Sarah Levison Ward 2 Kentucky Derby Contender
Dashes Out Front for Community and Civic Engagement
Marcia Martin’s tenure as the Ward 2 representative on the Longmont City Council officially ended on December 31, 2024, leaving the seat vacant as the city prepares to select her successor to avoid the expense of a taxpayer-funded election.
The City of Longmont invited qualified Ward 2 residents to submit their applications by January 8. The vacancy has attracted significant public interest with 18 out of 22 qualified applicants in the mix.
Sarah Levison is one of those applicants—a former at-large city two-term council member from 2007 to 2015 and mayoral candidate in 2017. Reflecting on the current situation and the city’s history of civic engagement, Levison recounted a particularly memorable city council race in 2005.
“We had a city council race, I think, in 2005 where 13 people were running for the two at-large positions,” Levison recalled. “I nicknamed it the Kentucky Derby of at-large races because the derby usually has 13 to 15 horses running, and the gate opens and all hell breaks loose, and they go off.”
Levison moved to Longmont in 1997 while pregnant with her second child. She planted deep roots in the historic East Side neighborhood by engaging with the community through initiatives like a summer art program in Collier Park.
“We put down roots here,” Levison said, “and got involved with our neighbors to create something meaningful.”
Levison acknowledged challenges in encouraging inclusivity, particularly in reaching out to Latino families in her neighborhood.
“Our neighborhood had always found it very frustrating not to have the full participation of our Latino neighbors because a lot of us didn’t speak Spanish,” Levison said. “It was really critical to make sure that everybody is included.”
Levison stressed the importance of civic engagement and community connection in creating a sense of belonging.
“We’ve seen a tsunami of loneliness and people being disconnected,” Levison observed. “Every time you step out of your door, you have an opportunity to engage with something meaningful.”
Levison pointed out that civic engagement isn’t limited to involvement with city government.
“It could be with a faith community, a sports league, or forming a neighborhood block group,” Levison explained. “Part of the challenge with civic engagement is getting people’s heads around the idea that it’s not just government. It’s all of us together doing things.”
One of Levison’s key concerns is the decline in participation in city boards and commissions. She emphasized the need to connect people to their community and inspire them to serve, whether as volunteers or members of nonprofit boards.
“Every person in Longmont has something to contribute,” Levison said. “There are great ideas out there, as long as you’re willing to engage with somebody face-to-face or receive an email and explore what that is.”
Levison’s commitment to listening and acting on community concerns was evident during her time on the City Council. She recounted her efforts to reopen the ice skating rink in Roosevelt Park after hearing from residents.
“Once I was elected, I said, ‘Hey, if you want the ice-skating rink open again, I’m willing to open my mouth if you will come to that first meeting,’” Levison shared.
With community support and collaboration, the rink was reopened and continues to serve as a recreational space for residents.
Levison also highlighted the value of Longmont’s biannual Open Forum meetings, which she helped introduce during her first term. The meetings aim to provide an opportunity for authentic dialogue and have become a staple of Longmont’s civic engagement efforts.
“Open Forum allows residents to share their hopes, desires, and aspirations for the city,” Levison said. “The first year, we had everyone from retired folks to a little girl who drew a picture of foxes and talked about preserving land near her home.”
Levison expressed concerns about the city’s shifting demographics due to an increase in rental properties.
“The balance between homeownership and rental is a little less than two-thirds homeowners and a little more than one-third renters,” Levison noted. “How do you get renters invested in the community from the week after they move in until they decide to give their 30-day notice?”
Levison stressed that housing extends beyond providing a place to live; it’s about creating a home.
“I think that housing is not just a domicile, housing is a home,” Levison said. “And again, that connects with civic engagement. How do you make somebody feel at home, that they’re going to be invested instead of passing by, you know, a big pile of McDonald’s bags? What would motivate them to say, ‘Hey, this is my home. There’s a trash can. Why don’t I just pick it up and put it in the trash can?’”
Levison reflected on critical issues facing the community, including homelessness, poverty, and traffic, and emphasized the importance of collaborative solutions.
“It’s all important,” Levison said. “We had traffic and congestion when I served before, and I think again, we have to look at what staff is doing on that. They do a lot of traffic studies, but are we getting what’s meaningful out of the traffic studies? Are we asking the right questions to get the answers we need? Sometimes you have to study something to understand how to address it effectively.”
Levison acknowledged the complexity of homelessness but stressed the importance of targeted investments.
“We can’t take care of everybody in the city, but we can invest in those who are motivated to grow themselves out of poverty,” Levison said.
Levison credited Longmont’s network of organizations, including the OUR Center, HOPE, the Housing Authority, and Recovery Café, for their efforts in addressing homelessness and poverty.
“For people who are motivated—those who say, ‘I want to beat addiction, I want to overcome what’s holding me back’—we want to invest in them,” Levison said.
Levison highlighted her work on the RISE program, an initiative she helped establish during her time on the council.
“When I was on council, I studied the issue of poverty and persuaded staff to start an anti-poverty program called RISE,” Levison said. “The program effectively identified the barriers people face and offered solutions tailored to motivated individuals.”
The program provided Longmont with its first comprehensive data on the costs of childcare and other factors affecting families in poverty.
“The families in the RISE program showed significant progress,” Levison noted. “It demonstrated that if you invest in helping people address the issues holding them back, they can carry themselves forward out of poverty. That’s a good use of money.”
During her time on the council, Levison served as the council member liaison to El Comité de Longmont. After her council tenure, she was invited to join the organization’s board as a community member. Levison served on the board for nine years, completing a maximum of three terms.
Levison’s community involvement didn’t stop there. She also joined the St. Vrain Rotary Club. When the club merged with the Niwot Rotary due to shrinking memberships, she became an active member of the combined club.
Through Rotary, Levison has secured funds to address various community needs, from providing earbuds and headphones to students to organizing artist-in-residence programs in collaboration with the Firehouse Art Center.
In 2023, she championed fundraising that brought bilingual theater performances to schools in Longmont.
“The principal at Northridge Elementary said their kids had never seen bilingual theater or been to a theater performance. They felt seen, and their students felt seen,” Levison recalled.
Reflecting on her decision to apply for the Ward 2 seat, Levison sees her previous city council experience as an asset.
“It’s 10 months, and in order for this council to have somebody that can really help them moving forward, I think that experience counts,” Levison said. “I could hit the ground running. I’m not bringing in an agenda in 10 months. My role would be to slip in as a partner, a colleague, and a collaborator to support the Council’s missions and goals.”
Reflecting on her motivations, Levison explained, “It’s very exciting to be in that school and see these kids laughing and shouting and, they have a little book to take home. It was essentially a storybook about what the play was about. That is more rewarding to me. That is the biggest gift. Every time I walk through Roosevelt Park and I see and hear people at the ice skating rink, that makes me feel very good—seeing the pleasure other people get in things.”
With a horse race of interested applicants having submitted applications by the January 8 deadline, the Council is set to interview applicants in a public meeting on January 21, before the swearing-in of the new representative scheduled for January 28.
Longmont residents can share their thoughts on candidates like Sarah Levison by addressing the council by emailing them beforehand. The open forum to address the city council previously scheduled for January 21, will be replaced with an interview session of candidates and the appointment of a selected candidate.