Two City Council incumbents on environmental policies

| Sep 21, 2009

Council candidates Ageton, Raj and Appelbaum at PLAN-Boulder County (Bob Wells video)

For some, the video posted above may have all the appeal of a Congressional hearing on C-Span, or even watching ice melt. But political junkies – and others contemplating the upcoming Boulder City Council election – may find it revealing.

The video contains comments by incumbent Council members Matt Appelbaum and Suzy Ageton in a Q&A session about the environment hosted by the influential environmental organization PLAN-Boulder County at the Boulder Public Library Sept. 18, with about 50 people in attendance. The questioner was John Spitzer. The group held two other forums earlier featuring other Council candidates.

Opinion: While some are quick to fault Council members for offenses real and imagined, this meeting impressed us mightily with the in-depth knowledge of both Mayor Appelbaum and Council Member Ageton, and their articulateness in stating subtle points about governing Boulder. The third candidate panelist, Jyotsna Raj (see David Thielen’s interesting interview with her), was hard-pressed to compete against these two incumbent heavyweights and their fast (by now) institutional knowledge.