David Takahashi

David Takahashi, a retired software engineer and the 2021 Boulder City Council candidate who’s lived in Boulder the longest, is making his first run for public elected office in this year’s Council race.

“I am convinced that we need to actually begin acting on our concern that the greenhouse gas emissions are building up to the point that we are actually affecting the lives of our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. And so that’s primary – the second facet that I have discovered is this idea of rehydrating democracy. I think we’re in such a contentious polarized time that to basically take a stand can anger half the population at any given time. And I believe that we’ve lost our way in terms of civil discourse and that we, again, need to rehydrate our process,” said Takahashi on some of his reasons for running in this year’s Council contest.

SHORT LIFE STORY

Takahashi grew up in the Bay Area of California, saying he lived in Menlo Park “when it was rural…and very, very spacious.” This would not last – the area was rezoned in the 1960s, and he said the rezoning led to subdivisions of blocks and increased taxation. While he lived in what is now considered Silicon Valley before growth really took off, he said he “saw the whole thing happening.” Takahashi is of Japanese descent, and said his father enlisted in the World War II-era military in order to avoid being sent to an internment camp. His father served in Italy and France, but members of his father’s family were in a camp, plus there were reports his property was being broken into, which left his father with bad feelings about California.

Takahashi said he has landscaping in his genes, as both his grandfather and father had experience, and he worked landscaping jobs through college while at San Jose State. He was studying plant biochemistry, when he got a job at an agricultural research station that included doing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) studies. This meant the need for making graphs, so he searched for a graphing plotter and purchased a plotter from a start-up, which led to serious career opportunities. He said “since Apple II” he had developed software, and worked on architectural Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD-CAM) before the owner of the company he was working for decided to move to Anaheim. Takahashi said he attended an early morning meeting, which meant braving the area’s notorious rush-hour traffic, and said the experience was so bad he felt he had to move out of California, because he knew “this is not going to get any better.”

He got a job offer in Denver, and found he loved the area so he took the job. He met his current wife at Naropa University in Boulder during a meditation weekend, and he moved to Boulder in 1987. Takahashi has a strong interest in climate issues, and it couldn’t have hurt that his new father-in-law was Charles David Keeling, an accomplished scientist who had been measuring carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere since the 1950s. Takahashi said, in very short, that climate scientists have been making accurate observations on the climate consequences of increasing CO2 concentrations for a long time, and while 400 PPM is only statistically equal to 40 cents out of $1,000, humans have contributed to crossing this CO2 threshold and the Earth is experiencing the impacts. For Takahashi, this has included losing a foothills home to wildfire in 2010 – followed by other extreme wildfires elsewhere in Colorado in years to follow – along with the catastrophic flooding in Boulder County and along the Front Range in 2013.

After “wrestling” with an insurance company, the Takahashis were able to purchase another home, this time in the City of Boulder. He said they decided to test how far they could take this 60-year-old home toward climate neutrality, and embarked on a project that has since included better insulation, putting up solar panels, and changing out gas-powered appliances in favor of electrification (click here for a short video). The home has been fossil fuel-free since 2017, and he said he hopes Boulder can learn from the recent fires and floods to prepare for a climate future that might also include severe heat waves.

ON THE ISSUES

Housing: After being asked a question about a number of reasonably large attached housing unit projects planned or under construction in Boulder, like Waterview or the Boulder Armory, Takahashi said he would like to see emphasis given to smaller infill projects within town. He said some of these projects could provide “missing-middle” housing affordable for middle-income earners, additional housing units to help take a bite out of Boulder’s jobs-housing imbalance, plus jobs and income for construction companies smaller than the firms typically working on larger-scale development. Also, he said infill development would not require new infrastructure like roads or water/sewer/electric lines.

However, he believes the smaller construction companies would need more expeditious city approval processes than the current status quo, since they would have loans and would need to start work to make the payments. Economically, he said localized work and new housing opportunities might create multiplier effects where income circulates throughout the community, and he supports having enough amenities in an area to create “15-minute neighborhoods” where people might not need to drive for everyday needs. He would not eliminate single-family zoning throughout Boulder, but said it could make sense to consider missing-middle infill projects in areas zoned single-family today near convenient transportation or transit corridors.

Takahashi said it will be important to have robust public input in projects of the future, but he would prefer it to start earlier in the process so people can identify issues and weigh in before the outcomes are largely determined. The city recently formed a Public Participation Working Group after a contentious Folsom Street protected bike lane project, and Takahashi said he believes the final report with recommendations for public process improvements is now sitting “on some shelf gathering quite a bit of dust.” But he mentioned one Working Group recommendation of engaging the public when issues are being defined, and added that Boulder has many intelligent citizens able to formulate good ideas, so he favors utilizing this talent to help create solutions that will make a difference in future quality of life.

CU-South: Takahashi lives close to the CU-South property, not far from the area where residential development might eventually take place. During an early September interview, he had a number of problems with the way the CU-South annexation process seemed to be heading. First, he said he questioned why flood mitigation to protect residents living in the West Valley area near CU-South was “so tightly coupled” with a need for major development elsewhere on the property. He also mentioned that it did not make sense to only mitigate to 100-year flood levels, partially because the marginal financial cost to mitigate to higher levels was far less than the possible cost of damage from the next major flood.

He said the portion of CU-South slated for development, currently primarily a greenfield, seemed like it could have been a “holy place” before Europeans settled on Arapahoe land, and added that it’s “breathtakingly beautiful” but could be lost only to be replaced with expanses of concrete, asphalt, and buildings. Also, he said city residents will be paying for quite a bit of the necessary new infrastructure, plus will continue paying for maintenance of the infrastructure, in essence saddling future generations with expenses that tax revenue from the project may not cover.

Takahashi supported the “Let the Voters Decide on Annexation of CU-South” ballot measure, and said he signed the petition to put it on the ballot. But if development moves forward anyway, he suggested that CU should use its resources in environmental design, architecture, hydrology, and engineering to create a project “on that fragile site that has zero impact. It would be famous around the world.”

Governance: According to Takahashi, Boulder’s government is a four-legged stool – City Council, boards and commissions, city staff, and the public – but the public involvement part is suffering. He re-emphasized that it’s important to give members of the public some opportunity for ownership in projects and plans, partially by letting them weigh in on both problems and solutions.

He said he joined the Community Council of the Boulder Shambhala Community after a challenging time for the community, and was asked why he wanted to serve. In response, he reminded people they were meeting on tribal lands, and said it was important to remember that 150 years ago, tribal cultures in the area underwent disruptions that “make our current disruptions pale in comparison.” Next, he pointed to a Yumi bow in the room, and said the bow actually gets its energy from being flexible and able to bend without breaking. Takahashi believes we are at a point as a society where we’re losing this flexibility, and as a result when things break, “they really break.” Translations of the name Takahashi can actually mean “bridge”, and he said he hopes to be a bridge-builder if elected to City Council.

Homelessness: Takahashi is an interfaith organizer, and noted that different faiths may share some common values, such as charity or compassion. He said he hopes faith-based communities can step up to help “alleviate the suffering of homelessness,” and brought up the example of Alan Graham, who founded an organization in Austin, Texas called “Mobile Loaves and Fishes.” He said the organization started out running food trucks for people experiencing homelessness, but it grew to the point where it’s establishing a “Community First! Village“, offering amenities including housing, restrooms and showers, kitchens, and more. Takahashi also noted that Graham worked on “coordinated entry,” including trying to figure out what kind of help a person truly needed, and to see if the right type of assistance might get a person’s life on track or back on track.

Takahashi said he definitely disagreed with the Council’s 2021 decision to approve a $2.7 million package of programs to clear encampments and patrol public spaces using policing and non-policing resources, though the package did include elements of trying to match people experiencing homelessness with the services they need. He might support spending additional city money on services, but said he’d like to investigate whether organizations like the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless could do what’s needed cheaper than typical city programs. But he repeatedly mentioned that his most important objectives would include making sure people could be connected with proper services and needs, and that it’s vital to try to restore peoples’ broken dignity.

Public Safety: Takahashi’s daughter recently moved to Los Angeles, and he said one of the first things she needed to do was spend money installing an anti-theft cage around the catalytic converter on her car. He also said he more or less expects that his bike could get stolen in Boulder. But he said he didn’t believe that crime in Boulder was completely a Boulder problem, since certain issues might be regional or even broader. For examples, the shooter from the March King Soopers tragedy in Boulder actually lived in Arvada, while much of the pollution leading to Boulder’s horrible summer air quality came from somewhere else. Takahashi said he’d prefer larger-scale legislative action, including state laws, over “piecemeal” local actions or facing future decision points where the composition of the Council might make all the difference.

Transportation: As part of managing greenhouse gas emissions, Takahashi offered a few ideas to encourage people to use alternative modes of transportation. He suggested setting up a system of “alternative transportation mode freeways” in which the city might close selected north-south routes to cars during specific times such as rush hours, and these streets would be open only to vehicles such as bikes or e-bikes, scooters, or even electric skateboards. He also favors the idea of bringing trailers along the lines of the city’s “block party trailer” to residential neighborhoods, equipped with technicians who could help people maintain or learn how to maintain their bikes, which he believes could encourage more people to get out of their cars and onto bicycles.

Still, it’s likely people will continue to drive and Boulder suffers from heavy traffic jams during rush hours, so Takahashi suggested being flexible with managing traffic patterns at rush hours. One option could include using “swing lanes” to switch the direction of selected roadway lanes, so for example there might be an extra lane coming into Boulder and one fewer lane going out in the morning, then one extra lane heading out of Boulder and one less coming in during the afternoon rush.

Bedrooms Are For People: According to Takahashi, the Bedrooms Are For People ballot measure “solves a problem – it’s just not the problem I’m trying to solve.” The measure would increase occupancy limits for non-related residents, but Takahashi believes people simply paying rent to live in rental bedrooms generally do not build the equity that can help them afford housing ownership later in life. He suggested instead that options like an ownership cooperative model might allow a person to sell a share when they’re ready to move, therefore potentially building equity, ownership, and the dignity that can come with ownership.

CONNECTIONS

Endorsements: Takahashi received an endorsement from Sierra Club Indian Peaks Group.

Contributions: Takahashi has received maximum $100 individual contributions from former Council members Crystal Gray and Susan Osborne, with Lisa Morzel at $50.

Digital Presence:
Website: https://dtakahashi4bouldercouncil.com/