Hello. I am Bill Berens, mayor of Broomfield. I’m here today to present to you an assessment of the health of the City of Broomfield in the last year.

Thomas Jefferson has told us that "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government."

Mr. Jefferson’s words are a good description of how your local representatives view their jobs. We all work very hard to make certain that Broomfield remains a sustainable hometown where people want to live and work. Good government begins with the vision of its residents. Broomfield’s are:

• Broomfield with a strong sense of unity, pride and identity;
• modern city inspired by community spirit;
• place that balances residential and commercial land uses with open space, parks and natural areas;
• city that can support her residents through a full array of employment opportunities, recreational, retail and human services readily accessible to people of all ages;
• Broomfield with a high quality of life, excellent education, public safety and transportation systems;
• city with proactive citizens in safe neighborhoods where our sense of community and small town flavor are always enhanced.

With that in mind, the state of our city, my friends, is excellent.

Very simply, 2000 was a banner year for Broomfield! It was a great Y2K.

Many major accomplishments and activities took place in our city during 2000.

Broomfield has been "open for business" for many years, but 2000 rewarded the last decade’s hard work and brought many of our hopes to fruition.

Corporate expansions for newer Broomfield businesses like Level 3 and Sun Microsystems were announced. Many more spin-off businesses, from our own silicon valley at Interlocken, enjoyed prosperity.

It was a very good year for our longtime corporate citizens, too.

• McData announced plans to expand in Broomfield.
• Hunter Douglas began yet another expansion for its window coverings division
• and Geneva Pharmaceuticals once again partnered with the city, this time funding the Novartis US Science and Education Center in our new library.

Our efforts to secure a high-end retail sales base for Broomfield were rewarded when FlatIron Crossing opened in August with great fanfare and anticipation.

The expansion of retail and recreational opportunities around FlatIron Crossing promises to make this area a hub of activity and a major contributor to the means from which we can realize better services for our citizens and enhancements to our quality of life for everyone in Broomfield.

Other retail businesses sprouted throughout the year at places like the Town Center at 120^th and Sheridan, and the Marketplace at Miramonte Blvd. along Highway 287. At the end of the year, our retail space inventory was nearly 97% leased.

Many new restaurants opened for business: Il Fornaio, Gordon Biersch, Red Robin, Bloom, Village Tavern, Canyon Café, P F Chang’s and more are on the way – Old Chicago, Mimi’s, Red Lobster…

The City of Broomfield is a place where lifelong learning is valued and education is a core value.

In 2000, we saw Regis University and the University of Colorado open satellite campuses in Broomfield for high-tech students, and others who wish to broaden their professional expertise.

All of this underscores a healthy environment for Broomfield. The Broomfield Economic Development Corporation reports that we have nearly 27,000 jobs in Broomfield. There are 36 employers with over 50 employees, and hundreds of smaller businesses who employ less than 50 people. They are skilled and unskilled workers -- professionals, technicians, service providers, clerks and even youngsters starting their first real jobs.

Responsible government

I am proud to say … Broomfield is the safest it has been in its history. We continue to hold the line on serious crime in Broomfield even though the city’s population has grown from 24,638 in 1990 to just over 41,000 today. The Broomfield Police Department continues to solve serious crimes at a very high rate, far exceeding the national average.

Community Policing works in Broomfield because we are a community that cares about itself. We work and play together as a community – moms, dads, children, business owners, teachers, local government workers, seniors, youth, friends and neighbors – to solve problems and to improve our quality of life.

Also, Broomfield’s financial condition is its best in the city’s history. The city’s policy is to maintain a level of expenditures that provides for the public well-being and the safety of the residents of our community.

Our operating expenses in 2000 were only 27% of expenditures. This 27% pays for general government operations – things like police services, park maintenance, recreation, library, street maintenance, and senior services. Only 12% went toward debt service to pay for things like capital improvements, open space, water and sewer infrastructure and to uphold our responsibilities under various development agreements.

The city’s capital improvements projects in 2000 continued to build new assets for Broomfield and take care of those we already have.

• Ridgeview Heights Park was completed.
• We built a new and long awaited, award-winning Skate Park and batting cages.
• The 287 underpass was completed, connecting the western neighborhoods in Lac Amora to destinations east of U.S. 287 via the Broomfield Trail.
• With the completion of the brick fence and landscaping on the east side of 287 between 6^th and 10^th Avenues, residents were protected from traffic noise.
• Westlake neighborhoods saw some of their streets completely reconstructed and 136^th Avenue in front of Legacy High School was widened to accommodate the demands of the new high school.
• Nearly 23,000 feet (4.33 miles?) of streets were overlaid, curb to curb, and
• We continued our work on installing new water lines in the First Filing area and other existing neighborhoods.

A complete community includes schools where our children can begin their lifelong learning experience and build upon it as they grow. The city continued its partnership with the schools in 2000, securing land for the new Aspen Creek K-8, Coyote Ridge Elementary School and Legacy High School. These efforts were rewarded when Legacy High School and the Aspen Creek K-8 opened to students last year.

The City of Broomfield has always valued our schools and insisted on our fair share of the school districts’ funding pies. Intergovernmental agreements with our school districts make certain that our children can use school facilities for city-sponsored activities and sports beyond the school day or year.

There is more.

The services expansion fee collected from each new home built in Broomfield generates funds to be used for joint-use facilities with our schools. These funds, coupled with hard work by your city council and members of staff brought a new and larger gymnasium to Broomfield High School and the expansion of play fields around the new Aspen Creek school and Legacy High School.

Over and over again, our residents have confirmed their commitment to preserving open spaces that contribute to our "hometown" feeling. Residents want open space within our city, as well as around us to buffer us from our neighbors. We want people to know that they are in Broomfield the moment they arrive here.

To that end, in 2000, we spent over $3.1 million to secure land for open space. Through the use of rolling options, conservation easements and density transfers, we have been able to acquire over 1300 acres of new open space for Broomfield residents, 203 acres in 2000. Add to that the land dedicated to the city, means a total of well over 2000 acres of public holdings.

Regional and local transportation efforts to improve traffic and transit made major inroads in 2000. The Northwest Parkway, a major link in the Denver Metro 470 beltway is well on its way to opening in late 2003.

A Major Investment Study for US36 was in the final stages and is now completed. Broomfield, along with a coalition of cities from Boulder to Westminster, is ready to promote and support a variety of transportation and transit options along this important corridor.

The Zip shuttle made its preview last August and will be underway this summer to transport workers and visitor through out the Interlocken Business Park and FlatIron Crossing. Also, new and improved RTD park-n-rides are being planned to better serve Broomfield and the region. A big Thank You to the RTD Board of Directors and Executive Director Cal Marcella.

The City and County of Broomfield

Someone once said that "There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world; and that is an idea whose time has come." Well, here in Broomfield, we had an idea whose time had come. In 1998, the citizens of the state of Colorado voted 62% to answer Broomfield’s request to establish a new government to bring better services to our citizens. The City and County of Broomfield was born!

Historic! The last City and County to be created was Denver in 1902 and the last county in this great state to be created was Alamosa in 1913.

The year 2000 was the central year for the transition to the new City and County of Broomfield. The work done in 2000 will insure better and more cost-effective services for all Broomfield residents on November 15, 2001.

• Broomfield residents will no longer have to live in 4 different counties and have to travel 20 to 60 miles for county services.

In the year 2000, we reaffirmed our commitment to a unified Broomfield by putting into place the structure of a combined -- and streamlined -- city and county government.

• We studied human service needs and began taking the steps toward providing them in a new and integrated manner.

• We cemented our commitment to community policing and to become a leader in police services and jail management.

• We completed negotiations to join the 17^th Judicial District. Legislation finalizing this effort was passed in January of this year. Broomfield is the only place in the state where a municipal, county, and district court exist together. Another example of streamlining government services to our residents.

• We established the organizational foundation to provide professional assessor and clerk and recorder services, as opposed to those that are politically driven under the "old style" of county government.

• We began building an infrastructure for a land-records office, complete with a geographic information system, where one-stop-shopping will be the norm. No longer will anyone have to go from an assessor’s office to a treasurer’s office to a planning office to accomplish sales or purchase of properties in Broomfield. All the current records will be accessible on your first visit.

Key staff members for all these efforts have been hired. The individuals brought on board to perform the functions of assessor, treasurer, and clerk and recorder are knowledgeable, motivated professionals.

We have hired experts in the human services and information technologies fields. All of these individuals share a common value: their number one priority is to provide the best "customer-focused and professional services" to the citizens of Broomfield.

We have committed to reinvent our government for you.

In addition, 2000 was the year that saw the ground breakings for three new buildings for the City and County of Broomfield.

A new, 30,000 square-foot library with a 300-seat public auditorium is under construction south of Community Park.

A new police and courts building north of the Broomfield Municipal Center will be our new Justice Center – it will be our County Courthouse.

The Broomfield Police Department Detention Center and Training Facility southwest of Interlocken is nearing completion on time and under budget.

In addition, the former city hall at #6 Garden Center has been completely remodeled and will be the headquarters of our Health and Human Services Department.

Broomfield is a City on the Move

Broomfield is a city on the move. We are working hard to become an economically balanced, self-sufficient city. And we are succeeding. The value of property in Broomfield in 1991 was $181,276,520. In 2001, it is $475,389,640 – an increase of 262% in just 10 years.

Where did it come from? Apart from the normal increases in values over the years, it comes mostly from new development of business and commercial areas – places like FlatIron Crossing, the MidCities and Koll properties, our Town Center on 120^th Avenue, additions to Interlocken and the new Eldorado Ridge and Great Western Park business complexes. In fact, our commercial and industrial property value have increased by 344% in the last 10 years.

Business is willing to invest in Broomfield, and Broomfield citizens will be the beneficiaries. No longer do residents need to drive to Boulder or the Tech Center for a job. These new assets in our city will mean more dollars for the purchase of open space and parks, accelerated infrastructure improvements in existing areas of the city, new amenities like the planned new recreation and fitness center and play fields for our youth. The possibilities are endless.

Our community’s participation in government is flourishing as well, too. We are a city of "doers." The sense of community that Broomfield inspires is shown in the hundreds of residents who participate on committees, boards and commissions to advise your elected officials and staff in critical areas like open space, parks and recreation, land use decisions, personnel issues, schools, cultural activities, human services and more.

For a city whose population ranks 16^th highest among all Colorado’s cities and 13^th in size among counties, Broomfield excels in community participation.

Broomfield is a winner. In 2000, the city received awards from the American Public Works Association for its capital improvement projects, was named a "Tree City USA" for the 11^th year, and received a certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association for the 10^th consecutive year.

The city won a Starburst award for our new batting cages and skate park from the Colorado Lottery, a Gold Fingerprint award, one of only 142 nationally, for the Police Department’s web site, and a Silver Circle award from the national City County Communications and Marketing Association for the marketing and information efforts surrounding the city/county transition.

The city’s economic development efforts were recognized by the International Development Research Council for the second consecutive year as one of the top 10 economic development organizations in North America.

Staff members have received recognition from the Denver Regional Council of Governments for distinguished service, and from the American Water Works Association for water quality analysis.

The Future

What’s in store for the future of Broomfield? We are working to find ways to insure affordable housing in Broomfield. We want to make sure that our children, teachers, police officers and service providers can have a home here. To insure diversity in our city, we need to make sure that people from all economic walks of life can afford to make their home in Broomfield.

We will continue to find ways to acquire open space and parks to enhance our quality of life here. We will look at neighborhood revitalization efforts much like the effort that is occurring now in the First Filing neighborhood.

We will continue to support efforts to complete our trail system, and to make sure that it connects with regional trails, all the way to Eldorado Canyon and beyond! Transportation continues to be an important issue, and anything that contributes to alternative transportation opportunities will help keep our air clean and our streets safe.

Regionally, we will continue to work with our neighbors on joint projects, using intergovernmental agreements where appropriate to bring new opportunities that will benefit our residents.

To take care of our elderly and ourselves, as we grow older, we will continue to seek graduated care and assisted care opportunities within our city.

We will intensify efforts to beautify our city, including our entryways to make our mark in the region so that all will know when they are in Broomfield.

We will remember to preserve our past. We are committed to expanding historic preservation efforts to keep valuable places and things safe for future generations to see and learn from.

Conclusion

My friends, Broomfield has a bright future. Together, we have put in place the foundations to make it a truly great place. Our master plan, the various sub area plans, our strategic plan and our commitment to excellence are the basis for the actions taken by those leading your local government.

We always remember that this is a community effort. That is our greatest strength.

We, as a community, have worked together to build the city we have today. The members of City Council and I look to you, our citizens, as the visionaries, guides and supervisors in our work, to help us steer our course. Our staff members are extraordinary in their dedication and expertise and are the best in the state. Together, we are a team working diligently toward an always better Broomfield.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

I think our successes in Broomfield are a great prize. We should truly be proud of our accomplishments. We are working hard at work that is well worth doing. The fruits of our labor today will be enjoyed by generations yet to come.

Thank you.