Some small things are a big deal. Nancy Kerry and the Town of Frisco are doing something outstanding for businesses amid the COVID-19 crisis—providing a source of information and doing some listening. It is not lost on many municipalities that the bulk of their operating revenues come from sales tax Read more…
When now Colorado Governor Jared Polis was merely a freshman Congressman, he called a town hall at the Singletree Pavilion in Edwards on the proposed Affordable Care Act. I remember attending. It was packed. Many people listened from outside through the open doors. Palpable tensions wafted through the air. Congressman Read more…
Even as public health directives to curb COVID-19 ramp up, it is important to know that this situation will put us through both a personal and a collective journey before it passes. Before the waiting is done, time will pass excruciatingly for many of us like a kind of enforced Read more…
The Summit Daily characterizes the current dispute over the county condemning an easement on its own 6.13-acre Fiester Preserve as a “tempest in a High-Country teapot.” For those in the conservation easement/land trust business, who tout of “protecting land forever” this undoing would mark a very serious precedent as noted Read more…
Even in the rural West, it is common for humans to enjoy living in town amid wildlife. This phenomenon hasn’t played out in a historic context. Yet. Is it possible for places to tip the scales to make it possible? Many communities think so, with “bear-proof” garbage, containers, preservation of Read more…
With Impeachment hearings rapidly unfolding I request that we step back to reflect on where all this is taking us. This cult of personality and bullying being defended over the rule of law and decency has no upside for our systems of governance and demeans the faint hope of our Read more…
I had a Martin Buber I-Thou moment at this summer’s CCCMA Emerging Managers Summer Camp in Fort Collins when the welcome was delivered by Darin Atteberry, City Manager. His enthusiasm for the job, the place, and the people after 24 years is infectious. “I happen to be one of those Read more…
The saying goes, “Don’t judge another person until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” It seems a quaint, Depression-era notion today. Who walks a mile anywhere? Who judges status by shoes? Who wears shoes till they are worn through? Who withholds judgment until they see, listen and come to Read more…
“The other night I came home late and tried to unlock my house with my car keys. I started the house up. So I drove it around for a while. I was speeding, and a cop pulled me over. He asked where I lived. I said, “right here, officer:” Stephen Read more…
This Memorial Day weekend, the Town of Eagle celebrates a significant milestone in a robust public land use process that began in 2014. With the grand opening of Eagle River Park, the in-stream “water park” improvements join an “upland” park carved from an unsightly gravel truck parking area and a Read more…