Scientist Chriss Hammerschmidt announced last month that she was applying for the seat of Broomfield City Council Ward 1 in November.
She is the second person to enter the race after James Marsh-Holschen, who announced his candidacy in January. The two are competing for the temporary seat of current councilor Elizabeth Law-Evans.
Hammerschmidt, 56, has lived in Broomfield for 24 years and said she has never seen the city so divided. She is committed to community health and safety, home affordability, and lowering property taxes.
"Broomfield used to be a hometown values community: knowing your neighbors and looking after them, with a council whose top priority was making life the way you wanted it to be," it says on their website. "The current city council is concerned with their priorities and their tax revenues."
Last year she got involved in local politics for the first time as a registered agent for “Vote No On 2B”, the voting measure aimed at stabilizing local income. She said the community was in an uproar last year and she feels that the city council "is pushing very hard for the property tax to be increased and they said they need the money more than the citizens," Hammerschmidt said in a telephone interview.
She said it felt like the council was not representing the community, so she decided to run.
“The local and state governments should lower the tax rate for at least a few years until the community and the economy get back on their feet,” it says on their website. "Our city and our district have received grants from the state, which has almost doubled their income."
Hammerschmidt cited the rise in property crime in Broomfield and the rise in uninhabited people in Broomfield. She said there needs to be a reassessment of where tax money goes and how to make life in Broomfield more affordable.
“Homes that were affordable weren't any more, and while rental moratoriums helped some of these families get through the past year and a half, others left a little hung up on a ruined life,” it says on its website. “Broomfield needs to come back for the health of this community. Now is the time to create the environment with the best possible conditions so that we can regain control of our lives. "
Hammerschmidt is supported by Law-Evans and former councilor David Beacom. She works at the Institute for Telecommunications Science as a high frequency propagation engineer. She said her problem-solving mindset and career as a scientist would carry over to serving as a city council member.
“The residents of Station 1 are hardworking, intelligent people. We don't participate politically because we earn our living out there and take care of our children, ”said Hammerschmidt. “We trust our elected representatives. When these representatives no longer represent our ideas and priorities, it is time to invest in new employees. "
More information is available at www.chrissforbroomfield.com.