What Ryan Will Do
Ryan has the clearest answers in the field to the problems this series has covered.
An independent city auditor. Ryan wants an auditor who is “a peer to the City Manager, not an employee of one,” with the standing to review spending and programs and report to council in public.
Targets before votes. In his words: “Every new program and every new tax should arrive at council with a stated goal, a measure, and a date when we look again, all of it written down before anyone votes on it.” A program that misses its target twice goes back to council for a vote on whether to continue.
Fix the code. “Our municipal code was written to prevent change.” Ryan will modernize it so Boulder can build the housing and small-business space it needs, faster. Changing the use of a space should be simple, like “turning a disused office into a nail salon without a year of review.”
The right fix for empty storefronts. Some candidates want to extend the new vacancy tax to commercial property. Ryan's answer: “A vacancy tax is the wrong tool for this, because empty storefronts are a symptom of the code.” He is right. He also sees a Downtown Development Authority as part of bringing downtown back.
Spending discipline. On the $400 million bond: “I don't think we're ready for that burden yet.” On the City's maintenance backlog: “That we've allowed a backlog of maintenance and capital improvements to grow into the hundreds of millions of dollars is an outright travesty.”
Public spaces for the public. “Pitching a tent along Boulder Creek is not sharing, it's claiming.”
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