Boulder County is divided into three districts for Commissioner’s races, and this year’s only race is for the District 3 seat. All county voters can vote in this race.

Boulder County Commissioners serve as the executive board for Boulder County. The three-person Board casts binding votes on county ordinances and resolutions, and oversees key County departments such as the Sheriff’s Office, County Clerk and Recorder, Treasurer, Housing and Human Services, Transportation, Public Health, Parks and Open Space, and others. Boulder County is divided into three geographic districts, and each of the three Commissioners must reside in the district that they’re running in, but Commissioners are elected at-large since all County voters can vote for candidates running in all districts.

Commissioners serve staggered four-year terms, and in 2022 there will only be an election in District 3, which primarily spans Louisville, Lafayette, Superior, Erie, Gunbarrel, and unincorporated areas in southeastern Boulder County. The current District 3 Commissioner Matt Jones has decided not to run for a second term, so this is considered an “open seat” since there are no incumbents running. There are only two candidates in this year’s race, so the candidate with a simple majority of votes will earn a four-year term, and Commissioners are limited to two four-year terms in office.

Ashley Stolzmann, Democrat

Ashley Stolzmann

Ashley Stolzmann, currently the Mayor of Louisville, is the Democratic Party’s nominee for Boulder County Commissioner in District 3. Stolzmann defeated fellow Democratic candidate Elaina Shively in the June 2022 Democratic party primary – by an incredibly close 71-vote margin – to become the nominee.

Stolzmann earned her degree in chemical engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. Politically, she was elected to her first term on Louisville City Council representing Ward III in 2013, and was re-elected to the Ward III seat in 2017. In 2019, she was elected Mayor of Louisville with almost 59% of the vote.

During her time with Louisville Council and as Mayor, she also served as Louisville Finance Committee chair, Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) director, a member of the DRCOG executive committee, Regional Transportation Committee member, a member of the State Transportation Advisory Committee, director and member of the Mile High Flood District board. She has also participated with the Metro Mayors Caucus and the Northwest Mayors and Commissioners Coalition.

According to the Daily Camera, under Stolzmann as Louisville’s Mayor the city “adopted the first Net Zero Building Code in the state and enforced a 25-cent bag tax to reduce plastic waste. She also oversaw efforts to pass Louisville’s initial inclusionary zoning ordinance and create the Louisville’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion task force.”

Some of her top priorities should she be elected Commissioner include:

Disaster Response and Preparedness: Not that disaster management is the only role a Commissioner might deal with, but Stolzmann has served as an elected official through events including the 2013 flood that impacted Louisville plus much of the Front Range, a severe and damaging 2018 hailstorm, a landslide that threatened homes near Coyote Run open space, and of course the recent Marshall Fire that destroyed more than 1,000 properties between Louisville and Superior.

She supports disaster preparedness efforts moving forward including: better notification systems in case of emergency; making sure evacuation routes are established in advance of emergencies, and bolstering “disaster recovery team resources in order to respond to emergencies right from the second they happen.”

Transportation: Part of the purpose of DRCOG is to distribute federal transportation funding to local governments, and Stolzmann has been both a member and director of DRCOG. According to her website, she supported creation of Louisville’s first Transportation Master Plan, also supported multimodal transportation improvements within the city, and intends to work toward getting additional services for Boulder County from RTD’s FasTracks tax and transit program.

Climate: Beyond what’s already been mentioned above, Stolzmann supported Louisville’s first Sustainability Master Plan, supports setting targets to make Boulder County carbon-neutral, favors Open Space land protection and supported the purchase of 165 acres at what is now Mayhoffer Open Space (jointly owned between Louisville, Lafayette, and Boulder County), and acknowledges that climate change can contribute to natural disasters.

Campaign Website: https://stolzmannforbouldercounty.com/

Bo Shaffer, Libertarian

Bo Shaffer

Bo Shaffer, who lives in rural Boulder County, is the current chair of the Libertarian Party of Boulder County and has run for a number of local elected offices. He ran for Boulder County Commissioner in 2008, for the Colorado State House of Representatives in House District 12 in 2010, and for Boulder County Sheriff in 2006, but did not win any of these campaigns.

Shaffer studied ecology at CU-Boulder, zoology at the University of California-Davis, and physics at Tulane University. At UC-Davis, he worked as a vet surgical assistant while finishing his undergraduate degree. He might be best-known among the general public as the “Iceman,” who was responsible for keeping the cryogenically frozen “Frozen Dead Guy” Bredo Morstoel on dry ice near Nederland.

He is the CEO of Delta Technogroup Inc., an environmental consulting business that has been in operation for at least three decades. He was elected to the Board of the Left Hand Water District in 2004, which serves customers in rural Boulder and Weld counties, and was re-elected twice. He is also a current Governor’s appointee to the Inter-Basin Compact Committee (IBCC) of the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB).

According to a review of his book “Colorado’s Iceman and the Story of the Frozen Dead Guy,” Shaffer’s father tended to move when he didn’t like a job, so Shaffer had lived in 50 different places by middle school. His other life experiences have included Army Ranger School in Georgia, working on an oil rig in the Gulf, doing contract work for NASA in Houston, and raising organic goats, chickens and eggs with his wife and children on their ranch. Eventually, Bo moved his family to a ranch in rural Boulder County, where he got into investment properties, politics and water.

Some of his top policy positions for this Commissioner’s race include:

  • Law Enforcement: He supports using non-lethal actions in law enforcement, to both avoid needlessly killing suspects but also to increase trust of law enforcement officers.
  • Economy: Shaffer espouses limited spending and minimal taxation, and prefers funding programs with enterprises or fees.
  • Water: He says the American Southwest is nearing a crisis when it comes to water supplies, and favors serious cuts in usage.
  • COVID: Shaffer opposes mask mandates, but says “education, incentives and even bribes are all on the table.”
  • Government: The Libertarian is in favor of limited government, and opposes needlessly restrictive laws.

Campaign Website: http://bo4boco.com

Richard’s Take

Vote Stolzmann. She’s competent and trained as an engineer, plus she’s paid her dues to quite literally make herself qualified for the demanding job of County Commissioner. This has included more than eight years in local elected office, as well as regional experience through serving with organizations such as DRCOG. It’s a cliché, but she will hit the ground running and most of the ground won’t be completely foreign to her – even in a pretty large county.

I’ve frankly got a lot of good things to say about Shaffer. He’s an intelligent and experienced person, I know him to a certain extent personally, he was a reliable source for Libertarian views when I was a full-time journalist, and I’ve seen him in action as an involved citizen when it comes to Boulder County affairs. He’s definitely no stranger to the 3rd floor Commissioner’s hearing room in the County Courthouse!

Unfortunately for Shaffer, it’s very tough for a Libertarian to win an office in Boulder County, and there’s no way I could call Stolzmann undeserving. I’ve seen a few county races over the past few decades where there was no Republican running and the Libertarian got 20-30% of the vote, and that’s about what I expect this time.