Which city council candidates will preserve more open space?
- vicky2745
- Oct 7
- 4 min read
At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, we can’t stress enough how important the Nov. 4 Lafayette City Council election is. The four people you elect next month could determine the future use of the property at 119th and Baseline.
Here’s what you need to know.
Lafayette elects city council members every two years, so this next council will serve from December 2025 to December 2027. Incumbents Tim Barnes, David Fridland and JD Mangat are not up for election, but four seats will be open.
Because we have a seven-member council, it only takes four votes to approve or defeat a resolution or ordinance—including annexation and any potential rezoning or development of the rural land at 119th and Baseline. This new slate of candidates could be those four votes.
WHO’S RUNNING?
There are 10 candidates vying for the four open seats. In alphabetical order, they are:
Luke Arrington
Kyle Beaulieu
Josh Beryl
Crystal Gallegos
Adam Gianola
Rob Glenn
Annmarie Jensen
Eric Ryant
Saul Tapia Vega
Michael Watson
HOW TO BE INFORMED
Trying to figure out which of these 10 support the Preserve Lafayette cause (not to mention other things you care about) seems daunting. But there are three key ways you can study up on these councilor wannabes.
Candidate forums. Every election, the League of Women Voters and Lafayette’s Youth Advisory Board host candidate Q&A forums. We’ve always found these forums extremely helpful to not only see where candidates stand on key issues, but also to check out how knowledgeable they are about our city, how they conduct themselves in public and how they think on their feet.
This year, the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce is also hosting a candidate forum, and it will kick off a weeklong Festival of Forums. Here’s the schedule:
Thursday, Oct. 9, 6:30-8 p.m., Lafayette City Hall, Council Chambers
Candidate meet and greet from 5-6 p.m. at Ghost Box Pizza, 103 S. Public Road
Hosted by the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce
According to the Chamber, “this event provides an opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue on the issues that matter most to local businesses—such as minimum wage, permitting, licensing and other topics shaping our city’s future.”
Monday, Oct. 13, 6-7:30 p.m., Lafayette City Hall, Council Chambers
Hosted by the League of Women Voters and Sister Carmen Community Center
According to the League, “this forum will help inform and prepare voters to select four candidates to the Lafayette City Council during the November 2025 election.”
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 6:30-8 p.m., Lafayette City Hall, Council Chambers
Hosted by the Lafayette Youth Advisory Board
According to LYAB, “the focus of this forum will be questions on topics of interest to young people in Lafayette.”
You can attend these forums in person or watch them live at lafayetteco.gov/streaming-video or youtube.com/CityofLafayetteCo and on Comcast channel 8.
If you miss a forum, don’t despair. All of the forum videos will be archived and you can watch them any time on the streaming video page on the city website, under the “Channel 8 and Miscellaneous Programs” tab.
Candidate questions. Two of the candidate forums are accepting questions from the public. Here’s how to submit your questions:
Chamber of Commerce forum: candidate.questions2025@gmail.com. No deadline stated.
League of Women Voters/Sister Carmen forum. Deadline is Oct. 11.
Candidate contacts. Here are the email addresses and phone numbers for each candidate. And here are the candidate websites:
Josh Beryl (appears to only have a Facebook page. If he has a website, please let us know.)
WHAT PRESERVE LAFAYETTE IS DOING
Meeting candidates. So far, five of the candidates have contacted one or more Preserve Lafayette team members to discuss their platforms and/or tour Lafayette’s open space properties: Kyle Beaulieu, Adam Gianola, Rob Glenn, Annmarie Jensen and Michael Watson. We’re happy to meet with any other candidates who reach out to us.
Compiling a candidate questionnaire. We’re planning to send questions to the candidates about issues that are important to Preserve Lafayette, and we’ll report their answers in a subsequent newsletter. What would you like to ask the candidates? Please fill out our contact form with your ideas by Oct. 9.
Decoding the candidates. As we’ve done for previous elections, the Preserve Lafayette team will dig through the publicly available info on the candidates and give you a handy (hopefully!) summary in an upcoming newsletter.
Thanks, as always, for your commitment to keeping Lafayette’s eastern gateway a rural haven for centuries to come. Your voice—and vote—matters!
The Preserve Lafayette team