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Boulder

REALTOR AMONG 23 VYING FOR BOULDER CITY COUNCIL SEAT

Boulder Area Realtor®, Eric Rutherford, Wright-Kingdom, Inc., is a commercial broker and a candidate for the Boulder City Council. Rutherford is one of twenty three candidates now vying for one of seven available seats that will be filled at the November 6, 2007 election. Incumbent Crystal Gray is one of two council members seeking reelection while council members Shawn McGrath and Suzy Ageton remain with two years left in their current terms. Incumbent Ken Wilson, elected in July to fill Tom Eldridge's vacant seat is running to secure a full term. The other 20 candidates certified for the ballot are: Mathew Appelbaum, former council member and software consultant; Eric Bodenstab, hospital industry; Philip Bradley, outreach employee at CIRES; Seth Brigham, artist and activist; Shawn Coleman, sales and finance manager at Smooth Motors and principal clarinetist for the Wyoming Symphony; Macon Cowles, environmental attorney and former Planning Board member; Angelique Espinoza, partner and owner of Free Range Geeks; Andrew Harrison, Whole Foods employee; Philip Hernandez, retired HR manager for state government; Nabil Karkamaz, engineer and former small business owner; Kathryn Kramer; sales division at Colorado Link, Inc.; Adam Massey; property management and real estate conversion; Lisa Morzel, vulcanologist with the U.S.G.S. and former council member; Alan O’Hashi, diversity and cultural competency facilitator; Susan Osborne, co-president of Historic Boulder and former city planner; Eugene Pearson, operations manager for Boulder County AIDS Project; Susan Peterson, high tech sales and marketing; Larry Quilling, program director for new-product development at Seagate Technology; Tom Riley, director of community-based residential services for adults with disabilities with Imagine; and, Rob Smoke, personal care provider and raw foods consultant.

CITY COUNCIL TO PROPOSE SEVERAL CHARTER CHANGES

The Boulder City council is almost certain to place several City Charter Amendments on the November ballot when they meet on September 4th. Among the potential ballot questions are: 1) whether to raise city council member's annual pay from an average of $5000 to $12,000; 2) two different proposals that change the way vacancies on the city council are filled. One would provide two election dates, one in the spring and the other in November. The spring date would be sued if a vacancy occurred. The other question would allow the council to appoint a person to fill the vacancy if it occurs more than 120 days prior to the next general council election; 3) clarifying the kinds of conduct that will result in a city council member losing his or her seat; 4) extending the maximum length of city leases from 20 years to 40 years; and 5) allowing non-residents to serve on city boards and commissions that do not have quasi-judicial authority.

WETLANDS REGULATION UPDATE IN THE WORKS

City planners are preparing to update the city's two decades old wetland maps and regulations. New mapping that was reviewed by the Planning Board in early August would place 75 new properties in wetlands or wetland buffers while removing nearly 50 others. City regulations limit building activities within wetlands or wetland buffers that range between 25 and 50 feet. Planning Board members voted to recommend the City Council adopt the new maps this year but will wait to recommend potential new regulation until April of 2008.