Exquisite analysis of the profit privatized, risk socialized agenda of both real estate development and corporate interests who only see our fair valley as just another commodity from which to extract wealth, not much interested in the opinions or concerns of citizens being severely impacted by the malignant growth agenda, much less the massive unfunded liabilities they are creating. The massive failure by north valley leadership, heavily influenced by Sun Valley Board of Realtors, SVED, SVCO, and resort interests, to adequately and thoughtfully consider the impacts of the toxic gentrification they intentionally engineered, has them trying to ram the problems resulting from their poor decisions, incompetence, and neglect down the throats of south valley communites and make taxpayers in Hailey and Bellevue pay for the privilege, many of them already struggling under a cloud of financial insecurity, many others already forced out of the valley.
The BIG LIE around here from local officials and establishment developpment extremists, is that any housing inventory being created will be affordable to those working in low-paying, often seasonal resort jobs, they won't. They will be purchased as investments or vacation (second) homes by an aging population of retired boomers. Just ask BCSD about enrollment statistics.
Congestion is not vibrancy. There has been zero consideration of the carrying capacities of roads and sevices infrastructure by local officials over the past decade. By build-out and occupancy of what has already been approved, this valley will be an unmitigated disaster of unmitigated impacts, with taxpayers on the hook for any proposed remedies. This aggressive "approve now, pay later" agenda and associated massive unfunded liabilities being created by poorly managed growth suggest it is time hit "PAUSE."
Perry, thank you for bringing competent analysis to the equation locally. Holding a mirror up to the ugliness resulting from the expression of values limited to only money and self, is of immense value here in our fair valley. No doubt that any future run for office will find you winning in a landslide. Unfortunately, so much damage has already been done by establishment real estate extremists that those future officials inheriting the consequences of their massive failures will have challenges that will be extremely difficult to meet. Easy to run an aggressive "rubber-stamp" malignant growth agenda motivated by greed, not so easy to provide solutions and pay for an excess of the future problems resulting poorly managed growth. But people are finally starting to come out of their Covid comas and are paying attention, about time.
Again Perry thanks for providing critical information to the public in a format they can easily digest, as well as the TRUTH about unfortunate circumstances and events here in our fair valley and who is responsible, citizens growing tired of the false narratives from officials regarding affordable workforce housing. The acceleration and abbreviation of the analysis and review processes has ensured there will never be enough to make any difference, just carrot here and there by developers interested only in profits, precedent established anything more cannot be mandated in any agreement. Now BCRD is suggesting we are somehow "underserved" when there are way more than enough athletic fields at our parks and schools if effective organization and scheduling is competently managed. Of course everybody wants everything all the time. BCRD mission is being abused by those attaching it to a real estate development proposal, Flying Hat, which is an absolute train wreck.
Mr. Hughes--wow. I am honored by your very thoughtful comment. You make some excellent points that I hadn't fully considered. A lot of food for thought.
As for running for office, that isn't a goal for me. It is a means to an end, the end being managing the City of Ketchum for the benefit of its residents in a responsible, transparent, and inclusive manner. If someone else can do that better than me (and I am sure many can), I would love to vote for them.
If everything Perry says is true (and I have no reason to doubt it), then the Ketchum City Council needs to address these issues. They should want to address each issue of this blog in writing for the benefit of its citizens.
What %-age of jobs in Ketchum/Sun Valley and the WRV are SV Company jobs? And what %-age of all wages paid in Ketchum/Sun Valley and the WRV are SV Company jobs? And then how much "corporate-welfare" does SV Company consume (nominally and as a %-age of total "corporate welfare")? Knowing the answers to these would help us understand if there is a "misallocation". And/or, if SV Company is getting "more than its fair share". But, in my humble opinion, that's only part of the answer... SV Company is a huge engine that drives our local economy, generating a multitude of direct and ancillary jobs and benefits that provide goods and services to all of us that have the privilege of living in the Wood River Valley (and, also, by the way, local, state, and federal tax revenues for our politicians to spend.)
Excellent questions. I don't know that anyone has tried to find that out. Maybe SVC knows?
But I don't think SVC per se drives the economy anymore; it is the fact that a company has a concession on public land to run a ski area here. It could be Vail Corporation. SVC is probably a better company than Vail Corporation. In a perfect world, we would have the optimal owner of the asset. Do we? I don't know.
You didn't address the point that SVC directly influences (with an actual seat at the table) how millions of dollars of area taxes are spent. That a corporation can do that seems...wrong? I explore that in more depth in the piece that will come out on Tuesday.
Everything you mentioned about SVC has been said about WalMart, whose employee base is the largest single group of employed people on government benefits. Are we better off as a country with that kind of business model? I don't think so, but others might.
Many SVC full-time employees, like ski patrollers, don't get any benefits. I am pretty sure you don't do that to your employees. I don't think it's the right way to run a company, but I accept that people disagree with me.
I contacted her about the housing being used for retirees, and she told me they have to allow it per federal community housing laws, but they were limiting it to retirees who worked in Ketchum a certain number of years. ?
That is absolutely true. But they did not need to adopt a “preference” for retirees. When the Mayor was selling Bluebird to the community he said it was for teachers, first responders and health care workers. He never once mentioned retirees. I called him out on it back then. He lied.
Hmm, then she appears to be uninformed or not truthful because she said the goal is still Ketchum local worker preference, but they have to allow some retirees and were trying to limit that.
Are the requirements posted so we can see them for ourselves?
Are you looking for transparency about how Bluebird operates? Or any of the city’s housing? Ha! Good luck with that. You should ask her to send you the preference document. It was in a city council agenda last year. No preferences for teachers, first responders or healthcare workers who this building was supposed to house.
She told me to contact Carissa Connelly, the City's Housing Director, to have her explain the preference policy in more detail. I'll ask Ms Connelly for a copy of the preference document.
Good points/questions. I wasn't really touting SV Company, specifically, though I think they do an extraordinarily good job with running the resort and the mountain. I was speaking more generically about the entity that has the "franchise" for running the Village and the two mountains. Is SV Company itself perfect? No. Are there some things that I (and you) would do differently (like allowing uphill traffic on certain runs all day long and providing health insurance to ski patrollers)? Yes! But they do a great job in innumerable areas and make extraordinary contributions (some measurable and some immeasurable) to our local and regional economy and quality of life. And I thank God every day that the entity that's controlling the Village and our two mountains is NOT Vail, Inc.!
Exquisite analysis of the profit privatized, risk socialized agenda of both real estate development and corporate interests who only see our fair valley as just another commodity from which to extract wealth, not much interested in the opinions or concerns of citizens being severely impacted by the malignant growth agenda, much less the massive unfunded liabilities they are creating. The massive failure by north valley leadership, heavily influenced by Sun Valley Board of Realtors, SVED, SVCO, and resort interests, to adequately and thoughtfully consider the impacts of the toxic gentrification they intentionally engineered, has them trying to ram the problems resulting from their poor decisions, incompetence, and neglect down the throats of south valley communites and make taxpayers in Hailey and Bellevue pay for the privilege, many of them already struggling under a cloud of financial insecurity, many others already forced out of the valley.
The BIG LIE around here from local officials and establishment developpment extremists, is that any housing inventory being created will be affordable to those working in low-paying, often seasonal resort jobs, they won't. They will be purchased as investments or vacation (second) homes by an aging population of retired boomers. Just ask BCSD about enrollment statistics.
Congestion is not vibrancy. There has been zero consideration of the carrying capacities of roads and sevices infrastructure by local officials over the past decade. By build-out and occupancy of what has already been approved, this valley will be an unmitigated disaster of unmitigated impacts, with taxpayers on the hook for any proposed remedies. This aggressive "approve now, pay later" agenda and associated massive unfunded liabilities being created by poorly managed growth suggest it is time hit "PAUSE."
Perry, thank you for bringing competent analysis to the equation locally. Holding a mirror up to the ugliness resulting from the expression of values limited to only money and self, is of immense value here in our fair valley. No doubt that any future run for office will find you winning in a landslide. Unfortunately, so much damage has already been done by establishment real estate extremists that those future officials inheriting the consequences of their massive failures will have challenges that will be extremely difficult to meet. Easy to run an aggressive "rubber-stamp" malignant growth agenda motivated by greed, not so easy to provide solutions and pay for an excess of the future problems resulting poorly managed growth. But people are finally starting to come out of their Covid comas and are paying attention, about time.
Again Perry thanks for providing critical information to the public in a format they can easily digest, as well as the TRUTH about unfortunate circumstances and events here in our fair valley and who is responsible, citizens growing tired of the false narratives from officials regarding affordable workforce housing. The acceleration and abbreviation of the analysis and review processes has ensured there will never be enough to make any difference, just carrot here and there by developers interested only in profits, precedent established anything more cannot be mandated in any agreement. Now BCRD is suggesting we are somehow "underserved" when there are way more than enough athletic fields at our parks and schools if effective organization and scheduling is competently managed. Of course everybody wants everything all the time. BCRD mission is being abused by those attaching it to a real estate development proposal, Flying Hat, which is an absolute train wreck.
Have a great weekend folks!
Mr. Hughes--wow. I am honored by your very thoughtful comment. You make some excellent points that I hadn't fully considered. A lot of food for thought.
As for running for office, that isn't a goal for me. It is a means to an end, the end being managing the City of Ketchum for the benefit of its residents in a responsible, transparent, and inclusive manner. If someone else can do that better than me (and I am sure many can), I would love to vote for them.
Thank you, and keep spreading the word.
If everything Perry says is true (and I have no reason to doubt it), then the Ketchum City Council needs to address these issues. They should want to address each issue of this blog in writing for the benefit of its citizens.
What %-age of jobs in Ketchum/Sun Valley and the WRV are SV Company jobs? And what %-age of all wages paid in Ketchum/Sun Valley and the WRV are SV Company jobs? And then how much "corporate-welfare" does SV Company consume (nominally and as a %-age of total "corporate welfare")? Knowing the answers to these would help us understand if there is a "misallocation". And/or, if SV Company is getting "more than its fair share". But, in my humble opinion, that's only part of the answer... SV Company is a huge engine that drives our local economy, generating a multitude of direct and ancillary jobs and benefits that provide goods and services to all of us that have the privilege of living in the Wood River Valley (and, also, by the way, local, state, and federal tax revenues for our politicians to spend.)
Excellent questions. I don't know that anyone has tried to find that out. Maybe SVC knows?
But I don't think SVC per se drives the economy anymore; it is the fact that a company has a concession on public land to run a ski area here. It could be Vail Corporation. SVC is probably a better company than Vail Corporation. In a perfect world, we would have the optimal owner of the asset. Do we? I don't know.
You didn't address the point that SVC directly influences (with an actual seat at the table) how millions of dollars of area taxes are spent. That a corporation can do that seems...wrong? I explore that in more depth in the piece that will come out on Tuesday.
Everything you mentioned about SVC has been said about WalMart, whose employee base is the largest single group of employed people on government benefits. Are we better off as a country with that kind of business model? I don't think so, but others might.
Many SVC full-time employees, like ski patrollers, don't get any benefits. I am pretty sure you don't do that to your employees. I don't think it's the right way to run a company, but I accept that people disagree with me.
I contacted her about the housing being used for retirees, and she told me they have to allow it per federal community housing laws, but they were limiting it to retirees who worked in Ketchum a certain number of years. ?
That is absolutely true. But they did not need to adopt a “preference” for retirees. When the Mayor was selling Bluebird to the community he said it was for teachers, first responders and health care workers. He never once mentioned retirees. I called him out on it back then. He lied.
Hmm, then she appears to be uninformed or not truthful because she said the goal is still Ketchum local worker preference, but they have to allow some retirees and were trying to limit that.
Are the requirements posted so we can see them for ourselves?
Are you looking for transparency about how Bluebird operates? Or any of the city’s housing? Ha! Good luck with that. You should ask her to send you the preference document. It was in a city council agenda last year. No preferences for teachers, first responders or healthcare workers who this building was supposed to house.
She told me to contact Carissa Connelly, the City's Housing Director, to have her explain the preference policy in more detail. I'll ask Ms Connelly for a copy of the preference document.
Good points/questions. I wasn't really touting SV Company, specifically, though I think they do an extraordinarily good job with running the resort and the mountain. I was speaking more generically about the entity that has the "franchise" for running the Village and the two mountains. Is SV Company itself perfect? No. Are there some things that I (and you) would do differently (like allowing uphill traffic on certain runs all day long and providing health insurance to ski patrollers)? Yes! But they do a great job in innumerable areas and make extraordinary contributions (some measurable and some immeasurable) to our local and regional economy and quality of life. And I thank God every day that the entity that's controlling the Village and our two mountains is NOT Vail, Inc.!