John Gates is running for mayor. Here’s where he stands on the issues.

By Kelly Ragan

John Gates is running for mayor.

At a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization, Greeley mayor and city council candidates answered questions from the league and from audience members regarding where they stood on various issues, what their plans would be if elected, and more. 

Some of the major topics included housing, transportation, water, diversity, and communication. Candidates were also asked about three ballot measures, 2F (also known as Keep Greeley Moving), and 2G and 2H (also known as the water ballot measures). 

The NoCo Optimist included candidates’ opening and closing statements, answers (with edits for clarity and brevity when possible) as well as the questions asked for context. The NoCo Optimist’s goal here is to give you an idea of who a candidate is and where they stand on issues that matter to you. 

Opening statement

I’m John Gates, I’m the mayor of Greeley, and I’m running for reelection. I am a lifelong resident of Greeley, married to my very supportive wife, Patty. I retired as a sergeant from the Greeley police department in 2003 after 25 years. I’m in my 19th year as chief for safety and security for Greeley-Evans School District 6. I served on the Greeley city council from 2009 to 2017 and was elected as mayor in 2017 and re-elected in 2019. Our current city council has accomplished much in the last four years.

As for my platform, I would like to delineate a few key points. Greeley is in the midst of unprecedented growth. As city leaders, we must grow responsibility, specifically with regard to housing, infrastructure, and the diversity of options. We must work together to resolve a serious affordable housing shortage. The lack of current inventory isn’t providing a lot of incentive to developers for affordable housing opportunities.

We must continue to give our police and fire personnel the tools to keep our community safe. Community safety is non-negotiable. Navigating a pandemic was very difficult for us all. I’m extremely proud of Greeley’s response to COVID-19. I will continue to provide visionary leadership as we deal with critical issues in our community.

I will offer a reasoned voice to controversial issues. I have a vast amount of experience in municipal government, and experience matters. It is simply not the time for on-the-job-training.

Question: As the city of Greeley continues to experience increasing population growth and diversity, moving from a town to a big city, this growth has impacted a number of areas such as housing, transportation and water to name a few. What ideas or strategies do you have to address future issues impacted by this growth?

We need to maintain our identity to the extent that we can as we grow, and we need a diversification of growth options. We need single-family, multi-family, industrial options, commercial options as we grow into our primarily western boundary.

Transportation options must include important improvements to our intersections, which we’re working on now – specifically the US 34 bypass at 35th Avenue and 47th Avenue in concert with CDOT. Our Greeley Evans Transit is already working on a road map for city growth.

With water, we are the envy of many. We are set for years to come.

Our median home price is up to $380,000. It’s climbing rapidly, but the advantage that we have for growth is that we’re at least $100,000 below our neighbors in median home prices.

Question: Do you think the city is effectively communicating with the community about its activities and needs? If so, how are they doing that? If not, what needs to be improved?

Our interim city manager Raymond Lee and I have discussed our city communicative efforts. He certainly shares my concern that we need to get our message out. We have greatly enhanced our ability for our constituents to reach us. There was a time when a person had to – of course, they could always email and call – but they had to come in person to a city council meeting. We now have virtual webinar options where a person can not only watch, but he or she can submit questions and comments to council. And yeah, that came about as a result of COVID-19 and our need to have Zoom meetings, but it’s continued, and I’ve seen the input from our community, and their ability to reach their council members is much more effective with that option.

Question: Offer some specific ideas on addressing growth and housing challenges.

Strong economic development efforts do diversify growth. To my earlier point, we need strong efforts to bring about industrial and commercial options.

If you drive out west now towards our western boundary at County Road 17, you see a lot of multi-family units. In my mind we're building too many, but when they get complete, they are full. But our options need to be diversification as we move further west towards the west part of our boundary.

Metro districts, while they can create a buyer beware theory, are absolutely necessary to compete with neighboring communities. We have created a more user-friendly development code with a faster turnaround, which has minimized the complaints of developers that there's too much red tape at City Hall.

Question: About 40% of Greeley’s population identifies as Latino or Hispanic. But there aren’t many language services to reflect that. How will you support the Latino population and other minorities in Greeley, including undocumented people?

The city has over a hundred members on our boards and commissions. We routinely generate those openings by ward to create a situation where one section of Greeley isn't widely represented on the boards. It creates opportunities for all, particularly minorities, to apply, and while I don't have the exact breakdown, we have a number of minority individuals on our boards and commissions providing a vital service to the city

A lot of times it comes up that that there aren't a lot of minorities on city council and frankly they had an opportunity this time, and I wish more had run to get themselves involved in city government.

Question: What is your position on Keep Greeley Moving? Why? What is your position regarding the changes to the home rule charter on water decisions? Please explain.

About Keep Greeley Moving, we’ve accomplished a lot as a city with that 0.65 increase, which allowed us to increase our pavement quality index, which is the barometer, from 45 to over 60. We've had a number of projects, and we'll continue to have. We're very transparent on that on a web page about what we've done and what we continue to do.

I believe the two amendments – which my opponent and I disagree very firmly on, and I think that's what makes democracy work – are, as the signs around the community indicate, costly and unnecessary. They’re risky. They don't protect Greeley’s water. Instead, they would stifle our abilities to sell, buy, or lease water into the future.

Closing statement

As previously indicated, I'm a lifelong resident of Greeley and possess the historical and institutional knowledge to continue to serve as Greeley's mayor. Eight years on the Greeley City Council and four years as your mayor has given me a tremendous amount of leadership experience in our community.

As part of my desire to give back to my community, I currently serve or have served on the board of directors of the Greeley Chamber of Commerce, the Greeley Stampede, the island grove regional treatment center, the Boys and Girls Club of Weld County, the Homeless Blue Ribbon Committee, Suicide Education Support Services, Upstate Colorado Economic Development, American Cancer Society’s Cattle Barons Ball, and Youth and Family Connections to name a few.

I currently serve in a very important role, and I have been honored to be your mayor for the past four years. I've worked for many years to acquire the skillset to continue to lead our Greeley City Council with teamwork, respect and decorum, and I will continue to lead with humility and empathy.