Remarks by Matt Benjamin
33 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 2 of 2
- Play at 3:56:32
“Yeah, I thought what Nicole said was spot on. I'll just add that, you know, We can Monday quarterback this and how we got there till we're blue in the face, but that doesn't change the situation that's presented directly in front of us, which is massive needs of capital infrastructure. And we have really one vehicle to do that. We've exhausted many other options to look at figuring how to do this. And there's two things, cheap, fast, good, pick two. And we have needs that are urgent. So we have to do it fast, which means are we going to sacrifice quality or expense? Well, it's going to have…”
City Council · Aug 6, 2026
- Play at 4:15:47
“Go ahead and make a motion to adopt Ordinance 8759, submitting to the electors of the City of Boulder at the regular municipal coordinated election to be held on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026. The question of raising taxes in the City of Boulder by the adoption of a vacancy excise tax imposed on homes that are occupied for 183 days or less per year, with such amount to increase annually in accordance with the Denver Aurora Lakewood Consumer Price Index Act. to support general city services specifying the form of the ballot and other election procedures and setting forth related details.”
City Council · Aug 6, 2026
- Play at 4:16:24
“Yeah. I mean, I've been a long advocate of this really since I got on council. And so I think it's great that we're at this place where we can look at not just thinking about change behavior. But in many ways, this is repatriating sales tax revenue that would otherwise come to our community if these houses were occupied. If you want to have a long-term lease, great. People are spending money in our city. If you want to have short-term leasing, great. People are spending money in our city. But to have a house to just sit on it empty is actually causing more harm to the city than is necessary.…”
City Council · Aug 6, 2026
- Play at 4:32:21
“Thanks Aaron. I've been saying for quite a while that the city needs to move to a mantra. Those of you that watch Ted Lasso, they believe over the door. Ours should be much a little bit more focused, which is yes and here's how versus no and here's why. And for far too long, the city has said no and here's why. And yet, the few councils I've been a part of have been talking the talk about we are open for business. We are saying the taboo word of economic development. We are creating a brand new department to focus on economic development. And yet, here we are. This is where we get to put…”
City Council · Aug 6, 2026
- Play at 4:56:11
“All right. I make a motion to adopt Ordinance 8763, number one, determining the necessity of establishing a Boulder Downtown Development Authority, and two, submitting to the qualified electors of the proposed Downtown Development Authority at the regular municipal coordinated election to be held on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026. The question concerning the formation of of the Boulder Downtown Development Authority and a ballot issue to waive applicable revenue and spending limits in the city of Boulder, Colorado, declaring the necessity for an election on November 3rd, 2026 concerning the…”
City Council · Aug 6, 2026
- Play at 5:02:57
“Matt, and then maybe we can get to the vote. I'll try to clear this up. So the plan of development gets done after you pass the DDA. That was always the process, the known process. That's always when and where the engagement would take place, because that's the only time in which you can define the plan of development. So it can't be done on the front end. That's the process in which it works. So Aaron's right. I mean, front running this doesn't really do anything. Because you have to do that work after you've established the DDA. And then you have the sequence. It's the sequencing that we…”
City Council · Aug 6, 2026
- Play at 5:09:04
“So my question has to do with staffing, right? I think a fair amount of staff were expecting this to be buttoned up one way or the other and move on to other projects. So what are we giving up?”
City Council · Aug 6, 2026
- Play at 5:46:52
“Does having that transit system have a negligible to zero impact because we can manage that through our zoning and also the mandates from the transit oriented communities bill that already puts density standards and bonuses within distances of transit. So it's effectively mandated whether it's in here or not. Is that correct?”
City Council · Aug 6, 2026