Why did Unify America choose Montrose?

Here’s the story from Harry, our founder:

It was a little random. Unify America was searching for a municipality with between 15,000 and 50,000 people in which to run this pilot for a Citizen’s Assembly. We were searching all over the country, but with a specific focus on Colorado because we had some good relationships in the state that we thought could be helpful in terms of funding and connections.

I was in Colorado Springs to give a keynote address at a conference for the El Pomar Foundation. The night before the address, there was an older gentlemen in back of me at dinner in the buffet line. He was from Montrose. He invited me to sit with the delegation of folks from the Montrose area who were connected to the foundation. Interestingly, the delegation had folks who were both right leaning and left leaning.

By the end of the dinner, the Montrose delegation urged Unify America to visit Montrose and they would set up meetings with local leaders.

And they did! We met with over 50 community leaders during our first trip in February. Sara Drury, our EVP of Deliberation, and I were so impressed with the civic spirit here. There was an earnest desire on everyone’s part to do what would be best for Montrose, seemingly without any ego or any politics. It was kind of amazing.

Since then, I’ve become more familiar with the local politics. But I still find that community leaders and residents really are united in wanting to do what’s best for the community, even if they don’t always agree with what that is.

And that is why we are in Montrose. It was the right buffet line at the right time!