Candidate profile: Mirabai Nagle

Gunbarrel resident Mirabai Nagle is running for Boulder City Council in the Nov. 7 election.

Born and raised in Boulder, Nagle majored in business administration at the University of Colorado Boulder. She worked for Crocs for a period of time before receiving a graduate degree from the Gemological Institute of America in San Diego.

Nagle then returned to Boulder and joined her family business in Gunbarrel, which sells crystals, minerals and jewelry.

Nagle is a volunteer firefighter with the Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District. She’s currently working on advanced training to become a squad boss, which will make her the highest ranking female firefighter in the wildland fire force.

She currently serves on two boards, Prairie Protection Colorado, and United Paws. Nagle has also been involved with the Boulder County Democrats.

“I’m running, because I was born and raised here,” Nagle said. “It means so much to me, Boulder is in my blood, if you will.” Nagle said that because of her wide variety of experiences, she would make a good fit to represent Gunbarrel within the City of Boulder.

“I think I represent a unique synthesis of perspectives,” she said. “From being a native to a millennial who cares about growth, to being a small business owner and a volunteer firefighter. Also someone who has lived in affordable housing to go on to own a home.

“Those are a lot of different perspectives I can work with to help bring our community together as a whole. This is different than so many of the ‘winner/loser’ situations that we have been experiencing recently here in Boulder.”

She said that there are four areas of her campaign that are important.

First is growth and development — how it is planned out, the benefits to the community from that growth, and how much the community actually wants to grow. “I think bringing the community into that discussion is going to be something that is going to be very important moving forward,” Nagle said.

Second is transportation management. She wants to address the way the city deals with increased traffic — roughly 60,000 commuters on a daily basis — and the impact that has on road management.

Some topics for discussion include expansion of infrastructure and how to pay for it as well as mitigation of traffic impacts. Another would be how to account for the extra wear and tear developers put on the roads.

The third goal would be to lower the carbon footprint by looking into alternative forms of transportation. This includes environmental stewardship and open space management, height moratoriums and using land purchases for open space versus recreation.

“There are definitely some open space areas that are better suited for recreation,” Nagle said. “But many should be kept pristine as open space.”

The fourth area is affordable housing, which she says does not just affect those on the lower rungs of the income spectrum. “I think it’s important to note that it’s not just low income that are having problems staying in Boulder,” Nagle said. “It’s also the middle class that is having a really hard time staying here.

“I’d like to see support for them as well so we don’t have a hollowing out of the middle class, if you will.” She said she would like to see developer fees go up and end some loopholes, which would ensure bigger commitments from developers.

“I also have lot of ideas and ways to work with and keep small businesses in our area,” Nagle said. “I think they benefit our community, so I really want to take a look at keeping it affordable so they can remain in Boulder.”

So far on the campaign, Nagle has been hitting the streets. She’s received several endorsements, including the Daily Camera and Together 4 Boulder.

“Getting informed on the issues is going to be the biggest thing,” Nagle said. “We want the community to understand what the big things are so that they can make informed decisions on how they want their town to move forward.”

There are 14 candidates in the race, voters can choose up to five. If a ballot has more than five selections for city council, the vote will not be counted.

With just under one month until voters will go to the polls, Nagle hopes that she will get the support she needs.

“It’s an exciting race,” Nagle said. “Boulder is a special place. This is a very important race in understanding the legacies that Boulder has. I hope people will take it seriously, get involved and no matter what side you’re on, get out and vote.”