Lafayette City Council Candidate Views on Affordable Housing: 2021
FACTS ABOUT HOUSING IN BOULDER COUNTY
About one quarter of renters in Boulder County spend at least half of their income on rent.
In some Boulder County departments, surveys show 70% of employees commute from outside the county.
Commuting into the county for work is most common among lower-income workers.
The last 10 years of available data show Boulder County has gained 3.5 jobs for every 1 unit of housing.
In 2021, candidates ran for open City Council seats in Lafayette. ECHO invited them to respond to a questionnaire on Affordable Housing issues.
ECHO is presenting candidates’ responses in their own words, without editing or commentary. If you don’t see a candidate’s response here, it is because we didn’t receive one.
As a tax-exempt, non-profit organization, ECHO does not endorse candidates, but we can help you learn where the candidates stand on Affordable Housing.
Candidate Responses to ECHO’s Affordable Housing Questionnaire: Read the Full Report
September 2021
Review excerpts of Lafayette candidates’ responses below.
LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES
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Nicole Samson
Having a goal is important in order to give the City something to measure accomplishments against and remind changing Councils to keep taking steps to develop affordable housing. That was the intent of the Council who established this goal. Most of us agree that if 12% of all housing in Lafayette is affordable to people who are low- to moderate-income, we are not meeting the need, considering 25% of all Boulder County residents are housing cost burdened (spending 50% or more of their monthly income on housing costs).
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Brandon Stites
After speaking with some current city council members, I think that this is a well thought out and achievable goal. We have some great projects currently in the pipeline including the Willoughby Corner development which will provide over 400 permanently affordable homes to the city. Personally, I think that a proposal in conjunction with the Planning and Development department to further incentivise developers to build affordable housing rather than things like luxury apartments would be very beneficial.
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Tonya Briggs
Our city will begin to lose diversity, culture & amazing perspectives if we do not create & protect affordable housing. I really want to see more owner affordable housing. As in folks have an opportunity to purchase an affordable home that will be their home for life. I like affordable housing rentals, but folks have such a stringer sense of security, sense of place etc. when that home is actually their home.
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Brian Wong
Having served on the Planning Commission I have seen many residential developments come before the city and based on my experience the city should draft a guiding document on how we as a community will address affordable housing. It is a very complex topic and I believe the first step to move the city forward is to look at a housing specialist on city staff. This position has been placed into the 2022 budget which passed on first reading last night.