PRIORITIES
My priorities are to keep local control and land use decisions in the hands of Cherry Hills Village, protect public safety, preserve and enhance our parks, trails and open spaces, improve cell coverage and traffic flow and reconsider E-Bike regulations, and maintain sound financial management.
INFRASTRUCTURE
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Why Does It Matter: Infrastructure supports our ability to communicate, move through the city, and receive services and access utilities. As pressures outside of the City increase, so does the pressure on our infrastructure.
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Susan’s Position: I will continue to push to improve cell coverage, improve traffic flow, minimize cut through traffic and re-examine e-bike usage in the City.
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Relevant Action and Experience:
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When efforts to find a way to improve cell phone coverage without use of tax payer funds floundered, Susan called for exploring and understanding solutions with the use of taxpayer funds. Susan believed that the cost could be justified if it resulted in materially improved cell coverage.
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Susan connected the city staff with Boost, a division of Dish Network, and significant progress was made towards a potential 14 tower small cell system when Boost terminated the project due to a sale of its bandwidth.
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Susan supported a traffic study to examine and understand changing patterns of traffic through the City
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Susan Supports:
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Continue discussions with Crown Castle for improvements to cell existing coverage.
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Finalize the current traffic study and examine ways to manage increased traffic through the City, keeping traffic on the main arterials and off the residential streets.
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Re-examine e-bike restrictions and find safe parameters that protect the needs of cyclists, pedestrians and equestrians.
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KEEP ZONING LOCAL
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Why Does It Matter: The Colorado General Assembly has passed legislation that imposes a wave of "one-size-fits-all" zoning and land use regulations on municipalities across the State. If we don't fight these mandates the City will lose the right to decide what our community wants it to be, a semi-rural urban oasis. Already the state has dictated that Cherry Hills needs to allow over 3000 new housing units, up to 40 per acre in some parts of the City, more than doubling the number of housing units in the City today.
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Susan’s Position: I believe these regulations represent an unconstitutional preemption of zoning authority that has always belonged to local home rule communities like Cherry Hills Village.
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Relevant Actions:
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Susan voted in favor of Resolution 28, Series 2025 supporting home rule municipalities in litigation against the state and affirming Cherry Hills' authority over local land use and zoning.
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Susan voted in favor of An Ordinance To Amend the Home Rule Charter Affirming the City's Home Rule Authority Over Land Use and Zoning for the November ballot.
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Susan is a founding member of the Preserving Local Zoning Authority committee to support passage of the ballot issue regarding Home Rule authority to regulate the use of land in November.
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Susan Supports:
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Continue to support litigation against the state.
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Preserve funds to allow Cherry Hills to defend a suit from the state or individuals attempting to enforce the unconstitutional legislation passed by the state.
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Continue lobbying with state legislators to prevent further action on this issue.
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PUBLIC SAFETY
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Why Does It Matters: Although we have seen a 35% to 60% decrease in different types of crime in the last 3½ years, we want to ensure that our police force is able to deliver the highest level of service to our community with transparency, accountability and professionalism.
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Susan’s Position: We must continue to invest in technology and career training for the development of our police officers. Resources must not only include weapons and equipment, but also training and mental health support for our officers.
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Relevant Actions:
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Susan voted in favor of Resolution No. 42, Series 2023 providing coverage for the police department in the Fire and Police Pension Association for City Police Officers.
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Susan voted in favor of Ordinance 4, Series 2024 providing funds to hire three additional police officers to fully staff the police department.
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Susan voted in favor of Ordinance 3, Series 2026 providing supplemental funds for the purchase of police equipment and officer wellness initiatives.
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Susan Supports: Continued investment in technologies and training to maintain the high levels of service and police satisfaction to ensure we have the highest level of protection for our residents.
PARK TRAILS AND OPEN SPACES
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Why Does It Matter: The City Master Plan provides that the City shall "preserve, enhance and expand" parks, trails and open spaces and preserve Quincy Farm for the enjoyment and education of current and future residents.
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Susan’s Position: I will continue to prioritize protection of our open spaces, parks and trails and look for opportunities to expand our open spaces and parks and increase the interconnectivity of our trails.
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Relevant Action and Experience:
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Susan's prior experience as Executive Director of Cherry Hills Land Preserve evidences her record as supporting Quincy Farm and parks, trails and open spaces in the Village.
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Susan has supported significant improvements at Quincy Farm, including renovation of the big barn, dredging of the pond, new signage, a new bridge connecting the east and west sides of the Farm and significant landscaping repair and improvement.
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Susan Supports:
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Continue to look for opportunities to expand our parks and increase trail connectivity.
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Maintain adequate funds in our park budgets to maintain and protect our parks and open spaces.
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SOUND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
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Why Does It Matter: The City must have a sound financial condition to be able to deliver quality services to the public.
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Susan Position: We are fortunate to have a city staff that takes great pride and care in managing City resources. We must continue to manage our resources in a prudent and thoughtful manner, with a careful eye to long range planning and needs.
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Relevant Action and Experience:
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Susan's professional career involved managing complex transactions and issues.
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During the 4 years while Susan has been on Council, the City has come in under budget every year and has fully funded and maintained a healthy reserve of two times annual operating expenses.
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City finances are in such good shape that the Council has directed the staff to prepare a 2027 budget that includes a tax moratorium with respect to the Cherry Hills' portion of every resident's property taxes in 2027, a benefit of $3,800 on average for every homeowner.
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Susan Supports: Continue to prioritize sound, efficient and effective management of City resources and fiscal affairs.
