Candidate Profile: Matt Benjamin, 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.

Matt Benjamin is running for Boulder City Council.

Age: 39

Family

Wife (Jessica) and two young kids (6yrs & 3yrs)

Education

Degree in Astronomy

Occupation

Professional Photographer (4yrs) & Science Education consultant (4yrs)

Campaign website: www.mattbenjaminforcouncil.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am running for Boulder City Council because we need thoughtful leadership that will focus on making Boulder a more inclusive, diverse, and vibrant community. It's time we take our collective values and make them into where we are going.

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

The biggest difference is my experience working with the city. I have served on two community working groups (Campaign Finance and Election Reform Working Group & The Stormwater and Flood Mitigation Master Planning Working group). I have also led campaigns for a number of candidates and ballot measures. In 2020 I led the "Our Mayor-Our Choice" ballot measure which now gives Boulder residents the right to elect our mayor using Ranked Choice Voting. We have critical and urgent issues facing our community and my extensive knowledge of the city's processes on how to get stuff done will be vitally important to meet the challenges we face.

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

The City is doing a pretty good job. My concern is that the city needs to learn for the pandemic and make some long term changes for our city to thrive. Two areas that the City failed to meet the challenges of COVID — we not using more of the City's financial reserves to help businesses and people suffering during the pandemic. And second, the City did not follow the Governors lead in creating a moratorium on evictions in the City. This shows the City was not as concerned about those most vulnerable in our community as they should have been. I will be a strong leader to make sure we lift people up in time of crisis.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Housing; We need to do more to provide housing opportunities to middle class working families. They are simply priced out. I will advocate for changing our zoning to allow more duplexes, triplexes, etc. to create opportunities for working families to live, work and play in Boulder

Transportation; To meet the challenges of our climate crisis we need to actively reduce the dependency on cars. I will advocate for more safe and protected bike lanes to encourage more people to ride their bikes. I will also make sure we limit that amount of car infrastructure in new developments. Lastly, I will invest in more EV changing stations to incentivize people to evolve to electric vehicles.

Homelessness; Boulder has fallen behind in providing a data driven an empathetic process for working with our unhoused residents. I would like us to invest in a day shelter and expanded housing options. As well as mimicking the widely successful STAR (Support Team Assisted Response) program in Denver. Leading with medial and mental health professionals instead of police is already showing good results for individuals in Denver.

Economic Vitality; I will support our local businesses as we continue to deal with COVID and the pressure it puts on them. Especially that of our restaurant industry. I will advocate to make the closures on West Pearl street permanent and to expand the parklets that allow restaurants to use the sidewalks and street for outdoor dining.

Gun Violence; Now that the state has repealed its preemption law and has given authority back to local communities. I intend to advocate for restricted access to military grade weapons and accessories for mass murder. I will help lead re-passing our Assault Weapons ban and explore other policies to protect our community.

Effective Governance; A reactive government is not an effective government. Many of the "urgent" issues (Housing, Homelessness, Transportation, Climate Change, etc...) our community is facing are not new; we have seen them coming for years or, in some cases, decades. They have been looming and stewing until they have now become so demanding that City Council has been forced to address them. There is a better way...

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

I have served on the Boards of a number of non-profits and worked closely with the City Council, City staff and the community to get measure passed and help candidates get elected. I know the pressure and expectation of Council, because I work alongside them to help better our community. From 2014 to 2017 I helped lead a group in Central Idaho to create the nation's first and only Dark Sky Reserve. This process required lots of community input and negotiations with the Forest Service, BLM, multiple counties and cities. I gained a lot of experience in how to negotiate and collaborate to reach outcomes for the common good. This experience will serve me well on Council as we have a number of people with diverging view points.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Be a steward of your community and environment and leave them better off than you found them.

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

I started my time in Boulder studying Astronomy and Astrophysics at University of Colorado, and later spent the nearly a decade working for CU as an Astronomer and the Education Programs Manager for Fiske Planetarium. While at Fiske, I collaborated on several NASA research grants and educational programs with our local federal labs and aerospace companies.

After leaving the University I helped lead a group that created the nations first and only Dark Sky Reserve in Central Idaho. I am now a professional photographer and science education consultant.