Nichole Sterling: Exclusive interview with Nederland's new mayor

On this week's episode, Nederland's new mayor Nichole Sterling joins the show for an exclusive interview to talk about her vision for Ned's future, affordable housing and the dramatic finish to the mayoral race.

Polls closed in Nederland two weeks ago, and after several unofficial results and recounts, Nichole Sterling edged out incumbent Billy Giblin, 261 to 258, for the mayor's seat.

The former Mayor Pro Tem has big plans for the town as it enters a new chapter. Listen in to hear what her vision is.

Also

• Homemade explosives discovered in unincorporated Boulder County Neighborhood
• Idaho Springs' Mighty Argo Cable Car opening delayed

Purchase tickets to ride the Mighty Argo here

Listen to The Mountain-Ear's articles read out loud here

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:35

There's a new mayor in town. It's been over two weeks since Netherland voters cast their ballots for mayor. It turns out the locals have a day's different drama. Several rounds of unofficial counts and recounts had candidates Billy Gibblin and Nicole Sterling trading spots on the leaderboard. The final results came in Monday, April 20th, with Sterling edging out Giblin by three votes. Welcome to the Mountaineer Podcast. I'm Tyler Hickman. Today, Mayor Nicole Sterling joins the show for an exclusive interview to tell us what the last few weeks have been like and the big ideas she has for Ned. To save time for that, we're going to keep the top of today's show short and sweet. Now, here are this week's top headlines. The discovery of a case of possible homemade explosives near Ponderosa Way, just off Coal Creek Canyon Drive, triggered a shelter-in-place order for area residents on Sunday, April 19th. The Boulder County Sheriff's Office received the call around 8 a.m. and shut down the road for 11 hours, while bomb technicians assessed and managed the scene. After the Boulder County Regional Bomb Squad successfully contained the devices and transported them away, the shelter-in-place order was lifted at 7 p.m. Technicians later identified the devices as having components typically used to build pipe bombs, but determined they did not contain any explosive material, and so they were unable to be detonated. Ribbon cutting for Idaho Springs'$71 million cable car system has been delayed until May, according to the Clear Creek Current. The Mighty Argo Cable Car, a gondola ride that will take visitors from the town's historic Argo gold mill up to a mountain plaza on top of Virginia Canyon, was scheduled to open Friday, April 24th. Late in the day on Monday, April 20th, Argo representatives announced the ceremony would be pushed back until May due to weather conditions. Tickets are still available on the cable cars website for rides as early as May 9th, with standard rates starting at$50 a person. We'll drop a link to purchase tickets in the show notes. And those are this week's top headlines. Pick up a copy of The Mountaineer or head to the MTNEAR.com to read these stories and so much more. Now we're going to jump into my conversation with Mayor Nicole Sterling. The former mayor pro tem was sworn in at Netherlands Tuesday, April 21st Board of Trustees meeting and hasn't missed a beat. Let's dive in. All right, I'd like to welcome Nicole Sterling, the new mayor of Netherland, onto the show this morning. Welcome, Nicole.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Oh, thank you. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Absolutely, absolutely. So last night was the swearing-in ceremony. How did that go?

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Oh, it was it was lovely. I think it's always special when, especially, we have new board members who are joining us, but it was especially poignant for me just because I got a little choked up on that last line delivering it because it is special. And I do want this office, the mayor's office, to mean something again to folks. And so I take that responsibility very seriously.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

That's great to hear. I I wanted to just ask you how you're feeling after the insanity that was the last two weeks of not really knowing who the mayor was going to be. We had a razor-thin vote count. It went back and forth and we finally got results. So, what what have the last two weeks been like for you?

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Well, and I'll even extend that to really the last like three weeks and you know, month, uh, because even leading up to the actual election was a very exhausting process for me. You know, I have to show up and you know be strong for those folks around me. But it was it was really hard going through some of this process of having our signs stolen and you know, just some of the the things that we had to combat. And so it was just like, oh my goodness, this is this is intense. And then when the election came out and it was off by a vote of one, like I went into it just assuming that I was going to lose, quite honestly, um, after the posts and Facebook. And also um, you're going up against an incumbent, an incumbent who has backing because he's had relationships with, you know, like Jonah Goose and some of the Boulder County commissioners. So on all accounts, I was expecting to lose. But um uh the up and down of the last couple of weeks has definitely been like, okay, well, this is just how Netherland does things. I shouldn't be surprised too much. And and yet, and and now here we are, and I'm I'm just I'm really excited uh for this next chapter for for Netherland.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

You weren't coming in as an outsider here. You were serving on the board already as mayor pro tem. Were there any particular issues that compelled you to want to take the next step and throw your hat in the ring for mayor?

SPEAKER_00 6:27

I think where I was most concerned about was just the process of how we govern and making sure that we tightened that up. You know, there's always so many things that we need to tackle in any given year. And it's it's so often that a local government's like, yes, everything is important, and then nothing gets done. And that's where I had such a hands-on approach with the strategic planning that happened a couple of years ago. Um, I was not, I was not okay with what we had come up with. I was like, this isn't gonna hold us accountable to anything. And I wanted to pull that forward um into this next chapter because of the criticality of Eldora, getting Big Springs egressed down. You know, many people know I live up in big springs. And so this is this is an issue for me and my family, um, as well as getting the Caribou shopping center. So where, you know, Billy and I were aligned in a lot of those things. I think the difference is how, and the discipline and the deliberateness of how we get those things done is what really separated us.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Yeah, and I I did want to kind of dig into that a little bit. We did have a razor-thin voter margin and a pretty decent voting turnout for a mayoral election. I I think it was uh a little bit less than 40%, which says a lot for a local election. As you're kind of stepping into this role, do you have an approach that you're going to take considering the community was pretty split between the the two of you?

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Yeah, I think when when you do look at one of the biggest issues that maybe wasn't as high of a priority for me, but it was for Billy, was the sustainability piece. And it's not to say that I'm like not in on sustainability. It's just when you have folks who for 30 years have been asking for sidewalks and or walkable infrastructure and affordable housing, we're about ready to go into strategic planning. And what I want from a discipline standpoint for the board is for us, let's take it all in. Instead of doing these like one-off goals here and there throughout the year, no, no, no, no, no, let's bring it all together, let's decide of what's of high importance. And if something doesn't make those strategic goals, that's fine. Is there another way to solve it other than through an ordinance or through staff time or through um board time, like our planning commission's time? And so I want us to get a little bit more creative about that. And so, like folks who really leaned into Mayor Billy because of you know the sustainability issue, it's it's not it's not going away. We just need to find the right way to integrate it. Maybe that's through a micro-grid system, which is something that I've been like super, super interested about uh to bring to our community. Uh, and so there's more conversation to have about that. In terms of like approach, I mean, Billy was a likable guy. And I mean, I I love him for that reason. Our kids are friends, right? This is a small community. You can't get away from each other. And so, you know, Billy has those strengths in terms of being that um likable person. And oftentimes uh women have a likability issue, right? It's like either we're competent but we're less likable, or we're really likable, but then we're considered less competent. And I think that more folks just probably need to talk to me and see that I'm both able to get the things over the line, and sometimes that does mean not making everyone happy. And I'm okay with that. But the process and how we do that is also important to make sure folks feel heard and that we're doing the right thing for Netherland. Because just because we have an idea or um something that we want to push up doesn't always mean that it's the right thing for Netherland. But hopefully through some conversations um and through some of these ideas that I have of bringing uh community discussions together, um I think we can get where we need to go. So I'm excited by that.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Yeah. So I wanted to talk about a couple of the things that you campaigned on. You you really positioned yourself as someone who is is ready to innovate in a small town. And now you have the opportunity to put that innovation into action here. Where do you think the town could most afford to innovate right now? What's like the, I guess, the the major issues that you can tackle through this innovative approach?

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Yeah, for me, the innovation isn't always so much on a particular issue or even a technology because I I know that's where folks would point to first about me. It's like, oh, it must be something to do with AI. And it's not necessarily. I really want to look at the connected tissue and the communication that we have among uh us as residents. I think that's one of the first steps from an innovative standpoint that I want to tackle. How do we communicate about what's happening in local government? How do we get more people involved? How do they stay up to speed on the things that are important to them? Because we find that oftentimes, like folks will come out in droves for a child care facility conversation, um, but could care less maybe about the comprehensive plan or you know, strategic goals that the board of trustees is putting together. And so it's like I really want to find those ways to meet folks where they are, and and some of these innovative practices of like world cafes, you know, this is a very deliberate process where folks are brought together for communication um and for conversation. Because I really do think that could drive a lot of the strategy within local government. Those are some of the connected tissue that pulls us together. Those are some of the things that I'm looking to be the most innovative with. And then, yes, there's always opportunity for technology in the right places. Um, I'm actually not a person for technology for technology's sake. It has to be deliberate, it has to be the right fit, whether that's microgrid system or even wildfire resiliency. As I had mentioned in one of my campaign videos, Gilpin County has been using for the last couple of years uh these micro sensors to detect the very smallest particulate matter of a wildfire and be able to distinguish a wildfire from like other fire. And in our community where we're so worried about that, to be able to have that early detection system is hugely important. And so in my mind, innovation and technology like that, when it has the potential to save lives, that's the kind of things I like to look for us to look really look into.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Yeah, absolutely. Another area that I I thought was interesting that kind of goes hand in hand with innovation, but is maybe separate from the technology is through, you know, creative solutions to affordable housing. So I wanted to give you an opportunity to talk about your ideas and goals for affordable housing in Netherland.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

This is something I'm passionate about. When I first uh ran to be appointed to the board, affordable housing was such a big issue for me. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that I started my young life as a very young mother. Um I was gave birth to my first son. He's 26 now when I was 19. And so, like being able to access resources at such a young age was just it's very difficult. And also being a parent. And so that has always stuck with me and has really been a foundation for my public service is I want to help the folks who may have been in my shoes at one point or another. And so, from an affordable housing standpoint, I get to talk to a lot of different folks across the United States. Ideas that they're trialing, and some of the best ideas I've heard are from ones that are in like very resource-constrained areas, like actually big cities. Um, and if you think about it, we we have a similar constraint. We can't necessarily go out, and our and our residents don't want us to go out. They're we don't want to just annex to support urban sprawl, you know, for sprawl reasons. And so, yeah, some of the innovation around that are things like uh when it comes to the PIF fees, either pushing those out, like if you're going to build um a backyard cottage and uh or what we typically would call like an ADU and an accessory dwelling unit, you know, those PIF fees are those plant investment fees. And here they're just they're expensive. They're not right sized to the size of an ADU or a backyard cottage. And we expect those to be paid up front. And what I would suggest is that we push those to the end so that if you are going to rent it out, you can only you only start paying those when you actually start bringing in rental income. And or if you're dedicated to making that an affordable housing unit, we go ahead and we waive those, right? But the other one that I'm actually like really, really excited about if we're like I said, we're going into strategic planning, and hopefully out of that strategic planning, uh, we're directing the planning commission to work on affordable housing, is this idea of being able to subdivide your plot. To subdivide your plot means that you would then be able to create two plots and you could either sell that off, that second plot off, and get some income from that, because we know that living in the mountains is very expensive. And or once you subdivide that plot, you then be able to access traditional housing uh financing in order to build, you know, like a you know, actual housing construction um loan or whatnot. Instead of what has to happen today, if I want to build an ADU, I've got to pull out a home equity line of credit. And uh not everyone may be set up for that, but it's much easier to get that financing if you subdivide that plot. So, like those are just some of the things where I just I see those as low-hanging fruit in order to generate income for our residents and uh get affordable housing built and be serious about it. What I love about backyard cottages is it's like a it's a very gentle infill strategy rather than the you know, the huge apartment complex that everyone is just so anxious about and doesn't want to see. And I just see this as a wonderful way to have your parents age in place if you want them to, or you know, provide affordable housing for workers in our community.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

Yeah, certainly a creative solution. I wanted to switch gears here. I know that there are a few open seats on the board right now. And given that both you and Billy were serving on the board before you as Mayor Pro Tem, Billy as Mayor, do you have any plans to nominate or appoint Billy to the board? Is that on your radar at the moment?

SPEAKER_00 17:22

So we can't necessarily just like nominate someone else, like someone else. The person themselves has to petition and submit for an appointment. And so that's completely up to Billy if he wants to do that. And yes, he would have my support. This election has, I think, started to invigorate a lot of other folks that we haven't heard from in the past. And and so, you know, we hope that it'll attract new fresh ideas, new faces who are like, okay, Netterland is doing some interesting things. It's kind of punching up against its weight. I want to be a part of that. And some of the things that we hear the most is reasons why not to is like time. And, you know, you have to be willing that it'll take up about five hours of your week. Some weeks it's nothing, like, right? But you do have to anticipate that it will be a time commitment of five hours. You know, it's sometimes it's very daunting of its uh four-year term, although my term would be two years. So my seat, open seat is only two years. What I don't want is for these things to kind of be barriers for people to put their name in the hat, uh, because we are at a critical time and we need anyone who is interested and loves to solve hard problems because that's what we've got.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Yeah, absolutely. And Ned has a lot of exciting and really big things coming down the road between Eldora and as you said, like um affordable housing. So I hope that you guys get some good candidates that are willing to step up to the plate. So, my final question here as you're stepping in, what do the next six months look like for you?

SPEAKER_00 19:09

The first six months, so the first thing is on strategic planning. I've you know uh incredibly thankful our town manager, John, you know, John Cain, is right there with me in terms of mindset. And uh he is just as excited of like this next chapter, and these next two years, like I said, are so critical. So strategic planning is a huge thing. We'll start having our first conversations around that in May and hopefully get that wrapped up in June. And then I um we need to, this has been a kind of a chronic and lagging issue is our existing advisory boards. And do we have the right setup of the advisory boards to help us meet those goals? And if we don't, then I want to have that conversation. I'm I'm not into doing government for government sakes and just because it's that been that way for you know hundreds hundreds of years or so. Like, I want us to rip off a band-aid and ask the hard questions like, is this the right setup for what we need? Some of the conversations that we've already had with Town Manager Cain is, you know, post-acquisition, who are the right folks and what are the right roles that we need in order to execute on our goals. So it's really going to be a lot of the strategic planning, making sure we've got the right setup, but then knocking down these other things that are critical, which is the Big Springs egress and the caregiver shopping center. It's like I said, I live up here, it's a safety issue. We've had a very dry winter. Our evacuation plan is to storm across the reservoir. That is ridiculous. And I'm willing to like fight the fight that's necessary in order to get this egress built. And whether, you know, that's with uh different jurisdictions and or property owners, it's just I'm not willing to put people's lives on the line. I'm just not, um, especially because it's my own family, my own family up here. Um, and we need to get that caribou shopping center uh rebuilt. Um, but it's also having conversations about our first street corridor. Uh, we have buildings that are falling down. We got to do something about that. It's not okay that our restaurants have leaking roofs every time that it rains, right? And so I really want to start to jumpstart those conversations and get us some proper buildings in our first street corridor.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Sounds like it's gonna be a busy six months, six months for you.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

It is going to be a busy six months, but we're laying down the infrastructure, if you will, uh, to make us successful over the next two years.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Do you have any final message for your new-ish constituents?

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Yeah, actually. So maybe you will find yourself in a situation where, yeah, I want to take a go at being a board member. And I would say please reach out and, you know, ask the questions. And this is not something these next couple of years is where anyone can just kind of sit on the sidelines. We're like, we're gonna need all hands on deck. And there are gonna be opportunities, especially once strategic planning is done and we have identified the right structure. There are gonna be a lot of opportunities for our residents to participate. And I just I want to signal to folks now be ready, like, be ready to step in, be ready. Uh, not everyone gets their way in local government. I mean, that's actually how the constitution was built. Not everyone got their way. And yet we were able to move forward with some. Something that works right, and so I want that to be the message here is we need folks to help shape what this feature looks like. Come into the process willing to help, uh knowing that you're not gonna get everything that you want, as you know, but you know, can we move forward together? And that's what I would just leave folks with.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Um, yeah, so great. Thanks so much for joining us today, Nicole. I wish you the best of luck. Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

That's all for today's show. Thanks to you, our listeners, for tuning in today. You heard Nicole, you too can get involved. Attend board meetings, volunteer for the town, do what you can with your time. If you liked today's episode and you want to hear more conversations with your local officials, please like or subscribe to the show to hear our episodes the moment they are out. You can go the extra mile and share it around. It is a huge help to the show when you send it to friends, family, whoever, and it really helps us grow. One last thing. We've partnered with a nonprofit called AfterSight to bring you audio versions of all of the Mountaineers articles. AfterSight is a Colorado-based organization that delivers news and information to readers who are blind, low vision, or have barriers to reading. We've been working our way up to this, and we're so excited to finally share it with you. The articles are incredibly well read, and the readers' voices are pretty soothing, much more so than mine. Check it out, or send it to someone who you think would benefit from it. Once again, this is the Mountaineer Podcast. I'm Tyler Hickman, and thanks for listening. We'll see you next week.