City News
This is news from the city of Boulder, about the city or any of its departments
Boulder is better campaign 2011 "Why I love Boulder" Oh Jesus!
Feb 12th
It’s dorky as hell and is ripe for parody: the city needed people to be nicer to them, so they decided to try to influence mass appeal by launching this little happy campaign. As a direct result of years of city government bashing by the press and pissed off home owners…………well they had to do some thing. In 1974 boulder launched a Boulder is Better campaign which backfired on the chamber and city. People started seeing us as even more rich white and smarmy than we already are. How is this latest love fest with ourselves going to be taken?? We’ll have to wait and see
Community launches celebration of Boulder life with I love Boulder campaign
What do you love about Boulder? That’s the question thousands of people and businesses will be asked in 2011. And the answers are expected to be heard around the cybersphere.
The City of Boulder has joined efforts with partner businesses and organizations to kick off a year of celebration about what those who call Boulder home love most about the city we share. The “community-owned” campaign is designed to be viral and invites the community to personalize the theme, logo and branding to share individual tributes to Boulder.
“There are so many things to love about being in Boulder,” said City Manager Jane Brautigam. “Boulder tops the nation’s top 10 lists every year for quality of life, innovations and hot jobs. The goal of this campaign is to capture all of those great stories from our community and showcase our unique city to the world as a terrific place to live, visit, recreate and do business.”
“Boulder is one of the best and most beautiful university towns in America,” said CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano. “The combined cultural, artistic, recreational and intellectual resources are unparalleled, and the quality of life on campus and in the city is unmatched. I have lived here for nearly 40 years and am still in awe of this amazing community.”
City Communication Manager Patrick von Keyserling said the concept for the campaign started as a discussion about what attracts people and businesses to Boulder. It became a communitywide effort when local businesses volunteered to donate their time and talents to celebrate the cultural, traditional and happily unconventional characteristics of Boulder life.
“The campaign is designed to be fun and engage every segment of our community,” said von Keyserling. “Our partners have helped create an open-source campaign that empowers people to be involved at a variety of levels.”
The happy website is www.loveboulder.org
A number of organizations have already agreed to incorporate the theme into their annual marketing plans. Others are using the I love Boulder concept to challenge members and students to tell their stories and learn more about the community. Boulder Public Library has capitalized on its film series to promote films with strong Boulder connections; Boulder Facebook Page is asking its 30,000 fans to submit photos and favorite places to highlight lesser known Boulder attractions and events; and the Boulder Valley School District is challenging students to produce short films about their Boulder experiences and create art about their favorite Boulder places.
“This is a great opportunity for students and teachers to use real life experiences in the classroom to be part of a community effort to celebrate our history and school spirit,” said Boulder Valley School District Superintendent Dr. Chris King. “The classroom becomes much more real when the students are focused on current conversations that are occurring in our community.”
BVSD’s engagement is exactly what the city was hoping for when it introduced the concept to community partners.“Really anything goes with this campaign,” said von Keyserling. “It’s wonderful that students are telling us what they love about the city. We also hope to hear from entrepreneurs who chose Boulder over New York, Seattle or Paris; athletes who train in Boulder; and individuals who have a favorite restaurant or hiking trail.”
City to remove emergency call boxes from the Hill due to lack of legitimate use
Feb 4th
City of Boulder crews will be removing five emergency call boxes from University Hill within the next two weeks after determining that they have not been used to summon police to a legitimate crime in at least two years.
The call boxes, also known as “blue phones,” have instead become a source of frequent pranks. In 2009 and 2010, police received 351 calls from the blue phones – all of which turned out to be false. In each case, police responded, diverting them from other responsibilities and actual calls for help.
The city has been providing the blue phone service since 2002, and at that time, the equipment served an important safety purpose. Today, however, with the prevalence of cell phones, the police department believes they are no longer needed. Emergency calls for service from that area universally come from cell phones and landlines. In addition, the phones are starting to break and would require costly repair or replacement.
“We remain committed to providing prompt and effective public safety service to University Hill and all other areas of the city. That is our number one priority,” said Police Chief Mark Beckner. “While these phones helped the community feel safer when cell phones were not as prevalent, their value and purpose has diminished with the changing times.”
The phones that will be removed are located at:
1202 Pleasant St.
12th Street/Pennsylvania Avenue
13th Street/Euclid Avenue
12th Street/College Avenue
1000 block of 14th Street
The city has met with both university officials and representatives of CU Student Government, and all are in agreement that the phones on the Hill have outlasted their intended purpose. Any money saved from keeping this equipment operational will be put back into the Hill maintenance fund.
Boulder extends search for library director
Feb 2nd
The City of Boulder today announced that it will extend the search for the Boulder Public Library director.
“The field had been narrowed to four candidates, two of whom the city was interested in potentially making an offer,” said city spokesman Patrick von Keyserling. “Unfortunately, family reasons prevented one candidate from relocating, and the second candidate was not willing to accept the director position within the range offered.”
Von Keyserling said the city will work with the recruitment firm Peckham and McKinney to extend the nationwide search for the Boulder Public Library director. Until the position is filled, acting library director Jennifer Miles will continue in the position.
The city did not state when it anticipates the next round of interviews for finalists, and said that Boulder will follow a similar process before making an offer to any candidate. The field will be narrowed to top finalists who will be required to make public presentations and attend a public candidate reception.
“Our vision for the Boulder Public Library remains the same,” said City Manager Jane Brautigam. “The city is searching for the most qualified director who can lead a complex organization like our library system and its performing arts center. This is an important position that deserves the best candidate within Boulder’s salary range. While it is certainly disheartening that neither of our top two candidates is able to join the library, we will continue the selection process until we find the right candidate for Boulder.”
The Public Library Director position has been advertised since November 2010. The recruitment firm Peckham and McKinney is conducting the search process and will continue its work under the original contract of $10,500 without additional compensation.
