Mark McIntyre, a 2017 candidate for Boulder City Council, has lived in Boulder for about 40 years—and unlike some long-time residents is not critical of change in Boulder, describing two ways that a person can move into the future.
Candidate McIntyre (photo courtesy Mark McIntyre)
“One, you can try to turn back the clock, and go back to some earlier time in Boulder’s history where you seem to like it better, or two, you can be proactive, you can look forward and embrace the future with some leadership and some boldness—and I think that the outcome will be better,” said McIntyre.
McIntyre is making his first run for elected office, with his primary formal experience with City of Boulder government a two-year stint on the West Trail Study Area process that worked on use and management issues regarding the city’s western Open Space holdings. He has also served on the board of the Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance, on the steering committee of Open Boulder, and as a member of Better Boulder.
He moved to Boulder in 1977 as a self-described “17-year-old rock climber,” because he was enamored with the Open Space and Mountain Parks, the climbing culture, and the cycling culture. He worked for a stretch during his youth in Kemmerer, Wyoming, as a roughneck in the oil fields to earn what he called “big money” at the time—about $10 per hour. He also enrolled at the University of Colorado and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, remaining a supporter of the arts to this day, and served for five years as a member of the curating committee of the Dairy Center for the Arts.
Today, McIntyre is the owner and partner at Marketing Technologies, which in short provides contracted technical sales for U.S. parts manufacturers, including parts such as castings, stampings, and injection-molded plastic parts. For an example, he said his company might sell castings from a manufacturer in the Midwest to a medical firm in Boulder. He has been with Marketing Technologies for the past 30 years.
When it comes to growth in Boulder, McIntyre maintains that the pace of growth “seems accelerated” at present, but believes it won’t always be that way. He noted that some of the current projects were put on hold due to recessionary economics and are now being built, and said he thinks people will eventually grow to like a lot of the projects going up today. And he very clearly favors more housing development in Boulder.
“I want us to walk our talk. We say we want more affordable housing in Boulder, and we have to be able to say ‘yes’ to some of those projects. We can’t say we want more housing and then as a community say ‘we want more housing but it can’t be here.’ We have to agree on a way to move forward with some modest density and new projects,” said McIntyre.
McIntyre “in principle” supports including middle-income affordable housing in the current city affordable housing program. He also supports the “cash-in-lieu” aspect of the program where developers can pay into the program instead of building affordable housing on site, since “cash-in-lieu” led to a larger total number of affordable units than if all units had to be built on site. He also favors greater flexibility to create “alternative” housing options such as Accessory Dwelling Units, co-operative housing, and granny flats.
McIntyre was interviewed for this profile shortly after the Public Utilities Commission issued its ruling on Boulder’s application for its municipal electric utility. He said his position on the muni was “evolving,” and that he has maintained since he launched his campaign that he would evaluate the path forward based on meeting the city’s carbon goals and cost-efficiency, but in early September said he was “drifting away” from the muni despite having voted for previous city ballot measures on the muni.
“If the muni shows a path forward that is clear, and where we can make progress on our carbon goals relatively quickly, then great, I would continue to support it. But the latest series of events seem to make the path forward to be a long, arduous path, where we might get just simply out-lawyered. I think we can take those funds and put them toward immediate programs to reduce our carbon footprint,” said McIntyre.
Regarding future transportation needs, McIntyre used the muni as an example of the city taking a “brave leadership role,” and said it might need to take a similar role in transportation. This could include evaluating strategies such as potentially creating its own transportation agency or partnering with RTD to better address local/regional mobility and congestion. Like many candidates, he mentioned Boulder’s problem with in-commuters, and suggested it should be possible to create a better system since information is available on where in-commuters are coming from and where they’re going.
“You look at Ball, Google, Zayo, these different employers that employ a lot of people – we know where people are going, and we know they’re doing it five days a week. Why don’t we work with those employers to build a system that makes it possible and convenient to make it into Boulder without driving their cars?” asked McIntyre.
McIntyre is a long-time local recreationist, who was a member of the Boulder Outdoor Coalition that advocated for recreational access on Open Space. He believes the Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) department should spend more on trail maintenance, including repairing trails damaged in the 2013 flood that are still not back to pre-flood condition. He does not oppose future acquisition, but said he could oppose future purchases of parcels with “no chance for access” or no linkage to other OSMP parcels.
He also supports a revised approach to homelessness in Boulder, saying the city has a “moral obligation” to help chronically homeless people including those who might have physical or mental health issues, but perhaps not so with “populations of travelers” who come here by choice. However, he suggested it might be a good idea to have a legal campground in the area so people don’t have to camp illegally, and emphasized that jailing homeless people is a drain on overcrowded prisons and financial resources.
In conclusion, McIntyre emphasized his 40 years in Boulder, his experience with multiple generations of young and old within his nuclear family, and his various life experiences as attributes he would bring with him to Council.
“You can be an environmentalist, bring business experience and good negotiating skills to the table, and support progressive social causes. That’s not a usual mix, but it’s worked for me in my life, and I like that particular mix,” said McIntyre.
Website: www.markforcouncil.com
CONNECTIONS
- McIntyre is one of the five candidates endorsed by Better Boulder, Open Boulder, and Engage Boulder.
- As of September 29, McIntyre has received $100 maximum contributions from current Council member Bob Yates; and former Council members Richard Polk, KC Becker, Leslie Durgin, and Suzy Ageton, among others
(2 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)
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