Boulder Weekly sent candidate questionnaires to all state primary candidates. These are their written responses, edited for length and clarity. Find a full list of questionnaires here.
Office: Colorado Senate, District 18
Campaign website: jovitaschiffer.com/
Relevant experience
I’ve lived in Boulder County for 25 years and have been a leader for just as long. I’m a single mom and raised two sons here. I’m an equity and inclusion consultant and a fierce advocate for children. I have advocated for the well-being of children in Washington, D.C., and at the state level.
I’ve grown my leadership skills through work in the community. First, in the business world as a human resources director, later as a small business owner, and more recently in public education. As a Manager for Boulder Valley School District, I design programs, build community partnerships, secure millions of dollars in donations and grant funding, and lead a team of 150 instructors and volunteers.
I’ve served on several boards for organizations, including the Colorado Department of Education. I have been a research partner with CU Boulder’s School of Education and co-authored graduate courses on Compassion and Dignity with the Renee Crown Wellness Institute.
My diverse lived experience resonates with many residents in SD18, from my struggles with economic instability and inequity to nearly losing my home to the Marshall Fires and building financial stability. I know what it means to be vulnerable and to have courage and resilience. And I know what it’s like to be excluded in a system not designed for everyone to thrive. All of these relevant experiences aren’t just about being a highly effective leader, they are about understanding the many perspectives of constituents, building the tenacity and resolve to fight to improve the lives of others, and learning to lead with compassion and a focus on our common humanity.
Priorities
To make progress on the economic and social disparities that underlie many of our challenges in SD18, we must simultaneously transform multiple systems. This transformation requires legislators to shift from policy priorities focusing solely on single legislative issues to focusing on policy outcomes for all legislation that improve the economic stability, fair treatment, and holistic well-being of all SD18 residents.
The outcomes-based priorities that will guide my decision on every bill that comes across my desk are:
- Will this policy enhance economic stability for everyone in SD18?
- Will this policy be applied in a way that is fair and benefits all SD18 constituents?
- Will this policy create opportunities for physical, emotional, and mental well-being for everyone?
In addition, there are specific policy priorities I know our communities and others across the state would like to see, including:
- Enacting a ban on the sale, purchase, and transfer of assault weapons. We finally had a majority of Democrats in the state House willing to pass an assault weapons ban, but this bill didn’t make it out of committee in the Senate.
- Removing the state prohibition on rent control in cities and counties. Boulder’s attempts at moderate rent control triggered a statewide ban in 1981. With some of the highest housing costs in the state, it’s time to get rid of this outdated legislation.
- Taking advantage of new federal guidance that enables states to use Medicaid to pay for housing, food, climate-related supports (e.g., air conditioners), and other social determinants of health, as states such as Oregon are starting to do. HB23-1300’s feasibility study will provide guidance on how to move forward; our legislature needs to be ready to act.
Lightning round
Yes/no answers only
Do you support the state’s elimination of local occupancy limits? Yes
Do you support ending the state’s prohibition on local rent control? Yes
Do you support requiring or allowing more density in your jurisdiction as a way to address the affordable housing crisis? Yes
Do you support the Front Range train as the state’s highest priority for passenger rail? Yes
When was the last time you paid rent? How much was it?
The last time I paid rent was Feb. 1, 2020, in the amount of $2,300 for a home I rented in Superior that happened to be on the same street as the home I lost eight years earlier. In 2012, I lost my home to foreclosure while struggling to find financial stability after divorce. What broke my heart most about that experience was not losing my home. It was watching my children lose their home and the neighborhood they’d grown up in.
Over the next eight years, we lived in different rentals in Superior and Louisville, as I rebuilt my life and credit. When I saw an opportunity to return to the former neighborhood we had been forced out of, I took it and we spent two years living just a few houses away from our original family home. My sons got to reconnect with their childhood friends and when I was ready to buy a home again in another part of Superior, we left our old neighborhood on our own terms this time.
What would you say are the top 3 issues facing District 18, and what are your plans to address them in a way that differs from the current approach?
The top issues I hear most about from SD18 are the top concerns I have faced in my 25 years in Boulder County:
- Safeguarding our communities from pollution and climate crisis impacts.
- Creating more housing affordability to prevent homelessness and keep it from getting worse.
- Enhancing mental health and substance use prevention and treatment for all ages, especially our youth.
Housing and homelessness, climate disasters and behavioral health are not new issues in SD18, and the legislature has made progress in recent years. My approach, however, is unique. While I work on addressing acute and chronic issues, I also focus on prevention, a strategy that I believe is key to long-term solutions.
- Educating and resourcing individuals and businesses to prepare for climate-related disasters.
- Keeping people housed so they don’t become homeless in the first place.
- Addressing factors like lack of stable housing and healthcare that put all of us at risk for mental illness, especially our youth (e.g., poverty).
These issues cannot be fixed by one policy change or one piece of legislation. I will drive targeted progress in these areas while championing legislation that improves economic stability, equal opportunity and overall well-being for SD18.
In recent years, we have seen locally how prevention-oriented programs can truly make a difference. For instance, Boulder’s Wildfire Home Assessment Program educates homeowners on how to protect their homes and communities. Similarly, the new Building Home peer support program gives formerly unhoused individuals the tools and support they need to thrive. These are the types of initiatives I plan to champion if elected, ones that provide tangible solutions to our community’s most pressing issues.
How do you plan to balance the necessary evolution of our transportation system with current realities of car-dependency such that people who have to drive aren’t too negatively impacted, but people who don’t have to are encouraged to make other choices?
We need to take care of what we have, create better infrastructure for all users when we have the opportunity, and invest in public transit and transit-oriented communities to reduce people’s need for cars in the future.
Taking care of what we have means maintaining our existing roads and pathways and considering how to redesign them to be better for all users when making updates. For example, when repaving a road, we can ensure sidewalks meet the latest accessibility standards or add a protected bike lane.
We need to invest more in our public transit system and consider whether cities and counties should develop their own transit systems that interact with a regional system. Colorado’s current ranking of 44th in the nation for state funding of public transit clearly indicates the urgency for more state funding for public transit. With maintenance and infrastructure requirements looming in the next 10-20 years, and without de-brucing its funding, RTD will be left with only half the budget it needs to sustain current operations by 2050.
The interdependence of housing density, mixed-use neighborhoods and public transportation is undeniable. Public transportation can only be cost-efficient and effective when people have jobs, services and retail nearby. Initiatives such as allowing multiplexes in areas zoned for single-family homes, eliminating parking minimums and expanding mixed-use zoning are all crucial steps toward making public transportation more sustainable.
Investing in more multimodal transit and designing streets to universal standards can significantly reduce our dependence on cars. In the meantime, we can help everyone by focusing on the needs of all road users, including cyclists, pedestrians and those using mobility-assistive devices. With a rapidly aging population and a significant portion living with disabilities, making our built environment more accessible is a crucial step towards reducing car dependence and promoting sustainability.
Given the realities of a changing climate and limited government resources, how do you plan on balancing mitigation and adaptation for already-impacted populations in D18?
Mitigation and adaptation can be two sides of the same coin. To best use limited resources, our climate mitigation strategies must prioritize those advancing climate adaptation and vice versa.
Consider the positive impact of our community’s actions. When we plant trees, we invest in both sequestering carbon and cooling via shade and transpiration. Regenerative agriculture both sequesters carbon and enhances crop resilience to climate variability and extreme weather. Renewable energy sources such as rooftop solar that aren’t controlled by an energy monopoly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide decentralized power sources that are more resilient to climate-related disruptions. Restoring degraded ecosystems along our waterways also captures carbon while limiting flood risk. Rainwater harvesting and absorbent landscapes lower the energy needed for water treatment and distribution while enhancing resilience to water shortages. These strategies create hope for a sustainable future.
Addressing climate change requires a long-term view that considers immediate challenges and future risks. Integrating mitigation and adaptation ensures we are preparing our communities for evolving climate conditions while reducing emissions and enhancing resilience that will help minimize the impact of extreme weather events and other climate-related hazards.
Everyone in SD18 is already impacted by the climate crisis. We’ve all been facing more frequent floods, fires, extreme temperatures, hail and wind damage, air pollution, and threats to critical infrastructure like water and electricity. Those of us with the least social and economic resources to weather these climate events are impacted the most, but as the COVID-19 pandemic showed, none of us is immune from global crisis.
There are steps we can take to work together to adapt to our hotter, drier, more volatile future while mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. I look forward to promoting climate strategies that solve multiple problems.
How does JEDI factor into your policy making?
Many communities are left out of policymaking due to barriers to entry such as lack of access to information, financial and time constraints, and limited representation. These barriers are too often insurmountable given the socio-economic disadvantages many of us start with, and there is a significant and not unwarranted lack of trust in government to overcome as well. Elected officials and activists with the power, knowledge and resources we need exacerbate this lack of trust when they fail to include many of us in the political process or actively work to exclude us. At least until they want our vote or want to use us in a social media post to show how much they care about equity.
I am running for state Senate as a bilingual, Black-Latina, middle-class, single working mom who grew up in poverty, has experienced homelessness, and battles racism and classism in our community every day especially since I stepped into local politics. I work with some of the most vulnerable families and households in Boulder County. I work with researchers at CU to develop programs that help all teachers thrive, especially teachers of color. I am many of the constituent groups we say we want to include in policy and decision-making. Justice, equity, diversity and inclusion factor into everything I do because my lived experiences of racism, poverty, homelessness and working with vulnerable families have shaped my understanding of the challenges our communities face. You cannot study your way into this understanding unless you experience it directly. JEDI is my life, not a choice or a hobby.
What efforts do you make in your daily life to consider and understand people with different lived experiences from your own?
I’ve navigated the past 25 years as a woman of color in Boulder County. This navigation requires understanding many different perspectives, again, not because I have a choice but because my and my children’s wellbeing and the wellbeing of all the children and families I serve depend on my ability to navigate systems that keep us under-resourced, underpaid and under-informed.
My personal and professional experiences have shaped me into a persistent and effective advocate for understanding and acknowledging the diverse perspectives of our community. When working in new areas or involving new community partners, I don’t just jump into solutions. I take the time to get to know them, to understand and acknowledge their existing efforts in advocating for change and voicing their concerns. I then build upon this understanding to engage in problem-solving, collaborative dialogue that centers on their experiences and priorities. Everyone’s voice matters to me, and I am committed to hearing as many voices as possible.
Given my personal and professional experiences, I am acutely aware of the privilege often held by people in positions of authority, which can inadvertently bias who has a voice in decision-making. This bias can favor interactions with individuals and groups with similar backgrounds and experiences, excluding many communities whose members have less power. It can also create bias in interpersonal interactions with community members who have less social and/or economic power, because no matter how well-intentioned someone may be, when those with more power do not understand their biases even brief interactions can end in harm.
I am committed to using my Senate role to change this dynamic. I believe in creating opportunities for meaningful engagement, amplifying marginalized voices and actively dismantling systemic barriers to participation so we can foster more inclusive and representative systems that serve all of us.
When’s the last time you changed your mind about something, and what was it?
The last time I changed my mind was when I went from saying no to the Boulder DSA invitation for consideration for endorsement to saying yes.
I initially said no because I feared their endorsement might be misconstrued and used against me in this campaign. I aligned with most of their values around social justice, equity and fighting for working people. We also both prioritize affordable housing and economic stability. But we didn’t align on everything. Yet, saying no didn’t sit well with me.
I reconsidered my decision because I realized that as a future elected official, I’ll have to work with people I don’t align with on every issue, and working with diverse constituent groups will be crucial. I applied for the endorsement consideration and after their own deliberations, they endorsed me. This endorsement has indeed been misused to spread falsehoods about me, but I remain resolute in my decision and have a high regard for the members of Boulder DSA I’ve come to know.
My role as a Senator is to represent and serve all constituents, irrespective of whether we agree on a few issues or many. I will not exclude anyone or show favoritism towards any group. Throughout my life, I have observed government leaders favoring certain groups, but not the ones I am a part of, such as workers, single mothers, People of Color and those who have lost their homes. My campaign is built on inclusivity and being receptive to dialogue and collaboration.
What question would you ask a fellow candidate on the ballot?
What are the key attributes of a skilled and effective leader?