Shared vision, collaboration leads El Paso County to a better tomorrow: State of the Region address

Nov. 10—El Paso County and the greater Pikes Peak region are strong because local leaders solve challenges through broad collaboration and partnerships, Board of El Paso County Commissioners Chairman Stan VanderWerf said Thursday at the annual State of the Region luncheon.

"We need a shared vision of our future that inspires each of us to create that future together," VanderWerf told a full house of regional business owners and nonprofit leaders, as well as local, regional, state and federal officials at the DoubleTree hotel in Colorado Springs. The event was also livestreamed.

"A do-it-alone strategy approach is not a strategy for success. In my career in the military and as a businessperson and as a public official, I've seen the greatest successes when a vision includes collaboration."

El Paso County has navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic and the local economy has thrived despite supply-chain shortages and skyrocketing inflation, VanderWerf said. The county has also secured the integrity of its elections, dedicated itself to public safety efforts, continues to prioritize roads and infrastructure, and residents are engaged and more informed, he said.

The event, hosted by the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC, emphasized the accomplishments of various county departments in the last year, including public health, human services, economic development, public works and the offices of the clerk and recorder, sheriff and county attorney, among others.

El Paso County also works with several private vendors and partners to deliver a wide array of services, VanderWerf said, including the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region, Catholic Charities and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

"This balance, in my opinion, is a major reason why our region succeeds and contrasts with other regions that may have too heavy a government hand or not enough government services to succeed," he said.

The show of strong regional collaboration was apparent when the Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management fought three fires in the same day on May 12, including a blaze that ripped through two Colorado Springs mobile home parks and killed one person, VanderWerf said.

"Without the intense work from the Colorado Springs fire and police departments, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, several communications teams, the Community Emergency Response Team and the Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management, these challenges could have been the next Waldo Canyon and Black Forest fires, but they were not," he said.

The county must rely on its regional partnerships as it faces challenges like the fentanyl crisis, human trafficking, affordable housing and growth, he said.

In a short video presentation, El Paso County Chief Medical Examiner and Coroner Dr. Leon Kelly said El Paso County was on track to see 120 to 130 deaths from fentanyl in 2022. The county has seen a more than doubling of total fentanyl deaths in the community every year since 2017, Kelly said. In 2021, 99 people died from fentanyl use, he said.

But partnerships with Public Health and local schools that have focused on education efforts have seen some success, 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen said.

A regional council tasked with setting policy for the distribution of more than $28 million in opioid settlement funds will use the money to combat and treat opioid use in El Paso and Teller counties. The funds are part of a $26 billion national settlement involving Johnson & Johnson and three large drug distributors over claims their business practices helped feed the opioid crisis.

"We've seen how those efforts — a collaborative communitywide coalition — can make real change in young people's lives," Kelly said.

El Paso County is also taking a synergetic approach to fighting human trafficking, VanderWerf said. Earlier this year state Sen. Bob Gardner and state Rep. Terri Carver, who represent El Paso County, helped introduce and pass a bill that allows counties more authority to shut down illicit businesses.

Now, county officials can work with partners including law enforcement, anti-human trafficking coalitions and a group of licensed, legitimate massage therapists to develop policies and actions to fight human trafficking, VanderWerf said.

El Paso County also must address growth and affordable housing challenges, he said. To that end, the planning and community development team has improved county development review processes, has added staff and is implementing El Paso County's new master plan, which will guide local development over the coming decades.

"We need to embrace growth while maintaining the essential characteristics of our communities that we know and love," VanderWerf said.

Over the past year, El Paso County also stepped up its efforts with U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, the city of Colorado Springs, a federal delegation, private industry leaders and the Colorado Springs Chamber & Economic Development Corp. to retain Space Command headquarters locally, saving taxpayers billions of dollars and ensuring "our national defense mission is not harmed," he said.