Family: My husband, John, and I have been married for almost 22 years. We have a stalwart son who is a junior at Broomfield High. Our very active daughter is in second grade at Birch Elementary. My father and his wife still live in the house I grew up in, just across the street from the Methodist Church. My brother and his f
amily also live in Broomfield near PDRC. More extended family live nearby--our roots here are deep!
A photo of us on a recent trip to Mesa Verde.
How long have you lived in Broomfield?: All my life, except for a few years in exile in Houston and Denver. My folks moved here in the 1950s, when the Turnpike (US36) was new.
Education:
Broomfield High School (1979)
B.A., University of Denver (1983) Geography & Mathematics
M.S., University of Utah (1985) Geography
Ph.D., Colorado State University (1990) Earth Resources
Real Estate Broker's License, University of Colorado (1997)
(Update: My mom & dad made me promise to tell you that I was one of the valedictorians of my graduating class at Broomfield High School, my BA at DU was Magna Cum Laude, and I belong to the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. I guess they're proud parents!)
Background:
As a kid growing up in Broomfield I never realized what a great place it is to live! A year and a half in Houston's champion bug-breeding climate and a stint in the middle of Denver convinced my husband and I that we wanted to raise our kids in Broomfield. We changed careers so as to not move out of state, and not too long after starting our family we found ourselves getting involved in volunteer activities at school, in 
Scouts, at church, and all over Broomfield. Volunteering with the people of Broomfield--kids, scouts, business organizations, whomever--has been one of the most exhausting, challenging, stimulating, rewarding, wonderful experiences I could ever hope to have. I am looking forward to the work and challenge of city council.
Troop 337 volunteering for the 2009 Broomfield Trails Day in June
Business:
My husband and I have our own independent real estate company, Law and Evans Associates, Inc. We specialize in Broomfield--commercial, residential, land, or any other real estate, but primarily in Broomfield. Consequently, I'm out with Broomfield residents and business owners every day as I talk to them about their real estate needs. (See my LinkedIn profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethlawevans.) Recently, we've worked with a prominent local nonprofit to lease new office space. Currently we're working with a really nice couple who are interested in buying a serious "fixer-upper" house in town. Shortly we hope to work with some local landlords and develop "incubator" business space concepts (My "working title" for the project: "Broomfield's Industrial Kitchen: Cooking up New Businesses!" What do you think--is that too corny?)
Political experience:
In just the past year, I have spoken for two different applicants in front of city council. As the point person for the Broomfield United Methodist Church's application to expand parking, I 
experienced first-hand the process a citizen goes through with city staff and council. I also worked with staff to complete the rezoning application on a commercial building owned by my father. This summer my husband and I applied for a building permit to install a Photovoltaic Array on our roof.
All three applications were eye-opening in different ways--I've seen the process from a citizen's point of view compared to how city council usually sees it. I've also worked to promote and help Broomfield small businesses on the Board of the Broomfield Chamber of Commerce for three years, and I was appointed to the city's Sustainable Broomfield Task Force, where we are working hard to come up with a plan that not only helps protect the environment but is also economically feasible.
A "Thinking Environmentalist's" Dilemma: these are the photovoltaic panels we recently put on our house. They use sunlight to generate electricity which we feed back in to Xcel's grid. They work best when it's bright and sunny, and worst when it's dark ("duh"), they're shaded, or it's cloudy. This is the view looking northeast. Do we ask our neighbors to let us trim their beautiful tree (on the right side of the photo) so we can get more direct sun and generate more "clean" electricity or should we just leave it alone?
What do you think?
Something few people know about me (question taken from the questionnaire sent to all 2007 Candidates):
Do you think it's important that people running for office are honest? I've always thought so--tell me what you think of this situation:
Over 15 years ago, when I was teaching at Metro State on the Auraria Campus, I taught over the summer. One way or another I wasn't paid on time and they said the paperwork was lost. I was told to just turn in the photocopy of the original invoice, which I did. The next pay period I checked my account, and the College had paid me on that invoice twice--a total of about $3200.
I checked with an administrative assistant I knew, and she was astounded. She said that they should never have paid twice on the same invoice number, and that they would never know. After I left her office, I called accounting and explained what had happened. They were pretty startled, and told me to come over and write them a check back, which I did.
You see, the accounting office might never have known, but I would know, and God would know.
But in hindsight, given that it was their mistake, I sort of wish I'd had the courage to tell them to come to my office and pick up the check, instead of having me go to theirs!
2009 Broomfield City Council Candidate Questionnaire (answers limited to 50 words or less)
YOUR NAME: Elizabeth “Liz” Law-Evans
Web site: www.LizInWard1.com
E-mail: LizInWard1@gmail.com
Age: 48
Address: 721 Cottonwood Dr
Family: I’ve been married to my husband, John, for almost 22 years. We have two fabulous kids, Alex (16) and Lily (7). My dad & his wife and my brother & his family also live in Broomfield. Our roots here are deep!
How long have you lived in Broomfield? All my life, except for short stints in college, in Houston’s champion bug-breeding climate right after we were married, and south Denver for a bit.
Education: Broomfield High (1979), B.A. in Geography & Mathematics from University of Denver (1983), M.S. in Geography from University of Utah (1985), Ph.D. in Earth Resources from Colorado State University (1990), Real Estate Broker’s License from CU/REAP (1997).
Professional background: My formal education is in science, research, and teaching. Years ago we were faced with moving out of state to pursue our careers. About that time my father asked for help running the family real estate business. We switched careers and now work with my family. It’s wonderful!
Political experience: I have extensive political experience from a citizen’s point of view. I represented two applicants in the past year in front of council, including the Methodist Church. I'm also on the Sustainability Task Force and in my 3rd year on the Broomfield Chamber of Commerce Board.
Who is your hero? My friend Julie. She and her husband feel called to care for foster children, and right now they have their two who are grade-school age, plus a teen-ager and three (THREE!) under age two whom they are fostering. Their love is boundless!
Tell us something unusual about yourself that few people know: There was a time when I was paid twice on the same invoice, for an extra $1600. Because of an antiquated accounting system, my employer would never have known. I returned the money, because I would have known, and God would have known.
What is your favorite Web site or blog? I adore eBay! You can buy almost anything there, you can sell almost anything there, and just browsing through the listings is entertaining. I take pride in the fact that I once sold enough excess “stuff” to pay for a trip to Disney World!
If you could change one thing about Broomfield, what would it be? That’s a really tough question to answer—Broomfield is a pretty neat place as it is!
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Well that’s a rather personal question, don’t you think? And really, do we have to limit it to only ONE thing? With me, the list is so very long . . . but I would like to have musical talent like my friends and family. I feel left out!
Issue questions:
1. The Broomfield city budget is expected to fall short by millions of dollars over the next several years. What would you do to fix the growing budget gap?
Discretionary spending by council (for example, the council’s travel budget) should be eliminated or dramatically cut back. Expensive capital improvements projects must be delayed or eliminated. The city’s operational budget should be carefully scrutinized for ways to cut costs without cutting services.
2. A number of transportation projects in the Broomfield area are on the horizon -- ie: U.S. 36, the Wadsworth interchange, the 120th Avenue Connection and FasTracks. How would you prioritize those projects and mitigate their impact on residents and city finances?
This is pretty simple. All of these very expensive projects impact larger areas than just Broomfield, and so should be funded by someone besides just Broomfield taxpayers. Whichever projects are funded by outside agencies first should be built first.
3. The population of Broomfield is expected to jump from about 55,600 to 83,300 by 2025. How can Broomfield manage that growth and still keep its small-town feel?
It will be a challenge to make those new neighborhoods in northern Broomfield feel like a part of our hometown. Working within the Master Plan, buying tracts of open space, building interconnected trails, and developing small neighborhood service centers will be essential to keep the small-town feel.
4. Much of the past year was devoted to finding a new manager for the Broomfield Event Center, which has performed below expectations since its opening. What would you like to see the city do to avoid such problems with future major developments or projects?
Excellent question! In addition to the formal development review criteria, before every “big” decision I would like to ask three questions: 1) What are the probable unintended consequences of this decision? 2) What happens if this doesn’t work? 3) If it doesn’t work, who pays for it?