Three candidates for Boulder's City Council in 2007 - Adam Massey, Macon Cowles and Rob Smoke - attended last Friday's candidate forum hosted by the citizen group PLAN-Boulder County.

PLAN-Boulder (PBC) decided to hold four forums this year because 22 candidates are running for one of seven open seats on the nine-person board. Last Friday's forum was the second of four, and PBC will hold Friday forums at the Main Branch of the Boulder Public Library on September 21 and 28 from roughly 12:15 p.m. until 1:30 p.m.

SHORT CANDIDATE PROFILES

Macon Cowles is an attorney, a former member and chair of Boulder's Planning Board, and has spent his recent years working in the green-building field. He was the president of the engineering firm ConsultEnergy, and is General Counsel and a co-founder of a private equity firm that facilitates capital for urban green building projects.

Rob Smoke works as a caregiver for people with conditions such as Alzheimer's. He is a city Human Relations Commission member and has served as its chair. He has also worked in sales and marketing, commented on council affairs for KGNU radio, produced or appeared on local TV shows, and had guest op-eds published in local publications.

Adam Massey is currently a property manager who is working on a housing renovation project. He is the former executive director of the mountain biking group Boulder Off-road Alliance, has an MBA from CU-Boulder and participated directly in the city's Open Space Visitor Master Plan process.

GROWTH: STUNTED, STEADY OR SPURTS?

The PBC Board and forum attendees asked a number of growth-related questions. For example, the board mentioned that CU Professor Emeritus Al Bartlett said the city appears to be "talking out of both sides of its mouth" by favoring greenhouse gas reduction programs and allowing significant development simultaneously.

Attendees asked for opinions on a proposed downtown Boulder convention center, problems of population growth, and whether growth "pays its own way" when it comes to paying for new infrastructure or services.

Each candidate got roughly 90 seconds to speak on most questions, and the Daily offers brief excepts from the candidate responses.

SMOKE:

He said the city should not abandon its human sustainability goals in the name of excessive development. For example, he said current plans for the Transit Village Area include only two very small pocket parks aside lots of housing and mixed-use development/redevelopment. He grew up in New York City and said his housing project there had minimum green space standards, and said achieving more green space in Boulder development areas is "doable."

Smoke said Boulder should look at the problems of Front Range population growth regionally, as opposed to acting as if the city was a little isolated "island." He said the entities or individuals who profit from growth should carry more of the costs of infrastructure, as opposed to the general public bearing the brunt. He also lambasted the notion of a convention center at 13th and Canyon, in part because it would impact the Farmer's Market, parks and traffic in the downtown area.

MASSEY:

He said Bartlett was right, but said future technological advances and behavioral changes could help balance likely future development with sustainability efforts. He grew up in the Chicago area and said he has seen how "inappropriate" growth west of the city negatively impacted agricultural land. He also said Boulder has taken and is taking positive steps, including its current Climate Action Plan (CAP), to lessen the impacts of growth.

Massey said Boulder's proper population size will be an interesting question into the future, but said the city has assumed a leadership role in balancing a strong local quality of life with lessening the impacts of its population. He said growth does not fully pay its initial cost to the community, and added that it will be important for promised components of a new project, such as pocket parks, to be completed in a timely manner. He said he does not favor the proposed downtown convention center location, but does believe there should be a center in town, perhaps to be built in partnership with CU.

COWLES:

He agreed with Bartlett, but said the CAP should help the city manage its carbon footprint, and said the Transit Village Area Plan should help some current "in-commuters" become able to both work and live in Boulder. He grew up on the Front Range and said he has been troubled by regional growth, but said certain Boulder policies have helped the city maintain a quality of life that few cities can match.

Cowles said there isn't a single problem that isn't made worse by population growth, but said it's difficult to deal with it from the city level. He said it's possible for the city to tackle how growth pays its own way, and mentioned a 1996 study that said new growth paid slightly less than half the cost of new infrastructure. He said he is concerned about how a downtown convention center might impact the Farmer's Market, but said there probably is a demand for a center - coming in part from the needs of CU, the federal labs and local arts entities for more meeting space in town.

GOVERNANCE ISSUES

The PBC Board asked how candidates would handle city staff, especially in instances in which it could potentially present information as if an outcome was predetermined. Also, PBC chair Pat Shanks asked for opinions on a 2006 council decision to leave the 2005 Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan (BVCP) five-year update open, while the city studies community needs that could influence how Planning Reserve land north of city limits is developed.

MASSEY:

He didn't fully accept that staff manipulates information, but said it "probably" happens. He said the staff/council relationship can be difficult because council members typically serve for short periods of time while staff employees might stay for 15-20 years. He said it is important for the council to work with the City Manager along with boards and commissions to accomplish its goals.

Massey said he told a current council member that he would work to close the 2005 BVCP update if elected. He said he didn't favor big-box retail on the Reserve property owned by Palmos Development, and said it might be possible to meet retail needs within city limits, but said a Naropa University campus consolidation on the Reserve might be appropriate.

COWLES:

He said it is the job of a council member to ask deep, "searching" questions of city staff in attempts to get the right information. He said the council can't interfere in staff-level personnel matters, but said a council member should consult with the City Manager if staff-level fixes become necessary.

Cowles said he wasn't in favor of the 2006 BVCP council action. He also said the BVCP has grown from a guiding roadmap-type document into a "Christmas tree" filled with too many line-item "ornaments." He said he would "very likely" favor Naropa on the Reserve, but said Reserve projects would need to meet a high-priority need that couldn't be filled within existing city limits.

SMOKE:

He said government work is very hard, and staff decisions are difficult, but criticized parts of the city's business incentive program. He said the city shouldn't be giving $100,000 rebates to the large corporations IBM or Ball Aerospace when there are situations in Boulder such as senior citizens on fixed incomes struggling to meet basic needs.

Smoke said there could be appropriate uses for the Reserve, but also said thought should be given as to whether there is regional excess in retail development. He said the U.S. 36 corridor is becoming "one continuous shopping mall," and said Boulder should endeavor to make sure there is sufficient green space in the city, in part so people don't feel as if they have to go to the mountains to enjoy nature.