Affordable housing, staff shortages, available parking, water and sewer infrastructure repair, road and sidewalk repairs and ADA compliance; these are the matters plaguing Nederland and other mountain communities. Inaction on these issues by local governments, be it for lack of funding or an inability to reach a compromise on what action to take, can lead voters to lose faith in their elected officials.

Residents can feel the chaos spun from the “crises” landing on board members’ agendas and it can all seem so daunting that a cure-all becomes a comforting desire.

Maybe that cure is just one more election to bring the cohesion needed for Nederland to move forward with grace and precision. Maybe a new mayor will be able to piece it all together and get the Board of Trustees (BOT) on the same page. Maybe a redevelopment plan for the Central Business District is the miracle cure to all that ails Nederland.

But if residents and business owners cannot get on the same page then neither will any of their government boards and committees. Residents advise their Town Staff and government by remaining informed and active on the true issues affecting the town, not just what the Mayor deems “priority” on the Agenda.

Additionally, without feedback from the community the BOT will only vote on the choices before them, chosen by them. By leaving voters voiceless in the decision- making process it stifles the ability to provide alternatives or compromises to solving the town’s crises thoughtfully, as an informed choice rather than an emotional reaction.

The effects of decisions made without adequate public discourse can harm a town and its residents for years, even decades after they’re made. Such is the case in Granby, which has suffered lawsuits and a mayoral recall election in recent years due to the Granby Ranch resort foreclosure and homeowners feeling shut out of the conversation by board members with vested interests.

Developments that were rushed through the democratic process have been found to be vanity projects that serve only those who arrange to benefit. This was the case of Indian Ridge Resorts in Table Rock, Missouri, a $1.6 billion dollar luxury resort development in the Ozarks that failed in 2008, violated state and federal clean water laws, and resulted in the arrests of two Coloradoan investors for real estate fraud.

The development, though having been acquired as recently as 2015, is still stifled by ongoing litigation and serves now as a viral sensation as TikTok users ignore the local sheriff’s pleas and constantly trespass onto the abandoned resort for views and likes.

The situations in Granby and Table Rock hardly even scratch the surface of what mountain towns face as harbingers of a greater inequality crisis in Colorado and the country. Established recreation- based tourism communities such as Aspen are a window into what awaits all similar mountain towns. On the Gini coefficient, a metric used by the U.S. Census Bureau that indicates 0 as perfect equality and 1 as total inequality, Aspen currently rates at 0.56, which is above the national average rated at 0.48.

Aspen, Granby, and other mountain towns have been getting creative with how they combat the inequality crisis that has infected their communities. Such initiatives as the federal Build Back Better legislation aids municipalities as they struggle to reinforce the dam with deed-restricted workforce housing, job-based housing taxes, and Short Term Rental (STR) caps. In December, 2022, Aspen City Council declared an emergency six month freeze on any new residential land-use permits as well as any new AirBnB listings.

Though it appears that Nederland’s BOT will begin discussing proper STR regulations, as noted as a desire by Trustee Tania Corvalan and former Trustee Jonathan Baumhover at their August 4, 2022, meeting, currently they are not pursuing any STR regulations or increase in taxes. Neither are there any affordable or alternative housing initiatives on the Agenda. Instead there are continued murmurs of a redevelopment plan for the Central Business District (CBD); a plan that has never been proposed, or discussed by the BOT.

This “plan” for redevelopment, though on display in the Nederland Community Library, has never been open to public scrutiny as part of the democratic process. A redevelopment initiative has never been proposed to the BOT, indicating that there have been no other bids for assessments or designs, no alternative provided against the existing non-plan, which is what will inevitably come before the BOT.

The Nederland government has proceeded with preliminary planning on proposed initiatives that directly affect property owners in the past, such as planning egress routes in the Big Springs neighborhood and planning affordable housing on the Old Town Shop site. However, the current redevelopment “plan” remains only discussed in clandestine whispers and is held, rather strategically, from proper discourse and democracy.

Such alternatives to the complete redevelopment of Nederland’s CBD could be expounded on in public-led initiatives through use of Town Hall meetings. These meetings can allow for well directed discourse on the options available. Currently the only option, as dictated by the landowner, has been one design for redevelopment. There has been no mention of other options such as sustainable architectural preservation, though the properties in question may not be eligible for historic renewal due to supposed neglect.

For Nederland residents any public discourse at this time may seem futile under the circumstances. There is a firm grip on the properties that make up Nederland’s CBD; there are investors waiting in the wings and money ready to flow into eager pockets. But despite those truths, and because of them, now is the best time to make your voices heard.

The long-term implications of decisions made hastily out of the hope to quell the chaos of municipal politics can cripple a town for decades. Real improvement and growth takes time, patience, and precision. There are so many similar stories in the surrounding mountain towns that it becomes harder to believe that Nederland is exempt from the inequality crisis and from misguided and rushed attempts at a sustainable future that only benefits the few.