The inherent irony in advocacy work...

Chamber of commerce professionals such as myself are often "front and center" on controversial community issues. Good chamber organizations are active in advocacy efforts and you are bound to disagree with other groups. Community feedback goes with the territory, and while the positive feedback far outweighs the negative, on rare occasions we receive gems. Consider the following (names redacted):

"I find it offensive and childish your constant NIMBY bombs you toss from Avon. Pre-targeting the East Vail rezoning with the "jamboree" Aug 2-3. The constant NIMBYism in almost every "business" letter in the Vail Daily discrediting anybody that might have legitimate questions about rezoning. At least we live in Vail unlike you. The Nimbys you constantly attack have produced the Walking Mountains (sic), 30 year plus of volunteering and fund raising for the Ski Museum, countless hours at Starting Hearts with training and AED inspections, neighborhood watching for the Mountain School children. Also helping the 3200 cars per week driving up our "gated" comunnity trying to park in the 17 trailhead parking spots. NIMBY goes both ways, ad nauseam (sic),  Your (sic) favorite word!  If VR was so generious (sic) they would make EverVail employee housing but that (sic) TOO valuable for developement (sic) or too close to the Ritz. I could on and on buts (sic) not worth it. The end justify the means! (REDACTED)"

My response: "Hi (REDACTED),

Thank you for taking the time to reach out with your thoughts and comments.

Vail Valley Partnership – as directed by our board of governors – has been actively advocating for workforce housing throughout the valley, including Stratton Flats in Gypsum, 6 West Apartments in Edwards, and numerous properties in Vail.

Honestly, I’m not clear about the comment “at least we live in Vail”. Many of our board members live in Vail, and others own and operate businesses in Vail; similarly, many of our members live in Vail, and others work in Vail; and on a personal level, my family owns a (long-term rental) unit in East Vail. It’s possible you were trying to insinuate that you have more credibility because you live in town, relative to our (or my) credibility? I won’t try to change your mind; however, I do believe that we’re all one community, and each town in this valley is dependent on the others for their continued success.

It’s acceptable if you disagree with this point. I hope that at a local level we can avoid Washington DC-style rhetoric and can disagree on issues without being disagreeable with each other. I’ve never once attacked anyone on an individual level, although you are absolutely correct that we do bundle groups together using common parlance such as NIMBY. NIMBY is a term that has been used dating back to the 1980’s and we’ll continue to use this term – defined as “a person who objects to the siting of something perceived as unpleasant or potentially dangerous in their own neighborhood, especially while raising no such objections to similar developments elsewhere” – when community members oppose projects in their neighborhood but not in other communities. I’m sorry that you find the term both childish and arrogant; we find the term to be a factual description and rather innocuous.

The time, effort, and dedication to community given by various community members from Gypsum to Vail make this valley a great place to live. I thank you and everyone else who takes the time to give back. It’s part of our fabric and contributes to our sense of place. I have never questioned the contributions of anyone to the success of our non-profit community. It is an odd leap to make any connection between the Partnership’s advocacy efforts in favor of workforce housing with any type of denigration of our non-profit community, or individuals who volunteer their time or money.

The “NIMBY Jamboree” program you reference was hosted by the Vail Symposium and Vail Valley Partnership, and was the brainchild of Dr. Bobby Lipnick & Michael Hazard who serve on the Symposium’s program committee. We were fortunate to bring together 150 people over the course of two days – from all sides of the workforce housing discussion – to work together toward solutions. The program was a collaborative effort, and feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive.

The comments in your email lead me to believe that the Vail Resorts re-zoning request might have prompted your note. I firmly believe that the rezoning is a positive thing for all sides as it severely limits what future development can happen on that site; prior zoning allowed full site coverage and a much larger potential impact on the site. As you note, I could go on and on buts not worth it.

PS – my favorite word is collaboration. I think we are stronger when we work together. Our track record backs this up.

PPS – I don’t think it matters, but I’m not in Avon.

Thank you for taking the time to reach out and share your thoughts. I’ve heard from numerous community members around a variety of Partnership efforts, from workforce housing, to youth apprenticeship programs, to our leadership programs. I appreciate each and every one of them for sharing feedback."

Vail Valley businesses can rest assured that we'll continue to actively advocate on behalf of smart, appropriate workforce housing development in Eagle County. We'll continue to work with public & private partners to help address community needs. We understand and represent the business perspective on local and regional issues, and will continue to help member businesses thrive and find customers while saving money, and provide regional leadership around ‘big issues’ of importance.

Even if it results in the occasional nasty-gram.

Chris Romer is the President & CEO of Vail Valley Partnership, the regional chamber of commerce representing Eagle County, Colorado.