Steven Rosenblum is a Boulder, CO resident who has worked in the finance, housing, and investment industries for twenty years. After moving to Boulder in 2017, Rosenblum decided to take a break from his career in finance to run for one of the five available seats on Boulder’s City Council in 2021. His campaign focused mainly on housing issues within Boulder. In particular, certain issues related to homelessness and low-income housing.
Steven Rosenblum Boulder City Council candidate, felt one of the most critical issues facing Boulder had to do with housing. His belief was that Boulder did not have enough diverse housing options to suit the residents. He felt more varied housing options could lead to a decrease in homelessness and an increase in diversity within the city.
In addition, he saw a need for increased safety for the community, especially within shared community spaces, such as parks. Rosenblum felt addressing the issue of homelessness in Boulder, in particular, the homeless encampments within the city, could help achieve this safety.
Ballot Question 300
One of the measures residents voted on during Boulder’s 2021 City Council election was Ballot Question 300, which asked residents to choose whether or not Boulder’s residential occupancy limit should be increased. This measure would raise the occupancy limit for unrelated adults who could reside in one household.
Boulder’s current occupancy limit allows 3-4 unrelated adults per home, depending on which area of the city the house is. Question 300 would have allowed one unrelated adult per home, plus an additional unrelated adult per bedroom in each home. If approved, this measure would add flexibility to the residency limit. For example, if a house had six bedrooms, seven unrelated adults could legally reside there.
Why Did Rosenblum Vote Against Ballot Question 300?
Prior to running for City Council, Rosenblum led work on transforming a nearly-condemned building in Denver into a homeless facility. Based on that experience, Rosenblum felt there was a strong need for better access to affordable housing and that increasing occupancy limits was not an appropriate alternate solution. In addition, he and others believed that increasing the occupancy limits could risk exploitation by housing investors.
Rather than increase occupancy limits, Rosenblum would’ve preferred to see more duplexes in single-family neighborhoods and a housing tax implemented to help ensure more affordable housing was available. In addition, he favored making the approval process for housing smoother and quicker, which would allow residents to get into homes sooner.
Rosenblum also felt that adding more affordable housing could have a positive impact on Boulder. Currently, nearly ninety percent of Boulder residents identify as white. A more varied section of housing could foster diversity and opportunity within the city.
Despite months of campaigning, Rosenblum was not elected to Boulder’s City Council. Election results will be certified on November 22, but currently, Rosenblum is in seventh place, with just under ten percent of the vote. The election winners were Mark Wallach, Matt Benjamin, Nicole Speer, Lauren Folkerts, and Tara Winer. Rosenblum fell approximately two thousand votes behind Tara Winer.
