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But there was a lot of love expressed too….
Operators, supporters and board members of the Crested Butte Farmers Market got what they wanted from the Crested Butte Town Council Monday evening, but it came with some raised eyebrows of angst from both sides of the discussion.
The council approved the organization’s special event application as originally proposed for the coming summer, but not without an hour and a half of debate, explanation, some accusations, and lots of stated love for the market.
Mayor Aaron Huckstep began the conversation noting that the application had “generated an enormous amount of interest the past few days over social media.” Huckstep pointed out that the staff recommendation for the application was to approve the request as submitted. However one council member wanted a bit more discussion over the matter so asked for it to be taken off the “consent agenda,” where no discussion is allowed and placed in the “New Business” category of the agenda.
“It’s been surprising to see the communications about council and town concerning this,” said Huckstep, referring to several Facebook posts and letters to the council that suggested the council was on the verge of charging the market vendors new high fees or somehow jeopardizing the future of the Farmers Market in Crested Butte.
“The response has been overwhelmingly negative to this minor agenda adjustment. Communication certainly appears to have broken down and both sides—the farmers market and the council—could have done a better job,” Huckstep stated.
“Every one of these special events applications that we get represents a partnership and I hope that’s where we’re heading. I want to have a constructive and not a destructive discussion tonight. I don’t want to see hostility on either side of the table,” Huckstep said.
Councilperson Shaun Matusewicz said he had asked for the change, “because I had a question and I wanted the organizers here.”
“I take issue with that,” responded farmers market organizer Jennifer McGruther. “I don’t feel we would have been informed about that change. It has happened several times in the past where the council talked about the farmers market without us being here. I’m hearing several things from the council members about the market. It’s your responsibility to inform yourself to make good decisions. The issues should be addressed publicly.”
McGruther said she heard some council members were wondering why the individual vendors don’t have business licenses. “Also, a small but vocal group of the business community has issues with the impact that the farmers market has on them.”
Town clerk Shelley Jansen explained that with special events, vendors are not required to have business licenses. They are under the umbrella of the organizer if it is a not-for profit. She pointed out that eight of the 26 vendors regularly at the farmers market last year had business licenses.
“There is no doubt the farmers market creates a positive impact on town,” said Huckstep. “But I’ve heard, like you, some business critics say it’s not a level playing field since they have to pay taxes and things like parking and affordable housing fees while vendors at the farmers market don’t. On the flip side, other business owners have expressed great support to me about the market. Part of our job is to bring up the questions we get from our constituents.”
“This council is a huge fan of the farmers market,” said Matusewicz. “But I’m most disappointed at the letters and Facebook comments. Many were ugly and hateful. They seemed uninformed. The event should probably be considered a major impact event with a much higher fee but the council has always subsidized the event by granting it a moderate impact event permit. I didn’t see anything about that in any of the communication out there today.”
“There are other factors that make this a legitimate moderate impact event,” said McGruther. “The farmers market doesn’t take any services from the town. We haven’t been subsidized so that doesn’t apply to us.”
“I’m just saying that you guys were presented with one side of the issue,” Matusewicz told the packed room. “No one up here is trying to take away the farmers market or say it is a bad thing.”
“It’s become a tempest in a teacup,” said Councilperson Jim Schmidt. “A lot of the stuff we do up here is an attempt to be fair and try to keep a level playing field for everyone. I’ve heard some complaints from owners of brick-and-mortar businesses about your vendors not having to pay fees, while they do. I think that’s all we’re trying to do. This event is a great thing for the town.”
McGruther said the market has seen significant growth over the last few years. She said in surveys, the majority of their patrons noted they come to Elk Avenue on Sunday morning primarily because of the market. “And the majority, 55 percent, spend more money at area businesses than they spend at the market,” she reported.
“We’ve made the farmers market a destination event,” added Jennifer’s husband and market director Kevin McGruther. “Some people want to see the Crested Butte farmers market more than Crested Butte.”
Councilperson John Wirsing pressed them about the harm of charging vendors a little over $5 a booth for each of the 19 Sundays in the summer. “What’s the hardship at that level?” he asked. “Most of the money goes to the Visitor’s Center and the Chamber to help put on events, which can help the farmers market,” he said.
“Instead of dealing with one license you’d deal with 34 and not getting much money for the town which would be a burden,” said Jennifer. “The Crested Butte farmers market is not funded by the town at all. We’ve never asked for a service grant, but our farmers are severely impacted by fees. Our vendors pay a lot to be at this market—more than at places like Steamboat and Aspen. At this time of year, there is no income for farmers. Many go into debt this time of year to pay for seeds and supplies. They have a very, very thin profit margin. They do it for love, not profit. As for the benefit of the chamber, we belong to the chamber but the vendors are here and sell only 72 hours per year.”
Huckstep told the crowd in the council chambers that it was obvious to him that the council was ready to approve the special events permit with no additional fees or changes.
But he gave the public a chance to talk and they did. Some were more strident than others.
“Everyone comes into the market happy and leaves happy,” noted volunteer Eric Ross.
“Thanks, you guys, for starting and running the market,” said Wirsing. “It just appears that bad vibes started and seemed to get out of control quickly. Bad information turned into bad vibes. I hope this stuff that was blown out of proportion will go away.”
Vendor Chris Sullivan admitted there was some “aggressive and heightened responses to some of the council on Facebook. One reason might be that people are really sensitive about their food. But the market is a unique asset to the town. It brings a lot of external benefits other than just sales tax. And it’s a good step that the local government subsidizes food from our food shed.”
“For anyone to come across as being beyond having to answer questions or beyond reproach creates massive amounts of friction,” said Huckstep. “We represent all segments of the community. A small town relies on good, open communication. We all have an open door communication policy.”
“I wish you had communicated to me verbally,” said Councilperson Glenn Michel to Kevin McGruther.
Kevin reiterated that he felt there had been some historic tensions between the town, some past staff and the farmers market. “You want to put it on me, I’ll be the bigger man,” he said. “But communication is a two-way street.”
“Disseminating misinformation isn’t good lights-out marketing,” observed Matusewicz. “Next time, please call us. Our names, cell phones, emails are all listed on the website.”
“It’s not unheard of that the community would have a perception based on past council actions,” said Jennifer.
“It’s fair for us to ask questions. Don’t misconstrue asking a question as a council opinion,” said Michel.
“The offensive thing was that the message being put out there was that we were on a slaughtering path, and that’s not the case at all,” reiterated Wirsing. “It was bizarre to see the rant out there today.”
Kevin McGruther said he didn’t feel that the farmers market put out any misinformation, but he couldn’t control the response of others.
“It’s important to drive public support for an entity like the Crested Butte farmers market,” said Jennifer McGruther. “It does a lot of good things like the food bank. It’s important to rally the troops sometimes.”
They did rally the troops and ultimately the council gave them what they wanted while expressing love for the event but disappointment and angst at the process.
The market will run on Sundays between June 9 and October 13.
