The Town's Finance team has indicated that we will be exhausting our Capital Improvement Fund by 2028. When this occurs, we will not even have enough money to fund such things as our street maintenance needs. In response, Staff has recommended the priority of sustaining this CIF fund, which to do so includes a 10% cut across all departments. As well, they are recommending a new fee be added to our utility bills - a dedicated "Transportation Maintenance Fee" - in order to ensure we have adequate funding for street maintenance in the future. All of this is currently being done to answer one question: How do we pay for our capital needs? Personally, I believe this is the single most important issue facing the Town. It has the potential to affect our everyday life as residents, impacting us in ways both big and small. A concerted effort must be made to stabilize our budget in order to avoid a cascading affect that detrimentally affects all Town services.

Projected to be depleted by 2027, Erie's finance team forecasts the Town's Capital Fund to only have $2.5million available for capital projects (after $4million Street Maintenance) from 2027 through 2029 — due to overspending caused by operational and capital expenses exceeding the growth of revenues

While some call it an "Affordable Housing" issue, in reality the root of the problem is a lack of housing diversity. During the Town's massive growth over the years, a lack of available inventory and the national housing market have created a housing affordability issue as the Town's makeup has comprised almost entirely of single family homes. The best way to resolve this issue is to work with our stakeholders in the community - our development partners - to address the cause, not the symptoms of the issue.

Erie has quickly moved from "the best kept secret" to "the gem of North Metro Denver", becoming a destination that others want to call home. In order to set our Town up for the best chances for success, a plan must be created that provides us with an ability to manage our current and future growth. The blueprint below is designed to do just that, providing an understanding of where we are now (our "Current Position"), where we are going (our "Upcoming Needs"), and where we want to be (our "Future Growth"). It starts with assessing what's needed at this moment, preparing for what's needed later, and then having a vision to plan for the future.

Tell us briefly about yourself and where you are from and why you think you're a good candidate for the position you are running for: Originally from the Chicagoland area, I have been a resident of Erie since 2016, previously a resident of Broomfield for 7 years. I graduated from CU Boulder in 2009, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with dual concentrations in Management and Marketing. I am a business operations and marketing professional, with experience growing businesses from the ground up. Currently, I serve as the Sr. Manager of Customer Operations for a data analytics software company. As a solutions-driven individual, I use a holistic-view approach to identify and resolve issues that deliver results, which are both effective and efficient. I am married to my amazing wife, Gabrielle, and am the doting father of my two husky fur-babies, Kaia and Koda. I currently serve as both a Planning Commissioner and a Comprehensive Plan Amendment Steering Committee member for the Town. As an individual from the business world, I believe the Town needs leaders who can create solutions that will be positive and Forward Thinking for Erie’s Future. I believe that I am a good candidate for the position of Trustee because I am committed to making Erie the thriving and sought-after place to live, work, and raise a family - the place we love to call "home"!

I have recently been asked my stance on the Town's current face coverings order. This is an issue which by now, I am sure we have all formed our own personal opinions on. Since 2020, it has affected our daily lives and has been a “hot topic” locally, nationally, and world-wide. It has created division between families, friends, neighbors, communities, and nations alike – and likewise, Erie too has also seen its fair-share of division surrounding the subject. Personally, I abide by the orders issued by a county’s Public Health Agency, as their respective agency has final-say on the specific orders currently in place within their respective boundaries. As well, I abide by the requests and policies of a business which may not be under a mask mandate, but request that patrons within their establishment wear one. However, as I will go into further, the current Town of Erie Face Covering order is in actuality an overreach of legal authority applied to the Weld County side - due to Erie not having its own Public Health Agency, and due to Public Health order which was referenced in the Town's order being from the Boulder County Health Department. The decision made by the Board of Trustees and Town Administrator to administer this upon those in Weld County has not only hurt our businesses, but it has as well placed our Erie Police Department in a situation which they have no option but to enforce the order. The Erie Face Coverings Mandate Erie is uniquely situated in a location where we are split between two counties, with each county having differing views when it comes to various topics – and COVID has been no different. Statutorily, CRS §31-15-103 notes that the Town has the power to issue ordinances “which are necessary and proper to provide for the safety, preserve the health” of the Town’s residents. As well, we are statutorily provided with the authority to create our own Board of Health, as described in CRS §31-15-201 (1) (c), as well additionally in CRS §25-1-507 which notes:

First off, this issue has nothing to do with the capabilities of our Town's current Finance team. I am in no way, shape, or form "throwing them under the bus." I think they are doing a fabulous job, and are making amazing strides in rectifying many issues that they ultimately inherited. These issues should have been found out sooner, and lies entirely and squarely on the shoulders of previous Board of Trustees, as well as our Town Administrators. These individuals are the leaders within Town Hall. They are the individuals who are either our elected, or appointed by those elected, to be Stewards of our Town's finances. Our next board must contain individuals who understand the Town's budgets and finances, who review them thoroughly - as well as those who provide scrutiny, ask questions, and request clarification on these items (and others) from Staff. As someone who believes that our Town's Financial Wherewithal is an extremely important topic for our Town's future success, and having identified this issue in 2020 , I am disappointed in our Town's leadership for placing this situation upon our Town's Finance department. I am providing this information because of the opaque nature in which our Town has acted with in years past. I am also providing this information because there are many more issues that these individuals are attempting to rectify at this very moment, some that might take a year or two to finally be able to accomplish, as well as to say to our Town's Finance Department (Stephanie and Candice - and Victoria who just left as well) "Thank you for all that you are doing to illuminate and resolve these issues for our Town!" Backstory After my last article regarding the Town's 2022 Budget and the changes made within, another Trustee Candidate and myself were discussing the Town's budget online, referencing both the Town's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report's and Monthly Financial Reports in our comments. Less than a week later, I noticed that the Monthly Financials were removed from the Town's website. I decided to post on my Candidate Page about this in jest, and tagged the Town's official Facebook account - assuming that I wouldn't actually receive a response about it.