My name is Avia Gil Garcia, and I serve as co-chair of the Lofty Youth Advisory Board.

The Lofty Youth Advisory Board is a group of eleven middle and high school students who are appointed by the City Council to elevate youth voices and promote young people's engagement in the Lafayette community.

Since 2006, the Youth Advisory Board has hosted a candidate forum providing an opportunity for the residents to learn more about the candidates running for city council.

Tonight's forum will have three parts.

First, each candidate will have the opportunity to make a one-minute opening statement.

Second, candidates will respond to open-ended questions developed by the Lafayette Youth Advisory Board and focused on topics of interest to young people in Lafayette.

Third, candidates will respond to a series of yes or no questions using the paddles that they have been provided.

Due to limited time and the number of candidates seeking office this year, there will be no closing statements.

When you see the red sign, please conclude your remarks.

We thank you for your commitment to a respectful and engaging forum.

It is now my pleasure to introduce this evening's other moderators.

David Brady, Shabani Sentel Kamar, and Eliap Co-Chair Van D.

Wing.

Good evening.

We are joined tonight by 10 candidates of the Lafayette City Council who are competing for four open seats.

They are seated alphabetically by last name.

Deforming begin the forum, we invite each candidate to make an opening statement to help us understand why you are running for a Lafayette City Council.

Please limit your response to one minute.

We will start on the left with Luke Arnton.

Thank you.

I appreciate you fans having us and putting this on.

I've been a Lafayette resident since 2013.

I have two kids, a 14-year-old who's a freshman at Centaurus, a nine year old who was at Pioneer until he switched to Metalarc because the Spanish inversion was just not working for him and he needed to make a shift.

I have a combined total of 15 years between serving on the Open Space Advisory Committee and the Urban Renewal Authority, which focuses on South Holder Road and the kind of urban renewal project area.

I'm also anecdotally known as the House with the Most Christmas lights.

I go like Christmas vacation style, so like 15,000 lights.

We do a big Easter egg hunt at the Chicken Park in Silver Creek.

And I really like the open space and connectivity that we have here in Lafayette.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Good evening.

I'm Kyle Bolier.

I've been really looking forward to this particular forum because it feels a little bit full circle to me.

A very long time ago for y'all, but not so long ago for me.

I was in your seat.

You know, it's student council, debate clubs theater, and trying to ask the questions of folks who would seek to govern where I lived.

And so I really admire and appreciate your dedication to service to civic activism here in Lafayette.

I think as young folks in Lafayette, you have a unique perspective.

The past two forums, we have been talking about you, and so I'm really excited to talk with you today to hear a little bit more of that.

And the reason for me why I'm running is because I see a lot of threats facing Lafayette, threats of affordability, of climate change, violence, uh a fractured media environment, and I've spent my professional career safeguarding against threats for the FBI, USAID, the State Department working in coalitions and partners to guard against threats.

So if elected to council, I would really seek to lean on this group on this board and your peers to get a sense of how you're looking around the corner, how you're seeing the future so that the city council can best serve you.

Thank you.

Good evening, everyone.

Thanks for having us and thanks for being here.

My general platform is I'm running to be able to protect people here in Lafayette to protect our open space here in Lafayette and to protect our local economy as well.

This is a special night for me being with you young folks, as it were.

I was a high school teacher for 15 years before I moved up to Lafayette a few years ago.

And the thing that's really pushed me to run for city council more than anything else is I have a making a difference in people's lives shaped whole in my heart at the moment.

Um, and I really missed that opportunity to be in the classroom.

I had a high school teacher back when I was young who would say to his students at every opportunity that you are the future.

And I wanted to say that to you all tonight.

You are the future, you're the future of business leaders, you're the future politicians, you're the future community leaders.

So great job, keep it up, and thanks for having us.

Crystal Gallegos.

Good evening.

My name is Crystal Gallegos.

I've been a Lafayette resident for 10 years.

I'm a current city councilor, and I am seeking re-election to a second term.

I've loved the past two years getting to work with all of you and having the opportunity to meet so many people from our community, and I'm not quite ready to say goodbye yet.

Some of my priorities for this term are responsible growth, maintaining our community's character, supporting our small businesses, and more.

I encourage you to visit my website, Crystal Gallegos, number four, Lafayette.org.

If you'd like to learn more about me, thank you.

Adam, do you know it?

Thank you so much.

I have been a Lafayette resident for 19 years, and I've been volunteering in the community for about half that time.

First with the waste reduction advisory committee and then with the sustainability and resilience advisory committee.

I've been involved with development of several of the city's plans, including the comprehensive plan, the climate action plan, the sustainability plan.

I'm also currently on the zoning code working group, uh working on rewriting the land use code.

Um, in in my efforts on waste reduction advisory committee, I've done a lot just a lot of volunteering in the community.

Um, you know, you'll usually see me at the Art Night Out event.

I'm the guy with the Luigi hat on, hauling trash cans around, talking to people, helping people uh sort their their waste.

Um I'm really interested in helping uh the community thrive and become more resilient as time goes on, both um with respect to climate adaptation, but also with respect to changes to the economy.

Thank you.

Rob Glenn.

Good evening, um Rob Glenn.

Uh first off, just thank you all for putting this together.

Uh, the involvement and efforts and wanting to have a voice and hearing as out is just super grateful.

Um moved the Lafayette in 2021.

Uh passionately fell in love with this community and the welcomingness that I got, the inclusiveness, the diversity, uh kind of background.

Originally came here from New Orleans, and a lot of that culture I loved so much back home is here, but getting amongst that beauty of getting to cherish and enjoy the outdoors of Colorado and what it has to offer and the great open space here.

Uh focal points is um Federal Housing as a whole.

I'm a local realtor, so I have a great grasp on that.

And I know as y'all are youth wondering if you can ever own a home, uh, which I'm always happy to lend information on for that piece.

But the other piece is we have tons of commercial uh not tons, but we have a lot of available commercial space that is vacant and there's opportunities to redevelop that for sustainability.

Anna Marie Jensen.

Hi, my name is Anne Marie, and I want to thank you for this event.

I want to say that I started out working in public policy when I was in high school when there was a really bad accident from some friends of mine and who were doing something stupid, uh, driving to the next county over to get beer because we didn't sell beer in the county in which I lived.

And so the first thing I got involved in, which is kind of weird, is uh trying to make my county have alcohol, which is strange, but I have been working on public policy issues ever since.

And as a candidate, I've been focusing on affordable housing and sustainability, connecting our bike and pedestrian paths and making them more safe.

And economic equity.

I have been a public policy professional my whole life, and in that capacity, I've become very experienced at negotiation, and I bring that to the table as well as because I'm retired, the time and energy and availability.

Hi, I'm Eric Ryan without an L.

And first of all, I want to thank the Lafayette Youth Advisory Board for putting this forum together tonight.

It's great to see students getting involved and uh hopefully making a difference in government and for the future of our country.

Uh a little bit about myself.

I grew up in South Florida, uh, went to North Miami Senior High School.

From then I went to Florida State University, but had to leave prematurely because uh my father was terminally ill and I had to help him in business.

Since that time, I've been involved in several different industries, from manufacturing and distribution to importing and cultivation.

I've also held a general contractor's license in the state of Florida and a great understanding of construction.

I moved to Colorado 15 years ago and presently have a retail business in Lafayette for the last 12 years, which is run by my son.

Because of that, I have time to dedicate myself to the city and the council.

Thank you for your time tonight.

So Babia Vegas.

Thank you, and thank you to the youth advisory board for putting this together.

My name is Saul Dapia Vega.

I'm a current member of Lafayette City Council and a candidate for re-election.

I'm unbelievably proud of the work that we've done over the last two years, not only because I've been a member of council, because I'm a lifelong resident.

Uh I grew up in Lafayette, uh, Escuela Villegua Pioneer and Javine Middle School.

I graduated from STARS High School.

This is my city, it's my home.

Um, and because of that, I not only sit up here as a candidate for reelection, I am here at this forum for the same reason we're all at this forum uh to ensure that our municipal leadership is making pragmatic and responsible decisions about the future of our city, uh, the city that we all love and the city that we all call home.

The city that we all love and the city that we all call home.

And these are the tenets of my campaign.

Responsible, pragmatic, community-driven decisions to build a resilient and sustainable Lafayette.

Michael Watson.

Hi.

Fast forward a year ago, on the advice of Rob, I was heading down to uh to Louisiana to spend um Thanksgiving in um New Orleans.

Um I met a woman there, she was hitchhiking downstreet because her car got impounded and she was trying to get to a job.

She's the sort of person who thinks that if God tells you it puts an obstacle in your path, you just you just keep walking and it'll be get taken care of.

Um she got in uh her car impounded because it was late ticket.

Uh I decided to stop and help her.

Um, my wife and I are both intelligent people.

Um it took us three days and more than two thousand dollars to navigate the bureaucracy necessary to get her car back so she could continue living her life.

That's unacceptable.

And the thing about that is none of that was happening just from hostile business or federal government.

That was all local government driven.

And so I know what can happen when the local government goes bad, and I want to make sure that we don't have any of that here and work to make a difference as much as I can.

Thank you very much.

Uh, we will now be moving on to our short answer question.

Uh public health risks such as mental health issues, substance abuse, and gun violence have significantly affected youth.

As a candidate, how do you plan to address public health risks to ensure the well-being of Lafayette's young population?

Adam Gianola.

Um, this is a really interesting question.

I haven't thought a lot about this, I'll admit it.

Um, we we do have some uh county resources that I think the the population in in Lafayette has access to that we can you know direct people to when they they need help.

Um I also think that our uh police department are trained to you know help people find resources when they need it.

You know, I think the goal there is to help keep people out of the justice system and actually access resources that are gonna help them live their lives and not you know put them into uh you know a bad course.

Um thanks.

Thanks.

Uh Luke Arrington.

Hi.

Um I mean, you know, my daughter's a freshman now.

I mean, uh we constantly hear about you know school lockdowns, whether it's here or you know, I work in Boulder, and you know, it it's something that happens kind of too regularly.

I mean, it's good to practice it, it's good to be aware because you know, gun violence is essentially it's it's not something that's going away or you know, heading in the right direction.

Uh, I do hope that uh there's adequate resources at your schools, uh, counselors, um, and we hope that there's positive police interactions and with first responders, um, you know, having a relationship with them, I think helps you know everyone understand where people are coming from, both as a you know, a high schooler, a teenager, and you know, law enforcement's responsibility.

Um, I I do you know really think that as much as we can want to have safe schools, um, make people aware of what's going on out there so we can try to act responsibly in the best way that we can.

Thanks.

Uh Eric Ryan.

Uh, can you repeat the question one more time?

Uh, yeah, of course.

Public health risks, such as mental health issues, substance abuse, and gun violence have significantly affected youth.

As a candidate, how do you plan to address public health risks to ensure the well-being of Lafayette's young people?

Well, I agree with you that is a problem today.

Um, and it is increasing.

And I think number one, our our local community needs to make more public awareness, uh, needs education, and we also need to put aside some funds just in case we have to create some programs uh that would benefit our community.

Uh, I also think we need a strong police department, and one of my platforms is to make sure that we have it because uh to make sure there is safety in our community with all the uh violence that's going around in our country.

As far as uh sustenance abuse, uh we do have uh some programs out there, uh, and we probably need to increase it because it is a continued problem.

Thank you.

Josh Barrel.

Thank you.

I mentioned earlier that I was a high school teacher.

Unfortunately, uh gun violence touched me and some of our community personally.

So I I take that pretty seriously and have strong feelings about it.

Sadly, I also had uh lost a student to suicide early in my tenure as a teacher.

And so I think for me, making people feel welcome, uh, making people feel like they belong and that they are part of our community is a really important thing to do.

Um, in terms of how do we do that?

I think having mental health programs, uh both in school and out of school that are funded by the city is extremely important.

Um as well as having a shelter for unhoused people, uh, not criminalizing people who might be down on their luck or experiencing hard times for whatever the reason.

Uh Mike Watson.

Yeah, so I've lived that.

Um, I mean, I know what it feels like.

I mean, I've struggled with depression, alcohol, you name it.

Um, took a while to put myself back together.

Um, the root of all that, I think purpose, health, um, community.

Like we need it's not enough to simply have programs to help people.

We need to have a community that's ready to reach out when we see somebody in need.

Um, whether it's your neighbor, whether it's a random person you pass on the street, like we are all our brothers keeper.

Um, and we need to live that.

And um, I think kind of the foundation for me, what worked for me, not only like the help of my kids, um, but also dedicating myself to try to make a difference in other people's lives.

Um, and also health and fitness.

Uh, like I can't, I can't express how important that is for mental health as well.

Um, just just be in like your your your body is is kind of the the seat of your of your mind, and so taking care of your body, taking care of each other.

Thank you.

Uh Rob Glenn.

Um I really just kick things off.

I y'all y'all have had it way tougher than when I was in the school.

Uh, with just the data and information that's out there.

Uh I was talking with somebody about this today.

Like when you think about I was kind of one of the last, I was a millennial, one of the last generations, like really see technology and computers and information, and we were kind of secluded in a way, and it the information is just in the forefront of what you're seeing.

It existed when I was younger, but it's in the forefront.

Um, so it comes to education, working with public services and and having that safety of knowing they're there for you, our police services and and so on, and and but I also had the opportunity today to tour Sister Carmen uh with Julie Pilar and just learn so much information about those community services.

It's such a great that they're an organization so focused on Boulder County and the areas around us and making sure in one hub, there's so many resources that people can go to to learn and support uh our public health.

Uh Crystal Gallegos.

Sure.

Thank you for the question.

So, as a mama for and a substitute teacher in this community, I care a lot about youth mental health and wellness.

And I think as a city, we are doing a great job during the day when programming is available.

I wish we had more things happening in and around our community after hours.

So I feel that I'm constantly driving my two teenagers around to other cities because after eight o'clock, our rec centers closed, our library is closed.

If you want it to do something, there really isn't that much.

I also encourage all of the youth out here to connect with their schools.

I know some of our schools have fantastic wellness programs.

Centaurus has a wellness center with great resources available.

And if your school doesn't have one, you guys are the leaders in this community.

I'd love to work together to help make that happen.

Uh Saul Tapia Vega.

Thank you.

Uh thank you for the question.

This is an incredibly complex question, and it's it's something that we really need to address as a city.

Uh so I'm gonna break this down in two ways.

First is what we've already been doing.

So I'm incredibly proud of the fact that Lafayette has a mental health and human services tax.

It's something that allows our community departments to then take money and use it for Lafayette residents, mental health, human services.

It's a very it's a very widespread tax.

They can do a lot of different things with it, but mental health is absolutely one of the top components of that tax.

Secondly, through my work regionally, the consortium of cities and through the county.

Uh, we're looking at things for mental health.

You will see this on your next ballot uh for for one of the ballot issues for mental health.

But really, when we talk about this, and this is a second part of my answer is that we're not doing enough.

Uh, when we look at this and we look at especially our youth, this is something that touches every single one of us, and we really need to do better, not just as a city, but as a community.

And for me, it's not just about getting these resources out, it's about having equitable access to these resources for everyone across the board.

I come from a Latino background, a low-income background.

I want to make sure that when we do the work, we do it for everybody in our city, regardless of who they are or where they come from.

Thank you.

Uh Cal Boyre.

Thank you for the question.

Um, I've spent much of my career working on political violence and violent extremism, so I think about this uh a great deal.

And I also think, and thank you to a couple of my fellow candidates for sharing.

I think too about the the friends I've lost to gun violence or substance abuse along the way, the ones who are no longer with us.

Uh, this is something that hits home for for all of us.

And so I think your question about public health risks is exactly right.

And I think that means we need a public health response.

So when you think of a public health response like the pandemic that we all endured a few years ago, you have to assess, you have to treat, and you have to prevent.

And so I think a lot of great ideas have been shared about how to assess the level who's committing the violence, who's who's spreading the drugs, right?

We use our law enforcement, our co-responders, mental health professionals of the school.

But who are the folks who are most most at risk, most vulnerable?

How do we treat them?

How do we redirect them to a better path?

How do we get them uh outside of that uh that negative path they're heading down?

And then we prevent, right?

What programs do we need to invest in?

What programs do we need to set aside?

Crystal noted the lack of opportunities in the evening for teens.

I think that's a big one.

But really taking that big holistic uh approach to uh tackle this as a system.

Thank you.

Uh and Mary Jensen.

So I want to echo what Saul said about there will be a ballot measure on the ballot.

It's county issue one B that will raise about 14 million a year and additional mental health services, including services for youth and especially targeting LGBTQ youth.

Um, right now they seem to be uh nationwide a target, and uh I think this community can do things to protect people who are targets from other sources.

Um they deserve our protection.

Um, I was the lobbyist for ceasefire Colorado in 2013 when we did major gun reform.

So I'm very familiar with the gun laws.

One law that we have on the books that is often not enforced is that certain domestic violence offenders are not allowed to possess a weapon, but we often don't take them away after they commit domestic violence.

So that's one thing I think we could do locally.

Um I believe we should not tolerate bullying in our schools, and we can be a part of that change as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Youth programming played the crucial role in providing young people with opportunity for personal growth, education, and social interaction.

As a candidate, what specific strategies or programs do you propose to expand or improve for youth in our community?

We will start with Josh Farrell.

Thank you for the question.

Um this is a question that intersects my professional life, my personal interests, um, and my desire to help kids.

Um, one of the things that I'm really involved in outside of work is games, gaming, tabletop gaming, or gaming, uh role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, you may have heard of these days.

Um, and I find that these are social uh endeavors, these things bring people together.

This creates a sense of community, gives you um uh a place to try out new ideas and new things, even aspects of identity that you might not feel comfortable um trying out otherwise.

Um I've had the opportunity to present at uh Denver fan expo, formerly Comic-Con, talking about using strategies to teach people games, using techniques that I had also used as a teacher to foster that sense of community and experimentation, and I would love to see um programs that bring kids to the table for games.

Mike Watson.

Yeah, um I think I mean I don't know about program.

I mean, pro you guys know what you want.

Like we we can we can listen, we can we can like uh help out wherever is needed.

But I mean, I think the the main thing that I would want to work on, excuse me, um work on is uh civic engagement.

Um that especially especially your young people, um, get involved in the community.

Um there's like one of the the platform positions that I'm taking is that pocket park that's going on on on public road, we should do that as a community.

We shouldn't outsource it to some development company that's just gonna like build a cookie cutter park for everyone.

Like, let's get in the dirt.

Let's let's let's plant the flowers, like like lay a path, um, come together as a community and figure out what we want to do there.

Um, get people out of their houses, get people into the community, get people talking.

Um and then just listen to you guys.

Whatever you want.

I mean, it's it's whatever we can do to help you.

Um, that's what I would support.

Thank you.

Rob Glenn.

Yeah, great question.

Um I actually, funny enough, uh, asked tonight because I met with somebody earlier that mentioned more um activities and programming outside of sports and athletics.

Um, and I have a follow-up that I need to learn more there because I asked Melissa earlier who's with uh recreation well overall community services and and want to learn more of what is out there, and then I would circle back and asking, which by the way, great program, the youth advisory board the city offers that you all are all here tonight doing this uh in your spare time, and uh want to learn more from the youth and community of what they would like to see more and what we have currently and where that can be added, or if there's things that nobody is interested in, what are we getting involvement in?

So it's a lot more of kind of even what you just heard Michael saying, listening to the community of what options are.

I will say there was some great volunteers a few weeks uh ago at the open space day that the youth came out, and they've been doing that every week all summer long, helping out along different open spaces and trails.

So that was great to see that program.

Eric Ryan.

Thank you.

Um I think the first thing that we need to do is talk to the advisory board at your school to find out where where we're having problems and issues and where we can better ourselves.

Listening to you guys is really the core of what we should do.

And then once we do that, uh I feel that number one, you guys can probably use some professional or some uh mental health professionals because there are a lot of issues now in school.

It was it was a lot different when I went to school uh quite some time ago.

And um uh it's much more complicated.

You know, you have the internet, which uh you know has a lot of um access to, which a lot of bad access to.

So there's a lot of things that if we listen to our youth, uh it can really make a difference.

I also feel that uh sports activities are really good to have to keep people active, healthy, and in the right direction.

So I do think we already have some fantastic programs.

I would like to do whatever I can to pass ordinances to help support and enhance to make sure that you have the funding to continue what you are already doing.

I personally love our library.

I'm also the city council lays onto the library board, so I visit frequently with my kids, and I've been in the makerspace when it is incredibly busy.

So I understand as we continue to grow and that space becomes more popular, that we need to help support that and make sure that we are allowing access to everyone who wants to use that space.

Um I am particularly jealous of Brighton's Youth Services Program.

So they have an entire program that's part of their government dedicated to youth services.

They have a youth center, they help with scholarships, and then they bring back some of those youth into full-time positions after they graduate from school.

So I would like to do more.

Kyle Boulevier.

Thank you.

I agree with what's been shared in terms of listening to y'all and also uh respectfully, folks who are not maybe as civically engaged as the group of the of the youth advisory board.

So going out and finding young people around the community who may be less engaged.

So hitting sports, arts, music, I think that's important.

But taking a step back, I think we could really think about a structured apprenticeship program, right?

It's oftentimes very difficult for a small business or a medium-sized business to stand up their own apprenticeship or internship program.

But what if the city were to sort of partner with BVSD to have an apprenticeship program so that folks who want work experience can jump in, get a few hours.

I understand minimum wage will likely come up tonight, so that's something we could figure out as well.

But give folks some work experience that they can put on their resume and really think about what is this something that I really want to work on.

Uh, another thing that we need to invest in for children to and young people to have those opportunities is better transit.

Crystal mentioned having to drive her teenagers everywhere.

That's because our transit is insufficient to get kids where they want to be to do the kinds of things they want to do.

So I think those are some key elements to really think about.

Thank you.

Luke Arrington.

So I'm gonna answer through the lens of my two kids.

I mean, again, they're they're nine and fourteen, so we need to see a lot of this right now.

I mean, I growing up myself.

I mean, sports was a big thing for me.

Um, my son does a lot of that.

He likes his soccer stuff, he likes his running club.

Um, you know, the rec center, some of our open spaces in part, I mean, are amazing, fantastic resources for us that have great programming, and I you know, I think we can continue to do more of that.

Um, my my daughter really leans into kind of the the theater kind of you know, presentation aspect of things, and her school has been able to provide that.

I mean, that that's been a great outlet for for her to be able to express herself, kind of figure out what she likes to do.

Um, you know, any time we have to cut funding for that, I I think is the wrong choice.

I I think it really, you know, creativity allows everyone to figure out where they want to go in school in their lives.

So, as much as possible, I would like to make sure we maintain those resources so that you know everyone can kind of figure out their way.

Anne Marie Jensen.

So I agree with those folks who've said we need to listen first and talk to young people and find out what they think they need.

But I also agree that the folks who are here tonight are the people who are already active.

And it seems to me there's kind of two kinds of kids, some that are overprogrammed and do everything, and then the other kids who don't because maybe their parents are working two jobs or they don't have the money.

There's a lot more we could do if we had scholarships, if we were fundraising, if we were helping uh make sure that it's not just sports, you know, not every kid is an athlete.

And so we need we need the arts, we need music, we need uh intellectual pursuits like maybe gaming or whatever it might be, but not every kid is gonna be an athlete.

So um I think transportation is key if we had a good, robust transportation system, and then looking at our facilities, there is nothing open at night, and we should look at what might be available that kids who don't have anybody at home could go to and and hang out and be safe.

So Tapia Vega.

Thank you.

And I think this is a question that's uh particularly important to me, and I can speak to it from a personal perspective.

As I said at the beginning, I grew up in the city, so I know from first hand that there aren't enough programs for youth in this city, and that's been something that I've dealt with since I was a teenager, since I was once a youth.

Um to put it to put it clearly, I I mean, there we need more.

So I remember going back uh in my my personal life.

Sports was my outlet, but unfortunately, I come from a Latino low-income background.

That was the one outlet I had.

Many of the folks that were around me, many of the people that I went to school with didn't have an outlet.

And unfortunately, they didn't have access to a lot of these things.

And we go back to the last question about substance abuse.

I lost a lot of friends of substance abuse because they had nowhere to go.

They had nothing else that they could do.

So for me, it's about expanding these.

And we had Melissa Heisel in the room, who's one of my favorite people in the city, and she runs a lot of different programs, both at the rec center and the library.

So to me, it's about expansion of these programs, but really it's about equitable expansion of these programs and allowing everyone in our city, all youth from all schools to be able to take part and to really have the outlet and to really have the ability to do things with our city, whether it's civically engaged or just through the arts or through sports.

So thank you.

Adam Gianola.

Can you repeat the question?

Yeah, youth programming plays a crucial role in providing young people with opportunity for personal growth, education, and social interaction.

As a candidate, what specific strategies or programs do you propose to expand or improve for youth in our community?

So I think everyone or a lot of people tonight have talked about you know listening, and I think that's really the first step, right?

We need to figure out what is important uh to the different youth groups in the city and try to implement some of those ideas.

Um, find ways that we can integrate some of those ideas into the recenter or into the library, or if the the Capital Bond passes the new civic center that will be built.

Uh, I think there's a lot of sports opportunities, but not everyone is interested interested in sports.

I was not interested in sports, so that was lost on me personally.

Um I I'm I'm plugged into the sustainability and arts community a little bit.

So if there's folks who are interested in uh those types of opportunities, whether it's volunteering or or um you know specific programming, I'm happy to be a resource to uh help direct uh people to those kinds of opportunities.

Um love the makerspace.

It'd be great if we had like a fix-it clinic so people could fix their phones or you know, these types of things that come up all the time.

The erasure of history is something that's been a topic for concern across the country.

In Lafayette, the city council has grappled with our local history, both good and bad.

As a candidate, how do you plan to address concerns about the preservation and representation of Lafayette's history?

So we'll tap you at Vega.

Amazing.

I didn't even get to finish writing down the question, but this is a this is a good question for me because I've I've been fighting this for the last few years as a member of council.

In fact, I'm very, very proud of what we're already done for this.

Uh I'm gonna give a quick story, and I hope I I can get it in in the last 50 in the next 50 seconds.

My first meeting ever on City Council, we talked about the cemetery plaque.

The cemetery plaque that is going to go in our Potter's field that's really going to tell us about the history, the awful history of our city.

And if you look at a history book, if you read about our history, you'll know that in the 40s and 50s, this city was run by the Ku Klux Klan.

Uh, that is uh that is the history of the city of Lafayette, and our Potter's Field shows it.

Our Lafayette Cemetery shows it.

Uh that was two years ago.

And it took me almost two years to be able to get that passed on city council.

And we're finally this month going to unveil that plaque.

And even then, we couldn't get the names onto that plaque.

So the work continues.

I'm proud of the work already done on this issue, and I will continue doing that work because it means so much to me.

The history of our city is a history of all of us.

It's a history of our community, and ultimately we need to make sure that we address it, or else we forget it.

It's about to repeat itself.

Thank you.

Crystal Gallegos.

So it's very difficult for us to undo the wrongs of the past, and unfortunately, we do have some wrongs in our past in this city.

Um we are very grateful to our local historians who have helped teach us.

They've taught us so much more in five minutes here during public comment than many have taught us in ours.

Um, I encourage everyone also to do their own research and not rely on just a single source.

I do think there is validity to reaching out to multiple sources and using that to help form your own opinion.

Thank you.

We can't learn from the past if we deny the past.

And we have had some bad experiences, as Solomon mentioned with the KKK in this town, but we've also had some good.

We were one of the uh communities that supported the striking miners in the 20s when other communities were persecuting them.

Our founder Mary Miller actually loaned money to the striking miners to allow them to eat while they were striking.

So we have a labor history that's been relatively positive, and we can learn from that, but we also should be able to learn from our mistakes.

And if we try and deny our mistakes or hide them or sweep them under the rug, we cannot learn from them.

So I'm in favor of making sure we tell the truth about who we have been and learn from that in the future.

Luke Larrington.

So, you know, our town's history.

I mean, we we do have history.

I mean, it's you know, it is our town, it's unique to us.

Um, it is very important for us to examine it and learn from it.

I mean, you know, again, yes, if if we don't learn, we repeat.

Uh, I do think it is worth acknowledging both the you know good things and bad things that have happened in our town.

Um, you know, trying to put a different lens or spin on it is something I really don't enjoy in kind of the current media environment.

Um things happened and you know, it's it's okay.

I mean, you know, that that wasn't us that did it, that is someone in the past, but let's understand that and make sure that we you know move forward and not you know be stuck in the past.

Uh I really just it's it's hard to deal with some of the time.

I it's just a challenge, so I really think that people should learn and take it to heart and then you know consider what you've learned from it.

Kyle Bouillet.

Thank you.

Um I think about this a lot.

Um so uh I I married into an immigrant family.

I'm the grandchild and great-grandchild child of immigrants.

Um Lafayette has a rich immigrant history, and you wouldn't really know that walking around, right?

We learn about Molly Miller and her husband, who she named before.

And that's kind of it.

And I really applaud Salo's efforts to get the the plaque lake.

We we've kind of whitewashed a lot of our history, and and we'll pay homage to the Arapaho and you and the Cheyenne folks uh and make it a land acknowledgement, but we don't really dig into the ugliness and also the beauty.

Uh Molly Miller was probably a bigot, and she was a feminist for her time.

And history and its complexity is fascinating.

And history is being written now by Lafayette residents, which is truly exciting, right?

The diversity in this town, the eagerness to learn.

I think there's a hunger to unpack the truth and sort of live into a microcosm of engaging with our history the right way rather than what's happening on a national stage to tell a whitewashed version of our history.

Eric Ryan.

Well, some interesting facts came out today, which I didn't even know.

I didn't know that the Ku Klux Klan was running our community in the 40s and 50s.

So I do think there needs to be more education and awareness to the community about our history.

And I do think maybe it starts, you know, in the school.

Maybe uh have a program that teaches Lafayette history, the true history of how it was in the past.

Um, you know, maybe make it an extra credit program or have something at the public library, so people who are more aware of uh the history of our town, the mining history, Molly Miller.

I mean, there we have a lot of rich history.

And I think it's important that our community is more aware of it.

Thank you.

George Barrow.

We hear uh the phrase never forget connected to troubling things that have happened in our past.

We can apply that to our community here as well as things that have happened on the global stage and nationally over decades.

Critical thinking is super important to me.

The mentor that I mentioned earlier was a history teacher of mine who encouraged us to ask questions to dig deeper and to make our own conclusions about things.

But you do have to have information and knowledge in order to be able to do that.

I think the whitewashing of our history, both local and national, is horrible.

It's not doing a service to anyone, including our students who need to learn the truth about matters as they grow up so they can make good decisions for community and for everyone moving forward.

And I would much rather see a land acknowledgement for the people who had lived here before us than a pledge of allegiance to something.

Adam Genola.

Thank you.

I I am in favor of truth and honesty and not whitewashing over things.

I think we should, you know, accept responsibility for the mistakes that have been made in the past and actually find ways to draw attention to them.

Uh and especially to talk about the ways that we're changing and that we're making up for it.

The city has a public relations department.

Uh I think it would be great if the city would start to put out information about some of the sordid past uh in the community and talk about the ways that the city is is has changed and is addressing those problems and reach out to the community to find out uh how that's impacted the community and if there are additional ways that we can you know help the community adapt and and uh come back from some of these issues.

Michael Watson.

Thank you.

Um I think the most important part of history is that we learn from it.

Um, and when we learn from it, we we alter our actions today to make sure that we're not uh repeating the repeating our past.

Um it's fantastic to sit here and have uh land use acknowledgement of just acknowledge like all the bad stuff that led to us being able to live here, but then later on in that same meeting, um, we decide which part of our open space is next on the chopping block to be redeveloped into condos.

Um that's a little bit disingenuous.

Um, and I think that if we if we really want to learn the lessons of the of the past, let's change how we act today to make sure that we're not repeating them.

Thank you.

Rob Glenn.

Yeah, if you don't mind, there's some layers to that question.

I was hoping it could be repeated.

Of course.

The erasure of history is something that has been a topic of concern across the country.

In Lafayette, the city council has grappled with our local history, both good and bad.

As a candidate, how do you plan to address concerns about the preservation and representation of Lafayette's history?

I don't think there's anywhere in the world or country that you're gonna have all good history, and it needs to be shared because at the end of the day we can't improve if we don't learn about our history, the the good, the bad, the ugly.

Um so, and there is a ton load of great history when we look at just the surrounding towns.

I mean, Louisville and Lafayette both being coal mining towns.

You have the Italian immigrants and Louisville, and you had the Mexican and Hispanic immigrants here in Lafayette.

And what I love about that is the culture it has created uh in this town, and I think where you look at the uniqueness and the growth and development uh that has happened here and the way it has happened, I think circles back to that history and how it's been done in a smart way overall.

Um with that said, uh, we just have to continue to find ways to share the all the above, acknowledge the bad, but then um cherish the good.

Thank you.

The cost of living in Boulder County is higher than the national average.

And Lafayette, kids who grew up here struggle to find affordable housing in their community as adults.

How can the city of Lafayette address the high cost of living and ensure individuals of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds can continue to call Lafayette home?

We'll start with Michael Watson.

Thank you.

Um the first five years I lived in Lafayette.

I rented, I lived in five different houses.

It was really hard.

There was not a lot of help available.

I think one of the ways that we can we can offer assistance is to make sure that people who are currently renting have a lifeline that they can call.

Somebody in city government that they can call to report either a hostile landlord or or just the inability to make rent.

And we'll have an organization together to help them.

The other part of that is that it's not becoming unaffordable by accident.

That's that's a concerted effort to develop it towards unaffordability.

That's that I mean we call it economic growth, we call it whatever.

But the reality for the people on the bottom is that it's just it like cost good cost of living goes up and their paychecks don't match.

Um and that's something that I mean, honestly, we got to come together as a community to talk about because that's being driven by our own actions.

Thank you.

Uh Kyle Belier.

Thank you.

This is such an important topic, and it's come up in all the forums, it's come up in most of the conversations that I've had with Lafayette residents, and it's because it's front and center.

But affordable housing isn't the only thing, right?

It's it's costs across the board.

I looked this up this morning.

Uh $60,000 salary in 2005 is equal to a $100,000 salary today.

And so what the the way your money goes, the how far it goes on housing, on groceries, on cars, is very, very different than when most of us uh who grew up in the 1900s uh where we're growing up.

So what you're facing, right?

You're looking at a cost, a level cost that's significantly outsize anything we've seen before.

I think we've talked about zoning reform, we've talked about more inclusive housing, we've talked about a missing middle, but ultimately the way to address affordable housing is to build more housing.

At the same time, we don't want to pave over the open spaces, folks have shared, right?

We want to keep kind of that intimate feel.

This tension is what city council grapples with, right?

There's no easy answer.

Do we turn into skyscrapers?

Do we keep it exactly the same?

But I think the philosophy of compromise and collaboration and openness is one that we need to approach this question with.

Thank you.

Uh Luke Arnton.

Hi.

So when we moved here in 2013, I mean, we rented for a year, uh, and we were fortunate enough to buy where we currently live.

Um, I mean, if we were to buy again, I I don't think I could afford to live here, honestly.

I mean, it's a single family home.

We're lucky to have that, but we would be out further east or to the north.

Um, you know, we you know, there's there's a lack of choice in my opinion.

Yes, there are lots, there's a sea of single family homes.

You see that here in a lot of places in Erie, and that's the more common feature.

Uh, I mean, we we do need ADUs, we need apartments, we need condos, we you know, we do need density in the right places.

Um, you know, uh open space doesn't just get you know paved over with, you know, most of the time that's in perpetuity, so sometimes the things we think is open space are actual you know developable land, but you know, it's there's code changes.

There can be you know civic engagement on what people want to see in these areas, um you know, being able to get around whether it's to work or to school are important factors plus the cost of it all.

So we have to go a lot of different ways.

Rob Glenn.

Yeah, um, as I mentioned earlier, is kind of my living is is dealing with helping people find houses.

Um the inflation, I think some people brought up at this uh table right now is that that's the number one issue when you look at like what's affordable, like your everyday costs are affecting from being able to get into a lot of that housing.

It is important to mention that Lafayette has gotten in front of a lot of this.

You heard about uh including unit growth.

Uh Lafayette built uh the first phase of Willoughby Corner has been completed, and the second phase is to come in uh to be finished, and when that's done, it'll be 400 units.

But just to understand, and I'm glad your question was around Boulder County and not just Lafayette, because that is controlled by Boulder Housing Authority.

Uh, and then a lot of those uh average medium incomes when we look at rent control and so on, are set by the county and the state of what that AMI is.

So it's a lot deeper than that.

Um, but it's important that we continue to be thoughtful with our growth and where we place it.

Crystal Gallegos.

So this is a tough question to answer in one minute, but I'll try my best to get my ideas out there.

So we have done some great work on affordable housing and ADUs, and we do need to continue that to make sure that we are reaching our affordable housing goals as set by the comprehensive plan.

Um, something else we need to consider is 60% to 80% AMI is still really expensive.

So unfortunately at the county level, our county, because of the amount of money that people make here, 60 to 80% of AMI is higher sometimes than market value the next town over.

So we need to continue the work we're doing and also explore some regional partnerships to help reach those affordable housing goals so we don't have to worry about the next generation.

Uh so that via Vega.

Thank you.

Um first and foremost, I just want to say, believe it or not, Lafayette is actually a leader in this space, not just in the region but across the state.

So we talk about Willoughby Corner, we talk about ADUs, we talk about a lot of different uh projects that are already going on in Lafayette, and we are by far and away the best in our county and one of the best across the state in affordable housing.

And with that being said, I can tell you firsthand, it's not enough.

Uh I grew up here.

I know exactly what the growth has looked like.

I know exactly what the what the cost increase have looked like over the last decades.

Um I I can tell you that everyone I went to high school with is now gone.

They no longer live here, and it's not out of choice.

I mean, some of them it's choice, but a lot of them just couldn't afford to stay.

Uh so for me, it's just continuing the work that we've already done.

Um, but really it's not a one-size-fits-all solution that we can really implement to fix this.

It needs comprehensive solutions.

So the uh houses are over $700,000.

Rent is over $2,000 a month.

These prices are just unbelievably inaffordable for the majority of our residents.

So to me, again, it's a comprehensive solution.

It's continuing the work we've already done.

Thank you.

Adam Gianola.

Thank you.

I mean, this is a problem across the board for everyone.

It's not just the cost of housing, it's the cost of everything.

Um, you know, as costs have gone up, wages have not uh kind of maintained.

Um, you know, thanks, Kyle, for sharing that statistic about uh what buying power has changed, but you know Lafayette does have a good amount of affordable housing, and so it's important that we protect what we have, um, protect that from being redeveloped, you know.

Uh we can do that through our zoning code to eliminate the ability of you know big rich developers to come in and and tear down a uh a trailer park and put in uh you know skyrise apartments that are really expensive.

I don't know that building more houses solves the problem because the houses that are being built, they're more than $700,000.

They're a million that I just don't see that we can build our way out of this.

This is a complex problem.

We need to use all the tools that we have.

Josh Barrel.

Creating solutions uh like Willoughby Corner are great first steps towards helping have more affordable housing in our city.

Um but when we talk about protecting our affordable housing, uh part of that to me means making sure that those units that are being built uh remain affordable.

And I think there are ways that we can do that through careful planning implementation.

Um the land use code is currently being updated.

There are folks here tonight who are um actively involved in that process, and so making sure that when we rezone and look at the opportunities for those zones that we're uh keeping some of those, all of those units that are intended to be affordable, affordable.

Um I did want to take a quick moment to say that ADU is an accessory dwelling unit.

Um, so that's like putting additional smaller buildings on properties that already exist.

Um, and I hope that can be helpful, but I don't think that is a solution in and of itself.

Eric Ryan.

Okay.

Well, a lot of good pointers across the board here with all the candidates.

And I do agree, costs are going up across the board.

I just saw an article today that the average car is costing over $50,000.

It's crazy.

Um, I do feel that Lafayette is doing a really good job and should continue to do so.

Willoughby Corner, which has been mentioned, is a great project, and it will fill at the end 400 families.

But we need to do more, and it does need to be studied.

We have to understand the open parcels that we have available, look at it, determine the traffic, and really decide uh what type of uh residence we can put there, whether it's a duplex, quadplex, apartment buildings.

Uh this is all gonna have to be looked at and studied uh before we move forward, but we do need to do more, and I do think Lafayette's in the right direction.

Anne Maria Jensen.

Are you picking on me?

Um so I've been working on affordable housing for about 25 years, and I can tell you I chaired the effort to pass an affordable housing tax for the county, which passed in 2023.

It's raising about 15 million a year, but I am not happy with the way the decisions are being made about that fund.

The advisory committee to the county commissioners for that tax is the city managers for a big portion of that tax, is the city managers who meet and then make recommendations to the commissioners.

They don't meet in open meetings, they don't post an agenda, and there's no opportunity for public comment.

Um, we are 17% more expensive in Lafayette than the rest of the state.

The legislature gave us the authority to change our minimum wage, which directly impacts young people who often start at minimum wage, and we haven't done it yet.

We need to do that.

We need to create options for seniors to move out of their homes so that other people can move into them.

Many seniors have homes that are bigger than they need.

And we need affordable AVUs, not just AVUs.

Immigration enforcement is a complex issue that affects many young people and their families in our community.

How do you plan to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment for all of Lafayette's residents?

What specific policies or initiatives do you propose to ensure that our community is safe for immigrants?

We'll start with Rob Glenn.

Thank you.

Yeah, I mean, it's just it's just scary that that's even having to be uh dealt with right now.

Um I learned actually that's helped out with Sister Carmen is they've created an appointment system.

So you don't have people standing outside, and it could create a the fact that they even had to think about that that but people it's helped with efficiency, but it also was a directive on not putting a group of potentially low-income immigrant families out front where it could create an issue.

Um there's a lot to learn about what the city can do overall to help and what it is currently doing.

Um I have opportunity to learn more there, I will tell you, but safety is key.

Um and I think everybody we want to make this in keep what the city is about the inclusiveness and the diversity, making sure everybody feels they're safe and off yet.

Adam Gianola.

Thank you so much.

Um I mean, the city is trying hard to foster inclusivity, and I think we're doing a pretty good job, but I think we need to do more.

Um I I'd really like to see the city um take the city events and really reach out to the different parts of our community more directly to integrate uh you know parts of those communities into the decision making process for how these events are run and how uh who's included in the event.

So that's one way that I see the city can you know try to foster inclusivity uh more broadly.

Um I I commend our police department for their efforts uh in getting to know the community and you know, protecting the community where they can.

Um we do have some good, you know, community partners like Sister Carmen that do help uh you know our our immigrant population, but they're not the only ones.

So I think the city can uh try to do more to uh support those organizations that help those parts of our community.

Josh Barrel.

Uh this is a topic that is uh very important to me.

It's one of the main reasons that I'm running for city council.

Um, one thing that I support is a no-secret police law, similar to what California has passed, which would require all law enforcement to be unmasked and identifying themselves at all times.

Um that's not because I'm concerned about our local law enforcement, but clearly we are concerned about um federal enforcement, particularly ICE, and I want to do everything I can to keep them out of our community and keep our folks who live here safe from them.

Um, another piece of that is a company that we contract with, which uses automatic license plate readers.

I believe there are 14 in the city.

Uh Flock is the name of the company.

And again, while they're not supposed to be using that information for immigration enforcement, that information is shared with all of the other uh law enforcement entities around the state who can use it as uh as they see fit according to their policies, regardless of what our policies are.

So I would love to see those out of our city.

Uh Denver got rid of them, uh, so it's not like it's preposterous thing to do.

Ann Marie Jensen.

Well, I just got an email from someone in Denver today that they haven't quite gotten rid of all of them.

They're still working on it, and the immigrant community in Denver really wants them to get rid of them.

I think we in Lafayette are in a reasonable situation that we have good state law that says it is not the job of local law enforcement to do immigration enforcement that we are here to enforce crime, and if we start uh enforcing immigration, people don't report crimes, they they if they're victims of crimes, they don't tell anyone, and they don't uh report as witnesses.

So we need to make it very clear to the immigrant community that our law enforcement is not out to get them.

Um, but immigrants, I have immigrants in my family, and I can tell you that at least some immigrants are not showing up in public places, even if they're U.S.

citizens, because they fear being arrested and then having to prove or not being able to prove.

So I think we've got some work to do in communicating with the immigrant community about how we can help them.

Michael Watson.

Yeah, I mean, how much trouble do we want to get in?

Um what what's how much of our community wants to wants to like lock arms and protect those in our community uh from getting taken away?

Because I don't like what I'm seeing on the news.

I don't I don't think it's right.

It's it's turned families apart.

It's cruel and it's deliberately cruel.

And the person in charge knows that it's cruel and laughs about it.

So what can Lafayette do against a hostile and increasingly belligerent federal government?

And the answer legally is not much.

Um what we could do, hypothetically is offer legal protection to to anybody who's who's willing to to fight ice if they're seen in our community.

If we want to lock arms and push them back, I'll get behind that.

Um but there's gonna be some trouble.

And if everyone, I mean if the community wants to just keep things quiet and then just we'll lose a few of our neighbors, and we will all just bury our heads in the sand for a little bit, and there's there's not much that the city council can do to change that.

That's got to be a community-driven effort.

Thank you.

Crystal Gallegos.

So we are a city that is safe, inclusive, and welcoming to all, and that is something I truly believe.

We love everyone, and we support all of their contributions, regardless of the way they arrived here.

Some of the restaurants in our community we wouldn't have if it wasn't for immigrants.

All of us came from someplace outside of Lafayette, Colorado.

So first of all, I wanted to mention that.

Um, something I care about is accessibility and outreach.

So if there are members of our community who are concerned that they have family members who may be taken away from them, I'd love to hear and find out how they would want to be supported.

We also have free legal resources here in our community.

I know our library does a free uh legal telephone line.

I forget the hours, but I would want to make sure that is available in all languages to anyone who needs it.

Luke Arrington.

So I mean, hopefully you guys read the book 1984 are familiar with it.

I mean, it is you know, kind of very applicable these days, and it is interesting that if we were talking a year ago at the prior election, that this wasn't even a thing.

I mean, it really changes every day, and uh I am thankful that this is a small town and a community in you know the the best sense of the word.

And I I would really you know hope that you know our police department is you know getting direction from staff and counsel that is supportive and you know we we do value everyone in the community here.

I I think that really does that is the definition of community, and it's one of the reasons that you know we we you know rented and then bought here and we want to stay here and our family, I hope will you know set up roots here or or nearby?

It's just mind-boggling what's going on and what people have to worry about these days.

So uh I just want an inclusive community that supports one another as best we can.

So, Tapia Vega.

Thank you for the question.

Thank you for bringing this topic to this forum.

Uh, this is a topic that hits close to clits close to heart for me.

I am Latino and I come from minority uh minority family, but an immigrant family.

Uh, and uh being Latino being from an immigrant family, I can tell you that my community is really they're they're being taken, they're being abducted, they're being chased by federal administration that really doesn't do things the way we would hope they do.

Um I think one of the biggest things is talking about this issue.

Uh at the first forum, uh, we were all in the basement of the Ghost Box Pizza, and I spoke to one of our residents, and they told me a story of somebody in their backyard being chased by ice.

Now, this wasn't in New York, this wasn't in LA, this wasn't in Chicago, this was in the city of Lafayette, and this was only a couple weeks ago.

So I think one of the biggest things we can do is just keep talking about this, empowering our community partners and letting people know that this is happening in our very own backyards, and we need to make sure that we're prepared for this.

Now we're also lucky in the city of Lafayette where we have an amazing police department that does community policing, follow state law, that means they will not aid federal authority.

And I know my time is up, but this is just such an important issue to me.

So continuing the work and making sure that we empower our community uh to know best and to know what to do when they when that time comes.

Eric Ryan.

Yeah, this is a very serious subject.

Um, I mean, people are living in fear, immigrants, and it it's really uh a very scary subject.

Um I just was actually in today, Krishna Grocery, and basically her whole uh cust all of her customers are immigrants.

She's seeing a lot of people are moving back to India because they fear the federal government and they fear ice.

So it is very serious.

I do think that our city should offer legal service, have it established so if somebody does get arrested, we can immediately help them and get them out of the situation as soon as possible, and also offer to other immigrants uh the ability to uh possibly see where they stand legally, help them legally, make sure they have the right paperwork so if they are stopped, uh they can be released and safe to the community.

Lafayette does have a strong police department.

Um really uh I I think they do a great job, and Lafayette is a safe community.

Kyle Bolier.

Thank you.

I I really appreciate the clarity that a lot of my fellow candidates are sharing regarding the moment we're in, the the terrifying moment we're in.

And you know, I I thought about this a lot from a national security perspective and from just like a regular citizen perspective.

And so I think very very clearly Lafayette should lead.

Um ICE's budget is gonna be a hundred and fifty plus billion dollars.

Do we really think they're only gonna focus on immigrants in Chicago or LA?

You know, so I will give the example of uh of here.

Like as they continue to staff up and we know who they're hiring, they're gonna look at other places like Lafayette.

So I think we need to be very clear about the moment we're in and the requirement to defend our fellow citizens with legal norms, with uh erasing data that we can legally get rid of to make sure they're now identified, whether that's partnering with the Boulder Valley School District to protect students.

We need to be abundantly clear.

And I'm sorry that our generation is an older uh failed you so that your generation is growing up in this moment.

It is a it's a shame that we have to fight it together.

We will conclude the question and answer portion of this evening's forum and end our evening with a round of yes or no questions.

We ask that you please respond to each question using the paddles that have been provided.

Does everyone have their powers?

All right, let's begin.

Have you formerly served on a Lafayette board commission or committee in the past?

Have you volunteered your time to support a Lafayette-based nonprofit agency?

Have you attended Art Night Out this year?

Are you a member of the Bob Berger Recreation Center?

Do you have a Lafayette public card?

A Lafayette Public Library card, I apologize.

Have you participated in Lafayette's annual Martin Luther King Junior celebration?

Do you support the 2025 ballot issue to fund recreation center improvements, a new civic center, and service center improvements at a cost of 74 million?

Would you allocate funding to build capacity for a restorative justice program in Lafayette?

Would you consider allocating a portion of marijuana's sale tax revenue to develop substance abuse and recovery programs catered to youth?

Would you stand up to all the threats on Lafayette's values of diversity and inclusion and support the adoption of city's inclusion, diversity, equity, and access plan?

Do you support the city's climate action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emission and prepare our community for the impacts of climate change?

Do you support expanding Lafayette's mental health co-responder program?

Do you believe Lafayette should have its own health and human service office to better care for the needs of youth and other vulnerable populations?

Do you believe that free or subsidized child care should be provided during council and other public meetings?

Another language other than English or Spanish.

Should the city host an annual Juneteenth event.

On behalf of the Lofty Youth Advisory Board, we would like to thank you for your participation in this forum.

Good night.