In a nutshell, the saga of Washington Elementary School in Boulder, Colorado: Five years ago Washington was a successful English/Spanish dual-language school at full capacity - the town's foremost example of a gathering place for diverse elements of the community. Suddenly, the Boulder Valley School District decided to shut it down. Was the district simply overreacting to its own quick and dirty demographic analysis, or was it pure shortsighted politics? Next came a botched process to redevelop this neighborhood icon and Boulder landmark. The city tried to broker competitive bids promoting preservationist ideals and a shower of community benefits. Instead, the rules were changed midstream to expedite a money grab between BVSD and one annointed developer too myopic to anticipate this slowly unfolding train wreck. Even a withering barrage of citizen dissent could not stop the myopia contagion as it spread to Boulder's leaders, causing them to approve a plan cramming 90,000 square feet of construction onto a site zoned for only 65,000 square feet. The citizens' only recourse was to marshal 130 volunteers who collected nearly 10,000 petition signatures in 3 weeks - an unprecedented feat of direct democracy that abruptly halted the impending collision. If not for that, shards of Boulder's height, setback, parking, solar, and open space standards would now lay strewn beside the tracks, along with any cares about neighborhood impact and character. Now, the process begins anew. The players are the same, but at least the hard work and persistence of ordinary citizens has given us a position of more equal footing relative to the powerful government and development interests still involved. Please visit our Call to Action page to see how you can help.
