I am excited to serve on Glenwood Springs City Council, on behalf of my neighbors in southwest Glenwood Springs, Ward 5.

I believe that my extensive experience as an advocate, professional policy staffer, and community volunteer will serve the city and all its residents well in this new role.

I also bring a positive tone to policy negotiations, assuming the best about others in order to draw out their best ideas.

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I know how to get things done.

Personal background and accomplishments

Over a long professional career, I have secured permanent protection for public lands and rivers in Colorado, managed a university environmental education and activism center, launched two community recycling programs, and negotiated oil and gas policy.

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I worked for 12 years as senior congressional assistant to a member of the U.S. Congress, crafting six successful pieces of federal legislation.

Locally, I have positively influenced the design of neighborhoods in Ward 5, and streets and trails that connect them.

I led successful election campaigns that built the River Trail, funded the Glenwood-to-Aspen Rio Grande Trail, brought RFTA bus service to Glenwood Springs, and funded comprehensive repair and maintenance of city streets and underground infrastructure.

I have organized volunteers to promote practical local bicycling, starting with the 2017 Grand Avenue bridge replacement detours and continuing with bicycling programs and events for schools and community.

I served on the city’s original River Commission, launching major river clean-up days that continue every year, and establishing the hillside preservation zone.

I now serve on the city’s Transportation Commission, influencing policies and projects that expand transportation options, help reduce traffic congestion, and improve safety for all travelers.

That work has included expanded transit service, new bicycling and walking routes, parking management, traffic data analysis, and an emerging local transportation safety plan.

Working style and respect for others

My work in each of these success stories has been based in attention to details, careful research, and questioning assumptions.

I approach my work with civility, goodwill, respect for others, honest engagement, and a bit of humor.

I look for the best in people, without projecting imagined motives onto anyone. I will listen carefully, and trust the insights and opinions of people throughout Glenwood Springs.

With special focus on Ward 5 — Glenwood Park, Park West, Cardiff Glen, Park East, Cardiff Mesa, Hagar Lane, Terraces, and Old South Grand — I will bring to City Council experience and style that that honors and improves life throughout Glenwood Springs.

I will seek positive, creative remedies to the needs and issues we face, rather than just saying “no” to change. I will go beyond catchy slogans and actually do the work necessary to improve this marvelous place where we live.

Issues of our time

My many conversations with local people make it clear that several priority topics have our attention, and all those topics are interrelated. City Council needs members who will think across those issues lines and help craft policies and solutions that address them all, in tandem.

That cross-discipline approach has always been my style, and my skill. It is what makes me a better candidate for City Council.

Housing, transportation and environment

These three attention-getting topics overlap in ways that demand creative thinking and pose unique opportunities.

I will focus on helping more people live closer to where they work, go to school, and participate in community. Shorter commutes, more time at home, and personal investment in that home is the formula for happier lives, more interactive neighborhoods, and better civic engagement.

I will promote policies and creative financing to help more local workers purchase a home here — often their first home — by converting excess rental housing into homes that can be purchased.

I will promote down-payment loans to help qualified purchasers, cycling those repaid loans to additional homebuyers.

We can put a dent in traffic volumes and congestion by helping more of the people who work here to also live here. Improved options — including transit, bicycling, walking — will foster better conditions for all travelers.

These housing and transportation policies will improve our care of the local environment and of the planetary climate. Less driving reduces noise, air, and carbon pollution. More time on trails and sidewalks renews our appreciation of the beauty and recreational opportunities we have all around us here.

It all comes together, if we approach it right.

Guiding principles

My goals are livable community, responsive government and engaged citizens.

All this works only when residents are informed, respected and heard. Every policy measure and every project proposal will be better with careful review and comment from the people who love living here.

With your help, I will listen, consider, and listen again, before taking action on proposals.

Please vote for me, Steve Smith, to serve on Glenwood Springs City Council.

Steven Smith is a Ward 5 candidate for Glenwood Springs City Council. Ballots must be returned by 7 p.m. April 1. Go to cogs.us/346/Elections for more information on how to vote.