YellowScene Election Guide Interview

Andrew Sawusch • September 21, 2026

As part of their Election Guide, I was interviewed by YellowScene Magazine. Questions included the Town's Water Supply, Data Centers, Affordable Housing, the Town's Mineral Estate, ICE Enforcement, Flock Cameras, and Council Ethics Code. Since the answers they will provide in their publication will be 50-75 words each and "summarized by the writer for publication", I am including the entire interview to hear the full responses.

An interview with Andrew Sawusch - candidate for Town of Erie Town Council District 1, current Town of Erie Planning Commission Chair, former Town of Erie Council Member - for YellowScene Magazine (Salem Goodman). Interview conducted via phone on September 14, 2026.


Prior to answering any questions, the following was provided by the reporter from YellowScene publisher, Shavonne Blades:

"The election Guide will not have endorsements for Erie. They will not be indicated in anyway if they are a publishers favorite in the Election Guide itself. I will probably write an op-ed separate from the Election Guide, but we wont indicate in the Election Guide who my favorite is. If he doesn't want to answer questions that is his choice, but it will be listed as Refused Interview."


With the reporter’s permission, I recorded our conversation. You can listen to entire interview below.


00:00 Water Supply & NISP Participation

04:19 Data Centers & Land Use

06:05 Housing Affordability & Proposition 123

12:53 Redtail Ranch Litigation & Settlement

14:51 Mineral Rights & SM Energy Deal

23:50 Mineral Inventory & Home Rule Charter Amendments

25:20 Commemorative Flag Policy & Official Proclamations

28:30 ICE Enforcement & Police Directives

30:57 Flock Safety Cameras & Data Privacy

35:01 Council Ethics Code & Campaign Finance Laws

40:01 Erie Municipal Airport

43:38 Closing Remarks

Topics Discussed:


1. Water Supply & NISP Participation

Q: How should Erie ensure a reliable and affordable long-term water supply as planned growth unfolds? And related, should the town remain in NISP or withdraw?


2. Data Centers & Land Use

Q: Erie does not currently have land zoned for large-scale industrial data centers, but a developer could seek a zoning change or other land use approval. Do you support taking proactive land use or regulatory measures around data centers? And if so, what conditions would a data center have to meet to be built in Erie?


3. Housing Affordability & Proposition 123

Q: Currently, Erie is committed to making 12% of its housing stock affordable by 2035, yet we've only got 1.3% affordable as of December 2023. Erie's affordable housing needs assessment calls for significant reinvestment and recommended tools including inclusionary housing, dedicated funding and staff, land use changes, subsidies, and the use of town-owned land. Since then, Erie has inclusionary housing, council removed alternate development standards and administrative review for qualifying affordable projects in 2025. Do you support inclusionary housing? If so, what metrics of affordability and timeline would you support?


4. Redtail Ranch Litigation & Settlement

Q: Obviously you are familiar with the situation around Redtail Ranch. The town rejected the project and then voted 4-3 to settle rather than defend the denial in court. Would you have voted to settle or defend Erie's original decision?


5. Mineral Rights & SM Energy Deal

Q: We are going to transition to everybody's favorite topic in Erie right now, which is mineral rights. Would you have supported the original sale that got approved by the Town Council?


6. Mineral Inventory & Home Rule Charter Amendments

Q: Would you support inventorying all town-owned mineral interests, including those beneath roads, parks, and open space, before they can be sold or leased?


7. Commemorative Flag Policy & Official Proclamations

Q: In 2025, Erie Council voted 4-3 against a staff-recommended policy allowing commemorative flags associated with official council proclamations. Would you have supported—obviously that policy was voted down—would you have supported the restriction or the alternative allowing flags associated with official council proclamations?


8. ICE Enforcement & Police Directives

Q: This is a hot-button topic right now given what happened this past week, but we're going to talk about ICE. What restrictions, if any, would you support formally codifying for EPD's interaction and assistance with civil immigration enforcement?


9. Flock Safety Cameras & Data Privacy

Q: What safeguards, if any, do you think that Erie should adopt to prevent town resources and information, including Flock data, from being used for civil immigration enforcement?


10. Council Ethics Code & Campaign Finance Laws

Q: The next one we're going to touch on is something that we touched on a little bit during the mineral rights questions. But as you know, the recent controversies involving council conduct, executive sessions, and public access to information have raised a lot of questions about whether Erie's existing rules provide sufficient transparency and accountability. Would you support adopting a binding ethics and conduct code specifically for the mayor and council members, and would you support that code being enforced by an outside agent?


11. Erie Municipal Airport

Q: My next question is about the lovely Erie Municipal Airport. Would you support landing or user fees so that frequent users contribute more directly to the airport costs?


12. Closing Remarks

Q: Is there anything you would like to touch on that you believe it is important for the voters to know about you or your policies?



00:00 Water Supply & NISP Participation

04:19 Data Centers & Land Use

06:05 Housing Affordability & Proposition 123

12:53 Redtail Ranch Litigation & Settlement

14:51 Mineral Rights & SM Energy Deal

23:50 Mineral Inventory & Home Rule Charter Amendments

25:20 Commemorative Flag Policy & Official Proclamations

28:30 ICE Enforcement & Police Directives

30:57 Flock Safety Cameras & Data Privacy

35:01 Council Ethics Code & Campaign Finance Laws

40:01 Erie Municipal Airport

43:38 Closing Remarks

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Public Comment: SM Energy Ordinance Repeal (8/25/2026 Council Meeting)

By Andrew Sawusch • August 26, 2026
Public Comment provided at the August 25, 2026 Town of Erie Council Meeting  Ordinance 31-206: An Ordinance of the Town Council of the Town of Erie Repealing Ordinance No. 028-2026 Authorizing the Sale of Minerals to 7N, LLC, Accepting the Conveyance of Real Property from 7N, LLC, and Approving Agreements with 7N, LLC, SM Energy Company, and Extraction Oil and Gas, Inc.

Budget 2027: How Do We Pay for Our Capital Needs?

By Andrew Sawusch • August 23, 2026
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

2025 Budget: A Bleak Forecast for Erie

By Andrew Sawusch • September 2, 2024
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

Erie's Housing Diversity Issue

By Andrew Sawusch • March 22, 2022
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.

Blueprint: Forward Thinking for Erie's Future

By Andrew Sawusch • February 26, 2022
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.

ELIFE Magazine - The Full Responses

By Andrew Sawusch • February 24, 2022
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"!

Erie's Face Covering Order: An Overreach of Legal Authority

By Andrew Sawusch • February 4, 2022
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:

Erie's Finance Department and the Mess Inherited

By Andrew Sawusch • January 29, 2022
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.

2022 Town Budget Confirms Utility Bills Paid for Town Operations

By Andrew Sawusch • January 19, 2022
The General Fund is the primary operating fund for the Town. This single account is where all revenues and expenses are allocated relating to Town Administration, Legal, Legislative, Parks and Recreation, Public Works, Finance, Economic Development, Communications and Community Engagement, HR, IT, Public Safety, and Central Charges (ie. Debt and Transfers to other funds). The revenues that fund this account results from our sales taxes, property taxes, development related fees, recreation fees, landfill fees, oil and gas related income, and other miscellaneous sources. Adopted by the Board of Trustees in November, this year’s budget was prepared for the first time in over 10 years by someone other than our previous Finance Director. The 2022 General Fund Budget projects a total of approximately $42.6 million in revenues for the Town. This is an increase from approximately $36.1 million in 2021, for a year-over-year growth of $6.5 million or 18%. At first glance this might look great, but the Budget then continues to explain that this double-digit growth is largely just a result of an “accounting change.”

At-Home Activities During COVID-19

By Andrew Sawusch • March 19, 2020
As we all practice social-distancing and isolation due to COVID-19, what happens when we run out of activities to do around the house? Below are many different items - ALL COMPLETELY FREE - including educational materials for children, books, music, and virtual activities, in order to continue learning or simply pass the time. Have more items to add to the list? Send me a message here or on Facebook . (I will continue adding to the list as additional suggestions come in - but remember, they must be FREE!) ACTIVITIES Fitness 1440 - Erie Virtual training for its members on their Facebook page, to help stay mentally and physically active (On-Demand FREE for current members, Facebook video classes also posted for current and non-members) (just a side note: you can still also purchase their smoothies, picking them up curbside from 10am-12pm, by texting or messaging your order to them!) https://www.facebook.com/fitness1440erieco/ Virtual Field Trips Take a virtual trip to locations arround the world: View exhibits from The Louvre Museum in Paris, the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, explore the surface of Mars, and more http://freedomhomeschooling.com/virtual-field-trips/ Virtual Disney World Rides Even though the Disney parks are closed, you can still ride their rides virtually online https://www.wesh.com/article/virtual-disney-world-rides/31782946 Paris Musées Virtual Exhibit Collection of 150,000 digital art reproductions in High Definition of works in the City’s museums http://parismuseescollections.paris.fr/en GoNoodle Movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts https://www.gonoodle.com/ CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS - GAMES, LEARNING, & VIDEOS Khan Academy Expert-created content and resources for every course and level (requires sign-up) https://www.khanacademy.org/ Newsela content from the world's most trusted providers and turn it into learning materials that are classroom-ready https://newsela.com/ XtraMath Program that helps students master addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts https://xtramath.org/ Teachers Pay Teachers Online marketplace for original educational resources with more than four million resources available for use (requires sign-up) https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/ Create Printables Variety of worksheets and printables ideas to personalize for your child https://www.createprintables.com/ PBS Kids Educational games and videos from Curious George, Wild Kratts and other PBS KIDS shows https://pbskids.org/ Sesame Street Play educational games, watch videos, and create art with Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Big Bird, and more of your favorite Sesame Street muppets https://www.sesamestreet.org/ Education.com A library of games, activities, educational worksheets, and lesson plans for PK-5th, curated by educators (requires sign-up) https://www.education.com/ BrainPOP Animated Educational Site for Kids - Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health, and Technology https://www.brainpop.com/ (Normally this is a paid subscription service, but they are offering free subscriptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic) Starfall Allowing children to have fun while they learn - specializing in reading, phonics & math - educational games, movies, books, songs, and more for children K-3 https://www.starfall.com/ BOOKS (KIDS AND ADULTS) Magic Blox Offers a large library of free online books & children's stories https://magicblox.com/ Epic! Digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 35000 of the best children's books of all time (30-day free trial available) https://www.getepic.com/ Open Library Collection of books from the Library of Congress, other libraries, and Amazon.com, as well as other contributors https://openlibrary.org/ Project Gutenberg Library of over 60,000 eBooks, including free epub and Kindle eBooks, download them or read them online https://www.gutenberg.org/ TV & MOVIES Tubi Stream and watch movies and TV shows online in HD on any device https://tubitv.com/ Pluto TV Watch 250+ channels of TV and 1000's of on-demand movies and TV shows https://pluto.tv/ MUSIC Spotify Digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs https://www.spotify.com/us/free/ Pandora Music streaming and automated music recommendation internet radio service https://www.pandora.com/ TuneIn Radio Internet radio, sports, music, news, talk and podcasts https://tunein.com/