Special Meeting

Staff (Pam Davis, Matt Chasansky) opened the process for the next four-year citywide strategic plan. They took 170 staff proposals and cut the list to about 41 items in a "world of possibilities" document, scored with a rubric that weighs alignment to the SER framework, complexity, urgency, regulatory impact, and service tier. A full council touch point is planned for the January pre-retreat study session, with a community workshop on November 14.

Taishya Adams, who said she has led strategic planning for 30 years, objected that the process started without baseline budget-versus-actuals data or outcomes from the last plan, and without council or boards at the table when the prioritization tool was built. She called it a case of staff "wagging the dog" and said she could not name priorities without that data.

“I have never started that process off without a landscape analysis with data on the current plans and outcomes and outputs and budgetary information.”

Matt Benjamin pushed for the strategic plan to fold in reform of the city's budget process, including a move to a two-year budget, saying the current annual process is not yet good enough to support the plan's financial-stewardship goals.

Matt Benjamin said a full rewrite of Title 9, the land use code, is missing from the world of possibilities list even though council flagged it at its retreat as the main tool to implement the comprehensive plan, and warned the project will take two to four years.

Several members named wildfire readiness as a top strategic-plan priority. Ryan Schuchard called it an existential protection issue for the community, and Matt Benjamin, Rob Kaplan, and Nicole Speer separately listed wildfire infrastructure and resilience among their top picks from the 41 draft inputs.

Assistant City Manager Mark Wolf and project manager Shihomi Kuriyagawa introduced the RFP for the Civic Area East Bookend, which will seek a private partner to redevelop the Atrium and Storage and Transfer buildings into a food, recreation, and arts destination anchored by the Boulder County Farmers Market. A Request for Interest drew nine responses. The optional West Bookend, combining the AgeWell Center site and Arapahoe Court, is aimed mainly at generating sale revenue. The RFP goes out late summer 2026 with partner selection expected in early 2027.

Rob Kaplan noted the memo listed several boards consulted but no specific safety conversation with police, park rangers, or downtown stakeholders for a year-round evening destination. Staff said safety had been discussed through two years of Phase 2 engagement with police and the safe and managed public spaces team, and that specific safety measures would be shaped by what the RFP responses propose.

Matt Benjamin asked staff to disclose the ongoing operating and maintenance cost of the new park and bookend space well before budget season so council can plan trade-offs early. Staff said the base park maintenance cost estimate is in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, with a fuller park management plan still in progress, and confirmed the city is not budgeting a direct capital contribution to the East Bookend, which is meant to generate revenue instead.

Intergovernmental affairs staff reviewed one county ballot measure and 15 state measures for possible council positions. The county early childhood mill levy would raise property taxes by 2.579 mills, about $30 million a year, for child care affordability, accessibility, workforce stability, and lower provider administrative costs.

Council took non-binding straw polls directing staff to draft formal resolutions for a later meeting: opposing Initiative 95 (immigration reporting), Initiative 109 (school sports by sex), Initiative 110 (bar gender-affirming care for minors), Initiative 175 (restrict road funding), Initiative 177 (right to natural gas), and the fentanyl penalty measure Initiative 85; and supporting the county child care mill levy, Initiative 195 (graduated income tax), and Proposition NN (retain K-12 funding above the TABOR cap). A straw poll to support Initiative 308 (sporting goods tax for conservation) failed 3-5.

Staff explained Initiative 95 would require local and state police to report arrestees not verified as lawfully present to federal authorities, conflicting with state laws on immigration information sharing. Council later straw-polled opposing it, citing the city's policy against unfunded federal immigration-enforcement mandates.

Staff explained Initiative 175 would dedicate existing motor vehicle and fuel tax revenue only to traditional roads, cutting funding for the city's transportation master plan and Vision Zero work; combined with House Bill 14-30, it would likely produce little net new road money. Council straw-polled opposing it.

Council straw-polled supporting the county's early childhood mill levy, which would raise about $30 million a year for child care affordability, accessibility, and workforce stability across Boulder County.