[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: Response to Shapins regarding thoughts on Goose Creek Neighbors

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Young, Mary

Hi Jerry,


Happy new year to you!


I wanted to take the time to respond to your question asking me what I think regarding the next "big push" on behalf of Goose Creek Neighbors (GCN) with respect to redevelopment of Boulder Community Hospital (BCH).


The mission, according to the GCN website, is "to model positive proactive civic engagement to enhance the sustainability, affordability, livability and workability of the Goose Creek Watershed and beyond."


Because you asked, here are my thoughts:


In a conversation with David Adamson the week of December 14, he shared with me that you were seeking "investors," and that three people had, to date, already contributed to the effort $50,000 each with a promise of a 4% return.


Putting aside for the moment exactly how generating a profit through community engagement would work, asking for investors in a community engagement process creates inherent bias, inequity and conflict of interest. A good process should be facilitated as objectively as possible. I see this as a city responsibility and not something that could or should be done by a private entity. Community engagement, like democracy, is messy and time consuming and to be done with an abundance of patience.


Additionally, I would like the first step in the process of moving forward on the BCH property to be defining a neighborhood/area plan boundary. The impact of changes in use of such a large parcel right in the middle of town and adjacent to one of the most successful and beloved shopping and community gathering areas in the city has implications that reach far beyond the extents of the property itself. The plan boundary would, in and of itself, require its own outreach and engagement process. Again, I see this as a city responsibility.


Whatever happens at BCH will be felt most heavily by neighborhoods directly east of BCH as those are the areas whose streets provide the most direct access. Input and inclusion of these residents should be conducted deliberately and with certainty.


Finally, as you likely know, a section of Goose Creek runs in a pipe between the homes bounded by Alpine Avenue to the north, North Street to the south and 13th Street to the west. Full disclosure, I live on the Alpine section of this block. The creek surfaces at 19th Street and runs in a concrete channel behind the south side of homes on Edgewood until it reaches the Goose Creek multi-use path at Folsom then continues through Mapleton Mobile Home Park, Boulder Junction, through light industrial areas by Old Pearl and Pearl Parkway until it feeds into Boulder Creek at almost 55th Street. This constitutes a huge swath of diverse neighbors and I wonder about the practicality and reality of a private group's ability to reach out effectively to "the watershed and beyond."


Boulder Community Hospital was purchased on behalf and for the benefit of all the residents of Boulder, it is a public and community asset. The efforts and input of your group will be welcomed and given due consideration throughout the process and I hope that many more voices will emerge to harmonize along with yours.


Kind regards,


Mary Dolores Young
Mayor Pro Tem
Boulder City Council
303-501-2439

"All ethics . . . rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts . . ." - Aldo Leopold