Katherine Cornwell For Denver City Council District 1

My name is Katherine Cornwell and I am running for City Council because

District 1 is on the brink of the largest community investments we will see in a generation and perhaps several generations. With the pending redevelopment of Saint Anthony's, investment in our Main Streets (including Federal, Colfax, and

W. 38th) and the redesign/removal of the Federal-Colfax interchange, we need a representative with a track record of building sustainable cities.

Having spent the last 15 years as a city planner, I am in a unique position to understand the capacity of City Council members to impact their communities through policy development and implementation. I served as Seattle's Sustainable Communities Strategic Advisor. For 8 years in Denver, I served as Senior and Principal City Planner where I co-authored Blueprint Denver, authored plans to revitalize Colfax, developed zoning for our city's Main Streets and created the

Living Streets Initiative. I know what it takes to make a walkable, bikable,

transit-rich city. I started the Sustainable Food Policy Council with Mayor Hickenlooper in 2010 and currently serve as its Director. As a 10-year resident

of Sunnyside, I give back to my community by volunteering as the Director of Operations for the Sunnyside Music Festival and a Board member of

eGo Carshare and Ballet Nouveau Colorado. I am a beekeeper and I run an

800+ member social networking site for urban farmers.

FIVE KEY ISSUES OF MY PLATFORM:

• STRATEGIC GROWTH: Stimulate redevelopment on West Colfax, Federal Boulevard, St. Anthony’s, W. 38th and Light Rail Stations by bringing together our city’s economic development departments, developers, and community stakeholders to achieve the common good. This requires that we right zone the West Colfax area and redesign the Colfax - Federal interchange to reconnect our community, free-up land for housing development, alleviate congestion and restore our Main Streets.

• NEIGHBORHOOD PRESERVATION: Develop a NW Denver Neighborhood Pattern Book to catalogue the character-defining architecture of our community, accompanied by a "permits-on-demand" system that provides an alternative to our cumbersome development review process and promotes our neighborhood's

time-honored architecture.

• LOCAL FOOD ECONOMY: Our community spends over $6 billion each year on food from distant farms and businesses. We can keep that money in our community by supporting local growers and continuing the work with Mile High Business Alliance to develop a West Side Food Lab (commissary kitchen + food business incubator + nutrition education center + market) along the West Corridor Light Rail.

• LOCAL INDEPENDENT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Buying locally keeps jobs and revenue in our community. By supporting our local businesses, we can leverage opportunities with the Mile High Business Alliance to create a community interest loan program to pool local small investor resources in support of independent business development.

• RENEWABLE ENERGY: Implement a smart grid system to reduce utility costs and focus on energy independence via wind and solar power. Create a built environment that encourages walking and biking to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Retrofit Denver's buildings with long-lasting LED lighting to eliminate 90% of the lighting energy demand and maintenance costs.

• JUSTICE FOR LGBT & COMMUNITIES OF COLOR: A criminal justice system that builds trust keeps our communities safe for everyone. There must be a zero tolerance for police brutality. I will implement minimum educational attainment standards for officers within a 5-yr window from hire, create consistent measures that will hold officers accountable, track discrimination and create an environment that reduces reluctance to file complaints.

As a Council member, I will hit the ground running on day one to promote smart growth which balances strategic investment with neighborhood preservation, to foster a healthy community and to create jobs through policies that favor local business. With established relationships throughout city government, the private sector and the non-profit community, I know how to enlist the aid and support of others to extend scarce resources and achieve results. I invite you to look through the pages that follow to learn more about my experience and the issues that define my campaign.

With gratitude,

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