Candidate: Tina Marquis
Office: Boulder City Council
Website:
QUESTIONS FOR CANDIDATES:
Yes/No Questions – Please answer only with yes/no.
Are you a homeowner? Yes
Do you think your City should add more beds to the homeless shelter? Yes
If the City police force was fully staffed, would you advocate for adding more officers? Yes
Do you believe there’s a need for more housing? Yes
Do you believe the City should spend more money on homelessness services? Yes
Longform Questions – Please limit responses to 300 words or less.
Why do you want to be a council member?
“I love Boulder and am thankful we moved here over 20 years ago to raise our kids. I chose Boulder because of its livability, spirit of innovation, and the connected, caring community. I also recognize we need to make some changes to make Boulder more accessible and welcoming to a more diverse population, as well as address climate change. I am running for council to navigate these critical changes while retaining the creative, funky, and local feel of Boulder. We have a lot of work to do to meet our climate goals, and we’ll need to leverage our shared values and sense of community to reach them. We have to do better to make space for our ‘essential’ workers to live in Boulder, including teachers, paraeducators, service workers and medical staff in a way that is welcoming, connected and compatible with our neighborhoods. Finally, we need to model to our children that we take care of our community, reaching out to those experiencing housing and food insecurity, and homelessness, while ensuring safe public spaces and pathways for all of us. We also need to model that a progressive city like Boulder can provide public safety while compassionately caring for our homeless neighbors. In fact, I think it is critical to upcoming elections that a Blue state like Colorado shows clear success simultaneously increasing public safety and decreasing homelessness quickly. My experience on the BVSD school board prioritizing programs, developing policy and balancing budgets in a collaborative way will help me be effective on council.”
When was the last time you paid rent, and where was that?
“2002 in Boulder. We bought a house a year later. “
Boulder County has experienced extreme natural disasters over the last decade, including flooding and wildfire. How do you plan to address these challenges?
“In the short-term, I support flood and climate mitigation, including efforts by the city to prepare for flooding and fire in our open spaces, as well as helping homeowners manage their land with an eye to flood and fire. I support fire resistant building codes and incentives to help mitigate the high costs of some of these codes, as well as grounding power lines in partnership with Xcel. I also support developing clear plans for the community in the case of a need to evacuate due to a natural disaster. After the Marshall and Maui fires, it makes sense to invest time in our emergency communications and evacuation routes, and then communicate them to our residents.
In the long-term, we need to support the incredible work of the climate initiatives team at the city and, based on their expertise, consider investing even more in some areas if funds are available.
Finally, we need to understand the impact of natural disasters on homeowner’s insurance and explore how we can, as a community, retain the insurance providers that we have, even if it means we may need to adopt new codes and requirements.”
How do you think you stand out from other candidates?
“I have extensive experience working on complicated problems and making difficult funding decisions from the eight years I served on the BVSD school board. During that time, I adopted a strategic plan that prioritized closing opportunity and achievement gaps with an equity lens. While the work takes time and commitment, the district is now seeing gains at its lowest performing school, which was recently removed from the state’s ‘performance watch.’ I also supported a budget with increasingly differentiated funding to help schools with higher numbers of students identified as having special needs, English Language Learners, and low-income. Finally, I was the president of the school board during the pandemic, an extraordinarily challenging time for any school district. I worked tirelessly alongside the superintendent and other community leaders to navigate the challenges of our families and staff. While there was never a perfect solution, I believe our district struck the right balance between supporting public health while staying focused on our goal of returning students to in person learning. I understand how divisive issues can become in our community and can stay focused on providing solutions.”
What question would you ask a fellow candidate on the ballot?
“How will you fund your priorities?”
What are your solutions for the growing population of people experiencing homelessness?
“I repeatedly hear from the community a shared desire to help people move out of homelessness, not just because of the negative impacts of encampments to public spaces but also because our community cares about their neighbors. I support ongoing efforts to connect people with services based on their needs with compassion but also support the enforcement of the camping ban so our public spaces and pathways are accessible and safe for all. Finally, I hope we partner with other municipalities and the county to create more housing to address this regional crisis and provide more mental and behavioral health services to support our newly housed residents. I specifically look for the county to use part of the revenue from the housing tax extension we are voting on to support housing.”
What’s your plan for creating more affordable housing in Boulder?
“I appreciate Boulder’s commitment to increasing the affordable housing supply, with over 8% of our supply being affordable, outpacing our county, and more on the horizon. Like many, I am looking to increase ‘missing middle’ housing. I would like to explore multiple pathways, including the existing down payment assistance program, a rent-to-own program like that proposed by Mayor Johnston in Denver if successful, and opportunities in the planning reserve as part of the comp plan review. I am particularly interested in creating incentives for affordable ownership opportunities for people with children to ensure Boulder can offer a continuum of housing options at every income level while enabling lower and middle income residents to build wealth in Boulder. Finally, I would like to explore the impact of vacant/second homes on our housing stock and tax revenue.”
How will you address climate change? How do you plan to meet some of the City’s climate goals, like reducing emissions by 70% by 2030, becoming a net-zero City by 2035, and becoming a carbon-positive City by 2040?
“The city’s Climate Initiatives is focusing on three main areas to address climate change and meet our goals: energy systems, nature-based climate solutions, and building a circular economy, as well as moving to a low-emission transportation future reliant on electric busses and increased walking, biking and scootering. I agree with all of these initiatives but will advocate to significantly increase awareness among residents about how they can help meet the city’s goals in their everyday lives. The city has programs to help replace lawn, plant trees, create pollinator pathways and increase biodiversity but few residents seem to know about these resources. I also am open to moving some of the incentives supporting the climate goals into requirements when it makes sense, such as landscaping for new development and fire resistant construction. The work of our climate initiatives team is awesome and our community supports their efforts – I know we can do more and our community is ready to help.”
What are your goals for transportation and how will you achieve them?
“I continue to support efforts to increase safe routes for rollers and walkers, as well as advocate with RTD for increased service and frequency in and out of Boulder, including moving the airport bus from every hour to every 30 minutes and restoring bus service to the Boulder Junction area. I also will advocate for bringing the train to Boulder, sharing the frustration of others like myself who voted for the tax and are still waiting patiently for service. Finally, I would like to conduct a new in commuter survey post-COVID that understands the housing needs, including type and ownership options, for people commuting to Boulder every day (rather than 1-2 days that is more common now with more work-at-home). I am particularly interested in finding options for our lower-paid ‘essential’ workers – teachers, support staff, medical providers, infrastructure – to live in Boulder. Finally, I will advocate for transportation legislation at the state level that provides funding for more mass transit, incentives for electric transportation, whether cars, buses or bikes, and for trains.”
How do you plan to engage with non-English speaking constituents?
“During my tenure on the school board, I consistently engaged with non-English speakers through advocacy and parent groups run by the school district or through organizations outside the school district. I am fortunate to be a Spanish-speaker so I can communicate directly or through a translator. I also appreciate that different groups communicate differently and the importance of offering different modes of communication – text, in person, email – to achieve more representative engagement.”
How does diversity factor into your policy making?
“It’s extremely important, especially given Boulder’s history of discrimination from the settlement of indigenous lands to the treatment of people of color. Righting these wrongs is an uphill battle, but we need to continue to study each policy with a focus on diversity, including using the racial equity tool already in use by the city. In addition, our community connectors can help gather diverse viewpoints, and provide feedback on how we can better engage with our community. “
How will you reach residents who have different lived experiences than you?
“I recognize that our systems of government may feel intimidating and/or non-inclusive to some, often those with the greatest needs for support, and encourage dedicated listening sessions where different members of our community can feel safe expressing their opinions. I also will rely on our community connectors that have established trusted relationships with different groups in our community and are committed to hearing about their experiences with the city. I also appreciate that not all voices are represented in public comment or the online BeHeard surveys. Finally, as we all think about how to address the crises we face – housing insecurity, climate, public safety – we need to recognize that our solutions will come from all types of people with different perspectives. “
Rank your top 5 issues in priority.
- Housing Affordability: Creating affordable options that emphasize housing types that appeal to families with children
- Public safety: Fully fund the Reimagine Police plan to increase public safety and confidence in local government.
- Climate Resilience: Mitigate for floods and fire, and invest in biodiversity, electrification, and greener transportation options, safer and more accessible routes for walking and biking, and 15 minute neighborhoods.
- Human services: Invest in programs that address income inequality leading to housing and food insecurity. Invest in mental and behavioral health programs that will help increase public safety.
