Eat Your Vegetables, They are Sexy, Really

00:00:00:04 – 00:00:04:16
David Martin
This is the good government show.

00:00:04:21 – 00:00:15:01
Ashley Stolzmann
There’s a perception that farmers markets are boutique, bougie, expensive places in our area, and it’s not the reality.

00:00:15:06 – 00:00:23:22
Ashley Stolzmann
From my perspective, the federal government has deliberately shifted their responsibilities onto counties.

00:00:23:27 – 00:00:33:31
Ashley Stolzmann
And sometimes doing nothing is a waste of money. So if we would have just done nothing and stayed in that space, we would be wasting taxpayer money.

00:00:33:36 – 00:00:43:07
Ashley Stolzmann
Sometimes you have to look at the circumstances you’re presented with and meet the challenge of the day, rather than focusing on your passion.

00:00:43:11 – 00:01:02:58
Ashley Stolzmann
I think people think posting on social media is being involved, and that’s, from my perspective, more like Plato’s Allegory of the cave. You’re just looking at the shadows on the wall if you’re posting online. Getting involved means coming to the meeting, signing up for a board, having a sit down conversation with someone, an actual, you know, breaking bread with someone, having a conversation.

00:01:02:58 – 00:01:07:12
Ashley Stolzmann
So you actually have to engage in real life.

00:01:07:17 – 00:01:25:04
David Martin
You’re watching TV. You see an ad. Those crispy French fries look so good. You jump in the car and head out for some fries and something to go with it. Are you pop some fries in the oven? Not as good, but I’ve really had a bad French fry. Well, in Boulder, Colorado, they’re making vegetables. Say cauliflower. Well, sexier and just as appealing as French fries.

00:01:25:09 – 00:01:41:46
David Martin
Well, that’s the idea. Welcome to the good Government show. I’m Dave Martin. First, help us show the message of good government by liking us and sharing us where we are. In your favorite social media. Make sure to leave a comment and join our good government show community. Check out our website for the link. Ashley Olsen is a county commissioner in Boulder County, Colorado.

00:01:41:49 – 00:02:06:32
David Martin
She joins us today. The county won an award for their healthy eating program. Part of what the project did was make fruits and vegetables attractive. Really. Photos, descriptions and availability all combined to get more veggies into more homes. They work with local farmers and created a program that distributed fruits and vegetables where it was most needed. And they showed people that despite thinking fresh fruits were more expensive, they showed them how affordable fresh produce actually is.

00:02:06:33 – 00:02:23:48
David Martin
And it’s sexy, really. But don’t just take my word for it. Take Ashley’s. You’ll hear and listen how much you love salsa. This is such a good government project all around. People get the benefit of lower cost fruits and vegetables. Local farmers get their produce out and the result is a healthier community all around. Good government money well spent.

00:02:23:51 – 00:02:39:07
David Martin
Speaking of government money well spent, Commissioner Saltzman discussed a really good government project. It’s streamlining government and that’s good government. So coming up, a really great conversation with Commissioner Ashley Olsen of Boulder County, Colorado.

00:02:39:12 – 00:03:02:58
David Martin
The Good Government Show is sponsored by our that’s for our community. Get involved. We hear that all the time from government leaders. Our co brands with your government’s name and logo, your staff and the people you serve are connected and part of your community. From any device. Your members provide reliable data and meaningful feedback. Ask a question like do we want more parkland or better homeless services?

00:03:02:58 – 00:03:14:09
David Martin
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00:03:14:14 – 00:03:32:18
David Martin
Once you wrap up this episode of the Good Government Show, give a listen to our friends over at Good News for lefties. This daily podcast highlights news stories that show there’s more good news out there. Other people in government are really trying to do the right thing. That’s good news for lefties. Listen where you’re listening now.

00:03:32:23 – 00:03:38:44
David Martin
I’d like to welcome Ashley, the Boulder County Commissioner, Boulder County, Colorado, to the good government show. Great to have you on.

00:03:38:46 – 00:03:39:39
Ashley Stolzmann
Thank you for having me.

00:03:39:42 – 00:03:59:13
David Martin
Well, I am very happy to talk to you. There’s lots to get to. We’ve done a little bit of research about what’s going on in Boulder. So let’s start at the very beginning. And the reason why I met you folks is we’re here at the National Association of Counties, and you won an achievement award for best in your class for a program called Boulder County’s Public Health.

00:03:59:14 – 00:04:01:57
David Martin
Healthy eating. Correct? That’s correct. Did I get it right?

00:04:01:59 – 00:04:02:14
Ashley Stolzmann
Yes.

00:04:02:14 – 00:04:06:28
David Martin
You did. All right. Okay, so nobody wants to eat their vegetables. Mom. Why?

00:04:06:33 – 00:04:11:47
Ashley Stolzmann
Well, so we have we actually have a lot of veggie lovers in our community. Good. But what we were noticing is that.

00:04:11:47 – 00:04:13:16
David Martin
Sometimes I buy vegetables.

00:04:13:18 – 00:04:28:58
Ashley Stolzmann
You eat yours too. I love vegetables. Yes. We were noticing that sometimes people have the impression that fruit and veg is more expensive than some other foods. You can buy some of the junk food, and so we’re getting more money into folks hands so that they can get those healthy fruit and veg. And it also is helping our local farmers.

00:04:28:58 – 00:04:30:29
Ashley Stolzmann
We have a lot of farms in Boulder County.

00:04:30:31 – 00:04:32:29
David Martin
So how does this program work? Explain it to me.

00:04:32:31 – 00:04:55:30
Ashley Stolzmann
So we are partnering through our public health program and then our human services program. So combining programs together so that people who are on supplemental nutrition can have access to healthy fruit and veg just like it sounds. So part of its education, just giving people access and information about where and how they can get fruit and veg. And some of it is about getting people these coupon basic things so that they.

00:04:55:32 – 00:05:09:04
David Martin
So let’s go back to education and slow down a little bit. Sorry. We have a lot to get to. So how do you tell people how do you educate people that you know tomatoes, lettuce, celery, cucumbers is the way to go. How do you how do you get that message out?

00:05:09:05 – 00:05:27:28
Ashley Stolzmann
So it really is marketing in a lot of ways. So by making beautiful pictures of the fruit and veg that people have access to, it gets that subconscious subliminal piece of it going that, you know, that tomato looks really good, that broccoli looks really sexy. And so when you start looking at it and seeing it, it just it gets.

00:05:27:28 – 00:05:29:23
David Martin
In your mind. It looks really sexy.

00:05:29:25 – 00:05:30:13
Ashley Stolzmann
Exactly.

00:05:30:16 – 00:05:31:28
David Martin
You’ve said that before.

00:05:31:32 – 00:05:34:59
Ashley Stolzmann
I have not actually. But when you see.

00:05:34:59 – 00:05:35:08
David Martin
The.

00:05:35:23 – 00:05:53:17
Ashley Stolzmann
Phrase, when you see the pictures that the team has put together the communications team, it makes you want to go get some fruit and vegetable. It looks delicious. All right. And it is delicious. But it’s a good reminder because we get advertised to all kinds of things, right. And it’s like, you see, you know, your favorite brand of chips or your favorite soda.

00:05:53:19 – 00:05:54:06
Ashley Stolzmann
Those types of things.

00:05:54:07 – 00:05:54:36
David Martin
That food.

00:05:54:38 – 00:06:03:19
Ashley Stolzmann
Yeah. And so, you know, who’s doing the work to show us how great grapes can be and how wonderful cauliflower is and things like that. Okay, so they’re beautiful.

00:06:03:19 – 00:06:04:40
David Martin
Pictures compete with French fries.

00:06:04:40 – 00:06:21:44
Ashley Stolzmann
But is I love French fries. That’s like one of my favorite foods. Everyone does. Yeah. They’re fantastic. And pretty much every way you make them, they’re great. But cauliflower is great to. And we’ve got local growers and we have farmers that are making just fantastic food. And so these pictures really show it. And we have these coupons that people.

00:06:21:53 – 00:06:25:20
David Martin
How do you get the word out. What are you doing. How are you getting message out.

00:06:25:22 – 00:06:47:52
Ashley Stolzmann
Community members are enrolled in the program voluntarily. But we identify folks that are on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and so they get info about it just included, because they can also get part of what’s called a double up food book. And so at our farmers market, we’ve partnered with the farmers market to say if they spend a dollar, they’re getting $2 on fruit and veg with their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program.

00:06:47:52 – 00:06:55:03
Ashley Stolzmann
So you get extra money, you get this beautiful content that shows you about it, and you’re teaching families about the nutritious food.

00:06:55:06 – 00:07:01:08
David Martin
Is this government money well spent to give people money to go buy fruits and vegetables they should already be buying?

00:07:01:10 – 00:07:14:50
Ashley Stolzmann
Yeah. So I just came from the agricultural committee and we’re hearing, you know, we all hear about how hard it is for the farmers right now. So getting money from the local community into the hands of the farmers is a really great way to spend government money, and it’s also helping people get healthy.

00:07:14:53 – 00:07:16:14
David Martin
What are they growing in Boulder?

00:07:16:17 – 00:07:37:08
Ashley Stolzmann
So a lot of different things sorghum, some commodity crops. We have corn, we have soybeans. But for the specialty crops that we’ve got growing, we’ve got, like I said, cauliflower, lots of lettuce, spinach. We’ve got people that make brussel sprouts, tomatoes and organic veggies at smaller scale, individually picked and things like that.

00:07:37:10 – 00:07:41:56
David Martin
Unfortunately, my favorite way to eat spinach is cream. Spinach. That’s good. That’s good for it. Okay.

00:07:41:58 – 00:07:51:46
Ashley Stolzmann
Iron. Calcium I look for the positive side of things. Cream, spinach because it’s got more surface area to volume ratio than Ross Bennett. You actually get more minerals out of it so you can feel good.

00:07:51:59 – 00:07:55:00
David Martin
Good. So what I get what I get a stake in cream spinach. I’m okay.

00:07:55:02 – 00:08:00:57
Ashley Stolzmann
You’re fine. I mean, you’re going to want to watch your, you know, fats and cholesterol overall, but you’re fine. There’s good protein and steak.

00:08:01:04 – 00:08:03:31
David Martin
Are you are you a nutritionist by by trading?

00:08:03:33 – 00:08:06:38
Ashley Stolzmann
No. My training. I’m a chemical engineer by training.

00:08:06:42 – 00:08:09:52
David Martin
So. Well, it’s not it’s not completely unrelated.

00:08:09:54 – 00:08:13:54
Ashley Stolzmann
That’s true. Yeah. I mean, it’s not it’s not a nutritionist. No it’s not.

00:08:13:56 – 00:08:18:58
David Martin
So you’ve mentioned this, and I’ve cut you off several times. Tell me about the coupon program. How does this work?

00:08:19:01 – 00:08:28:57
Ashley Stolzmann
Well, so it just it gets folks basically these double up food bucks so that people have funding to go buy fruit and veg from the local farmers market.

00:08:28:58 – 00:08:34:36
David Martin
So instead of buying $5 worth of spinach, I can buy $10 worth of spinach with my double up bucks.

00:08:34:38 – 00:08:35:26
Ashley Stolzmann
That’s exactly right.

00:08:35:29 – 00:08:36:09
David Martin
Double up bucks.

00:08:36:12 – 00:08:36:33
Ashley Stolzmann
That’s right.

00:08:36:36 – 00:08:37:48
David Martin
So where did you get this idea from?

00:08:37:50 – 00:09:03:17
Ashley Stolzmann
Well, it’s this we started this pilot program, and the idea really is supporting local. We’ve got a local farmers market that we want people to have access to, and we want everybody to know they can go. There’s a perception that farmers markets are boutique, bougie, expensive places in our area, and it’s not the reality. You can get really quality, very high quality, nutrient dense food at the farmer’s market for a great value.

00:09:03:17 – 00:09:16:28
Ashley Stolzmann
And so some of the some of it is really just about overcoming the perception that it’s a place where you can’t afford to shop. So by giving access to more people that don’t have as high of incomes, then they can make it into the farmer’s market and see that it is a place for them.

00:09:16:29 – 00:09:17:21
David Martin
How often do you go.

00:09:17:24 – 00:09:20:59
Ashley Stolzmann
To the farmer’s market in? In my town, it’s on Saturdays in the summer.

00:09:21:02 – 00:09:22:31
David Martin
And so you go mostly.

00:09:22:35 – 00:09:30:40
Ashley Stolzmann
Mostly? Yeah, I walk over and it’s pretty fun. You see everybody, they tell you what’s wrong and what potholes need fixing and things like that. So I like the farmer’s market.

00:09:30:42 – 00:09:32:32
David Martin
What’s on your shopping list? You go to the farmer’s market.

00:09:32:35 – 00:09:34:27
Ashley Stolzmann
So my husband is the shopper in the family.

00:09:34:27 – 00:09:35:18
David Martin
Which which.

00:09:35:20 – 00:09:52:38
Ashley Stolzmann
Is wonderful. My two favorite things from the farmer’s market. There’s a woman and her shop is called Salsa Ness. And she makes this salsa that is just top. I’ve never had anything better, and it’s got a lot of cilantro in it. So if you don’t like cilantro, it’s not for you, but it is the best stuff you’ve ever had.

00:09:52:43 – 00:10:09:47
Ashley Stolzmann
It is only available in the summer, and in our family, we could probably have a gallon a week of that salsa. It is so good. Really. That’s the number one. The number two in Colorado is kind of a big deal. But we have a lot of chilies okay. And so our farmers grow a lot of peppers and they roast them at the market.

00:10:09:57 – 00:10:17:06
Ashley Stolzmann
So you get these just perfect roasted chilies that they can go in anything like whatever you’re making it’s better with chili.

00:10:17:10 – 00:10:19:32
David Martin
So good to make chili with salsa.

00:10:19:44 – 00:10:26:58
Ashley Stolzmann
A little bit. My husband really is like more in the area of making sure we have the nutrients that food at home. All right. I just go to meetings all day.

00:10:27:00 – 00:10:27:41
David Martin
Okay. All right.

00:10:27:41 – 00:10:28:46
Ashley Stolzmann
Just talk on podcast.

00:10:28:55 – 00:10:34:26
David Martin
This is good. Well, thank you for having, having having your talk of the good government show. Does he make an awesome hot chili?

00:10:34:29 – 00:10:35:09
Ashley Stolzmann
Yes, absolutely.

00:10:35:12 – 00:10:35:26
David Martin
All right.

00:10:35:35 – 00:10:35:43
Ashley Stolzmann
Yes.

00:10:35:45 – 00:10:40:33
David Martin
And which is great with salt, which is great with salsa tips. Right, right. Is it working?

00:10:40:38 – 00:10:54:32
Ashley Stolzmann
It’s hard to say in the period of time that it’s been done, you know? So, like, nutritious food outcomes take a long time to measure if you want to understand. Like what’s the rate of heart disease for families who have had access to this, it can take decades to know. So you’ve asked a tough question.

00:10:54:39 – 00:10:57:08
David Martin
Do you feel like it’s been well received by the community?

00:10:57:10 – 00:11:03:58
Ashley Stolzmann
People love it. I mean, the farmers love it and the people who get the benefit love it. So it’s very much positively received.

00:11:03:58 – 00:11:06:10
David Martin
But well, you want a major award. So yeah.

00:11:06:12 – 00:11:10:52
Ashley Stolzmann
It’s hard to say, though. You know the question. What’s the reaction? People healthier. That takes a long time to study.

00:11:10:53 – 00:11:13:14
David Martin
And now what are the farmers saying about this project?

00:11:13:17 – 00:11:37:10
Ashley Stolzmann
The farmers love it because again, people have a perception that local food is not accessible to them. They think they have to shop at the big box stores to be able to have food. And a lot of the farmers in our area have a hard time getting their products in those big box stores. So the farmers love it because they can actually sell to a for a higher price, direct to customer than they can when they sell to some of the bigger chains.

00:11:37:10 – 00:11:45:10
David Martin
And they get to meet their customers, and the customers get to meet the guy who may who just pulled the potatoes out of the ground. That’s right. The string beans or the spinach. Right.

00:11:45:12 – 00:11:46:05
Ashley Stolzmann
That’s exactly right.

00:11:46:08 – 00:11:48:46
David Martin
And do they get cooking tips from farmers?

00:11:48:48 – 00:12:04:40
Ashley Stolzmann
Well, so some of them. Yes. Not all. So we have one rancher. He’s a cattleman. And he’s doing a really innovative thing where he’s taking his cows and he moves them around for what he calls ecosystem services. I don’t know if you’ve heard about this. I have not. We have high.

00:12:04:42 – 00:12:06:42
David Martin
Five in Brooklyn. We don’t have any farmers.

00:12:06:45 – 00:12:07:57
Ashley Stolzmann
That’s okay. You have food.

00:12:07:59 – 00:12:09:23
David Martin
You have food. So it’s fine.

00:12:09:28 – 00:12:31:10
Ashley Stolzmann
So we have a lot of high fire risk in our area. And the the goats, cows, all the can really help us to eat down the grass and other things like that. That can lead to the big fires. And so Andy takes his cows around to different properties so that they can eat grass for other people, and then brings it back and makes this great beef.

00:12:31:10 – 00:12:47:52
Ashley Stolzmann
And he actually does spend some time teaching people about how to cook it because because they move around more, it would normally be a little bit tougher than if you just had a cow that sat without moving around. And so he has preparation tips and techniques and stuff like that for those products that are a little bit different.

00:12:47:54 – 00:12:49:21
David Martin
Where did this idea come from?

00:12:49:21 – 00:12:50:18
Ashley Stolzmann
Which the ecosystem.

00:12:50:18 – 00:12:50:52
David Martin
Services.

00:12:50:52 – 00:12:52:59
Ashley Stolzmann
Or the double up food box.

00:12:53:04 – 00:12:58:03
David Martin
The whole, you know, the eating healthy program, this whole all the everything, the big umbrella.

00:12:58:13 – 00:13:06:22
Ashley Stolzmann
It was morphed over time through a bunch of different programs, but really about getting people food that they need. Right. Local from the community.

00:13:06:24 – 00:13:09:22
David Martin
Are you happy with it? Are you going to expand it or is it going to change it anyway?

00:13:09:34 – 00:13:14:17
Ashley Stolzmann
So that’s a big question. So there’s so much uncertainty from the federal side right now.

00:13:14:19 – 00:13:14:41
David Martin
Sure.

00:13:14:43 – 00:13:23:59
Ashley Stolzmann
Almost every day, at least every week, I get some curveball letter in the mail that some wild new change to how we do things. So as supplemental nutrition.

00:13:24:02 – 00:13:24:57
David Martin
Doesn’t sound helpful.

00:13:24:57 – 00:13:35:49
Ashley Stolzmann
It’s not very helpful. Okay. As Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program continues to change, we may change our local programs, but we’re going to stay dedicated to making sure people have access to healthy food.

00:13:35:51 – 00:13:38:34
David Martin
Are there federal dollars that you count on to keep this project alive?

00:13:38:37 – 00:13:59:26
Ashley Stolzmann
No, not in that way. But we like to put programs together so that they work for people. If you have to enroll in 17 different programs, you’d spend your whole life signing up for things. That’s a lot of red tape. That’s a lot of bureaucracy. Sure. So we like to combine things that have natural synergies. So if you’re helping someone with food assistance, that’s an opportunity to have a discussion about healthy food.

00:13:59:28 – 00:14:08:06
David Martin
Do you feel like in this current climate that we’re in, that there’s more pressure on counties to deliver the services that maybe the federal government is cutting back on?

00:14:08:09 – 00:14:25:44
Ashley Stolzmann
So from my perspective, the federal government has deliberately shifted their responsibilities onto counties. So even just looking at H.R. one, it’s a huge shift of cost burden onto states. And in our state, in Colorado. The state doesn’t administer the programs that counties do. So it’s a huge shift of cost onto counties.

00:14:25:46 – 00:14:26:27
David Martin
Can you afford it?

00:14:26:29 – 00:14:44:59
Ashley Stolzmann
No. Absolutely not. So we’ve we had to go to our voters for a tax increase last fall to cover some of the things, to maintain them at the service level. Other things, we’re reducing service levels. So no, we can’t just use local dollars, which have purpose. You know, they go to specific things to fund what is the federal government’s responsibility.

00:14:45:02 – 00:14:56:37
David Martin
So before we turn the microphones on, you have discovered a way to save money for the county a space optimization study. Tell me about this, because this sounds like really good government and really effective good government.

00:14:56:39 – 00:15:16:48
Ashley Stolzmann
Yes, sir. This is a project I’m very excited about. So we, during the pandemic in Colorado, sent everybody home. We said, you have to go work from home. We didn’t know what it was. We didn’t know how contagious it was. We didn’t, you know, we didn’t know what was going on when it first broke out. And once we came back to work and saw things like that, we actually had completely changed the way we delivered county services.

00:15:16:48 – 00:15:40:51
Ashley Stolzmann
We figured out that residents didn’t actually love coming into our building to fill out their forms for Medicaid or for these different things. And so we allow virtual options. We allow online options. We have a lot of workflows where the staff are able to do their job entirely remotely. And so what we noticed is that we had a lot of underutilized building space.

00:15:40:51 – 00:15:59:24
Ashley Stolzmann
So we looked at it and we said, okay, if we moved, we actually could save a lot of money. And so we started looking around. And it just so happens that because of this trend in other businesses to this isn’t a government right, unique situation. It’s sort of everyone. It has really had a effect on.

00:15:59:26 – 00:16:00:52
David Martin
No one goes to the Office of Science.

00:16:00:52 – 00:16:01:26
Ashley Stolzmann
To the office.

00:16:01:28 – 00:16:04:04
David Martin
Yeah. But for nobody goes to the office on Friday. Totally.

00:16:04:11 – 00:16:27:12
Ashley Stolzmann
Totally. If you I mean, there’s no congestion on Fridays anymore in our area. Seriously? Yeah. And so the commercial real estate market for office is just in the tank. And so we were able to pick up a really wonderful space for a song, essentially. And so we are able to move from 100,000ft² of office space to 40,000ft² of office space.

00:16:27:12 – 00:16:39:24
Ashley Stolzmann
And we’re renovating the space right now. We’re going to move in in December, but we’re making it a completely net zero building, so it’ll have no carbon emissions, and we’re able to cover the entire capital cost of the move by selling the site that we’re in.

00:16:39:26 – 00:16:41:14
David Martin
Is that hard to do to have zero emission?

00:16:41:28 – 00:16:43:19
Ashley Stolzmann
No. A lot of people think it is a lot.

00:16:43:21 – 00:16:44:21
David Martin
You’ll hear it. No it’s not.

00:16:44:23 – 00:16:55:49
Ashley Stolzmann
I mean, no, it is actually not at all. There’s a lot of stories that you hear and myths that you hear about. Oh, you know, fully electrifying this on the other side. It’s really not. It’s 2026. And we can in our climate.

00:16:55:51 – 00:16:58:44
David Martin
Why do people think it’s so hard propaganda.

00:16:58:46 – 00:17:02:41
Ashley Stolzmann
I mean, I could spend we should we could do a propaganda show.

00:17:02:46 – 00:17:03:58
David Martin
It’s a podcast. We have talk.

00:17:04:00 – 00:17:10:52
Ashley Stolzmann
I mean, so there’s a lot of interest, right? Like, there’s a lot of interest in maintaining the status quo. If I install gas furnaces.

00:17:10:53 – 00:17:15:05
David Martin
Well, no one likes change. Yeah, shades could be scary. Shades could be expensive.

00:17:15:09 – 00:17:46:10
Ashley Stolzmann
Disruption though, right? There’s like there’s there are forces that want to maintain the status quo in a market rather than see a market disruption. Yeah. Because, you know, someone has put their livelihood and their, their earnings into doing in a certain way. And so if you can do things a new way now, that can change the way people behave and it can change cost curves and all of those types of things, for us, it’s a no brainer because the cost of the capital is essentially the same, and we’re taking our energy bill and we’re just dropping it dramatically.

00:17:46:10 – 00:17:50:41
Ashley Stolzmann
So over eight years, we’ll save well over $2 million just on the electricity cost.

00:17:50:41 – 00:17:52:40
David Martin
So it’s 2 million on electricity.

00:17:52:46 – 00:17:53:45
Ashley Stolzmann
On the electricity alone.

00:17:53:48 – 00:17:58:07
David Martin
How much are you saving by this whole space optimization.

00:17:58:07 – 00:18:04:16
Ashley Stolzmann
So we should be able to save very, very, very conservatively 15,000,000 in 8 years. And there’s no cost.

00:18:04:18 – 00:18:04:57
David Martin
That’s significant.

00:18:04:59 – 00:18:06:23
Ashley Stolzmann
It’s totally significant for us.

00:18:06:23 – 00:18:09:28
David Martin
That’s a big deal. Everybody. Cauliflower of the county. Correct. I mean.

00:18:09:40 – 00:18:38:31
Ashley Stolzmann
It’s really important to look for ways to make sure you’re not wasting money. Sure. And sometimes doing nothing is a waste of money. So if we would have just done nothing and stayed in that space, we would be wasting taxpayer money. So really looking at the landscape of things, understanding what the commercial property values are, understanding what we could sell our property for, and oh, by the way, we have a housing crisis like everybody else, and we can actually sell our old site to the private sector and cover our costs of the move, and they’re going to build housing there.

00:18:38:31 – 00:18:55:59
Ashley Stolzmann
So that’s also a win win. I mean, that’s not included at any of the costs. We’ve got people asking us to spend government dollars on building housing, and we actually are returning some property to the private side to build some of the market rate housing that we need in that area. So there are more wins to this story than meet the eye also.

00:18:56:01 – 00:19:21:23
Ashley Stolzmann
But it is really a good governance project because we’ll have no emissions. We’re going to reduce bills. And oh, by the way, the building we were in is an old tuberculosis hospital that was converted to really? Yeah, to convert it to a farm, converted to a county facility and then added on to in the 70s and 80s. And so it’s not like the best customer service experience, there’s over 650, 80 violations on the current site.

00:19:21:23 – 00:19:33:51
Ashley Stolzmann
And we will have zero at the new site. So people who have accessibility issues are going to have an easier time if they have to wheel into the facility, if they have to take the bus into the facility. There’s so many reasons why this is a good.

00:19:33:56 – 00:19:35:35
David Martin
This sounds like the government all around.

00:19:35:42 – 00:19:41:13
Ashley Stolzmann
Government all around. Yeah, the air quality, the indoor air quality of the new building compared to the old building night and day.

00:19:41:15 – 00:19:42:20
David Martin
You are so excited about that.

00:19:42:22 – 00:19:43:08
Ashley Stolzmann
I’m so excited.

00:19:43:08 – 00:19:43:39
David Martin
About this.

00:19:43:41 – 00:19:48:17
Ashley Stolzmann
It is. It’s a it’s a really boring project. On one hand, we’re moving. Okay. That’s kind of boring.

00:19:48:19 – 00:19:48:48
David Martin
Big deal.

00:19:48:51 – 00:19:52:31
Ashley Stolzmann
Big deal. But it is a big deal because like, what we can then do.

00:19:52:34 – 00:19:58:07
David Martin
With with the whole. To summarize, you’re taking an old space. You’re going to convert that to housing. Yes. You’re going to get paid.

00:19:58:07 – 00:19:59:04
Ashley Stolzmann
Somebody else is going to.

00:19:59:04 – 00:20:13:49
David Martin
Do that. Right. But it’s going to turn into housing for the community, going to get paid for it. The county is going to get paid for it. Yes, sir. You’re going to move to another space. You’re going to save money on rent? Yes. Among other things, you’re going to you’re going to minimize your carbon footprint, and you’re going to have more effective use of space.

00:20:13:49 – 00:20:16:51
David Martin
And all the empty space that was just sitting there is gone.

00:20:16:54 – 00:20:17:32
Ashley Stolzmann
That is correct.

00:20:17:34 – 00:20:20:51
David Martin
This is a win all around. Like, whose idea was this?

00:20:20:53 – 00:20:23:22
Ashley Stolzmann
Well, so this was years in the making. So this is.

00:20:23:22 – 00:20:24:44
David Martin
One of these didn’t happen overnight.

00:20:24:46 – 00:20:48:18
Ashley Stolzmann
It didn’t happen overnight. So two rounds of county commissioners ahead of me said this is even before the pandemic. They said this space is miserable just from the old ness of it. And like the accessibility issues and those things. So they had actually looked at partnering with the local city to have a government campus together, and they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars studying and all of that, and tried to see if there could be synergies.

00:20:48:18 – 00:21:08:58
Ashley Stolzmann
And they basically decided they couldn’t. But we were able to take that plan and look at what they had laid out and then kind of build on it and pivot. And then rather than try to build our own facility, we said, well, hey, look at this. We’ve got this commercial real estate market. What if we actually take advantage of that for the community and get out of this space and into this space?

00:21:08:58 – 00:21:09:41
Ashley Stolzmann
So it’s actually.

00:21:09:43 – 00:21:16:43
David Martin
So sometimes it takes someone a fresh set of eyes to look at a project because because you get so in your silo. Right.

00:21:16:45 – 00:21:23:50
Ashley Stolzmann
Well I think that’s right. But I think the other part of it is, is people are passionate about the things they’re passionate about. Right. And so you might think, okay.

00:21:23:52 – 00:21:26:16
David Martin
I seem to really like cauliflower, I love it.

00:21:26:16 – 00:21:55:57
Ashley Stolzmann
I love cauliflower, among other things. Among other veg. Passionate about. Yes. But sometimes you have to look at the circumstances you’re presented with and meet the challenge of the day rather than focusing on your passion. So I was before I was a county commissioner, I was mayor of Lewisville. I had a really big plan with my council of what we were going to do in the first four years and one month into my mayorship, 1050 houses burned down in my town.

00:21:55:57 – 00:22:15:33
Ashley Stolzmann
And so the Marshall Fire was a climate driven wildfire in our community. That was urban conflagration that came through the town. So then everything on our really great plan was off of our plan. You know, we had a new we had a new plan. And so it was about supporting the community recovery, rebuilding, debris removal, you know.

00:22:15:35 – 00:22:19:10
David Martin
All that. That’s like a huge disaster to force you to rewrite your plan.

00:22:19:13 – 00:22:37:52
Ashley Stolzmann
Right. So but then that’s what you’re doing. And so that, I mean, a disaster is sort of an obvious situation of like, of course you have to change your plans. But that’s true in so many parts of governance. It’s not always the right time to bond for something. If interest rates are through the roof, why would you want to take on 30 years of debt for your community?

00:22:37:52 – 00:22:59:58
Ashley Stolzmann
If interest rates are great, maybe it is. So you really should look at the landscape of what’s happening and adjust your plans accordingly, because you might not be there at the right time to do what you had wanted to do. You can advance it, maybe, but it might not. It might not actually be the appropriate time. So some of it is about looking at what cards are dealt and then playing the hand you have, not playing the hand you want to have.

00:23:00:01 – 00:23:09:19
David Martin
And taking a fresh look at an old project with a new pair of eyes and a new sort of not being locked into what that first plan was, which is what you just said.

00:23:09:22 – 00:23:24:38
Ashley Stolzmann
Absolutely. And the whole thing is a marathon. Like you, you have this race where you’re passing the baton between elected officials every four years. So you really want to have the handoff be good. So you know what they were up to. You know what the community is wanting at the moment. And then you figure out what your leg of the race is.

00:23:24:40 – 00:23:41:27
David Martin
Okay. Now, the other thing I wanted to ask you about, I said we had a lot to get to. I’m going to read this. I have a headline here. This is a press release you put out with other county commissioners in Boulder. Reckless action by the EPA. You say the repeal of the EPA’s endangerment finding. You call it an irresponsible move.

00:23:41:27 – 00:23:58:00
David Martin
And you said the devastation of climate change is here. While efforts to address climate change are being actively undermined by federal action, local governments must fight climate crisis with limited tools, with cost suffering, and states keep rising. Is that correct? Yes. What made you put this out?

00:23:58:02 – 00:24:18:54
Ashley Stolzmann
So in my lifetime, the truly greatest and probably only significant thing to vehicle emissions has been vehicle emission standards reductions at the federal level. When you look at if you think back to like 1980 and how far you could get on a tank of gas miles to the gallon versus now the reason that’s happened is because of federal standards.

00:24:18:54 – 00:24:21:53
Ashley Stolzmann
And the endangerment finding.

00:24:21:56 – 00:24:24:24
David Martin
Is dad’s big Ford lead eight miles to the gallon.

00:24:24:24 – 00:24:37:40
Ashley Stolzmann
Eight miles to the gallon. And now now, if you buy a truck, it’s not eight miles to the gallon anymore. Much, much better. And that’s because of federal emission standards. So we can do all these things at the local level. And we do we try all kinds of things. We try to get people out of their cars and into onto bikes.

00:24:37:40 – 00:24:57:44
Ashley Stolzmann
We try busses, we try all these local things, and they have a minuscule effect on the emissions in our area compared to vehicle emission standards and the endangerment finding. And so when the federal government shirks its duty to regulate on a national scale, it affects us all from cost to pollution. And it is a it is a crisis.

00:24:57:44 – 00:25:19:09
Ashley Stolzmann
So we’re going to do a lot of things at the local level. We continue to see high rates of electric vehicle adoption, which is critical to fight the climate crisis. We continue to see people walking and biking instead of driving and choosing alternatives and things like that. And that all is a drop in the bucket compared to what can be done with the Biden narrow standards that were put in place to reduce emissions further and with endangerment finding.

00:25:19:12 – 00:25:40:15
Ashley Stolzmann
And we see this it’s not just driving. I use that because that’s a huge source of emissions in our area and in other areas, but it’s in building emissions. It’s what you see from manufacturing and chemical plants. We have a lot of pollution from and gas in our area. So this is truly a crisis. We see the effects of it in Colorado, from fires to floods to other types of things, but also poor air quality.

00:25:40:15 – 00:26:00:29
Ashley Stolzmann
And if people don’t care about all those things which affect your health and your livelihood and things like that, it’s an economic issue. The fire damage is billions of dollars of damage. The air quality issues is billions of dollars of cost in health care. So it really is problematic. And having a patchwork of regulation state to state creates a lot of problems for the market as well.

00:26:00:31 – 00:26:07:33
David Martin
What made you and your other two county commissioner compatriots put this together? Reckless action by the EPA? I mean, you know.

00:26:07:35 – 00:26:16:37
Ashley Stolzmann
It’s important for people to understand what’s happening right now. There are a lot of changes that are being made, and they might not seem front and center to people.

00:26:16:42 – 00:26:18:44
David Martin
So why did you feel was so important to say this?

00:26:18:44 – 00:26:45:42
Ashley Stolzmann
This change by the EPA is the single most consequential thing to public health and safety over the next 50 years. I mean, this is about food security. This is about health security. This is about people’s life and livelihood and people’s children and the next generation and protecting the environment. So I would much rather change it. I would much rather like, you know, go down there, Mr. Smith goes to Washington and have them put it back in place.

00:26:45:42 – 00:26:52:41
Ashley Stolzmann
And much stronger standards, in fact, that could help the economy and the community. But to not say anything is inappropriate at this time.

00:26:52:42 – 00:26:58:30
David Martin
Well, I’m glad you said it. Thanks. Thank you. All right. That was the hard part. We’re going to get to the easy part. Next.

00:26:58:34 – 00:27:02:22
Ashley Stolzmann
I hope maybe this podcast will make people change their minds and do the right thing.

00:27:02:25 – 00:27:02:46
David Martin
I hope.

00:27:02:46 – 00:27:03:58
Ashley Stolzmann
So, that’s what I hope comes out of.

00:27:03:58 – 00:27:09:00
David Martin
This I hope so.

00:27:09:05 – 00:27:34:23
Narrator
Across America, there is a growing demand for leadership that delivers results over rhetoric. The Good Government Institute brings together proven ideas, principled leaders and real world solutions to strengthen how we govern not by reinventing the system, but by advancing what already works. On our flagship podcast, The Good Government Show, we highlight the leaders behind that progress, demonstrating how effective governance begins with listening, respect and a commitment to serve.

00:27:34:25 – 00:27:39:06
Narrator
Visit Good Governance to learn more.

00:27:39:10 – 00:27:57:02
David Martin
Want to hear more about good government? Check out another show I host leading Iowa Good Government in Iowa cities. I host the show with Brad Cavanaugh, mayor of Dubuque, Iowa, and the immediate past president of the Iowa League of Cities. Together, we talked to leaders in Iowa cities. We talk about what works and what good government looks like in Iowa.

00:27:57:04 – 00:28:04:45
David Martin
Joining us right here. We’re listening now that’s leading Iowa, good government in Iowa cities.

00:28:04:50 – 00:28:10:47
David Martin
That was the hard part. This is the easy part. You’ve been a mayor. Now you’re a county commissioner. What’s good government define it.

00:28:10:49 – 00:28:19:54
Ashley Stolzmann
So good government is a combination of things. But it’s about being a reliable partner for the community that they know they can count on you and to use their resources properly.

00:28:19:56 – 00:28:22:13
David Martin
If people are frustrated with government, what should they do?

00:28:22:15 – 00:28:24:32
Ashley Stolzmann
Go knock on their elected officials doors and chat with.

00:28:24:32 – 00:28:27:55
David Martin
Them to people. Knock on your door. Do you open the door?

00:28:27:58 – 00:28:31:05
Ashley Stolzmann
Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. I mean, it’s I.

00:28:31:10 – 00:28:32:46
David Martin
And they stop you learn to the farmer’s.

00:28:32:46 – 00:28:38:54
Ashley Stolzmann
Market and they text message me and they call me. And if I’m at the grocery store. Yeah, people people need to let their elected officials.

00:28:38:55 – 00:28:41:23
David Martin
That’s why your husband does the shopping, isn’t it?

00:28:41:31 – 00:29:08:39
Ashley Stolzmann
No, it’s because I run out of hours in the day. But no, I mean, you get involved. And being involved doesn’t mean posting online like that. I think people think posting on social media is being involved. And that’s, from my perspective, more like Plato’s Allegory of the cave. You’re just looking at the shadows on the wall. If you’re posting online, getting involved means coming to the meeting, signing up for a board, having a sit down conversation with someone, an actual, you know, breaking bread with someone, having a conversation.

00:29:08:39 – 00:29:11:26
Ashley Stolzmann
So you actually have to engage in real life.

00:29:11:29 – 00:29:13:02
David Martin
And they can always find you at the farmers market.

00:29:13:02 – 00:29:17:38
Ashley Stolzmann
You can find me at the farmers market, you can find me. People know my number. They can call me. They can text me.

00:29:17:40 – 00:29:19:57
David Martin
What drew you to public service? What made you get involved?

00:29:20:00 – 00:29:43:13
Ashley Stolzmann
Okay, so sort of a weird origin story, but there is a beautiful historic grain elevator in my town that was going to be torn down, and I was really upset about it. And so I got together with some neighbors and we tried to save the grain elevator. And ultimately, long story. I mean, it’s a very sort of boring long story, but it’s still there and it’s now been landmarked now.

00:29:43:15 – 00:29:50:29
Ashley Stolzmann
Yeah. And it’s it’s one of the only wood plank construction grain elevators in the area because they’re flammable. And so most of them burned down.

00:29:50:38 – 00:29:54:07
David Martin
So, you see, we will have a link to a picture of it on our show.

00:29:54:18 – 00:29:57:14
Ashley Stolzmann
The Lewisville Great elevator. Good. That’s the origin story.

00:29:57:16 – 00:29:58:45
David Martin
And that’s so that got you involved.

00:29:58:48 – 00:30:02:43
Ashley Stolzmann
That is that is actually like the first thing I got involved in my local community.

00:30:02:52 – 00:30:05:26
David Martin
And then what did you then what was the first office you ran for.

00:30:05:35 – 00:30:22:10
Ashley Stolzmann
City council. So 2013, I got elected to City Council. Before I was on city council, I volunteered to serve on the Utility Rate Task Force. So my background is in chemical engineering and, you know, looking at utility rates and the return on investment and all of that is super interesting to me. And I have relevant skills in that space.

00:30:22:10 – 00:30:25:15
Ashley Stolzmann
So I volunteered to serve on a citizen subcommittee.

00:30:25:17 – 00:30:27:34
David Martin
Are you still a chemical engineer? Are you still working?

00:30:27:39 – 00:30:29:22
Ashley Stolzmann
I’m not currently chemical engineering.

00:30:29:24 – 00:30:32:34
David Martin
You’re not currently engineering. Who inspires you?

00:30:32:38 – 00:30:36:36
Ashley Stolzmann
My mom, I mean, my mom is super inspirational. Yes.

00:30:36:38 – 00:30:41:19
David Martin
Is there any a political hero that you have, anybody in politics that you’re like, oh, that’s the person.

00:30:41:21 – 00:30:53:16
Ashley Stolzmann
Emily Serota in our state is really inspiring to me. Mike Weissman in our state is really inspiring to me at the national level. I get excited by Bernie for sure.

00:30:53:18 – 00:30:53:42
David Martin
Okay.

00:30:53:44 – 00:31:04:58
Ashley Stolzmann
I wish Bernie could be more effective. So that’s like, that’s the heart. That’s the double edged sword there, you know what I mean? I think some really cool ideas there. But I, you know, coalition building is such an important part of being effective.

00:31:05:00 – 00:31:12:38
David Martin
So obviously a long career at college degree in chemical engineering. Did you assume at some point you’d be running for office? No, no.

00:31:12:41 – 00:31:13:45
Ashley Stolzmann
No absolutely not.

00:31:13:48 – 00:31:16:07
David Martin
No. You weren’t president, your high school class? Nothing like that.

00:31:16:09 – 00:31:35:39
Ashley Stolzmann
I did go out for being president of my high school class, and I was in student council forever. Like, I actually joined student council in second grade. And then was I kid you not, we had it in elementary school. And so I have been on student council and I was on like, there’s a thing called county student council in my high school.

00:31:35:39 – 00:31:36:23
Ashley Stolzmann
So I was on.

00:31:36:23 – 00:31:37:10
David Martin
That to that too.

00:31:37:13 – 00:31:41:37
Ashley Stolzmann
But it did not. It was not something I thought I would be an elected official.

00:31:41:41 – 00:31:42:53
David Martin
Boulder born and raised.

00:31:42:56 – 00:31:46:34
Ashley Stolzmann
Are you about 40 minutes from where I live now is where I grew.

00:31:46:34 – 00:31:47:31
David Martin
Up in Colorado.

00:31:47:34 – 00:31:52:10
Ashley Stolzmann
Yeah, okay. Evergreen. And then I went to college in Golden and then moved to Louisville.

00:31:52:22 – 00:31:53:02
David Martin
How’s the skiing?

00:31:53:05 – 00:32:00:19
Ashley Stolzmann
Terrible. This year we have no snow. Yeah, climate change is a real rotten egg. So, yeah, we have. We really need snow.

00:32:00:21 – 00:32:02:43
David Martin
All right. Snowboard ski, which.

00:32:02:45 – 00:32:03:26
Ashley Stolzmann
Is no board.

00:32:03:28 – 00:32:04:09
David Martin
You’re snowboarder.

00:32:04:11 – 00:32:08:20
Ashley Stolzmann
Yeah. And, I mean, I don’t go much anymore, but growing up, that was. That was what?

00:32:08:30 – 00:32:16:06
David Martin
That was the thing. All right. City council mayor and now county commissioner in Boulder County. What would you like people to know about government they don’t know.

00:32:16:08 – 00:32:19:58
Ashley Stolzmann
You can really make a difference if you actually get involved.

00:32:20:01 – 00:32:22:29
David Martin
How do you do that? It’s hard. Getting involved is hard.

00:32:22:30 – 00:32:27:21
Ashley Stolzmann
You have to go to work. You actually have to go to the meetings. You actually you do. You actually have to.

00:32:27:22 – 00:32:27:42
David Martin
Read the.

00:32:27:51 – 00:32:31:26
Ashley Stolzmann
Show up. You got to show up. It’s like all of life you actually have to show up.

00:32:31:29 – 00:32:32:10
David Martin
All right.

00:32:32:14 – 00:32:39:31
Ashley Stolzmann
It’s not. And I do believe right now people think that they’re involved online and unfortunately they’re not.

00:32:39:33 – 00:32:46:16
David Martin
What are you doing or what can you do to restore people’s faith in government? Because it’s not an all time high, is it?

00:32:46:18 – 00:32:54:33
Ashley Stolzmann
Not at all. When you do a good job, people have a high degree of confidence. And so from my perspective, it is about delivering outcomes.

00:32:54:35 – 00:32:56:01
David Martin
What’s the best part of your job.

00:32:56:01 – 00:33:11:53
Ashley Stolzmann
When you actually help someone like an individual like, and, you know, a lot of times the problems are complicated and you cannot always help someone in the way they need help. But occasionally you can. And it is the most rewarding thing by far.

00:33:11:55 – 00:33:13:26
David Martin
What keeps you up at night?

00:33:13:31 – 00:33:33:35
Ashley Stolzmann
The jail? The jail? Immigration. Right now, immigration and the federal government is keeping me up a lot right now. But our county jail man is hard. I bet nobody wants anybody to be in jail. Well, maybe some people do. Most people don’t want people to be in jail, but sometimes there are people that are a danger to themselves or others.

00:33:33:37 – 00:33:54:29
Ashley Stolzmann
Sure. And that’s the place that they are. And I get phone calls from the moms of people who are in our jail. And there are these complicated phone calls. So on one hand, you can get a mother that’ll say to you, I’m thinking of one in particular who called me recently. What are you doing to make sure my son has, you know, good access to his meds and the food he needs?

00:33:54:29 – 00:34:08:45
Ashley Stolzmann
And is it clean? And it’s the is the care good. Just making sure that I know how the sheriff’s doing with the care. And then on the other hand, she’ll say, and like I do not want him out, like I’m afraid of what will happen if he comes home. I’m worried for my safety and.

00:34:08:49 – 00:34:10:18
David Martin
It’s going to be a hard call to take.

00:34:10:22 – 00:34:13:44
Ashley Stolzmann
Well, I’m telling you, you asked what keeps me up at the jail?

00:34:13:47 – 00:34:14:51
David Martin
The jail?

00:34:14:59 – 00:34:33:07
Ashley Stolzmann
Hard. I mean, people that are in our jail right now have a lot of complicated issues. Many of them have significant, serious mental health issues. And it’s really hard. It’s really hard on the people who work in the jail and they’re trying their best. It’s really hard on the community, like if your community member, if your person is in jail, it’s really hard on you.

00:34:33:08 – 00:34:34:26
Ashley Stolzmann
So jail.

00:34:34:29 – 00:34:38:55
David Martin
And as a as a with a background in chemical engineering, this is a natural for you, right?

00:34:39:00 – 00:34:40:45
Ashley Stolzmann
No. But I mean.

00:34:40:50 – 00:34:44:54
David Martin
There have you do go to the jail periodically. It’s in our water.

00:34:44:59 – 00:34:56:51
Ashley Stolzmann
So in our state it’s required by state law that commissioners will go through the jail. This is what it says. Something along the lines of commissioners will tour the jail once a year and correct any deficiencies they find therein.

00:34:56:56 – 00:34:57:25
David Martin
There you go.

00:34:57:27 – 00:34:58:22
Ashley Stolzmann
And so that’s.

00:34:58:22 – 00:34:59:01
David Martin
A piece of cake.

00:34:59:03 – 00:35:19:14
Ashley Stolzmann
That’s a big task when you read that. Because if you think even let’s let’s take jail out of it for a second. Imagine you ran a hotel for 365 days a year. Yes. That people were never leaving the room there in their room 365 days a year. But you have to keep it in good repair. You want the plumbing to be in good order, the paint to be in good order.

00:35:19:28 – 00:35:39:32
Ashley Stolzmann
You want safe, healthy environment like, imagine how complex and you’re going to serve them breakfast, lunch and dinner and have activities planned and opportunities planned. And then they’re going to get visitors that are lawyers and things like that. So even if you were just running a hotel in that way, it would be a really complicated operation and an expensive operation.

00:35:39:32 – 00:35:43:51
Ashley Stolzmann
And so then add on some additional layers of mental health issues.

00:35:43:53 – 00:35:45:15
David Martin
It really does keep you up at night.

00:35:45:17 – 00:35:46:36
Ashley Stolzmann
It keeps the jail, keeps me.

00:35:46:51 – 00:35:59:55
David Martin
All right, let’s let’s change topics. Yeah. I have not been to Boulder. I have been to Denver, not Boulder. If I’m coming to Boulder, where are we going? You’re taking me out. So where? Where? What are we eating? Where are we going? What are we having? And we can start at the farmer’s market.

00:35:59:57 – 00:36:12:47
Ashley Stolzmann
So I’m a Boulder County commissioner. I often remind people County. So I represent the third district, which does only include a small bit of Boulder City. Okay. So I would take you somewhere in Lewisville, which is the town I’m from. So we have great Italian food. So if you like Italian.

00:36:12:59 – 00:36:13:30
David Martin
In Brooklyn.

00:36:13:32 – 00:36:15:47
Ashley Stolzmann
We have great Italian food. So we have a lot of people who.

00:36:15:47 – 00:36:17:08
David Martin
Came from.

00:36:17:10 – 00:36:35:50
Ashley Stolzmann
You’d be impressed. So in the in the early 1900s, a lot of folks came from Italy to Louisville because we have similar type of coal mine that they had there. And so we got a lot of mining families that came. And so we have a big Italian immigrant community that founded our town. And so out of that, we have some really, really good Italian food.

00:36:35:53 – 00:36:38:04
David Martin
What’s your order? What’s what are you anything?

00:36:38:04 – 00:36:54:51
Ashley Stolzmann
Pasta. I mean, there’s some gnocchi. That’s fantastic. But there are some pasta dishes that they make that are just unbelievable. So we get Italian food for sure. And if you like the outdoors, there’s a lot of opportunity. If you don’t like the outdoors, we could do an escape room. We have the best escape room in the country.

00:36:54:54 – 00:36:58:27
David Martin
The best escape room of the country. All right. Good to know. What do you do for fun?

00:36:58:30 – 00:37:01:20
Ashley Stolzmann
I play video games.

00:37:01:25 – 00:37:05:39
David Martin
I did not see that coming. Are you good? Are you good at it?

00:37:05:41 – 00:37:07:58
Ashley Stolzmann
I enjoy it, isn’t that the point of it?

00:37:08:00 – 00:37:09:12
David Martin
So I guess I suppose.

00:37:09:15 – 00:37:11:50
Ashley Stolzmann
I’m not like a championship gamer, if that’s your.

00:37:11:50 – 00:37:12:58
David Martin
Question, I don’t know.

00:37:13:00 – 00:37:17:21
Ashley Stolzmann
I’ve never won like the Tetris Championship or something like that. But I play video games.

00:37:17:24 – 00:37:17:48
David Martin
Video games.

00:37:17:50 – 00:37:37:54
Ashley Stolzmann
Okay, I just when I’m most recently playing, as I’m replaying Witcher three in Witcher, you get to sort of choose if you’re doing things that are caring and kind, or if you’re doing things and sort of a vindictive way. Okay. And so I’m playing through and I almost always play in a way where I try to get the positive outcome where everyone’s, you know, good and happy.

00:37:37:54 – 00:37:43:41
Ashley Stolzmann
But I’m playing through this time and kind of doing the things in a mischievous, vindictive way. So it’s really interesting.

00:37:43:44 – 00:37:45:08
David Martin
You have a dark side.

00:37:45:12 – 00:37:52:14
Ashley Stolzmann
I don’t know about that, but it’s like there’s a lot going on with what the feds are doing. And I was like, I think I’m going to play through Witcher and make some different choices.

00:37:52:29 – 00:38:02:50
David Martin
Okay, good. Your head a little bit. Yeah. So this is the good government show. We always bring it back to good government. We’ve talked about a lot of good really good government in Boulder. Tell me about another good government project you’re really excited about.

00:38:02:52 – 00:38:25:46
Ashley Stolzmann
There are actually a lot we’re doing. One that is we have a rural area that the septic systems were failing and leaking into the creek. And the way it was built so long ago, there’s really not space to redo the septic system. So we’re working with them on getting a wastewater treatment plant up and running. And it’s complicated because there aren’t a lot of customers.

00:38:25:46 – 00:38:34:24
Ashley Stolzmann
And so the cost per user is high. But we’re working really hard to keep the cost in line and still deliver the benefits to the community.

00:38:34:26 – 00:38:36:33
David Martin
But luckily, you’re an engineer, so you have an idea.

00:38:36:43 – 00:38:39:09
Ashley Stolzmann
And we can hire engineers students. Yeah.

00:38:39:12 – 00:38:46:06
David Martin
So Ashley Salzman, a Boulder County commissioner in Boulder County, Colorado, it was a pleasure talking to you. Keep up the good work.

00:38:46:06 – 00:38:47:35
Ashley Stolzmann
Thank you. Thank you for talking with me.

00:38:47:37 – 00:38:52:01
Ashley Stolzmann
Thank you. Have a great day.

00:38:52:06 – 00:39:13:33
David Martin
The Good Government Institute has a new partner, the Charles F Kettering Foundation. I really like their podcast, The Context, and I bet you will too. They have a new series called Democracy Under Construction. The show is hosted by historian Alex Lovett, and he looks back at the first 250 years of U.S. history. Alex digs into the moments that have pushed us towards an inclusive democracy.

00:39:13:36 – 00:39:20:38
David Martin
You can find it where you’re listening right now, or visit Kettering and give them a follow.

00:39:20:43 – 00:39:40:39
David Martin
What if Lincoln hadn’t been shot? What if World War One hadn’t happened? Jim Ludlow. Good Government, show executive producer, explores both those ideas in two books in Lincoln Beyond the Bullet. He imagines that Lincoln lives, and while cousins, he imagines what would have happened if three kings, all cousins, hadn’t blundered their way into war. What if. Think about it.

00:39:40:41 – 00:39:47:27
David Martin
Go to Good Gub Institute and order a copy.

00:39:47:31 – 00:40:07:01
David Martin
See? I told you she said it, not me. That broccoli looks really sexy. A way to make fruits and vegetables sexy and fun and affordable. Good government and good eating. And now I do feel better about my cream. Spinach order. Thanks, Commissioner Ashley Salzman I don’t think you can call this a propaganda show, but I hope I helped to get the message out for Boulder County, Colorado.

00:40:07:04 – 00:40:26:05
David Martin
The commissioner hope so too. And if this show didn’t get the message through, go knock on her door. She answers it and check out the grain elevator she saved. It’s in our show notes. Her story is different, but for many in government, one local issue sparked an interest and the next thing they got elected video games. Didn’t see that one coming, so I don’t think I’ll be challenged for anytime soon.

00:40:26:08 – 00:40:45:47
David Martin
Well, that’s our show. Thanks for listening. Please like us and cherish with your friends and review us right here where you’re listening, and check out our website. Good Government show for extras. Help us keep telling stories of good government and action everywhere. Join us again for another episode right here. I’m Dave Martin and this is the Good Government show.

00:40:45:52 – 00:41:07:39
David Martin
The Good Government show is a Valley Park production. Jim Ludlow, Dave Martin, that’s me and David Snyder are the executive producers. Our show is edited and produced by Jason Stershic. Please subscribe. Then and like us and review us. That’s the best way to make sure we’re able to keep telling these stories of our government working for all of us.

00:41:07:41 – 00:41:19:40
David Martin
Then listen to the next episode of The Good Government Show.

00:41:19:45 – 00:41:22:50
Narrator
This podcast is part of the democracy Group.

**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.