Many of you have figured this out already. For those of you who are just hearing this, there’s more about the context of my decision here.

I would have looked forward to trying to bring our business, development and green communities together, more. I would have looked forward to trying to find ways to keep Boulder affordable for middle class and younger citizens, many of whom are moving out of town or to Denver. I would most of all perhaps have looked forward to studying what other cities our size are doing right, and how, and bringing such green-minded, money-saving innovation to Boulder. Concurrently, I would have looked for ways to share what we’re doing nationally, so that other municipalities could benefit from our experience with Open Space, carbon tax, Climate Smart…the many amazing, innovative works in progress our staff and Council have already come up with. And, of course, it would have been fun, and a great learning experience. After four or five months of meetings and preparations, I was already getting a sense of how much work and fun and learning a run entailed.

Finally, I’d love to encourage any friends and new friends who may have concerned supporting me to check out the candidates, and really be active in the process. There’s some great candidates—so far I like Barry Siff, a businessman with amazing outdoor sports experience, and Tim Plass, who I happened to have coffee with at the Trident the other day. I look forward to learning more about them and the other candidates, and will again be hosting a moderated, public City Council debate with New Era Colorado as part of this Fall’s elephantjournal.com Walk the Talk Show at Naropa University and BMOCA.

Basically, I decided to refocus on elephant (with the encouragement of my Boulder-sized mortgage—City Council pays half what my barista makes per hour, making it tough for anyone but workaholics already holding down a job; or well-off folks; or retirees to run and serve—this is the same reason that played some role in keeping two other great potential candidates out, Dominick Sekich and Ron Tupa).

Also, our Walk the Talk Show has shown potential, and if I can continue to improve as a host, the show may be able to go national and encourage some real cultural dialogue around “living a good life that also happens to be good for others, and our planet.” Many of my dear friends, while supportive of my campaign—which stood a chance of doing well, considering the support I had in both the business and green communities, as well as a few underrepresented communities—encouraged me to focus on Walk the Talk Show as a means for being of some benefit to the world—which is also my principal inspiration for wanting to jump into politics.

It was a tough decision, and provided I’m on firmer financial footing in two or four years, I will consider a near-future run. For now, talk show!

For more on the why and elephantjournal.com’s Walk the Talk Show, click here.

–

The below photos are mostly from a recent photoshoot for my City Council campaign web site and paraphernalia, by my new buddy Michael Robson, an excellent professional photographer who’s helping me further xeriscape my house right now. I figured I’d share a few of them here, since otherwise they will not now see the light of day. For me, they represent a brief evocation of the excitement and seriousness of purpose that has shadowed my last six months, when I was meeting and planning and thinking about running and, possibly, serving.

Click main photo to toggle to next:

–