Jariah R. Walker comes across as an affable, smart, young professional as he campaigns for an at-large City Council seat, but that isn’t what sets him apart from the other 12 candidates vying for three at-large positions.

What makes Walker different is his support for the controversial City for Champions project’s downtown arena or performance center.

While other candidates insist that more information is needed and such a center shouldn’t get taxpayer dollars, the co-owner of Walker Asset Management Realty Inc. is enthusiastic about the project’s potential.

“I applaud the vision,” he said recently. “I choose to be an optimist.”

The other three projects in City for Champions “are better than the stadium,” Walker said in an interview Thursday night. Those are a U.S. Olympics museum, Air Force Academy visitors’ center and the “Mayo Clinic” of sports medicine at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

“The main issue is, we don’t know what the stadium (plan) looks like. But you’d get more families coming downtown, more sports tourism. And tourism does keep down taxes. . This community does need to be more positive. Look at the facts. If it’s an awful project, then we won’t go for it.”

Walker, 37, also is adamant about the need to attract and keep young people in Colorado Springs.

“It’s so beautiful here, but we can’t rely on that to bring companies and jobs here. We have some of the best educational institutions in the state. We need to keep those (students) here.

“They’re going to contribute to our economy. If we become a retirement town, a lot of those potholes won’t get fixed. We’re losing (young people) to anything north of Colorado Springs. . The more we can get younger people engaged, the more they’ll stay. We’re in a spot where younger people really can make a difference. It’s a tipping point.”

Walker’s extensive volunteer work has included developing Leadership NOW! curriculum for “20- and 30-somethings” in Leadership Pikes Peak and serving as board chairman of Family Connections, which addresses child abuse.

Now he’d like to make a difference through the City Council.

“I don’t think the voice of someone raising a family and running a business has been heard on City Council in a long time.

“My fuel for running is . my 7- and 5-year-old daughters. Right now, we’re 10 to 15 years behind where we need to be. . I look at my daughters and start to wonder: What are we doing to help their generation?”