V2N13: Bradshaw Runs Again?

Here's a sampling of what passes for transparency, openness and inclusiveness in the Bradshaw administration

As I have written about many times, the City's solicitation of public input is deeply flawed, both in what it takes in and in what it refuses to take in. The entire process is designed to reinforce the narrative it promotes while minimizing dissent. It is part of the self-licking ice cream cone system constructed in Ketchum City Hall (along with its subsidiaries, KURA and the Blaine County Housing Authority).

Let’s look at the Bradshaw approach to running Ketchum. The parallels to what is going on in DC are frightening.

Public Input Limited To Get Them What They Want

In the most recent “Mayor’s Missive,” we see perpetuation of this process via another statistically invalid survey. The questions in the survey are designed to generate the answer that the Mayor wants, so that he can assert that he is incorporating community feedback. It is a load of horse patootie. I was at a meeting on February 13 where he gave instructions on cheating the survey by using multiple computers to stack the deck.

Meanwhile, public comments not solicited via the City’s chosen channels are ignored. When has an unsolicited comment changed a vote in the Bradshaw administration?

Limited Ability to Get Answers From City Hall

The City has eliminated the process for citizens to ask questions of the City. You used to be able to send a question to participate@ketchumidaho.org and you would get an answer within a day. That was when Lisa Enourato monitored that email. It was only part of her job, but she was responsive to the citizenry.

Now, we have a city employee who is fully dedicated to communications, Dan Hansen. Yet the only responses forthcoming from this process promote the City narrative—if you get a response at all. In public meetings, you are not allowed to ask questions but only to make comments. The only format for getting questions answered now is to get a City official to speak with you. Good luck with that.

Public comment is only on the City Council agenda when legally required. Indeed, the Council refused to add another round of public comment on the Comp Plan, despite only addressing the Land Use Map in the one meeting it held on the Comp Plan. In my opinion, these moves are intended to reduce information flow and public engagement.

The Bradshaw Train Has Left The Station for More Bluebirds

If you attended this week’s Council meeting, you learned that the City plans to build housing on every lot it owns according to the mayor. He said “it’s just a matter of time.”

The City survey on whether you “potentially” wanted to build housing at the Y or Lift Tower Lot sites? Irrelevant. Actually, farcical. They told us they will issue RFPs for both sites and apply for IFHA funding and use the HUD money they already got. This means those “potential” 200 units will be Bluebirds in that they won’t be reserved for essential workers, Ketchum workers, or even people who work at all. They call it Ketchum workforce housing but that’s A LIE.

I called out my friend Spencer for saying that the Council prioritizes local essential workers while he voted to approve these developments. I called out my friend Tripp for saying he wants to provide housing for Ketchum’s future while supporting the Lift Tower Lodge development as a corporate welfare dorm for Sun Valley Co. I have offered them this platform to explain themselves to Ketchum. Let’s see if they take me up on it.

Tripp’s pleas for buildings that will fit into Ketchum were derided by Ms. Breen, who wants to cram as many units in as possible. Guess who carried the day?

This is another Bradshaw administration jam job.

The BIG LIE About Upzoning and Housing For Working Families

The Comp Plan's surprise bomb of upzoning was justified by the argument that more condos near the ski lifts would make housing more affordable for working families. The mayor knows this is untrue, and the City Planner even said so at the joint Council/P&Z meeting.

I asked him point blank why, if no one in town proposed upzoning, that he says only 52 people move to Ketchum permanently every year (his words, but not true), that condos can’t be kept out of the second home or short-term rental markets, why the people of Ketchum have been presented with a massive upzoning plan. He answered that it will make housing affordable for working people.

He knows that is not true. There is no evidence that building more market-rate condos on incredibly expensive land near the ski lifts in Ketchum will make housing more affordable. Our decades-long empirical experience does not support that assertion.

They are selling upzoning with a lie.

Attacking Single Family Homes Is A Distraction

His attack on single family residences (SFR) is not about generating more affordable housing. He knows it won’t. He has repeatedly stated that the City cannot regulate the use of homes without purchasing deed restrictions. The empirical evidence is that the highest return on investment in residential real estate is for the tourism/2d home market. He is a very smart guy. He knows that his upzoning plan will promote more Aspenization. His point that SFRs won’t attract families to Ketchum is a diversion against the real goal of creating more condos for the tourism and second home markets.

Worse, he knows that his upzoning plan will screw over existing SFR owners when their homes become “non-conforming” in his new zones. That will limit what SFR home owners can do with their property. Economically, it transfers wealth from current SFR owners to developers for tourism condos.

Can We Endure Four More Years of Bradshaw?

There are no term limits on a mayor in Idaho.

During the last election, our current mayor, who returned to office with only 35% of the vote, said he would return to private life after this term. I am not so sure about that. My prediction is that he will run.

People who have spoken with him about this tell me he won’t answer the question. He is keeping his options open.

This begs the question: Why would he run for a third term? A growing section of the population has figured out that his actions are all toward the Aspenization of Ketchum. Almost two-thirds of the town voted against him last time.

Something doesn’t smell right. His family lives in Hailey, and he bought a piece of land there (then transferred it into his wife’s name). He seems to have one foot out the door. So, why run again?

The Comp Plan, Land Use Map, and Zoning Revision are taking longer than he expected. He thought he could complete them in 2025, but recently, he said that the process could drag into 2026. I think his platform will center on getting all this done in the name of “vibrancy” and “workforce housing.” Looking at his track record, this is a load of horse patootie.

Thus, he must have some other reason for pushing upzoning. What is it? Who wants him to upzone? Why won’t he be transparent? What is he hiding? Given he isn’t working in the interests of Ketchum residents, who is he working for? I doubt we will ever know the answers.

A Mayor Without a Majority?

Here’s another prediction: if he runs again, it will be in another three- or four-way race. One of the candidates will be a current City Council member who will bow out at the last minute and support him. Or it could be someone like Keith Perry, who is rumored to be considering a run.

To defeat this strategy, someone clearly superior should run for Mayor, who will receive overwhelming support. (That isn’t me!). Who is going to step up?

If Bradshaw runs and is re-elected, it is game over for Ketchum. We can rename it AssChum or Ketchspun. We will get 2,000 new “residents” who are a mix of wealthy second homeowners, tourists, and underpaid tourism workers whose housing we pay for through our taxes. In five to ten years, no one will recognize the town they were born in or moved to.

Let’s not let that happen!

There is a better way to run Ketchum in the interests of its residents. One based on a real Comp Plan process that includes all voices, a Land Use Map that reflects the values of the community, a zoning code that implements those values, and a management process that provide regular reporting, key performance metrics and feedback mechanisms, a City government that is open, transparent, inclusive and accountable to its residents.

Bradshaw has had seven years in office. We know that he isn’t about any of that. If we care about our community, we need him out and Breen and Hamilton out. November is coming up! We need people to run who are competent and honest about their intentions. Maybe that’s you?