Council not exactly showing “gamer” ability

In sports, there is a term to describe those players who relish being in a position to make a difference and win a game. They step up to the spotlight and like the pressure. They want to come to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning, down by a run with two outs and a guy on first. They enjoy being the guy or gal to make a difference. They are “gamers.”
The Crested Butte council does not appear in the overall sense to be a “gamer.” When faced with a situation Monday that could make a difference, the council whiffed.
Told that they might have the chance to set the ultimate direction over what trail uses would be allowed up Baxter Gulch, including with the Forest Service, they shrank up like a six-year-old boy jumping into an ice-cold swimming pool.
“We want to be consistent with the Forest Service,” said the mayor.
“We aren’t the experts,” said the mayor pro tem.
Hey guys, this is politics. Why the heck did you want to sit on what has been a powerful political body in the county that used to set a leadership tone in the valley? To talk about “housekeeping issues” and For Sale signs?

If the Forest Service is indicating they will seriously listen to your direction (and they have), put your game face on and give them some clear guidance. Step up to the plate. You might actually have some control. Use it. That’s why each of you supposedly ran for town council… so you could influence the direction of the community.
When given the chance to execute that influence and determine if bikers should be able to utilize the Baxter Gulch easement the town will eventually hold, the council shied away. These opportunities to have a real impact don’t come along every week. The council essentially chose to push off any in-depth discussion of the matter for possibly years… until the day a trail might be built. Instead of stepping up to the plate, Mayor Williams made it clear she wanted advice from “the experts” and wanted to do whatever the Forest Service wanted.

Look, the joy and the fun of politics are in making a difference, not scheduling more meetings.
And making a difference means making real decisions. I understand that sometimes means coming down on a side some people won’t like. That’s part of the deal. Making a difference will upset some people. But when given the chance to be a gamer, stand up. Frankly, if you want to upset all the people, continue to neuter yourselves and don’t make any decisions that really matter. You can only go “neutral” so often before people stop asking you to make decisions that matter. I wrote the same thing to the council in my first editorial of 2010.
Timing doesn’t seem to be imperative in this issue. You don’t have enough time to change the upcoming Travel Management Plan. The Forest Service, however, is open to whatever direction the town wants to take. So step up to the plate and state a direction. Sometime in the next month, have a real discussion about trail use up Baxter Gulch and take a swing at the ball.

The Forest Service says the town does indeed hold some sway on the matter. The county trails commission experts have said they endorse purchasing the Zipper easement to make the Baxter Gulch trail better. They said they want bikes to be allowed. The experts have given the mayor and the council an opportunity and a clear direction. Will the council set a clear direction of its own, or find new ways to stay on the bench and away from the pressure of being a gamer?

Doesn’t Crested Butte tout itself as a mountain bike capital of something… like the world? CBMR is certainly making the ski area a fresh mountain biking draw with new and improved trails. It sure would seem to make sense to try to get more mountain biking trails accessible from Elk Avenue.
But if you want to become the hiking capital of the world, don’t be afraid to take a stand and say that instead. But say something as a representative body, for goodness sake. Be a gamer. It’s fun and you might find yourself actually making an active difference.