Boulder Deserves Bolder.

Pragmatic and Caring.

I'm Waylon Lewis, and I’m running to serve you as your next City Council member here in the beloved, unique town that is our Boulder.

I aim to serve Boulder through coalition-building—working to effect practical solutions over divisive opinions.

My deep community connections and successful, local business background drive me to address crucial concerns: safety & homelessness, climate crisis, and affordability.

My approach is one of listening to stakeholders and experts over my own opinions, followed by bold leadership to help make Boulder the community we all want it to be.

With lifelong roots in this town, I will work for you, for all of us, toward making this community more accessible, prepared for the worst of our climate crisis, and vibrant and safe for all citizens and businesses. Alone among leading candidates I’m running as an independent—with more endorsements than most, I am ready to put our caring into overdue action. ~ Waylon

Issues at a glance:

All candidates will talk about 1) Homelessness/public safety, 2) climate crisis (fire & flood mitigation), & 3) (lack of) affordability.

But there’s a fourth issue many of us forget about.

My approach is one of listening to experts & stakeholders. We can see what has (& hasn't) worked elsewhere, & apply those lessons here, saving time & money.

We must both enforce the camping ban (actually enforce), & have a place for our homeless community to move to where services—mental health, addiction care, police—can all go. We can return a sense of public safety & heal our parks.

On affordability, we've made progress. With focus, we can double our accessibility & fill in missing middle income housing, helping employees work here, reducing traffic, & keeping our schools open.

On climate, we must urgently foster fire & flood preparedness, & once again inspire our community & other cities.

All of this can be done only if we work together, & listen to one another. As Boulder's leading candidate independent of divisive groups, I'll focus on solutions, not arguing on social media.

Boulder deserves Solutions, not endless conflict & costly Status Quo. Boulder deserves Bolder.

If we don’t feel safe, any of us, then life here can’t be joyful, full of the daily rewards we’ve all worked so hard for. Join Waylon's drive for safe streets and public spaces.

Waylon, as a candidate independent of conflict, will work with all members of Council to build a coaltion to urgently create taxpayer-saving, crime-reducing, pragmatic, moral, and compassionate solutions to homelessness. Looking at what has worked elsewhere—and what hasn’t—we can create a place for homeless services, police, and homeless to go, clear our public spaces, and help our homeless friends stabilize and even get jobs and housing. This approach has worked elsewhere, and—if we dare work together instead of trading insults—can work here.

The impasse born of slates yelling at one another but doing little has gone on too long, is in danger of burning out our police force, and has cost taxpayers and homeless alike far too much. Some say homelessness is an intractable, impossibly complex issue. I disagree. What’s impossible here is progress when we can’t work together. Let’s resolve that, and move forward.

Safety & Homelessness

Our affordability efforts are working—we're at 8.4%, whereas surrounding cities are all less than 1%—but we're moving far too slowly.

With urgency and focus, we can redouble our efforts with a focus on missing middle income housing so our police, teachers, healthcare workers, restaurant employees and others can afford to live where they work instead of driving in every day, stabilizing our local economy and reducing the annual loss of families, artists, and what little "weirdness" and diversity we have here. 

We can do much more to ensure affordability and make sure our friends, favorite artists, employees and others can live here, raise families, keep our schools full, or, if they so choose, have accessible, eco, convenient transportation options into town.

Affordable and Inclusive Communities

Elevate Boulder's climate leadership. Waylon's commitment to green initiatives and sustainable practices promises a resilient, thriving future for our children. Endorse a greener Boulder for generations to come.

Boulder is at extreme risk of fire and other climate emergencies, and yet has done too little, too slowly, to prepare. I’ll fix that.

Climate Resilience and Innovation

Endorsements

"I’ve known Waylon for many years and am confident he would make an excellent council member and will be deeply grounded in service to the community.

Waylon loves this town, and will be a creative and inclusive voice for helping shape what it becomes in the future."

~ Senate President Steve Fenberg

"Waylon will be a strong ally in moving our community forward with compassion and insight. He's practical, deeply engaged, loves people and loves Boulder!"

~ Mayor Aaron Brockett

“As a Boulder native, Waylon understands deeply the blessings, challenges, and responsibilities of being a Boulderite.

He’s committed to continuing our legacy of environmental responsibility and climate leadership—while also tackling the intractable issues of housing, homelessness and affordability.”

~ Former Mayor Suzanne Jones