The Steamboat Springs City Council and Yampa Valley Housing Authority partnered for a joint leadership retreat on Monday to discuss strategic collaboration on the issue of affordable housing in the community, and in particular, at Brown Ranch. 

After the vote to annex Brown Ranch into city limits failed in March 2024, the city hired a team of consultants called Community Builders to develop a plan for community and stakeholder outreach.

The first phase of the project, which began in late August, allowed Community Builders to create a situation assessment and scope of work to re-engage the community and chart a path forward on the Brown Ranch affordable housing project. 

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The Community Builders team facilitated the two-and-a-half-hour retreat in conjunction with staff members of The Civic Canopy, a community-based nonprofit that was added to the team this year. No motions were considered and public comment was not taken during the meeting.

The retreat began with a roll-call exercise in which each in-person attendee was asked to identify themselves and fill in the blank for the following: “When working with this group, I want to experience ______.” 

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Routt County Commissioner Angelica Salinas, who is also a YVHA board member, answered “creativity.” Councilors Dakotah McGinlay and Steve Muntean mentioned “partnership” and “new thinking,” respectively.

Housing authority board member Catherine Carson emphasized “success.”

In the retreat introduction, Community Builders posed the question: “How do we get this right?” Community Builders stressed the importance of an authentic, high-quality decision making process to achieve effective collaboration. 

Clark Anderson, executive director of Community Builders, asked attendees how they intend to “show up as leaders” to make headway on Brown Ranch and related issues. 

Council member Amy Dickson said that while she has her own opinion on Brown Ranch and affordable housing in the community, her role is to represent the voices of the district that elected her. 

“The key difference is we’re going into it as partners, as a community. Last time was negotiation. This time, we’re a partnership for success in affordable housing,” said Carson. 

“It’s us negotiating with ourselves … we’re here today to start off on the right foot, not the wrong foot,” added council member Michael Buccino.  

Carson added, “This time, we’re walking together with both feet.”

“The task was very clearly defined when we walked into the room the very first time: to negotiate an agreement,” said Councilor Joella West. “The end result was already out there and defined, and our job was to somehow figure out how to make that real. That’s not what we’re doing this time — at least, I hope not.”

Kale McMonagle, collaboration director for The Civic Canopy, then asked attendees to think about what a strong collaboration between the city and the housing authority looks like. She gave them several minutes to contemplate by themselves, encouraged them to discuss in pairs and asked them to share their reflections with the larger group. 

Housing authority board member Reese Freeman, who was paired with West, mentioned patience, accountability and the importance of defining key assumptions. 

“Regular communication and regular meetings, which funnels into accountability and transparency,” said City Council President Gail Garey. 

Councilor Bryan Swintek discussed the reconciliation of issues between council and the housing authority, referring to a specific instance where a resident spoke at a council meeting during public comment about experiencing bullying in their building and nearing eviction. 

“There’s nobody in the housing authority in that meeting, nobody in the housing authority followed up with them. And so how do we handle that? … I’m personally not comfortable, as an elected official, being like, ‘Oh, somebody will get to you,'” Swintek said. 

“People often think we (the city council) are the housing authority,” added Swintek. “The housing authority meetings are public, but people don’t ask questions … Whose job is it to communicate? Whose job is it to address those things?… How do we have seamless communication when we work asynchronously?”

McGinlay responded with the clarification that she and Muntean sit on the housing authority board as representatives of the city and suggested the two of them function as liaisons between the two entities in such circumstances. 

“I think what this is actually indicating is that it might be a good idea for us to meet, as joint boards, on an occasion, to talk about ideas, suggestions we have on ways that we can better work together and help our community,” said Carson. 

Commissioner Salinas then dove into what she termed the “elephant of the room” — the zoning particulars of Brown Ranch, and the tendency for the partnership to neglect engaging the county. 

“If this land is not annexed into the city of Steamboat Springs — if that is what this group decides — then it is in the county,” Salinas said. “And I think a lot of the people who this project will affect don’t live in Steamboat Springs. They live in the county. And so I think making sure that we are recognizing that, making sure that we are cognizant of that throughout this process, is going to be key.”

Salinas continued from her perspective as a YVHA board member.

“We want to be collaborative partners with the county. We want to make sure that we are helpful in whatever way we can be. But if this fails, then what? Then we’re starting this process all over again with the county,” she said. “We really believe that we should be doing that simultaneously, in parallel, looking at what is the option of working with the city, and then what is the option of working with the county? Can we do that at the same time? And that’s maybe an open question to you guys.”

The last half-hour of the retreat was dedicated to bringing together shared understanding and direction among participants, as well as the goals and principles of Brown Ranch to create a strategic framework moving forward.

McMonagle explained the difference between dialogue and deliberation and the need for the combination of the two to make the strategic framework successful. This meeting, she said, consisted primarily of dialogue. 

Anderson referred to three “process structures” of the overall collaborative effort to advance Brown Ranch: the partnership between the city and the housing authority, the Community Deliberation and Stewardship Team currently being formed, and finally, broader community engagement and public involvement. 

Anderson said Community Builders has an approximately 12-month timeline slated for the collaborative process and hopes the groups will have that process finished by this time next year. 

“I was encouraged by the commitment in the room at the retreat, where we had productive conversations around aligning our goals,” Commissioner Salinas said Tuesday. “As a representative for the entire county, I will continue to advocate for exploring all options to move us forward. Housing is one of the largest challenges facing our community, and it’s going to take all of us working together to find real solutions.”

“Our joint meeting with the YVHA board and the city of Steamboat Springs showcased the power of collaboration in tackling the ongoing affordable housing crisis,” added YVHA Executive Director Jason Peasley on Tuesday. “The city’s leadership, alongside YVHA and the community, is driving real solutions forward. This new partnership is a testament to our shared commitment to problem-solving and creating a plan that paves the way for meaningful progress.”