We need more housing options. The city has approved neighborhood after neighborhood of large single-family-only housing (the most expensive housing option) for decades. We need to start approving projects that include the missing middle (condos, duplexes, and townhomes) as well as apartments and smaller single-family homes, so seniors and young people have places to live without breaking the bank. 

We should require that 30% of all new housing be affordable (less than 30% of an average household’s income). Small developers should get an alternative option to donate money to the Loveland Affordable Housing Fund.

No more Metro Districts (MDs). Our neighbors living in MDs are having to pay property taxes, MD fees, which can sometimes be between 3k - 5k a year over a period of 40 years, and HOA fees (because the developer does not pay to maintain any of the common areas/resources). Because of these fees, housing experts in Loveland have told me that affordable housing cannot be built in MDs. 

“A metropolitan district (metro district) is a type of special district that is a quasi-governmental entity with taxing authority that is used to finance necessary public infrastructure and services that the City cannot otherwise provide.” - City of Loveland

It is important to note here that developers use MDs to recoup the costs of putting in infrastructure such as roads, sewer lines, etc., but the cost of maintaining these infrastructure assets returns to the city soon after they are built. I also believe it is the developer’s job to put in the infrastructure. Businesses are expected to spend some money to make a profit. With MDs, developers are making pure profit to the detriment of the homeowners. 

Start a licensing program for short-term rentals. Following Fort Collins’ lead, I believe we should start a city-wide licensing program for short-term rentals (such as airbnbs & Vrbo). I’d also like to see the cost of the license increase with each dwelling registered. The money raised from these licenses will go to the Loveland Affordable Housing Fund and a position to oversee the licensing program.

Establish a vacancy tax rate so property owners can’t continue to sit on vacant buildings in downtown. That is existing space that can easily become more housing or small, local businesses.

At best, our city council has been reactionary when it comes to homelessness, and at worst, it has actively blocked progress. They even voted to stop the work of a partnering nonprofit organization, which was offering a solution at no cost to the city. 

Loveland focused on housing homeless veterans and was very successful. I believe we need to focus first on getting women, families, and seniors (the fastest-growing group experiencing homelessness) into housing by establishing an ADA-compliant resource center with consistent services. The goal of this center will be to help our neighbors who are currently experiencing homelessness and prevent more people from losing their housing.

We also need to formally adopt a strategic homelessness plan for Loveland. I suggest we adopt and follow the taxpayer-funded City of Loveland Homelessness Strategic Plan created by the University of Denver’s Burnes Center on Poverty and Homelessness. The path to progress is partnering with the community, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and the county. Many of whom have offered, in the past, to help Loveland solve homelessness with little to no money from the city. 

Finally, we need to tackle this issue at the root by building more affordable housing. 

According to Pew, “A large body of academic research has consistently found that homelessness in an area is driven by housing costs, whether expressed in terms of rents, rent-to-income ratios, price-to-income ratios, or home prices. Further, changes in rents precipitate changes in rates of homelessness: homelessness increases when rents rise by amounts that low-income households cannot afford.” 

The Public News Service puts “Colorado housing costs [as] 8th least affordable in nation.” According to Zillow, the average home value in Loveland is $506,084 (Denver is $546,249) and the average rent in our city is $1,995 (Denver is $2,200).

Participatory budgeting is a democratic process that gives voters control over a portion of the general fund.

It’s your money, you should decide how it gets spent! 

Participatory budgeting is “used in 7,000 cities around the world, and has been used to decide budgets from states, counties, cities, housing authorities, schools, and other institutions.”

We would meet as a city, propose projects we want to see funded, and vote on our top ideas. The top ideas then go to our city employees, who create plans based on the proposals, and then those plans go to the voters. The plans will be added to the standard ballot schedule.

I support expanding the co-responder model started by the county. I want the city to hire social workers so 911 operators have another option in their toolbox to respond to calls with. This frees up our police officers to respond to other calls in our community, like speeding. 

I also want to make sure our police force has training on identifying people with autism, dementia, or who are experiencing a mental health crisis, and best supporting them during times of need. 

Additionally, homelessness housing programs are shown to reduce the probability of committing a crime by 80%, the probability of returning to homelessness, and the number of emergency department visits (by 80%).

We also need to fully fund our fire protection district. We are currently below the national standard for staffing, and firefighters are having to work overtime to ensure our city’s protected.

Driving on 34 in 2016 was a completely different experience from today. One thing is clear: if we keep doing what we have been doing, traffic will only get worse. We need more options to get around town. We can do this by adding protected bike and walking routes and investing in our public transit system so the buses can run more frequently.

I support a city model with more transit options, where everything you need on a day-to-day basis (jobs, schools, grocery stores, healthcare, and leisure activities) is all within a 15-minute walk, bike, or public transit ride. This needs to be a priority when reviewing/approving new developments and when we have the infrastructure funds to update roads.

I will propose a mandate that all new homes are built to withstand wildfires, and we need to help upgrade existing homes with wildfire protections. I’m a homeowner, and I’ve already been denied home insurance by one company due to wildfire risk. If we do not address these issues, insurance companies will pull out of Loveland.

We also need more firefighters. The National Fire Protection Association requires “that engine companies be staffed with a minimum of four on-duty members.” I got to meet Chief Tim Sendelbach at a community learning session, and he said they were down by one, with three firefighters per engine, and that firefighters are having to work a lot of overtime to keep our community safe.

I want to implement a vacancy tax rate, encouraging downtown property owners to find tenants for their spaces. Getting vacant buildings filled will bring more visitors to downtown, bringing more revenue to existing small businesses, and generating additional tax revenue for our city’s general fund. I propose that the money collected by the vacancy tax go to fund the library.