Jacques Decalo
Jacques Decalo is a candidate for a seat on Boulder City Council in 2023. If he wins one of four seats, he would earn a three-year term expiring in 2026, though he could run again in 2026. He ran in 2021, finishing tenth in a race for five seats with about 3,900 votes in his first run for office.
Q – Why are you running again?
According to Decalo, since running in 2021 he has gained more community support, better understanding of relevant City of Boulder issues, and better knowledge about the processes involved with serving on City Council. He said he ran in 2021 in part to get his ideas about issues including environmental policy and sustainability out into the public, and to learn which environmentalists in the community might support his platform.
This year, while he says he’s still very focused on environmental issues, he has educated himself on issues including affordable housing and housing in general, the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, local and regional transportation, how to better manage the impacts of in-commuters coming into Boulder for work or education, and the University of Colorado’s role in local development and housing.
“I’m totally committed to making sure Boulder can be the most sustainable city possible. As technology increases, and we have more access to sustainable building tools and green energy, there’s no reason why we should continue to delay our advancement,” said Decalo.
Mini-Life Story
Decalo was born in north Boulder, and stayed in Boulder until leaving for college. He went to Mesa Elementary School, Southern Hills Middle School, and Fairview High School before transferring to Catalyst High School in Lafayette.
He enrolled at Western Washington University to study in its Huxley College of the Environment, then took a gap year after starting college to attend the Leadville-based High Mountain Institute to better understand environmental stewardship and protection. This led to work in the Utah desert with the Access Fund – an organization dedicated to keeping climbing routes open – and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). He also visited Chile and Argentina, spending time in the newly dedicated Parque Patagonia.
He finished his college degree with the Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington, with a concentration in Hemp Policy and Sustainability. After graduating in 2019, he tried to operate several CBD business but found “the market was saturated.” He came back to Boulder, and has been helping take care of his father since returning. He landed a job as a Tesla Advisor, helping Tesla customers find correct configurations for their vehicles and assisting them with solar operations. Today, he works as a salesperson for Sunrun Solar, in part helping potential customers understand the right system of solar panels for their needs, and considering utility factors associated with solar including connection fees and net metering.
His campaign website is https://www.jacquesforcouncil.org/
Q – You’re one of two Boulder-born candidates, and one of the youngest. How do these factors shape your perspective?
Decalo said he’s seen during his lifetime how Boulder has shifted from was once considered “more of a sleepy college town” to a “bustling tech hub college town.” This has led to growth in population even with growth limitation measures in place, plus shifts in the economy, and in both cases Decalo said sustainability hasn’t always factored enough into how the city has grown. For example, he said CU’s enrollment growth has placed burdens on the Boulder community in ways that have “pushed families out of places like the Hill,” as well as contributing to rent increases across the city, and a more difficult environment for families to find housing in general.
Housing: Affordable and/or Not Affordable
To help address challenges with affordable housing in Boulder, Decalo supports what he calls “appropriate infill,” some new construction but incorporating sustainability through strategies such as solar panels with battery storage and greywater recycling, and potentially increasing funding for affordable housing through the city’s Cash In Lieu system and linkage fees.
However, he said Boulder has an “inelastic market” for housing, thanks in part to the reasons that can make it desirable to live in Boulder such as natural beauty, a “great University,” access to well-paying jobs, and “anything essentially anyone could want except an ocean. No matter how many units we add, there will always be more demand…so we really have to say ‘When is enough enough?’” said Decalo.
Through increased linkage fees for affordable housing, Decalo believes it could help both pay for affordable housing and make sure new businesses coming to Boulder help support the housing necessary for potential new employees. He added that affordability needs to be a consideration in housing discussions, noting that there were no affordability requirements in a recent Council decision to increase occupancy limits across the city.
He followed discussions around the state Senate Bill 23-213, which would have set up land use standards for a number of cities across the state. He said there were good ideas in the bill, but said he did not believe the state should pass down mandates when cities and regions can work on housing issues in ways that suit local concerns. Decalo also noted that state mandates might put Boulder in a situation where they might have to develop in ways that other cities would be fine with, but might be in opposition to long-standing community standards such as avoiding sprawl and keeping tall buildings from blocking out views to the west. He believes the state should respect Boulder’s home rule authority, which is spelled out in Boulder’s City Charter (editor’s note, try Charter Section 2 (g) to better understand his reference).
He said redeveloping the Boulder Municipal Airport into an area for housing could be promising into the future, but there are difficulties considering it at this time because of uncertainties around what the city might owe the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the presence of a robust local aviation community that uses the airport. He noted that some current uses of the airport might still be available if it was repurposed, such as using newer ground-level technology to detect methane emissions as opposed to airplanes, and said there are nearby airports in Broomfield and Longmont in case Boulder becomes unavailable into the future.
In general, Decalo supports robust neighborhood discussions when there are large-scale development proposals to make sure all voices are heard fairly. He also favors making sure regional transportation connections exist so people can commute to Boulder without a car if they choose to live outside of Boulder or can’t find the housing that’s right for them – but in all cases he said Boulder should consider sustainability as part of the equation.
“Boulder’s population is already pushing our capacity limit. We have a finite amount of resources, and we have a fragile ecosystem that can’t necessarily handle huge increases in population,” said Decalo.
Climate and Natural Lands
Decalo supports expanding the use of solar energy in Boulder, including through solar gardens or by utilizing empty roof space on larger commercial buildings, but said there can be impediments including utility connection fees and whether net metering benefits favor the customer. He said if elected he hopes to work with the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and Xcel Energy to help make solar more affordable for potential new users, plus he supports increasing grant funding availability for people using solar panels and/or battery storage.
As mentioned earlier, he also hopes to bolster “sustainable multimodal transportation” in town. He noted there has been a modest city program providing grants for e-bikes, and said the city should increase the e-bike program plus provide more access to charging stations, in part because there can be “range anxiety” for e-bike users like there has been for electric car users, since people don’t want their batteries to run down before they reach their destinations. He added that there are regional bike paths by which bike and e-bike users can reach other nearby cities, but wants to see more and better local connections to these paths in the interests of safety and convenience.
Decalo also supports not letting the city’s historically strong focus on Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) lands fade away. He said it’s important to keep an eye on issues including preventing the spread of invasive plant species, and educating the public about trail etiquette so they don’t create unofficial trails that can damage vegetation and contribute to erosion.
Local Political Polarization
Decalo said he has noticed local political polarization, which has “always existed in politics,” but said he hopes to work to avoid situations where people refuse to shift their views based on which factions they’re associated with.
He said it’s important to increase “proper dialog” to make sure all voices are heard, and for political players to adjust to new situations without holding a grudge over decisions they didn’t like. For example, he said he didn’t fully agree with the occupancy limit decision, but would support future dialog in case there are ways for proponents and opponents to “meet half-way” and consider ways to improve or adjust the city’s policies.
Crime
In late August, Decalo said he considers Boulder a “very safe city” for the most part, although property crimes and theft (bike, car, laptop) are problematic. He lived in Washington state for about five years, and noted for comparison that Seattle is “horribly overrun” with crime, theft, open drug use, murder, and other problems. He said Boulder should consider how cities including Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco have not taken the right approaches to limiting crime, such as Seattle’s response of setting up safe injection sites as opposed to providing sufficient resources for rehabilitation, getting people off the streets, or mental health facilities.
Decalo said the city might be able to take a bite out of property crime through communications, such as letting people know where there are areas experiencing higher rates of crime, and helping them understand how to protect themselves – for example using bike trackers, high-quality locks, and keeping possessions within sight.
Homelessness
Growing up in Boulder, Decalo said there have “always” been people experiencing homelessness in Boulder, but doesn’t think it was as big an issue years ago as it is now. He said the use of hard drugs, including meth and fentanyl, is a factor that’s contributing to people disengaging from and disregarding their surrounding society. He noted again that the city should learn from mistakes in cities like Seattle and San Francisco, and said Boulder already spends more on homelessness than other nearby cities, but the city still needs to work toward providing housing opportunities and programs to help people better their situations.
He supports making sure there is access to services to address issues including addiction, drug abuse, and mental health needs. He mentioned plans to create a day shelter in Boulder, but questioned whether it might be better to have one 24-hour shelter instead of a day shelter and night shelter in separate locations – “giving people an opportunity to remain in one place, instead of feeling moved around.”
Decalo noted that “the unhoused” are not a monolithic population, since there are people who might be homeless for financial or other reasons and might benefit in the longer run from adequate services, but there are others who don’t want to respect authority, who can contribute to real problems including crime, environmental contamination, and open drug use.
“Once someone else’s freedoms infringe on another person’s freedoms and right to feel safe in a free and public space, that’s really where we need to intervene,” said Decalo.
Safe Zones (Question 302)
Decalo said he was a “strong yes” on Ballot Question 302, the Safe Zones 4 Kids ballot measure, saying “we need to prioritize kids’ safety.”
Sales Tax Extension with 50% of Revenue to Arts (Issue 2A)
In late August, Decalo still had concerns about Ballot Issue 2A, partially because he wasn’t certain the city would have enough funding available in case of another emergency if it earmarks significant funding for the arts. He added that the arts community is an important part of the community, and hopes the city will make sure it represents the indigenous peoples in Boulder if the ballot measure passes.
