Climate change is putting more stress on our environment. Large-scale wildfires, major floods and extreme weather events are more common in Larimer County. Higher ozone levels continue to impact our most vulnerable populations. The Cache La Poudre and Big Thompson Rivers and all our watersheds are at great risk of being further compromised and endangered. We must act boldly to ensure that our water, air, and land is protected and preserved for future generations.

Accomplishments:

• Actively pursued grants and formed strong partnerships to stabilize areas affected by disasters.
• Lead the Larimer County initiative to purchase and maintain Heaven’s Door Ranch, a 1,547-acre future open space area at the mouth of the Big Thompson Canyon along Highway 34
• Appointed by Colorado Governor Jared Polis to serve on the Forest Health Council. Chaired the legislative sub-committee of the Fort Health Council.
• Volunteered and participated in tree planting, restoration work, and trail building throughout Larimer County.
• Hired Larimer County’s first Climate and Sustainability Manager and supported significant progress on Larimer County’s first Climate Smart Future Ready Plan.
• Supported the first update to the Estes Park Comprehensive Plan in 26 years. Worked with the City of Estes Park to create the new “Estes Forward” plan which will continue to protect the beauty of Estes Park.
•  Supported a grant for the first-ever Larimer County water assessment and water plan.
• Supported restoration work in Soapstone Prarie and Red Mountain Open Space. This work wouldn’t have been possible without a collaboration between Larimer County, Colorado State University, and Fort Collins.
• Opened Larimer County’s first-ever emergency operations center for Larimer County Operations for Emergency Management

Together, we can:

• Provide leadership to advance renewable and clean energy such as wind and solar;
• Establish a Larimer County Energy Improvement District (EID) to provide commercial and residential property owners financing options through C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy).
• Support Platte River Power Authority’s efforts to transition to a 100% renewable energy portfolio.
• Continue the progress on Larimer County’s Climate Smart Future Ready plan as a regional approach to our climate challenges.
• Collaborate with local and state jurisdictions and the private sector to provide charging stations for electric vehicles.
• Work regionally with municipalities with their plans so we can leverage opportunities to achieve our interconnected goals together.
• Provide leadership and incentives for smart water use, water conservation and efficiency in commercial and residential settings; protect watersheds and river ecosystems, especially the Poudre and Big Thompson Rivers.
• Engage the public in water education to raise awareness of the importance of our watershed health and protection.
• Enhance and build upon our open spaces, parks and public lands; protect the Soapstone bison. Protect and Preserve our public lands.
• Support public safety and emergency management personnel and coordination protocols using the best scientific data and practices from the 2012 High Park Wildfire, 2013 Floods, and 2020 Cameron Peak Fire, and 2021 Black Hollow Flood to plan for future disaster emergencies – emergency response, recovery, mitigation, and resiliency.

Behavioral health, substance abuse, addiction, and suicide impact us all directly or indirectly, whether through the loss of a loved one or costs to our society and community. During my visits across Larimer County, I heard countless stories of many in our community who are desperate for solutions and answers to this growing epidemic. Like so many of you, I have my own personal experiences of losing loved ones to suicide and know how important it is for our residents to receive early intervention and mental health support.

Accomplishments:

• The Larimer County Behavioral Health Services at Longview™ Campus, Acute Care Center, opened in late 2023. This project stands as a testament to our collective effort in addressing mental health and substance abuse issues. This center is not only a vital health facility but a source of hope. During the 36 days of the opening of the Behavioral Health Center at Longview Campus Acute Care Center our contracted partners at Summitstone saw 488 patients with 200 admitted, the rest triaged and stabilized, and connected to resources. 76% of those seen were drive-ups.
• Expand the co-responder model throughout the county significantly and into Thompson School District.
• Larimer County invested $12 Million to support 187 grant applications and 65 organizations to increase access and early intervention throughout Larimer County.

Together, we can:

• Complete Phase 2 of the Larimer County Behavioral Health Services at Longview™ Campus, which will focus on adolescents.
• Provide oversight, guidance, and support in implementing the 1A ballot initiative (Mental Health Matters)
• Help guide the comprehensive behavioral health master plan 2.0
• Improve our suicide prevention and intervention services by working with hospitals to address gaps in transitions from emergency departments to community-based behavioral health providers for those who have attempted suicide.
• Expand first responder peer-to-peer programs to address post-traumatic stress and behavioral health for our heroes.
• Expand the reach of Drug, DUI, and Wellness Courts; target resources to address veteran needs.
• Expand wrap-around behavioral health for our alternative sentencing program, veteran services, and our homeless population.

Housing affordability in Larimer County is a crisis. Home prices and rents soar while wages don’t keep up with the cost of living. Teachers, retirees, direct service providers, first responders and other middle-class families cannot afford to live in the communities where they work. Fixed or low-income families, seniors, and individuals are often just one paycheck away from homelessness. Contributing factors to unaffordability include market forces; labor, land and materials costs; productivity, consumer preferences, growth, and regulations. We must do more to ensure that housing is safe, attainable, and affordable for all those who desire to work, retire, or study in Larimer County.

Accomplishments:

• In May of 2022, I convened a meeting of community advocates. This was the catalyst to creating a team who successfully obtained grant to repurpose an unused building in the Thompson School District into a youth shelter (Northern Colorado Regional Youth Shelter). I championed the allocation of $1.5 million from Larimer County from American Rescue Plan Act funding to provide the initial operating costs for the shelter. No youth shelter of this kind has been built in Colorado in the last 15 years. My re-election is pivotal to see this through – to provide our young people with the care and support they desperately need. I’m grateful for the critical role of the Matthew’s House in this endeavor.
• $1 million from American Rescue Plan provided as a forgivable loan to allow the residents of Nueva Vida to purchase their Mobile Home Park (a total of 68 units). The Bohemian Foundation and Impact Development Fund also provided loans to close the gap in the purchase price. The Genesis Project and Matthews House helped residents navigate finding funding and purchase process.
• I, along with my colleagues, championed funding for innovative housing projects like Heartside Hill in Larimer County. A partnership between CARE Housing, Heart of the Rockies Christian Church, Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity, L’Arche Northern Colorado, and Larimer County, it will be home to over 72 affordable apartments, 9 habitat homes, two homes for those with developmental disabilities, and a community center with early childhood education. Using our American Rescue Plan Act funds (ARPA), Larimer County contributed $2 million to this project, and I am thrilled to be part of an initiative that will have a lasting impact on so many in our community for years to come.
• Larimer County gave $2 million to the town of Estes Park for workforce housing development

Together, we can:

• Build on already-existing programs such as the Larimer County Home Ownership and Home Improvement Programs, fee waivers, deferred developer fees, rapid re-housing, permanent supportive housing and homelessness prevention.
• Conduct a review conduct a comprehensive regulatory review of policies that inhibit Housing Affordability.
• Work together regionally and with individual municipalities to consider innovative approaches that incentivize affordable housing development such as: a regional housing investment trust fund, effective inclusionary zoning policies, density bonuses, transferable development rights, transit-oriented and mixed-income/use multi-family development, land use codes that allow for preserving and building manufactured housing, tiny homes and co-housing communities, community land trusts, resident-owned communities, and greater flexibility regarding renting accessory dwellings.
• Work with cities and towns to address how many unrelated people can live together to help address the housing needs of college students and seniors.
• Strengthen, expand and formalize relationships with non-profits, faith-based organizations, local governments and the private sector to leverage resources and creativity to advance housing affordability, both in rental and homeownership markets.
• Continue to address gaps and needs along the affordable housing continuum by exploring the usage of county-owned land toward affordable housing development. Partner with other institutions on property that could be dedicated and/or buildings that could be re-purposed for affordable housing.

I believe all stakeholders in our communities want real reforms and want to commit to public safety for all. However, it’s clear that we still have a long way to go in Northern Colorado.

Over the past few years, I have attended marches and events throughout Larimer County. I witnessed our community coming together to raise their voices in Estes Park, Loveland, Wellington, and Fort Collins. I have been meeting one-on-one with members of the BIPOC community to listen and learn. I stand as an ally in solidarity and want to amplify their voices. We need all stakeholders at the “table” where the hard conversations need to happen. Now, more than ever, we need to unite to construct the fabric of our communities where people feel safe, have true justice, economic equality, and have the same opportunities.

I pledge to continue my work of inclusion and lifting other voices to be heard. I will work to ensure that our county board and commissions represent the diversity of identities and experiences present in Larimer County.

Accomplishments:

• Wrote and championed the first-ever proclamations for Women’s History Month, Juneteenth, and many others for Larimer County.
• Worked with colleagues to establish Larimer County’s first-ever Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Advisory Board.
• Supported non-profits throughout the county in their work to educate, raise awareness, and provide opportunities to celebrate different cultures.
• Supported adding Juneteenth as a paid holiday for County Employees
• Championed increasing a sense of belonging and connectedness as part of the 2024 – 2028 Larimer County Strategic Plan after advocates from the community worked with me to raise awareness of this need.
• Championed adding flexible terms of service to add a youth seat to Larimer County Boards and Commissions.

Together, we can:

• Reevaluate our budgets, which I believe are moral statements.
• Expand the co-responder program and look for more ways to shape how we respond to folks in crisis in our community.
• Shift our resources towards initiatives around housing and counseling and behavioral health.
• Look for discriminatory policies, help identify them, and dismantle those policies throughout the county.
• Build trust, build relationships, accomplish reforms, and move towards real progress in Larimer County.

I’ve experienced firsthand the challenges of inadequate internet service. With only DSL available at my home, the impact on my family’s work and my daughter’s education during the pandemic was profound. This project goes beyond just providing internet service but addresses digital equity, ensuring affordable and reliable broadband for all, including rural and unincorporated areas.

Accomplishments:

• Larimer County has partnered with municipalities that own broadband services, offering cheaper rates for residents. We have also formed unprecedented partnerships with Poudre Valley Rural Electric and Trailblazer, recognizing that broadband access is a public safety issue as much as it is about telehealth, education, and equity.
• In our partnership with Loveland Pulse and Fort Collins Connexion, Larimer County was awarded 7 of the 9 grants submitted for the Colorado Broadband Office Capital Projects Fund: in total $14 million to bring fiber broadband to some of our most underserved communities.
• I championed the formation of the NoCo Fiber Alliance
• I pushed for the use of American Rescue Plan dollars to partner with our municipalities in a unique approach to expand broadband access.
• We brought broadband to the historic Sylvan Dale Ranch and the surrounding community.
• Larimer County was recognized by the National Association of Counties. This recognition is a testament to our community’s dedication to ensuring equitable broadband access for all.

Together, we can:

• Continue to bring broadband throughout areas of Larimer County that have no service or are underserved

Larimer County’s population will continue to grow as more people move to our beautiful area to work, retire, study, play, or raise a family. Now is the time to plan for smart growth while deciding together where we want to be as a county in 50 years. The challenges of smart growth will require collaborative and creative leadership in order to guide development while preserving and protecting our quality of life.

Accomplishments:

• Larimer County collaborated with the town of Estes Park to complete side-by-side new comprehensive plans for the Estes Valley and the new comprehensive plan for the town of Estes Park. This is the first update for these plans since 1996.
• Larimer County won a DOLA grant to collaborate with a consultant to look through our new comprehensive plan (and land use code) for the whole county to reduce any barriers to creating affordable and attainable housing.
  Supported efforts to preserve naturally occurring affordable housing, with the historic forgivable $1 million loan for the Nueva Vida community to be able to own the land beneath their homes.
• Larimer County allocated $1 million of American Rescue Plan Dollars to Habitat for Humanity to purchase land for additional affordable housing units.
• Larimer County allocated $3 million to create an immediate needs grant program for small businesses and nonprofits to recover after the pandemic.
• Larimer County Approved an expansion of staff hours to support local small farms and cottage food businesses.
• I was a major stakeholder and endorser of the Estes Park lodging tax that passed to provide funding for workforce housing and childcare in Estes Park.
• Larimer County invested in a new position, a Nursing Shortage Program Manager, through our Economic Workforce Program, to help address the need for acute nursing talent. Larimer County also received a grant for the next three years to help training institutions and sector partners to identify potential funding streams and solutions to the nursing shortage in northern Colorado.
• Supported adding a new position to provide required retail food safety trainings to local restaurants.
• Larimer County provided funding to the Larimer County Conservation Force to complete forest management and fire mitigation at the 3,200-acre Scout Ranch.
• I supported allocating funding to establish a NoCo Latino Chamber of Commerce.
• Larimer County helped start the Northern Colorado Regional Economic Development Initiative, a joint effort between Weld County and Larimer County, a first for our two counties.

Together, we can:

• Collaborate as a region to guide the housing, workforce and transportation networks of the future while working to minimize urban sprawl.
• Consider innovative local sales tax revenue sharing as a tool to incentivize smart growth policies and regional development planning.
• Implement creative, innovative and effective ways to address the loss of agricultural land like water-sharing partnerships known as Alternative Transfer Methods (ATMs), and consideration of farm and ranch productivity when assessing ag land valuations for property tax purposes.
• Promote Community Supported Agriculture Farms (CSAs) and Farm to Table practices such as Farmers’ Markets, food banks, and greater collaboration with schools and other institutions.
• Explore partnerships with land cooperative groups to preserve agriculture, soil, and provide long-term opportunities for young farmers.
• Do a better job of protecting existing neighborhoods, our environment, and quality of life while encouraging economic development; sustainability, job creation, and environmental protection can coexist.
• Place the health and welfare of our people and the environment above profits.

Larimer County continues to face significant challenges with traffic congestion and public safety on our roadways. We need to improve and maintain our local and state roads and bridges, continue the progress on I-25 lane expansion and Hwy 34 repair work through the Big Thompson Canyon, and work to ensure that people can get to work and school on time. As the population of Larimer County continues to expand, and transportation needs diversify, it is clear that we can’t just pave our way out of congestion and accidents.

Accomplishments:

• Larimer County with our regional partners, formed a Highway 34 coalition to address regional transportation issues.
• Supported the completion Owl Canyon road and Larimer County Road 9 improvements.
• Larimer County received a grant from Colroado Parks and Wildlife to complete the remaining 1 mile section of the Poudre Trail between Timnath and Windsor. The regional collaboration was critical to completing the Poudre Trail System that connections the community to the outdoors and provides mobility choices.
• Worked to increase options for those who need transportation to Behavioral Health treatment
• Supported the formation of a pilot program for one-click one-call rides for seniors.

Together, we can:

• Develop multi-modal transportation systems that serve everyone, including people who can’t or don’t drive, to connect our cities, towns and counties efficiently and conveniently.
• Support state efforts to establish a phased-in front range commuter/passenger rail system.
• Work with our partners across northern Colorado to promote regional transportation solutions, including promoting Transit Oriented Development (TOD) that includes affordable housing.
• Work with local transportation and health care providers, in both the public and private sectors, to consider service delivery systems that improve our para-transit, Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT), and Non-Medical Transportation (NMT) services for aging adults and persons with chronic medical conditions.
• Expand commuter and recreational bicycle ridership through public awareness and safety campaigns and improvements to our transportation infrastructure.
• Further explore options and partnerships to serve transportation needs for those who cannot drive to medical and other vital services.