Mayor Joan Peck speaks during a ground breaking ceremony on July 28, 2022. Peck has announced she will be seeking re-election. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
Longmont Mayor Joan Peck made up her mind about whether or not to run for re-election after speaking with family and considering some unfinished business.
The verdict?
“Yep,” Peck said in an interview Wednesday. “I need two more years.”
For Peck, bringing a commuter line connecting Union Station in Denver to Longmont remains a top priority. As mayor, Peck said that she has networked with state, county and municipal officials concerning the rail and did not want to lose those connections or squander the long-awaited project’s momentum.
“The train means absolutely everything that our city is trying to do,” Peck said, citing the need for more transit-oriented development and alternative modes of transportation.
With Longmont’s population having surpassed 100,000 people and showing no signs of slowing down, city officials will undoubtedly continue to review development proposals in the months and years to come.
Peck said the need for housing is “great on many levels” but made clear that new developments needed to go up in appropriate areas of the city with adequate infrastructure.
“I don’t agree, totally, that every single infill or blank piece of dirt in our city should be an apartment building,” Peck said. “We have corridors that definitely lend themselves to apartment building.”
Peck was elected as an at-large councilmember in 2015 and was re-elected in 2019. In 2021, Peck vacated the at-large seat after being elected as the city’s mayor.
Throughout Peck’s time on the council, homelessness and trying to assist the city’s unhoused residents, have been persistent challenges. Peck insisted that mental health and addiction recovery services must be taken into account when discussing such topics.
“These are ongoing conversations that I’m having with staff, with our faith community,” Peck said. “It’ll never be solved completely, but how can we manage it?”
In accordance with the city charter, Longmont’s mayor earns $1,500 per month.
Having served on the council throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Peck knows how people’s shopping habits — namely more people ordering items and services online — have impacted the city’s sales tax revenue.
Peck wants to ensure that online sales tax gets collected and that businesses without a brick and mortar location still pay their fair share.
“I think that’s really important,” Peck said. “As we go to the ballot all the time asking for more sales tax… we better be collecting what is owed.”
In addition to the mayoral and council races that will appear on the ballot in November, residents will also likely be asked whether or not to increase their taxes to fund amenities such as a performing arts center, a new branch library and an additional rec center.
The exact ballot questions have yet to be finalized.
Peck did not say, specifically, which of the proposed amenities she favored but hoped whatever voters select would serve the “largest portion” of the community.
“I’m particularly interested in our kids,” Peck said. “Whichever will address activities, things, places… for our youth to go. I think, for me, that is the most important.”
