In the News

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U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen, (D-Colo) spoke to Woodland Park business owners April 13 at the Swiss Chalet.

“I want to get to know the local communities and start building those relationships,” said Pettersen, who represents Congressional District 7. “Oftentimes our rural communities feel left behind, feel like they don’t have a federal representative who cares.”

Donna Brazill, realtor and member of the Cripple Creek/Victor School District Board, highlighted the failure of cell service and internet connection in rural areas of southern Teller County. As a result, she connects to Wi-Fi at the parks and recreation office or a parking lot in Divide.

Laurie Glauth, co-owner of Mountain Naturals, agreed.

“This isn’t just a broadband issue but an emergency alert issue,” she said. “It’s not functioning at a level up here to alert us.”

As emergencies affect Teller as well as the neighboring counties, where many residents work, communication is vital, Glauth added.

“Many of us would like communication with all these areas during fire season. We’re being isolated in clusters,” she said.

Pettersen promised to advocate for better communication methods, adding that grants and federal money are available for broadband in rural areas.

A member of the National Security subcommittee, Pettersen co-sponsored a bill to establish a national center to prevent the import of illicit synthetic drugs such as fentanyl into the U.S.

“We want to put pressure on China around their distribution of chemicals that produce fentanyl,” she said.

In a county where two recent fires caused evacuations, the group expressed concern about some residents’ disregard over the fire bans, with no consequences for the infractions. In addition, visitors leave trash and abandoned campfires in Pike National Forest.

“There is a level of entitlement with our visitors now – it’s their forest,” said Debbie Miller president of the Greater Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce. “When you talk to them about ‘our backyard,’ there’s no respect.”

Pettersen responded: “I want to make sure we are investing additional dollars in public lands where you have seen a significant increase in use and resources have not supported that.”

The business leaders looked for answers about the lack of affordable housing which, in turn, affects the labor force. To that point, Brazill added that the new Chamonix Hotel, a project of Bronco Billy’s Casino, intends to hire up to 390 people.

“There aren’t enough houses, and the school district doesn’t have staff to work with the kids,” Brazill said. “Has anybody thought about this before they started building this facility?”

The lack of qualified workforce is one of the largest contributors to inflation in the county right now, Pettersen said. “The number one thing we can do about rising costs is to address our failed immigration system.”

In conversation with business leaders around the state, Pettersen said it is clear they want immigrants on a fast-track for approval to work.

“Unfortunately, we’ve cut off access in that area and it has stifled our ability to grow economically,” she said.

The country needs a labor force to fill jobs in construction and farming, for instance.

“We need them here because the issue affects our ability to bring housing here,” she said. “The rhetoric is that somehow immigration is bad for us vs. the reality of how essential immigration is to our long-term success.”

Pettersen is part of a bipartisan committee of Republicans and Democrats, speaking with Fortune 500 companies, about labor shortages.

“It’s important to me that we start to change the conversation around immigration,” she said.

With time running out on Pettersen’s visit, Carrol Harvey, a member of the Woodland Park Planning Commission, spoke of mental health among the youth.

“Our school district turned down federal dollars for mental health without any question or rationale, for the next four years,” Harvey said. “It will cause the loss of several employees who are focused on suicide prevention. These dollars are critical, I think, to learning in safety.”

Pettersen responded.

“Thank you for caring about mental health; my brother died by suicide and my mom struggled with substance abuse,” she said. “I see firsthand when people fall through the cracks. It’s a huge concern when we have one of the highest suicide rates in the country.”