Council Highlights

I joined my Council colleagues in voting for increased spending on streets, in particular, and I have looked to find new revenue sources—like our utility fee for commercial uses—to help fill the ever-growing gap in infrastructure funding.  

Every business and residential water customer pays $6/month towards street maintenance. I believe that businesses—particularly those that are large and generate a significant amount of truck traffic—should pay a more proportional share of street maintenance fees. I have asked staff to look at recalibrating this fee versus charging residents more. 

Almost daily, I witness someone running a red light, and I, my family, and friends have had very close calls. I asked staff to work on bringing speed cameras to our lights—they are currently looking into how we might be able to deploy these and what the cost and potential revenues would be. 

I supported my Council colleagues’ need to better understand the need and options for a new water treatment plant. This did delay construction of the project by approximately a year, but did serve to build more understanding, buy-in, and an opportunity to create a community task force on the project.  

I continue to advocate for improved transit access throughout the city and advocated to maintain a needed connection of the 31 bus route along Federal to the Front Range Community College. I also serve on the Front Range Passenger Rail Board and worked with the Mayor and other community leaders to advocate for rail stops between Denver and Boulder. We now have identified Downtown Westminster as one of these stops.

Upon joining Council, I have continuously highlighted our impending demographic shift over the next 25 years, where our senior households will double, family households will stay the same, and single-person households will increase significantly. We will need different, more varied housing stock that is affordable to all types of households and incomes. I asked that we supplement our Housing Needs Assessment with a focus on seniors.

I brought the concept forward of utilizing carryover budget funds for the City to take control of removing debris and cleaning the site to improve the impacted neighborhood. My Council colleagues heartily supported this. 

I asked to bring this back to our community. Staff recommended cutting this service, but upon learning there are few other options for our disabled community members, I asked to bring it back.  

While I support regional trail systems and connectivity, I also place the safety of our community as a priority. Along with many of my other Council colleagues, we worked to find a compromise with Jefferson County to limit, but not stop, access to the Greenway Trail through our open space. 

Our community is concerned about lead and noise exposure with the continued growth of this facility. I support my Council colleagues and community in asking for reduced flying hours and facilitating the end of leaded fuel sales.  

I asked that City staff look at a round-up program to help bring in funds to subsidize those residents who need assistance with their water bills. This helps our residents stay in their homes as costs continue to rise.  

This is a significant effort that we can’t solve alone. However, I have supported efforts to expand housing navigator presence in the city and to equip our staff with a clear set of parameters for how to offer housing and options for people experiencing homelessness in Westminster. I highly support our partnering with counties and others to leverage property, funds, and other resources to amplify the work that we are all doing in this space. 

In the recent past, Parks and Rec staff have focused on the need for a new recreation center in the northern portion of the city. As a resident in the north, I know of and use facilities like the Hyland Hills Fitness Center and Broomfield’s Paul Derda facility. I asked if staff could work with Broomfield to establish a reciprocal agreement for use of our city facilities instead of building a new one. Staff is working with Broomfield on this now. 

While I was looking for more of a compromise, I support our community members’ efforts to improve maintenance and care for this now 400+-acre dog park. I still have concerns over our ability to adequately manage the site and its impact on neighboring homes, so I will continue to work to address these issues. 

I am supportive of our offering and expanding on regional recreational amenities like disc golf and tennis. These sports are under-resourced regionally, and if partnerships can be found, I support creating and supporting opportunities to expand these.   

I believe in leadership at the State level, but also know that cities have the local expertise in how to apply policies and regulate within their communities. I have worked through several cycles with policy makers to advocate for the work Westminster has already done to carefully plan and facilitate transit-oriented development and affordable housing, among other efforts. 

I advocated for this program to be funded with a specific budget line item in Economic Development to ensure funds are available on a consistent annual basis. 

I asked to add a requirement for 300 affordable housing units to the Preliminary Development Plan, which is the zoning document for the site. Several projects are underway.   

I have continued to support development of housing and new businesses through Economic Development incentives in key areas like Westminster Station and Historic Westminster.  

I and my Council colleagues have advocated for increased community engagement in many of our major efforts, from open space management to water treatment. I have also encouraged our staff and Council to establish more interactive task forces and community meetings so we can really hear from key stakeholders and our residents and businesses.