Brown Ranch Community Deliberation & Stewardship Team

Overview

In April, 2024, the Steamboat Springs City Council developed an approach to pursue community and stakeholder engagement activities in light of the results from the Brown Ranch Special Election in March 2024. Since August 2024, a team led by Community Builders, a non-profit based in Glenwood Springs, has been spearheading an effort to engage the community in a public deliberation process to identify and reconcile critical concerns, bridge divisions, rebuild community trust, and meaningfully engage community members in learning and problem solving. 

Project Status

Partners on the Brown Ranch Community Solutions Project selected an initial group of community members to participate in the Deliberation and Stewardship Team (DST).

Staff from the City of Steamboat Springs and the Yampa Valley Housing Authority make up the Project Collaboration Team (PCT). The PCT received 81 applications from interested community members. Due to the outpouring of interest, the group selected 40 final members using a representative lottery. Panelot, a not-for-profit computation tool, selected a group that balances a variety of perspectives and identities from the applicant pool. 

The 40-member team was invited to an orientation meeting held on April 9, 2025 at the Police Department Community Room. During the DST orientation the Brown Ranch Community Solutions team described the larger project and the role of the DST. The DST will meet at least once a month between May and August for 3 to 4 hours each. The DST will engage in rich and challenging discussions and healthy debate, supported by strong informational resources and expert facilitation, that creates shared understanding and elevates good ideas for future exploration.

Next Steps

The PCT and Community Builders are currently gathering input from the initial DST members to finalize the upcoming meeting schedule and to confirm which initial group members can continue to serve based on the schedule.