Longmont Mayor Joan Peck has announced her plans to run for reelection.
Peck told the Longmont Leader in a Friday phone interview that she had several priorities she wants to keep working on. Peck was elected mayor in 2021 after serving as a council member for six years.
“There are some things that we have in the works that I would like to see completed,” she said.
One of those projects is the passenger rail. Longmont has contributed over $60 million to the Regional Transportation District for FasTracks nearly two decades, but the rail has yet to come to Longmont.
“I want to be a big voice in that because, actually, I’m pushing it,” Peck said. “If we don’t get that, if we don’t have some out-of-the box thinking on how we can get this done, then I am going to make a motion to get out of RTD (FasTracks).”
While Peck expects that to be a big focus if reelected, she has several other priorities as well. For example, she wants to continue collaboration with the faith community, residents and Boulder County to address the challenge of homelessness in the area.
Peck also spoke to a change she recently made to the procedure at city council meetings. Specifically, the mayor has started enforcing a rule that only allows Longmont residents and city employees to speak during the first round of public comment.
“Sometimes because we have so many people speaking who actually don’t live here, the business part of our meeting gets pushed down lower and gets pretty late at night,” she said. “It isn’t about eliminating free speech, it’s about managing our business meetings so that we can get the business of the city done.”
She noted that anyone can speak on second readings of ordinances or during the final call for public comment, which happens near the end of city council meetings.
No one else has yet announced their intentions to run for the mayoral position. Incumbent Councilmembers Sean McCoy and Susie Hidalgo-Fahring are running again for their seats, and two candidates — Harrison Earl and Ethan Augreen — have announced their candidacies for city council Ward I.
Candidates will not be considered certified until they have completed the nomination process, which will not be done until August.
