Candidate Profile: David Takahashi, Boulder City Council

BOULDER, CO — Ten candidates are running for five open seats on City Council in Boulder's Nov. 2 municipal election.

Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

David Takahashi is running for Boulder City Council.

Age: 70

Family

Wife Emily, two grown daughters Melody and Daphne.

Education

BS Biochemistry San Jose State University.

Campaign website: dtakahashi4bouldercouncil.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

We are in a declared code-red climate emergency. Boulder can break its fossil fuel addiction. Boulder needs an advocate for a livable climate in local decisions. I also will network with other climate champion council members around the country.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have been walking the climate talk for over 10 years. I married into a climate science family. Our home was destroyed by a wildfire predicted by climate science in 2010. My neighborhood was decimated by a predicted flood in 2013. We took a 60-year-old replacement home and retrofit it to net positive in order to prove it could be done and to be able to say we have done what we are asking the world to do. I live climate change.

How do you think local officials are performing in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

Boulder has done well. It could have been better prepared for a pandemic contingency. I will work to up disaster readiness if elected since we appear to have no end to disasters to prepare for.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

I am interested in instilling a sense of public engagement in local government. I will advocate for a participatory democracy rather than relying on representative governance. I will advocate making boards and commissions empowered and relevant. I will use the idea of citizen assemblies to ensure council is working on the issues that matter to our public.

Housing that welcomes back our displaced working and middle class is a top priority. Doing so in a climate friendly way is essential.

Community broadband and lowering our energy costs will position Boulder for participation in the digital economy.

Boulder has an incredibly intelligent, innovative, risk-taking, and caring population, we need to make better use of them in our local decision-making.

Boulder can lead the world in creating a climate friendly, compact urban design that generations down the line will thank us for.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have successfully moved business from antiquated practices to modern emergent self-organizing agile organizations. I have done restorative justice work which will come in handy in this polarized world. I have led innovation initiatives. I have taken a 60-year-old home from very inefficient to net positive and see parallels in household and municipal scale work. I have established working relationships with city staff as well as climate advocates around the world.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Find the one thing that will have the greatest impact and do this one thing well. Then move on to the next thing that will have the greatest impact.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

We decided we would run a zero-waste, plastic-free political campaign that did not wish to burden recycle or landfill. We are really trying to walk the talk on climate action and demonstrate there are other creative ways to run for office. It has been difficult and challenging but it is the right thing to do.

I have vision, and I also get vision accomplished. This is a rare combination. I view opposing views as an opportunity to develop an unlikely alliance. I am a bridge builder across ideological divides instead of the typical wall building we find today. I am working for the present, and future inhabitants of our planet Earth.