City of Louisville City Council Person Ward II
Debby Fahey
Jeff Lipton
Neither Ward II nor Ward III for Louisville city council was easy for BW staff
to decide, primarily because the candidates didn’t reveal much in
response to our questions. Candidates are pretty well unanimous about
the need to support business as a priority in Louisville; candidates are
largely vanilla about the practice of fracking; candidates are cautious
about retail marijuana establishments.
Ultimately, BW staff read candidates’ answers carefully and determined
Debby Fahey was our choice for Ward II in Louisville. A community
organizer and volunteer, Fahey was the most specific about how to
increase the tax base in Louisville by attracting business to vacant
properties.
However,
it’s imperative she keeps to the answer she gave on fracking. We’re
always alarmed when a politician reminds us of the utopian benefits
(“will provide income for businesses, residents and communities”) of a
practice shown to produce massive pollution. Fahey said she’d support a
moratorium as city council “gather[s] the needed relevant information
and resident opinion.” Jeff Lipton, meanwhile, advocated for setbacks
and no fracking in “densely urbanized environments,” but he declined to
accept a moratorium.
It’s
our belief that scientific study will continue to uncover fracking’s
damaging effects on human health and the environment, at which point the
next steps will become obvious. We hope Fahey backs the moratorium
until then.
View all of Boulder Weekly’s endorsements here.
