Erie, CO: Mayor Andrew Moore Interview

Andrew Moore
Years in Erie: 10
Elected Mayor: 2004; re-elected 2006 and 2008
Prior civic involvement: HOA leadership

Q: Why do people enjoy living in Erie?

A: I would say location, location, location. We’re close to Longmont, Boulder and Interlocken. We’re 25 miles from Denver and we’re about a 30 minute ride on E-470 to the airport. It’s a place where you can live but you also can be participating in life in those other places.

I think the other thing that people like about living in Erie - and certainly why I do - is we’ve completed all the amenities now such as our top-of-the-line Recreation & Senior Community Center. We have a brand new library, which unlike some municipalities nearby is open 7 days a week. Erie now has a blend of open space and trails. People like being here because of our healthy lifestyle. It’s taken a while to get there, but we’re there now.

Plus, Erie is developing a very diversified living place. It’s a place where a working couple with a young child can move to knowing that there’ll be senior housing for maybe their parents to move to. All of that has coming to fruition right now and it’s a wonderful thing.

Q: What projects are you excited about concerning Erie right now or any exciting news?

A: We’re working on something called the Erie Grid. We’re taking our ability to put solar energy in the area and do it in an economical way for our residents. The first step is to get solar panels around our water plants to generate electricity for their operation. Secondary to that would be our new waste water plant, which will be north of 52. We also have some opportunity over a closed landfill that in the ideal situation, if we can get the economics and logistics for that to work, we will cover with solar panels. We’ve got vast spaces that we’re not developing; it makes sense to use some of those.

We’re doing a partnership with Xcel Energy to buy back clean energy. A lot of details, a lot of logistics have to be worked out. Xcel needs clean energy. We would love to be able to offer that. There are no guarantees or commitments, but it certainly has the passion and the energy of myself, and the other board members as well.

Beyond that, the projects we have going on are certainly to expand our commercial base such as our grocery centers. You’re just going to see the normal evolution of Erie as it grows. The services that those people will need will start to come to fruition.

Q: What motivated you to become mayor of Erie?

A: I like to get things done. I felt that if I ran for a Board seat I wouldn’t have enough voice to actually change the course. I come from both a political and a values standpoint that is more of a moderate stance. I know we have to grow, but I want it paced. I want a different quality. In the late 1990s growth was happening pretty strongly and there was a strong movement to stop the growth. We moved in at a time like that with a lot of hustle and bustle. The standards at that time were good, solid standards, but they weren’t differentiating as far as quality and that’s one of the things I wanted to change.

In the 2000 and 2002 elections, the political landscape changed in Erie dramatically, and a different type of Board was elected where they basically slowed down the growth to the point where one of our neighboring towns annexed a large portion of land that was in Erie’s planning area. This resulted in over 2,000 homes with commercial properties. The response from the town was ‘Erie isn’t part of the growth. It’s okay’.

I come from the business world and I try to look at things from the idealistic perspective and I try to look at things from what reality is really presenting us. I think we would all love to have sections of that are pure open space and that’s the way it’s going to be forever. But, the reality is that if Erie wasn’t going to grow and dictate the quality of the place, then either Weld County primarily or our neighboring towns were going to dictate the quality of the place. That just didn’t sit right with me. So, I took that into the campaign, was fortunate to have my employer be very supportive of doing so and was successful.

Q: What are the biggest challenges facing Erie now and the future?

A: I think our biggest challenge right now is having patience. I say patience because there’s always push to get more commercial now and get whatever you can get and give whatever incentives away. But, I’m a firm believer that if you’ve got a solid revenue stream, which we do, especially from the landfills, then we should not be in a hurry, because all you do is get into bidding wars with your neighboring towns and it doesn’t leave much tax money left for the tax payers.

We need to get sewer, and waste water capability out to I-25 and Highway 52, which most likely we will approve towards the end of this year. So, when you look at it, you have to ask, is there more of a benefit to be the first out there, or to do things in a much more methodical way? That’s the way we’re approaching it now. Some people don’t see that. Some people say you got to get it done. For me, it comes down to patience, resolve, assistance and consistency. In the long run it will pay of handsomely for Erie’s residents.

I think all communities struggle to get their citizens engaged, be it through their open space boards, through public comment, through running for the Board of Trustees or the Planning Commission. Erie’s got a great involvement up to this point though, and I do hope that it tends to continue. One of my biggest fears is because we made things so transparent; people tend to become less involved. Because people know what we’re doing - you can watch our board meetings live on the web; you can watch them on Comcast when you’re at home. It’s impossible to try to do something that your constituents wouldn’t want you to do. That’s exactly the way it should be.

Q: How do you envision the evolution of Erie’s residential housing stock?

A: That’s a wonderful question, because I think if you look at Erie right now, snap shot in August of 2008, we have got a lot of middle class, suburban homes. We’ve got a good offering of custom homes and semi-custom homes. We’re building on the town’s history and our Old Town tradition but, we don’t have a good offering today of senior housing, apartment buildings, townhome or condominium living. We have a concerted effort going down the path to approve those types of housing. The first thing you’re going to see come out of the ground is senior housing. In front of Erie Village, we took a section that wasn’t going to develop under the current retail/commercial zoning and rezoned it for senior housing. Second, there’s a big chunk of land due west of the Recreation Center, Ranchwood Estates. They’re going through the planning process right now.

I feel so good about being able to approve apartments, knowing they’re going to be built the quality way because we have our Unified Development Code. So, all the pieces are in place to watch Erie just blossom as the quality place to live.

Q: Is Erie doing anything special to attract businesses?

A: We have an economic development plan that was recently completed with the help of the Northern Front Range Economic Group. It includes over 30 different steps, everything from assessing our inventory of home businesses to doing more basic things like ensuring the web sites between the Erie town site, the Chamber of Commerce and the Erie Economic Development Corporation are all saying the same thing in a way that people can get. There are incentives that are part of that as well. I think you’re going to see Erie not be the most aggressive on incentives, but instead, our location as the ideal selling point. Bidding wars, in the end, don’t get money back where it helps build communities. I’m a free markets, pro-business person, but I also want to represent the citizens and don’t feel the taxpayers should be subsidizing business when it doesn’t have to be subsidized.

We will be competitive in those areas where we need to be competitive. You also have to ask, ‘Do we want a Lowe’s in the heart of our town? Do we want a Wal-Mart in the heart of our town?’ I would argue that most people would say no. The heart of the town needs to be quaint. It needs to have the basic services we need, like dry cleaners. Those are the ones that we feel are most appropriate for the center of our town, for the core. We can put the bigger business out on I-25, Hwy 52 and Highway 7. Once again, it comes down to having patience and not just saying yes to everybody.

Q: Could you share a couple of your favorite “only in Erie” experiences?

A: I think of things like the Eerie Erie race. It’s a wonderful 5 and 10K. There’s a short goblin run for the kids. They can dress up in costume and they can run around the track at Erie Middle School. It’s well orchestrated and it’s one of those uniquely Erie experiences. The other one is our Town Fair and the hot air balloon launch in May. That beautiful setting on the Vista Ridge Golf Course, I don’t know where else in the Front Range you could have that back drop of the mountains with 60+ balloons. That morning, when they all lift off, it is absolutely gorgeous. I’ve been going out there for I don’t know how many years now, eight or nine; by far the best was this year. It snowed in the mountains the week before and it was just crisp white. It was uniquely Erie.

Q: What do you enjoy most about living in Colorado?

A: I think what I enjoy most about Erie and the Front Range is that fact that it’s a beautiful place with beautiful views. It’s got balance of life. I grew up in a place that had a lot more people per square mile. But my mom was born in Brush, Colorado. I was born and raised in California however we used to visit Colorado all of the time. So, when the opportunity came up to transfer out here, we looked at and said, “You know what? It’s a much better balance of life in Colorado,” and my wife and I just love it.

I think we’re all living here for that healthy kind of lifestyle. We’re looking to be outdoors, to be biking, to be jogging. We’re looking to be doing things that are just part of what I believe the rest of the country looks to Colorado to be. In a lot of ways, it’s America’s playground. It’s skiing in the winter or hiking in the summer or biking and Erie’s just a microcosm of that lifestyle.