Libraries are Social Infrastructure
Happy Spring everyone! We've got a lot of news and updates to bring you so let's jump right in.
A Help request:
Last year, our Boulder Public Library absorbed about 20% of the city’s permanent funding cuts, even though it’s only 4% of the city’s budget. As a result, library branches remain indefinitely closed. With pre-pandemic funding stuck at 2002(!) levels, Boulder’s Library Commission has recommended the city create a library district, which would allow the library’s tax base to match its larger, more regional user base (30% of cardholders live outside city limits). That proposal will finally get a hearing at City Council on May 18, and the library needs you to lend your voice so that councilmembers understand what’s at stake. Here’s a handy quick-action guide and talking points. Want to super-charge your advocacy? Read more about social infrastructure and how libraries sit at the heart of that concept here.
Awesome:
We were elated to see the overwhelming turnout for the Council discussion on SB21-62. Many thanks to the organizers at SURJ, Bedrooms Are For People, SAFE Boulder, and the NAACP for the onslaught of support for a 40-0 positive turnout at public comment. The evening ended with council moving to "support with amendments" which in the weeks since has moved to full "support". The bill still faces some hurdles at the state house, but we are happy about the display of strength that progressive voices put forth. Thank you!
Not Awesome:
Council's hypocrisy on resources for our unhoused neighbors. The city claimed there’s no funding for additional services or safe outdoor sleeping options, but on the same night found $2.7 million for increased enforcement of the camping ban. feigning helplessness for having no funds to support progressive measures over encampment concerns while in the very same breath finding $2.7 million for increased punitive enforcement. As the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found in Martin vs Boise, a municipal government cannot criminalize someone's existence if they cannot afford shelter for themselves and you do not provide it. While Boulder technically provides it they do so with multiple hurdles that for years have left many folks out in the cold. Led by the PLAN Boulder majority, and Republican Bob Yates, the increase in policing was approved 6-3.
Up Next:
New City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde has started work! . After stints in Minneapolis and Austin, we are excited for what she can bring to Boulder. City staff are in need of a morale boost, and we hope new leadership will set a new course for innovation, empowerment, and collaboration between city departments.
Additionally we are incredibly excited to announce that, along with United Campus Workers Colorado, we'll be hosting another Raucous Caucus on June 9th at 6pm!! Like our first event in 2019 this will be a fun evening where we’ll get a first look at who’s running for City Council this Fall! The event will be online to protect everyone’s health, but we promise a format that will keep both the participants and audience on their toes.. Sign up for updates and more info here.
Interesting:
We know it's wonky and we'll do our best to make it fun, but we can’t talk about our vision for Boulder without mentioning the failures of exclusionary zoning. Put simply, that’s the practice of saying "offices go here, poor people go here, rich people go here, shopping goes here, and factories go here... and to make it all work, everyone has to drive a car." We’re fans of mixed-use zoning -- think street car neighborhoods, or a pre-industrial city core. Envision a Boulder where you can live in a fourplex, walk your pup two blocks to a cafe, and ride your bike a half mile to work.
As always, find us on our social channels for the latest news and views.
Till next time,
BP
