Briefs Crested Butte

Who wants to join the magnificent seven?
It is almost Crested Butte election time and the staff is preparing to help interested candidates get a taste of what to expect if elected to the seven-person Town Council. A meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 9 at 5:30 p.m. for those who want to know what being a councilmember is really like. Councilmembers Dan Escalante, Reed Betz and Phoebe Wilson, along with mayor Leah Williams, are up for election. They and any interested candidates can pick up a petition at the town clerk’s office starting on Tuesday, August 2. They have until Monday, August 22 to return the petition with 10 qualified names. “It’s a fine line,” explained town clerk Eileen Hughes. “We want to encourage people to step up and not discourage them but we want them to know what sort of commitment to expect.”

Caste system?
The council spent more than a half hour listening to a request from former resident Alison Gannett to consider adjusting affordable housing guidelines that impact a home she owns in the Kapushion annexation. She suggested the council consider some definition changes to what constitutes a “local” under the guidelines and proposed that a new process be created to consider a broader array of applicants if the situation arises.
“If the right kind of person comes in, like say a teacher, you may want them to be able to qualify for the affordable home,” suggested Gannett.
But Kapushion subdivision developer representative Wayne Meredith told the council that the developers had to have a say in any changes. Upon reading the documents, town attorney John Belkin agreed that was the case.
While Meredith said they might consider some changes, he was not pleased the town didn’t call the Kapushions to inform them of any potential changes.
“A phone call would have been nice,” he said.
Escalante said he didn’t even like the idea of setting up a process to further “define a local. Not everyone should be able to move here and just because they have a good job as a teacher they can slip into a deed restricted house right away. That starts to feel like a caste system to me.”
“The guidelines work really well over there,” said Meredith. “A lot of working class people have lived there.”
The council didn’t want any further discussion of the matter so no major changes to the guidelines should be expected.