 Hello my fellow Longmont Tonians. My name is Greg Harris. I'm running to become the next mayor of Longmont Many people have asked me why I'm running I've lived in Longmont for over 50 years and I'm tired of watching things be done the same old way It's time for a change. I want to improve the lives of the people of Longmont When you improve the lives of others you improve your life as well. We all know Longmont will grow Businesses want to come to Longmont To meet this need we must support the construction of the middle-class apartments and houses for those employed in Longmont Affordable housing is important But also is the middle-class workforce Attainable housing homes in the price range for people who earn between 80 and 120 of the median area income This is a huge barrier for prospective Longmont employees People in that price range have no housing inventory or development We have to be as focused on workforce attainable housing as we are in affordable housing This would reduce our carbon footprint immensely Many Longmont workers have long drives to get to work. This increases training costs And this city is not able to stop growing But we can't focus on housing for the poor People need to get in and out of town day and night. We commute bumper to bumper on the highway Longmont has grown by 10,000 people in the last 10 years. The highways have not Without addressing our infrastructure. Our current growth is unsustainable It will increase our vehicle emissions, especially during community hours with congested traffic Longmont has many roads that go north and south but east and west we only have highway 66 and 119 In 1957 the fences on highway 66 were moved back to expand into a four-lane highway But it never happened Then we were taxed for a train from the south, but it was never built and we didn't get our money back I oppose all excessive policies codes regulations and any fees attached to new construction Since they would add to the cost for consumers If it is necessary to fund some city programs that money should come from the general funds Longmont has an inclusionary housing ordinance And I oppose any expansion of that ordinance If we focus on the needs of the growing workforce Workers will spend less time commuting and this gives employers better training opportunities I also oppose any increases in water rates connection fees or tap fees And all efforts to limit residential growth We must support all efforts to substantially increase the number of homes built in Longmont I hear a lot of complaints at the city council meetings about getting the police to do this or that I think all these things are possible to make this happen I support increasing the budget for public safety and oppose any effort to defund the police As mayor I will do what needs to be done to keep Longmont businesses open The city and state should not decide which businesses should close and which should stay open I think the recent action by the boulder county government requiring masks everywhere was excessive government overreach Longmont has discussed community and developer interaction for years It needs to move beyond discussion and engage in positive actions I support the economic development recommendations of the Longmont economic development partnership As mayor I will lead the city council and city agencies and expediting project development To do that I will require a quarterly progress report from the city manager and agencies responsible for project approval A recent example of government overreach is the proposed healthy beverage ordinance Being considered by the city council good intentions do not justify government overreach City council should not micromanage restaurants and those in government should trust parents to make decisions for their kids I think this proposed ordinance is a waste of time and energy There are so many more important things for our local government to be spending their time on I ask for you to vote for Harris for mayor It's a vote for middle-class housing infrastructure improvements economic development and public safety Trust and parents not government to make the right choices for their children. Thank you