Tom Tobiassen

1. Why has homelessness increased exponentially in the metro area? What specifically do

you plan to do about it?

I am not an expert on homelessness but over the years as an RTD Board member I have worked with the Denver Rescue Mission, the Colfax Community Network the Aurora Police Department and others on various homeless issues. I have often responded directly to constituents that have written to the Board with problems hoping for help from RTD. Of course, public transportation is critically important for the homeless and disability communities. As an RTD Board member I advocated for allocating $7M in discounted fares to regional non-profits in order to help their clients access transportation.  Is it enough?  It’s never enough.  The problem is huge!  As an Aurora City Council member, I will advocate for the homeless and for people with disabilities working on programs related to addiction recovery, job training, jobs, transition housing, affordable permanent housing, crisis interdiction / management, etc. while working with organizations that specialize in these programs.  There is much to be done and I will continue advocate for those most vulnerable.

2. What are the top issues that your community wants you to address?

There are many – with the restrictions of Tabor and Gallagher, the city’s budget is stretched. There is need for additional fire / EMS resources, fire stations, equipment, training, personnel, etc.  With 50 police officers retiring annually, there is a need to hire and train police officers at an astonishing rate. The shortage of housing has led to an escalation of housing prices that has made it difficult for people earning a modest wage to afford a good place to live for themselves and their families. Over half of our community is made up of immigrants and minorities that struggle for affordable housing and job opportunities. Providing and attracting good paying, sustainable jobs for today’s generation and generations to come is critical to sustain a high quality of life in our city. Education opportunities are important for our residents that ensure a decent job and sustainable salary is critical for stable families. Safe places for our children to play, learn, explore and exercise are critical for our future generations.  There are many top issues.

a. How do you know these are the top issues?

As an RTD Board member, I have worked in our community on many of these issues.  During my term I worked to move the RTD FasTracks program forward creating thousands of jobs during the great recession. President Obama supported our efforts with ARRA grants. Twice a year I went to Washington DC and lobbied our congressional delegation to express the importance of these grants for our region. I’ve worked with RTD staff and local housing authorities to ensure affordable housing was / is being built at light rail stations. I worked with then Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates to acquire an used RTD para-transit van to help the homeless on very cold winter nights. The bottom line is that I have been involved at many levels in our community working directly with constituents, non-profits and public sector staff on many of these issues.

3. Our jails are overcrowded, what specifically will you do about it?

I am not an expert on our criminal justice system and jail overcrowding.  I will work with advocacy groups, specialist attorneys along with city and county judicial staffs to evaluate the jailing policy and procedures to see if there are ways to reduce the jailed population while reducing recidivism with programs that help individuals exiting the system.

4. Why do you think that African Americans are overrepresented in the jail and prison populations?

I am not super knowledgeable on this question but I know it is a problem and I commit to working with experts in this area to find ways to permanently reduce the number of African Americans involved in the jail / prison system.

5. How can you bring more green and technology industries to CO?

As a city council member,  I will continue have the ability to advocate for high quality, efficient Leeds certified construction of new homes and buildings. I considered this to be important during my tenure as an Aurora Planning and Zoning Commissioner.

In 1998 myself and a small group of bicycle enthusiasts started Bicycle Aurora which has advocated for improved bicycle facilities along with a safe and connected trail/bike route system in Aurora.  Our group has provided over $20K in contributions toward bike racks in public spaces along with matching grants for trails and open spaces. Today we are working with bike share organizations to bring the latest technology in a “non-docking” bicycle program to the Anschutz Medical Campus with hopes of it spreading to a much larger area.

I will work toward requiring all appropriate city owned vehicles to run on renewable, clean fuel sources.

I will work toward attracting clean energy research firms along with clean energy technical training institutions.

As and RTD Board member I pushed for a 100% electric bus fleet on the 16th Street Mall. I pushed for an electrified commuter rail system to DIA, Arvada and Thornton, I have pushed to explore an all electric bus fleet for RTD which I believe is possible in the next 12 years.

I think I’ve been moving the needle toward clean, renewable energy – not just talking about it. I am committed to green technology in Colorado.

6. How will the council/commission work with the city and state for infrastructure and transportation?

For over 20 years one of my passions for Aurora has been transportation infrastructure.  I started Bicycle Aurora and advocated for bicycle and pedestrian facilities as a member of the Citizens’ Budget Advisory Committee, as a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission, as a member of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee, as a member of the RTD Board of Directors and as a member of the Denver Regional Council of Government’s (DRCOG) Regional Transportation Committee (RTC).

Over the past 20 years I have worked on several iterations of the Aurora Comprehensive Plan, the Northwest Aurora Bicycle / Pedestrian Plan, the more recent Aurora Bike / Ped Master Plan, the Aurora Streets Design Guides, The Parks and Open Space Master Plan, The Arapahoe County Bike / Ped Master Plan,  and many more plans.

As the RTD Board member representing Aurora, I have been heavily involved in providing public transportation in Aurora including the recent addition of light rail and improved bus service.

I will continue to advocate for all people to provide the best, most efficient and most affordable transportation options to our community.  I will especially advocate for people with disabilities that are transit dependent, people of low and modest incomes and families.

7. What will be your first major focus if elected

1 – Bringing civil discussions and respect to the Aurora City Council.

2 – With the recent retirement announcement from Skip Noe, hiring a new City Manager will be high on my priority list.  As an RTD Board member, I was involved with the hiring of two General Managers, Phil Washington and Dave Genova.  I consider the hiring of the best possible City / General Manager to be the most important job that the City Council / RTD Board has.  The City Manager will set the tone and relationship of city government for the next decade or longer.

8. Define what affordable housing vs low income housing means for your district. How will you solve the lack of each?

I try to refer to work force housing or modest wage earner housing.  I consider low income to be a derogatory term.  We have a housing crisis in the Aurora – Denver region caused by a shortage of housing price options. A situation has developed where we cannot build owner occupied, starter home options for people entering the workforce, coming to America or starting families.  We need to work with our state legislature to create an environment where entry level owner occupied housing can be built and work with developers and builders to invest in quality projects that people of modest means can afford.

My son is a Denver Paramedic and a modest wage earner.  Folks like him, teachers, fire fighters, etc are passionate about their careers and deserve the ability to pursue the American dream of a good job, a home, a family and a community they are proud to serve.

9. What is your county/city policy regarding access to city/county contracts by companies owned by African Americans?

As an RTD Board member I strongly supported RTD’s DBE and SBE programs.  I also strongly supported the very specific DBE and SBE goals that RTD imposed on RTD contracts. I would support similar programs in Aurora that are enforced by a Civil Rights Division within the city government similar to what we did at RTD.

a. Do they make any efforts to make sure that MBE/WBE have an opportunity to see the RFPs?

There are mechanisms for qualifying DBE and SBE organizations within RTD, Denver and CDOT.  I am not aware of any programs for specifically qualifying MBE or WBE companies. This is a bigger question that should be looked at by the big players like RTD / Denver / CDOT / State of Colorado and I would be happy to participate in these discussions and work with advocates of these programs.