Welcome to week two of “Meet the Candidates.” By the time you pick this up, the Crested Butte News Candidate’s Forum will be over. But we will continue to ask the seven people running for Crested Butte Town Council questions pertinent to the race. If you want to submit a question, please send it to editorial@crestedbuttenews.com. Ballots will be in the mail starting Tuesday, October 15. Thanks for participating…
—Mark Reaman Read More »
Between now and the beginning of November, the Crested Butte News will be asking the candidates for Crested Butte Town Council questions related to the community. We are requesting they keep their answers to no more than 500 words. We start with the proverbial softball where each candidate can brag about their strengths. The questions will get more specific as the month progresses. We are also asking interested readers to send us a question to ask the magnificent seven. Send your suggestion to editorial@crestedbuttenews.com.
And do not forget the Crested Butte News Candidate’s Forum is being held this year on Wednesday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Center for the Arts. Come and ask your potential representatives an interesting question…Thanks.
—Mark Reaman Read More »
One sign of good writing is getting a reaction from the reader. Roger Brown must be the new Hemingway.
To be able to convey an overwhelming sense of frustration to the point a reader can hear the writer screaming at a group of people is truly impressive. I appreciate the ability to start a conversation with words and believe me, there is no shortage of conversations going on about the letter in last week’s issue. In fact it could paraphrase a similar title from one of Hemingway’s novels—The Haves and Have Nots.
Let’s touch on the content of the correspondence addressed to the local residents of Crested Butte. I am sure Mr. Brown voiced some valid frustrations being discussed between some second-home owners in the valley. My guess is that most feel it was more than a tad overdone.
The thing that irked me, and most everyone I know, whether they are residents or second-home owners, was the overwhelming sense of “us versus them” embodied in the Brown diatribe. One of the appeals of Crested Butte has always been its sense of egalitarianism. The bank president would buy the lift op a beer; he in turn would head up 401 with the school teacher. The wealthy guy from Tulsa would be seen sharing a blanket and bottle of wine at Alpenglow with his friend who lives here and drives a bus. It isn’t a classless society but there is less class distinction in Crested Butte than in some other resort communities.
Brown’s letter asks why “we [second-home owners] should pay for music, your arts, and the open spaces you enjoy when you, who have the vote, don’t seem to care about the future and prosperity of this town…We pay taxes that support your schools, we patronize the local businesses that provide jobs that generate more taxes, and we contribute to the charitable organizations and events like the Musical Festival gala which raised tens of thousands of dollars…The problem is YOU!”
That’s quite an outburst, Ernest. To use another word from the letter, it is also “myopic.” It’s really our arts and our open space and our music. All of us, including you, like and appreciate all those things.
Look, most who live here understand the contributions of the second-home owners. Most understand that the visitors ultimately are major contributors to many of the quality attributes we have in this valley. But this letter seems to call out those living here as being a blindly stupid homogenous blob full of disdain and unappreciativeness. We’re not.
And while some residents might be jerks with a false sense of entitlement, most are decent folks who have chosen a life off the traditional beaten path. It is oftentimes hard for those on a more typical life path to understand the kooks who live here. But let’s be very clear, we are no one’s serfs.
We too pay taxes and patronize local businesses and donate to local charities with either time or money or both. We also choose to live here and deal with the plusses and minuses of raising our children in a high mountain village far from just about everything. And because we like where we live and choose to bring up our kids in Crested Butte, we do indeed care about the “future and prosperity of this town.”
Now, for many of us, prosperity means more than a higher income. Prosperity means clean air and clean water. It means good schools and educational opportunities. Prosperity means access to outdoor adventure, music, art and small-town relationships. It is interacting constructively with our friends and respecting our fellow citizens—including the second-home owners.
Believe it or not, the people who live here aren’t all the same. We disagree about a lot of things. We don’t all like each other all the time and we certainly don’t agree on everything. It ain’t all Happy Valley in Crested Butte. But while we sometimes fail at it, we try to understand differing viewpoints and accept differences of opinions, even when those differing opinions result in a direction we don’t always like. Hey, I’m a big fan of keeping more lights on downtown, but the majority of the council disagrees with me. No doubt “the volunteer” could have chosen a more tactful way to express appreciation for the donation, but one bad joke should not tarnish a whole town.
More money in our individual pocketbooks is nice and makes our lives easier, but it isn’t the most important thing for anyone living here. If it were, they’d be somewhere else. Money isn’t always easy to come by here but access to the mountains is—and that’s why we act the way we do. It takes a certain type of individual to live in a place like this. It isn’t always July bluebird days or February powder mornings. We aren’t here just to serve you, but we’re happy to have you and you will receive the respect you earn. But you have to earn it. That’s part of the egalitarian ethic in this place.
So congratulations on the ability to write and get a reaction. I wish I could do it every week. Well done. I might suggest going back and reading that effective piece of writing with a broader perspective and a bit less portentousness. Next time perhaps, throw in a bit more “we” and a lot less “us versus you.”
As to the admonition about the local residents being able to “afford it”—rest assured that they’ll be fine. To paraphrase another Hemingway title, The Sun Also Rises— whether you and I are here or not.
But one will be voted off the island
For the first Crested Butte News Candidates’ Forum in years, if not decades, not one audience member asked about the potential for a molybdenum mine on Red Lady or a ski area expansion. Instead, the majority of questions focused on the economy, local business and regulations in Crested Butte.
The election is drawing near. Ballots will begin going out next week. They must be mailed or returned to the county by November 1. The Crested Butte News Candidate’s Forum will be held Thursday, October 20 starting at 6:30 p.m at the Center for the Arts. If you have a question for the candidates, send it to editorial@crestedbuttenews.com.
—Mark Reaman Read More »
A new version of Snodgrass, a long-term vision for the future
It’s been four years since Tim and Diane Mueller took the helm of Crested Butte Mountain Resort, bringing with them a determination to create a successful ski area and a vision of what the resort needs to do to get there.
Jackson Hole resident shares insight on sustaining the Golden Goose
The world’s population is growing at an exponential rate. In the last 50 years the population increased by more than three and a half billion, adding more people to the planet than the entire population of the last 2,000 years. Read More »
Magazine honors progressive communities
With the wildflowers blooming and glorious summer days in full tilt, Crested Butte residents may find themselves musing that this is among the best places to live in the nation.
A common axiom is to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
The proposed Whetstone affordable housing project is a major public decision being mulled over at both ends of the valley right now, and there are points and perspectives on both sides by people I respect that I find valid. They are valid because this work in progress is certainly not perfect, but Whetstone’s big picture intention is good. It is a good step toward the stated community goal of having workers living in the North Valley near their place of work. It provides an opportunity to retain vibrancy in a quickly changing community.
Do I think the Whetstone project as proposed is too big and too dense? I do. It would feel more comfortable to me if about 25%-30% of the 252 units were eliminated to come in at around 175 or 190 units. I’m old enough to remember that density was a big deal in the Corner at Brush Creek discussions a few years back. Through hours and hours of public debate, the community at the time made a decision that for a parcel that size, in that general location, fewer than 200 units was in the right ballpark. Heck, the original proposal that started the brouhaha was just 240 units. Even the developer said he could make the desired 156 units work with some concessions —that he didn’t get — but that’s a whole other story involving personalities as much as facts.
But the county is the developer this time and they are making the standard developer argument that in order to pencil out, the unit numbers have to be where they are. It is a reallllly expensive project estimated to be more than $130 million and the county is already $8 million+ in so I see their point. As a town housing consultant noted this summer, building affordable housing these days is never “affordable.”
As for size, I agree with some critics that having the biggest buildings along the highway is a detriment. They could be placed one bench down and residents would still be close to the bus stops but farther away from the highway noise. Building size will, I think, have less to do with slowing down traffic on the highway than the approach of a roundabout.
But you know, things have changed in the five years since the Brush Creek discussion. Three big roundabouts are on the drawing board between CB South and Clark’s, a giant fire station is going up by the cemetery next to a big apartment building. The school is adding on, and a major new subdivision is being proposed for the “Oh My God” curve. Add in the quickly growing wealth gap where a working person making six figures probably can’t afford to buy a home in the North Valley and it is appropriate to take action to keep the economic diversity of the population in a resort town.
Do I think the Whetstone rents are too high? I do. Depending on how AMI (Area Median Income) numbers figure into the rental equation, not all, but the average rent is certainly above market rate at the moment. There aren’t many units where a busser or lift op will be living. New ski bums need not apply. The argument that Whetstone isn’t serving the need as presented in the county’s latest Needs Assessment survey seems valid. The county is trying to get at least 20% of the Whetstone units tied to those making the lower-end 80% AMI and with utilities included, that helps. I would think the rents of today will stay consistent for most of the life of the project, so the 2027 rental rates might look pretty darn good in ten years.
Project developer John Cattles told me this week that the county “believes the market can sustain the proposed rents as our Market Study shows. Also, the housing needs assessment indicates a need of over 1,500 units at various incomes so there is significant demand for housing.”
He rightly points out most units will house more than one person and their incomes, so a nurse and construction laborer probably make enough to be in the 130% AMI category. A restaurant worker and CBMR employee probably pull in enough to meet the 110% AMI threshold. “We are not and never have claimed that Whetstone meets all of the need, other projects will be necessary to meet the need,” Cattles said.
I imagine capitalism will come into play and rents might have to come down to get people in the units to generate revenue. Or not. He is confident proposed rents will work. Seems to me the worst-case scenario is the county looks itself in the mirror when 130 units are sitting empty in 2030 and they lift the deed restriction to fill the units. The town of Crested Butte however has a clause in its utility extension agreement making clear that at least 80% of the units have to be deed-restricted. I guess they could shut off the water and sewer.
Again, Cattles is confident the county is in a solid position. “The proforma does include several redundancies to cover expenses in case we aren’t able to generate the rent revenue that is projected whether that be from vacancies or reduced rents,” he said. “We have built a conservative proforma that will give us opportunity to make adjustments if necessary.”
Do I think given the rents and density that Whetstone might not fill up in the first week? I do….especially with the Mineral Point and Paradise Park housing projects, along with possibly Homestead and Sawtooth coming online before Whetstone. But so far all of the affordable housing projects in both ends of the valley are filling up with waiting lists, so I could be wrong.
Do I think having one of the county commissioners be the main point person of the project is a mistake? I do. Laura Puckett Daniels has indicated she probably plans to recuse herself from voting on the project given her advocacy position with Whetstone. I hope not. She should be a voting member of the board of county commissioners since that’s the job she signed up for. Under county standards her choice to be the prime advocate for the county project instead of one of three deciders, when there are capable point people to carry the advocacy load, is a poor choice in my opinion.
Frankly, I don’t see the conflict-of-interest some are seeing, including apparently the county legal team. I wouldn’t have an issue with her being in a position to vote for or against the project at the upcoming county meeting on October 8. Those are fairly typical situations in a small community where governments end up being the developer of such community projects.
It’s always been my understanding the conflict-of-interest dilemma comes when a representative stands to make a financial gain as a result of a vote. That isn’t the case here (unless LPD has a flight booked to her new house in the Bahamas after the financing is completed). While acting as deciders in the planning process, all three commissioners, in fact probably 95% of all elected officials in the county, have plainly stated that the need to provide public housing is a top priority.
With lessons learned from that Corner at Brush Creek process, the county has encouraged public participation and oversight over the last several years. Meetings, charrettes, focus groups, site tours, consultants all have been used to get Whetstone to this point and changes have been made based on public input. Given current timing reality, I would say that citizen oversight is certainly in play on November 5. If citizens don’t like what the county has done or they disagree with the path they are on, they can use their oversight and vote out the majority of commissioners whose policies they disagree with.
Much of the most recent vocal criticism has been directed to the Crested Butte council. The town seems to have gotten pretty much everything they asked for while protecting the town from financial risk. The county is where the rubber meets the road, and that October 8 meeting is the place to air project concerns.
Concerns have been publicly aired for months with the town and the community as a whole has not been showing up at town council or county commissioner meetings to demand change. I watched Monday as several local working kids in their mid-20s attended part of the council meeting. They could have stayed to be part of the Whetstone discussion since they are the demographic probably most affected by the project’s future. They left after the proclamation for Pointed Laccolith Day was approved. They seemed to believe things will work out.
And things will. Is Whetstone perfect? Heck no. I hope the planning commission and commissioners take a hard look at things like density and building location. Rents remain a concern. If there is a way to dedicate some units to lower AMI workers (between 60-80% AMI), that would be a plus. As suggested Monday, interest rates are coming down and inflation is cooling so there’s that in terms of financing timing. County deciders should still be looking at how to improve this project.
The big picture goal of Whetstone to provide an opportunity for people to live up here near their jobs and contribute to their community is a good one…not perfect, but good.
—Mark Reaman
•Stories from the Garden exhibition runs at the Kinder Padon Gallery through October 10.
•Volunteers needed September 18-24 for the Gunnison Country Food pantry to install a solar system on their building
•Crested Butte Film Festival September 18-22 at the Center for the Arts.
THURSDAY 12
•7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Crack of Dawn Group topic discussion at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.
•10-11:30 a.m. CB Museum history walking tours (every Thursday).
•3:30-5 p.m. Join the GCEA with Cake and Kilowatts at Pirate Park. 603 7th Street Crested Butte.
•4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage is open for shopping and donations. 421A Sopris Avenue, stmarysgaragecb.org.
•4:30-6:30 p.m. Meet and Greet with Kathleen Curry at the Dilly Deli. 108 N. Main Street, Gunnison.
•5 p.m. Intermediate/advanced tennis mixer at the tennis courts across from the visitor center in Crested Butte. For more information contact Don Cook at 970-497-0123.
•5 p.m. Climate march with the Gunnison Valley Climate Crisis Coalition (GVC3) from the CFTA playground to Anthracite Spirits, with live music by Jenn Fortin and Chris Pearson.
•6:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: 11 Step Meditation at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.
•6:30 p.m. Live music by Andy Frasco and the U.N. at the Almont Resort.
•7 p.m. The Colorado West Performing Arts Company comes to the Center for the Arts for a mixed repertoire performance.
•8 p.m. Live music by Badfish: a Tribute to Sublime at the Public House.
FRIDAY 13
•noon Open AA meeting: Readings from Living Sober at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.
•noon-2 p.m. Oh Be Joyful hosts a Mountain Mamas meeting at 625 Maroon Avenue. Contact Kelsey Weaver at kweaver@gvh-colorado.org or 970-648-7071 for info.
•6-9 p.m. Live music by Jordan Brandenburg & Sam Steele at Zuni West Brewing, 235 Elcho Ave., CB South
•7 p.m. Free movie night at the Big Mine Ice Arena showing Land of Giants with free pizza and beverages.
•7-8:15 p.m. Open AA Speaker Meeting in the Parish Hall at Queen of All Saints, 970-349-5711.
SATURDAY 14
•10:30 a.m.-noon St. Mary’s Garage is open for shopping and donations. 421A Sopris Avenue, stmarysgaragecb.org.
•noon-4 p.m. 3rd Annual Fall Fest and Chili Cook-Off at Harmels, with live music by Strand Hill.
•5-8 p.m. Live music by Rachel VanSlyke & Shannon Redmon at Zuni West Brewing, 235 Elcho Ave., CB South.
•5-8 p.m. Live music by Tyler Hansen at the Jose’s Patio.
•6 p.m. Crested Butte in the 1970’s: Through the Window of The Forest Queen play reading at the Crested Butte Mountain Theatre.
•8-11 p.m. Live music by Matthew Grant at the billy barr.
SUNDAY 15
•9 a.m. Blessing of the Animals at the Union Congregational Church.
•9 a.m.-2 p.m. Crested Butte Farmers Market at the top of Elk Avenue.
•9 a.m.-2 p.m. The Melanin Mountain Project hosts its second annual Melanin Market on 2nd Street between Elk and Maroon Avenue.
•9 a.m.-2 p.m. Art Market at the top of Elk Avenue.
•4:15-5:30 p.m. The Crested Butte School of Dance hosts a free Contemporary Dance Workshop at the Pump Room.
•5 p.m. with music, All Saints in the Mountains Episcopal Church, 403 Maroon Ave. (UCC), Crested Butte.
•9 p.m. Live music by DJ Hyphy Han at Kochevar’s.
MONDAY 16
•1:30-3:30 p.m. Gunnison Valley Hospital hosts a Mountain Mamas meeting at 513 Main Street. For more information contact Kelsey Weaver at kweaver@gvh-colorado.org or 970-648-7071.
•3:30 p.m. Crested Buttians for Kamala march at the 4-way.
•6:30-8:30 p.m. Open table tennis in Jerry’s Gym at the Crested Butte Town Hall.
•7-8 p.m. Cultivating Hope Cancer Support Group, livingjourneys.org/calendar, free. (every 3rd Monday)
•7-8 p.m. Conscious Caregivers Cancer Support Group, livingjourneys.org/calendar, free. (every 1st Monday)
•7-8 p.m. Navigating Grief & Loss Bereavement Support Group, www.livingjourneys.org/calendar, free. (every 2nd Monday)
•7:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: Favorite Big Book Reading at Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.
TUESDAY 17
•7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Mediation AA & Al-Anon at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.
•9 a.m. Socrates Café, a philosophical discussion group, at the Crested Butte Library, 970-349-6535. (1st and 3rd Tuesdays)
•10 a.m. Storytime at the Crested Butte Library, 970-349-6535.
•10-11:30 a.m. CB Museum history walking tours (every Tuesday).
•noon Closed AA meeting: Readings from Came to Believe at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.
•4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage is open for shopping and donations. 421A Sopris Avenue, stmarysgaragecb.org.
•5:30-7 p.m. Check Your Chest clinic at the Gunnison Valley Health hospital main lobby.
•6:30-7:30 p.m. Full moon Sound Bath with T Helen Sage @ Sage Transformations, 311 5th St. Up the stairs and to the right. Donation based.
WEDNESDAY 18
•7:30 a.m. Crested Butte Rotary’s weekly speaker series in the Matchstick Lounge at the Elevation Hotel, Mt. Crested Butte. (2nd and 4th Wednesdays)
•11 a.m. Storytime at Red Mountain Park in CB South, 970-349-6535.
•noon Closed AA meeting: 12 Step & 12 Tradition Study at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.
•noon Yoga at the Garden at the pavilion wedding garden in Mt. Crested Butte (every Wednesday thru 9/25)
•2-3 p.m. Nicotine Anonymous for Young People meeting in the Young Life building next to Ace.
•4:30 p.m. Crested Butte Film Festival opening night at the Center for the Arts.
•5-6:30 p.m. Back to School Bash at the Crested Butte Community school.
•6-8 p.m. Roundtable Conversation about Free Energy Upgrades during the Equitable Access Day of Welcoming Week at the Gunnison Library.
•6:30-7:30 p.m. Al-Anon Meeting for families and friends of alcoholics in the back room of the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-6482.
•7:30 p.m. Adult pickup basketball at Jerry’s Gym at town hall.
The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
