Over the past few weeks, we’ve had some incredibly substantive and thoughtful conversations on our campaign’s Facebook page. I was so impressed by this particular question from a resident named Sarah—and my answer gets to the very heart of my philosophy on leadership and how we can fix the broken process at City Hall. I wanted to share it here as a permanent part of our community dialogue.

The Question from Sarah:

“Dan Sung for Golden City Council I finally got a chance to read through your blue print along with the rest of the info. I personally really like your ideas on how to and why involving our community in decisions. I have one last question. How do you plan on getting the rest of the council on board with this? New members would be more willing to go along with this blue print but I fear returning members maybe a bit harder to convince to change what they feel has worked or need more time to see said changes.”

My Answer:

“Sarah, thank you for this. I’ve actually thought quite a lot about this over the months, and you’re absolutely right to ask it. You’ve hit on a key challenge of any new council member: how does one person build the consensus needed to create real change?

First, I want to acknowledge that this work is incredibly hard. In my career as a state regulator, my entire job is getting diverse stakeholders—often with competing interests—to the table to solve complex problems. It taught me that real progress and real involvement only happens when you communicate early, communicate often, and build a process that everyone trusts. What we’re doing now in Golden isn’t enough. We need to build a much better communication infrastructure between the city and its residents (and I have ideas on that, but that’s for another post! )

But to your specific question about winning the vote on Council, my strategy is twofold.

First, as we discussed, we change the dynamic by bringing the organized will of the residents into the conversation. When I bring a plan forward, it won’t be just my idea; it will be a solution CO-DESIGNED WITH AND CHAMPIONED BY THE COMMUNITY ITSELF. That is a powerful and persuasive force that is difficult for any elected official to ignore.

Second, I have a deep belief in the power of LEADING BY EXAMPLE. When one council member operates with a new level of TRANSPARENCY and RESIDENT PARTNERSHIP, it sets a new standard. It demonstrates a better, more effective way of governing. I am confident that my colleagues on Council also want to do what’s best for Golden, and when they see a process that genuinely brings the community together to create better solutions, they will see the wisdom in it.

It’s not about forcing a vote; it’s about building a better MODEL and MINDSET that is so sensible and so effective that it naturally builds the consensus we need to move forward to truly create a better Golden for all of us.”