indeed, are some of the lowest in the nation on a per mil basis. That has allowed a situation where wealthy individuals are able to treat Boulder real estate like a bank without investing in our common good or the Boulder community.
Additionally, it is important for City Council to maintain tight reins on the government to ensure that we are continually finding ways to be opportunistic, entrepreneurial, and find efficiencies where possible.
Jill Grano
Jill Grano
Age: 44
Boulder’s budget problems are partly about the economy (declining sales tax revenue), but they’re also about choices we’ve made. We need to look at what we’re funding and whether our spending is doing what we intended. To this end, I support an independent performance auditor reporting to Council, with a small staff and a resident audit committee. We need to understand whether our programs are working and whether there are less expensive ways to get the same results.
I would take a closer look at consultant spending and temporary programs we’ve continued funding, while prioritizing core services and maintenance. Before approving major building projects, we need realistic estimates, ongoing operating costs, and alternatives. When costs or plans change substantially, those decisions should come back to Council.
I support investing in recreation and public-safety facilities, but I don’t support the $400+ million bond package as presented. We need a phased plan that explains what needs fixing now and what needs replacing or expanding.
Getting empty commercial spaces occupied and helping local businesses succeed would strengthen our sales-tax base. But that takes time. We still have to make hard choices with the money we actually have.
Sam Fuqua
Sam Fuqua
Age: 62
We have declining revenue, inflation and a lot of dedicated funds that make budget adjustments less flexible. We have significantly increased city staff–well-intentioned increases that may not be sustainable. The move already underway to tie our spending to outcomes (“outcome-based budgeting”) is an important shift that should lead to savings. Also underway: hIring freezes, leaving positions unfilled, non-renewal of contract employees and, most painfully, lay-offs. We may need to continue down this difficult path. I support the idea of an independent auditor reporting directly to council, not only as another set of eyes to potentially find savings but also to identify ways to improve our customer service. I have no idea how much additional savings may be identified.
My assessment of the $400 million backlog of major facility needs is that it resulted, in part, from the difficult choices our city councils have had to make over many years that led to chronic underfunding of building maintenance and the simple fact that we have a lot of old city buildings.
If Ballot Issue 2K, the Recreation and Safety bond, passes I will push for a strong oversight panel reporting directly to council and a review of each project to look for savings without compromising core functions of each building. I am pleased to hear the city has identified a possible alternative to the proposed $170 new public safety building (the largest project in the bond package).
Benita Duran
Benita Duran
Age: 65
I am a proponent of transparency in budgeting and making financial reports regularly available in easy, common, accessible terms. I have experience in complex financial transactions and would bring that experience to addressing deferred maintenance issues, engaging public in information sharing and analysis of facilities.
Lynn Segal
Lynn Segal
Age: 73
Engage community and CU Departments in group problem solving. Use the engagement collaboration “Dialogue Boulder” already complete in 2021, nothing substantive was activated. Process is everything. Review current projects to triage their value. Spend only what is projected in long term costs, including maintenance and operations and CIP for all departments and include replacement and full lifecycle analysis for all city owned properties. Long-term projections.
Hire a new city manager if she can’t handle this. Improve process from the bottom up utilizing the intellectual capital that is abundant here. Cross integrate boards and commissions so they understand the landscape they operate in and supplement each other’s needs. Use community policing and restorative justice, but first fire Steve Redfearn, Phil Weiser’s sacrifice zone for the homicide of Elijah McClain, so he wouldn’t have another George Floyd in Colorado.
Dave Martus
Dave Martus
Age: 59
While I am a no vote on the bond, my priorities include maintaining safe, functional public safety and recreation facilities and addressing legitimate deferred maintenance.
Currently, Boulder’s total debt on its 23 outstanding debt issues issued between 2012 and 2025 is $742.0 million (principal and interest). Ballot measure 2K ($400 million bond, $650 million maximum repayment inclusive of interest) would, in a single stroke, almost double that.
Over the last 20 years, Boulder voters have only rejected one tax increase/extension at the ballot box out of 41 measures. This near-perfect track record of engagement between city councils and citizens reflects the consistent employment of a thoughtful process underpinned by accumulated community goodwill for a variety of programs and services.
Sadly, that trust and goodwill no longer exist. A survey conducted for the city revealed that only 45% of respondents surveyed would vote in support of the proposed $400 million bond issue, yet here it is on the ballot.
Before asking residents to assume this level of long-term debt, Council and staff should provide a transparent list of projects that distinguishes critical community-safety needs from simple improvements, identifies the full cost of each project, and specifies what, if any, lower-cost alternatives were considered.