Issue #41: I Need Your Help On This One

What should I be asking to get the information we need to assess accountability?

Above is the email I got in response to a records request I made of the City of Ketchum.¹ Read my questions and the Housing Director’s answers and ask yourself if that makes sense. Remember, the Mayor says he takes pride in the transparency of Ketchum’s government. Does this strike you as “transparent?”

I once did a records request on Bluebird. All the emails were “call me” or “meet me.” There was almost no substance—for example, the City would not acknowledge that it ever received a project cost. The only things of substance I discovered were that the City sent the RFP only to a single contractor—GMD— and that the Mayor picked the name of the building. Oh, and that GMD was asked to suggest ordinance language for what they wanted the Council to pass to enable them to build Bluebird. That’s right, a for-profit developer essentially drafted City Council legislation for their own benefit.

In my experience, this is the norm for the Bradshaw administration: Say you are transparent but operate in the dark.

Parsing the Response

On the first one, the housing mediation contract, transferring it from Ketchum to BCHA is a good thing in that the services have been provided primarily outside of Ketchum. But who is paying for it? The reason that question is relevant is that there is almost no substantive difference between the City of Ketchum Housing Department and BCHA. They are run by the same person with the same staff. I need to make another records request to find out how the money works.

Do you think that is a straight answer on the Lease to Locals questions? I asked for the reports and presentations. Our Housing Director doesn’t get reports from the contractor or keep any paperwork they use with the City Council. Does that seem like good “best practices?” It is if you don’t want accountability. I will request an electronic copy of the spreadsheet.

The lack of documentation on Ketchum’s deed restrictions is troublesome. If you read the answer, you might think they have no documentation. I find that hard to believe. The City used to maintain a list of its deed restrictions posted on the City's website, but it took that down after Bluebird was approved.

Bradshaw Strategy: Keep the Public in the Dark Until it is Too Late

Given that the Council has made housing its almost sole priority (if you look at the time and incremental money allocation), providing the public with as much information on housing and their housing plans should be a priority.

Yet we have the complete opposite from our representatives. As I mentioned in a previous post, the City has a housing plan for more Bluebirds. That has not been publicly disclosed, other than conceptually in the Housing Action Plan. Last week, the IME reported the City is focused on developing the Y’s south lot and the Lift Tower Lodge site for more Bluebirds.

This creeping incrementalism approach is how Bradshaw slipped Bluebird through. This is how KURA is jamming through its Washington Lot project.

The City does not have a program for locals displaced by the Council’s acquiescence in replacing locals with tourists as long-term rentals are converted to Airbnb. This is a taxpayer-subsidized housing program to benefit for-profit tourism companies. Meanwhile, our essential workers are essentially excluded from the Bluebird program.

Why is that? Why would the City use our tax money to subsidize the tourism industry rather than to serve the needs of the community?

And in Other News…

I read this in yesterday’s Eye on Sun Valley:

Bradshaw said that some people have encouraged [the] city not to spend money on the World Cup Finals in mid-March. What the City does is provide services, he said. For instance, it cleans up horse and sheep turds left on the street after the Trailing of the Sheep Festival’s Big Sheep Parade.

The World Cup Finals will bring people to town and boost the local option taxes, which provide revenue guarantees for air service and money for affordable housing endeavors he said: “Our role as a city is to provide a canvas for people to paint a picture on.”

I am one of those people referenced in the first paragraph. I don’t think the City's role is to “provide a canvas for people to paint a picture on.” I think it is the City’s role to ensure that people who make money off of Ketchum clean up their own messes and compensate the City for providing services to their for-profit events rather than have the taxpayers boost their profit margins.

The City just adopted its 2025 budget. Guess what is not in that budget—the expenses to the taxpayers from cleaning up for the World Cup. It is a direct taxpayer transfer to Sun Valley Co. and 5B Productions. AKA: Corporate Welfare.

This is classic Bradshaw budgeting—hide things and then pass a “revised” budget later.

He hid the truth again when he left out that the LOT also promotes tourism growth in Ketchum. More money is spent on tourism growth than on air service—it will be 4x as much for promotion (VSV) as air service (FSVA) in 2025. This is a mayor who consistently prioritizes the tourist experience over the residents's quality of life.

While we are on the topic of budgeting, if you go to the Town Square public meeting today, ask why the fountain and firepit don’t work. In my analysis, it is because the City does not budget for maintenance expenses when it spends money on a capital project. This is why our sidewalks are crumbling and some of our streets are deteriorating. It is a fiscally irresponsible approach to budgeting.

1. Suzanne is terrifically responsive.