There is a clear remit/mission here: investing taxpayer dollars in Ketchum’s infrastructure. The question of WHO makes those decisions is what is at stake. Is it insiders choosing amongst themselves, or is it a fairly represented cross-section of the Ketchum community?
More inclusive and transparent decisions depend on a truly representative cross-section of the community being authentically involved in decision-making. Random selection of regular citizens, stratified to represent the community in terms of demographics, accomplishes this.
What might this look like in Ketchum? Extrapolating from other places where more inclusive and transparent government is a priority (Bend, Ft. Collins, Boulder), it might look something like this: a randomly-selected citizen panel/jury/assembly (whatever you want to call it) of 10 or so residents, paid for their time, that is tasked with making infrastructure decisions, as KURA does now. In places where this has become a permanent feature of government, citizen panels rotate members for 1 year terms, with optional 6 month extension. This means a randomly-selected KURA citizen panel would never turn over all at once.
Members bring life and community experience to the table, and quickly become well-informed about the pros and cons of various options having to do with investing in Ketchum's infrastructure. Rather than pay some city staff (example: City Administrator who currently serves as KURA Exec. Dir, so is defacto serving at the pleasure of the mayor) for their time, that money could be used to pay regular citizens for their time, which respects the important contribution of regular people, who are always the true experts, especially when presented with information from all sources, not just government-curated.
This can be done. It is fair. Strengthens civic capacity. Leads to better decisions and a more informed community. Strengthens community.
It is remarkable what happens when government truly trusts the people it serves.
As I recall, one of the requirements of forming an urban renewal agency is a Capital Improvement Plan reviewed by the P & Z and approved by the council.
The Urban Renewal Plan is created from the CIP. It is a very detailed document which includes the financing of the projects.
The Urban Renewal Plan is what guides the KURA on the projects they do. It can be amended with the same process of P & Z review and council approval.
The original 2010 "plan" is still the guiding document for the KURA , it has never been amended. It appears that when a project has been proposed that is outside the 2010 plan, the individual projects have gone through the P & Z review and council approval, but no amendments to the 2010 "plan" have been made. It may be legal, but is it right?
I certainly agree with you with replacing KURA members. But I find ridiculous, Amanda and Courtney sitting on the board and on the City Council. Why are they allowed to vote on any KURA project..that is a conflict of interest.
I looked up where Gary Lipton lives and the phone book lists, his residence in Hailey. Is this a different Gary? If not why is a Hailey resident on a Ketchum board?
That’s all correct. Ana you are correct. It is ridiculous. But intentional to get to a certain outcome that they wanted that the consensus in Ketchum was against. Stacking commissions is a technique common to despotism.
They should leave the parking lot alone. Let it be a parking lot. There is no need to fill every last bit of space with a new building. I was saddened by this letter to council on p. 4 & 5 of this packet. She alludes to how "DEAD" it is downtown due to the proliferation of new buildings.
Thanks for pointing out that letter. Sad indeed. I'm not sure the answer but it seems business are key. I'd love to hear more from them about what they think is needed. It's always been hard to have a business here due to seasonality and high costs. Having more and more part-timers can't be helping.
Thanks for the comment! I dunno about part-timers. If they spend money locally, that is good for retail. And there has been an increase in full-timers--both households and voter registration have grown since COVID. But the biggest growth has been in short-term rentals. Per FSVA, visitor growth to the WRV has been growing double digits every year for the past half decade.
Hi Sue...the Ketchum Business Advisory Coalition (KBAC) was formed in April 2024 as direct result of local businesses realizing that we did not have a seat at the table, and that we needed to guide the City when it comes to support of local businesses. We currently represent about 140 businesses and community members, and speak regularly with the City and KURA about the issues Perry highlights here, as well as on- going ways the City can provide real support to the local businesses that work so hard to support the economy and community. We have open meetings (all are welcome) the 2nd Thursday of each month at The Sawtooth Club at 10am. One of our priority projects is supporting KURA as they move forward on the First and Washington lot, and how that location can be used to provide much needed access for businesses, visitors and employees.
Thanks Perry, I appreciate your thoughtful analysis on URA's ability to spend $1.5 million per year on whatever projects they chose. You are becoming a much better opinion writer in 2025, with fewer personal attacks on city staff and less arbitrary calculations on various programs. This is solid. This is refreshing. Please continue.
People largely speak a dialect of Catalan in the Balearics but this statement from the residents Palma in Majorca sounds familiar. From today's The Telegraph UK:
There is a popular counter-argument to the so-called “anti-tourist” protest movement. It goes like this: like it or not, Majorca’s economy is now built on tourism. British holidaymakers, many of whom are fiercely loyal to Majorca, plus Germans, French, Spanish mainlanders, pump money into the island and create jobs. Shouldn’t the residents of the island be grateful for such prosperity, in a world where so many countries have so little?
“There is a scarcity of water,” says Joana Maria, hitting home the realities of living on the island. “There are cars everywhere, but not all for tourists. They are cars for people working for the tourists. Hospitals and public places are full of people. Rich foreigners buy houses in the countryside, but they don’t live here, what they do is rent their properties. Majorca has become a land for speculation. We have a language, Catalan, that is our culture. But they don’t care about Majorca. Our way of life is being threatened.
Thank you, Perry. Your post really highlights why having elected officials that reflect the values and needs of the community is so important.
Two quick things that might be helpful: There is a City ordinance stating there there will be two members of the City Council appointed to the KURA Board. It's unclear why that is.
When appointing KURA members, the City follows State code stating eligibility for being on the Board. State code says that members need to live in the county of the KURA district, but not the specific city. I'm sorry I don't have link to either of these references.
KBAC did meet with the Mayor last Fall and ask to have a business owner within the KURA district appointed to KURA. We were told that this would be considered when an opening became available, as long as the current seat did not want to be reappointed. There was no further consideration given to KBAC's request.
Fair questions. Here's my attempts to answer. Please read the last paragraph and share your response.
In my ontology, a local contributes more to the community than they take out of it. Under that definition, you could arrive tomorrow and be a local, or you could have been born here and be an exploiter.
As for winning by "blocking low-income housing developments," you miss the point of the 2014 Comp Plan. if you have read my posts, you will know that I support building deed-restricted housing for essential Ketchum workers in the LI zone, by the WTF, and on the SLWR parking lot. There is plenty of space for lots of units--and parking. The City's narrative of parking vs. people is false.
As for your last series of questions, anyone who can afford a home in Ketchum can live in Ketchum--that seems obvious. As for who "deserves" to live in Ketchum, that's a framing that I can't address. I think scarce taxpayer resources should not subsidize the tourism industry so it can depress wages, and that those resources should be prioritized to house essential workers like teachers. But if the majority of Ketchum voted to approve spending tax money to house nannies for rich people, who am I to object? As for who I would like to see live in Ketchum, I prefer families with children because if there are no children in your community, do you have a community? But again, that's my preference; more important is the consensus preference of the community.
Now, I have answered your questions. I am curious about your answers to your questions. I'd love to learn from your perspective. And is that your real name? Thanks.
Based on your past, the fact that you judge people's value on localism as their contributions in the town is not surprising from such a capitalist. But you make a fair point, and I do tend to agree. I view locals as the folks stocking shelves at the store, at the gas station counter, teachers, carpenters, electricians, hospital workers, working and helping enhance the local economy. I don't tend to think of locals as second/third home owners who do nothing but pay property taxes on their 10k sq/ft third home, clog up the local post office with their amazon shopping habit, and work remotely in their tech job, and then do nothing but complain about parking.
If you've been reading you know that the "low income housing" requirements are such that it's not helping the people we want to help. Police, fire, teachers, medical professionals, etc. They all make too much money to qualify. I think everyone wants a solution for these people, but not everyone wants to subsidize retirees or corporate employees.
I've also never heard anyone say people shouldn't be allowed to live here. The question is who we subsidize and encourage, and what the building requirements are. The in-lieu fee is a joke, for example. We shouldn't let money destroy the beauty and character of the town.
As for Perry, he talks often about critical workers and families as absolutes.
I understand all the challenges we have, and there are no easy solutions. All the more reason for a better planning process involving the community. Are there any small mountain towns that are doing a better job at this than we are that we can look to for inspiration?
Not really. Maybe Sandpoint, but they aren't under as much pressure as we are. No one has the magic bullet. As P&Z Chair Morrow pointed out, it is very hard for small towns to resist the influence of money. How else do you explain the upzoning that City Hall is jamming through despite the lack of resident support for it? Selling out your town is very profitable!
I think people tend to yell louder when they are in disagreement with the policies or changes trying to be made. Tyranny of the negatives?
How do you poll for support/appose these issues? Are you polling? Or are you anecdotally taking notes on how many people in your echo-chamber oppose these issues?
I question that; my experience is the larger the town, the greater the greed/corruption. I write that looking for incentives to restore Ketchum to previous sanity. Bonnor County (Sand Point) has twice the population of Blaine, and an Interstate highway runs through it.
One thing I missed in this article. KURA acually adopted a plan for what it was supposed to do, way back in 2010. You can find it here: https://www.ketchumura.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/urban_renewal_agency/page/38370/adopted_2010_plan_with_signed_attachments.pdf
The good stuff starts on page 127.
Frankly, this plan makes a lot more sense than how they have been operating under the Bradshaw regime.
Long post here. Please bear with me.
There is a clear remit/mission here: investing taxpayer dollars in Ketchum’s infrastructure. The question of WHO makes those decisions is what is at stake. Is it insiders choosing amongst themselves, or is it a fairly represented cross-section of the Ketchum community?
More inclusive and transparent decisions depend on a truly representative cross-section of the community being authentically involved in decision-making. Random selection of regular citizens, stratified to represent the community in terms of demographics, accomplishes this.
What might this look like in Ketchum? Extrapolating from other places where more inclusive and transparent government is a priority (Bend, Ft. Collins, Boulder), it might look something like this: a randomly-selected citizen panel/jury/assembly (whatever you want to call it) of 10 or so residents, paid for their time, that is tasked with making infrastructure decisions, as KURA does now. In places where this has become a permanent feature of government, citizen panels rotate members for 1 year terms, with optional 6 month extension. This means a randomly-selected KURA citizen panel would never turn over all at once.
Members bring life and community experience to the table, and quickly become well-informed about the pros and cons of various options having to do with investing in Ketchum's infrastructure. Rather than pay some city staff (example: City Administrator who currently serves as KURA Exec. Dir, so is defacto serving at the pleasure of the mayor) for their time, that money could be used to pay regular citizens for their time, which respects the important contribution of regular people, who are always the true experts, especially when presented with information from all sources, not just government-curated.
This can be done. It is fair. Strengthens civic capacity. Leads to better decisions and a more informed community. Strengthens community.
It is remarkable what happens when government truly trusts the people it serves.
As I recall, one of the requirements of forming an urban renewal agency is a Capital Improvement Plan reviewed by the P & Z and approved by the council.
The Urban Renewal Plan is created from the CIP. It is a very detailed document which includes the financing of the projects.
The Urban Renewal Plan is what guides the KURA on the projects they do. It can be amended with the same process of P & Z review and council approval.
The original 2010 "plan" is still the guiding document for the KURA , it has never been amended. It appears that when a project has been proposed that is outside the 2010 plan, the individual projects have gone through the P & Z review and council approval, but no amendments to the 2010 "plan" have been made. It may be legal, but is it right?
Businesses would like the parking lot open for public parking.
The owner of the lot will decide how it is used. So it behooves the business community to have some input on who will own it.
It is staying in KURA's hands for the moment. It will remain a parking lot for the near future. It will most likely revert back to the city.
They do not want to sell it at this time.
I certainly agree with you with replacing KURA members. But I find ridiculous, Amanda and Courtney sitting on the board and on the City Council. Why are they allowed to vote on any KURA project..that is a conflict of interest.
I looked up where Gary Lipton lives and the phone book lists, his residence in Hailey. Is this a different Gary? If not why is a Hailey resident on a Ketchum board?
That’s all correct. Ana you are correct. It is ridiculous. But intentional to get to a certain outcome that they wanted that the consensus in Ketchum was against. Stacking commissions is a technique common to despotism.
They should leave the parking lot alone. Let it be a parking lot. There is no need to fill every last bit of space with a new building. I was saddened by this letter to council on p. 4 & 5 of this packet. She alludes to how "DEAD" it is downtown due to the proliferation of new buildings.
https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/ketchid-pubu/MEET-Packet-661e86bbd49141b0abd6d1cc78d22ad1.pdf
Very sad.
Thanks for pointing out that letter. Sad indeed. I'm not sure the answer but it seems business are key. I'd love to hear more from them about what they think is needed. It's always been hard to have a business here due to seasonality and high costs. Having more and more part-timers can't be helping.
Thanks for the comment! I dunno about part-timers. If they spend money locally, that is good for retail. And there has been an increase in full-timers--both households and voter registration have grown since COVID. But the biggest growth has been in short-term rentals. Per FSVA, visitor growth to the WRV has been growing double digits every year for the past half decade.
Hi Sue...the Ketchum Business Advisory Coalition (KBAC) was formed in April 2024 as direct result of local businesses realizing that we did not have a seat at the table, and that we needed to guide the City when it comes to support of local businesses. We currently represent about 140 businesses and community members, and speak regularly with the City and KURA about the issues Perry highlights here, as well as on- going ways the City can provide real support to the local businesses that work so hard to support the economy and community. We have open meetings (all are welcome) the 2nd Thursday of each month at The Sawtooth Club at 10am. One of our priority projects is supporting KURA as they move forward on the First and Washington lot, and how that location can be used to provide much needed access for businesses, visitors and employees.
That's great! Anybody involved in KBAC have interest in running for city council?
This is something we've been working on for several months, and look forward to making some announcements soon!
Thanks Perry, I appreciate your thoughtful analysis on URA's ability to spend $1.5 million per year on whatever projects they chose. You are becoming a much better opinion writer in 2025, with fewer personal attacks on city staff and less arbitrary calculations on various programs. This is solid. This is refreshing. Please continue.
Thanks Perry Super appreciate and support your comments, insight and oversight of our misguided city leadership
People largely speak a dialect of Catalan in the Balearics but this statement from the residents Palma in Majorca sounds familiar. From today's The Telegraph UK:
telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/majorca-overtourism-protests/
‘It is like a theme park’
There is a popular counter-argument to the so-called “anti-tourist” protest movement. It goes like this: like it or not, Majorca’s economy is now built on tourism. British holidaymakers, many of whom are fiercely loyal to Majorca, plus Germans, French, Spanish mainlanders, pump money into the island and create jobs. Shouldn’t the residents of the island be grateful for such prosperity, in a world where so many countries have so little?
“There is a scarcity of water,” says Joana Maria, hitting home the realities of living on the island. “There are cars everywhere, but not all for tourists. They are cars for people working for the tourists. Hospitals and public places are full of people. Rich foreigners buy houses in the countryside, but they don’t live here, what they do is rent their properties. Majorca has become a land for speculation. We have a language, Catalan, that is our culture. But they don’t care about Majorca. Our way of life is being threatened.
"What am I missing," you ask. Could it be that "urban renewal" of downtown Ketchum is a scam?
Thank you, Perry. Your post really highlights why having elected officials that reflect the values and needs of the community is so important.
Two quick things that might be helpful: There is a City ordinance stating there there will be two members of the City Council appointed to the KURA Board. It's unclear why that is.
When appointing KURA members, the City follows State code stating eligibility for being on the Board. State code says that members need to live in the county of the KURA district, but not the specific city. I'm sorry I don't have link to either of these references.
KBAC did meet with the Mayor last Fall and ask to have a business owner within the KURA district appointed to KURA. We were told that this would be considered when an opening became available, as long as the current seat did not want to be reappointed. There was no further consideration given to KBAC's request.
Perry,
In your eyes, who is a Ketchum local?
You keep saying, "ketchum locals won!" against urban development, and blocking low income housing developments.
Who do you want to see live in Ketchum? Can anyone live here? Or do some people not deserve a spot?
Fair questions. Here's my attempts to answer. Please read the last paragraph and share your response.
In my ontology, a local contributes more to the community than they take out of it. Under that definition, you could arrive tomorrow and be a local, or you could have been born here and be an exploiter.
As for winning by "blocking low-income housing developments," you miss the point of the 2014 Comp Plan. if you have read my posts, you will know that I support building deed-restricted housing for essential Ketchum workers in the LI zone, by the WTF, and on the SLWR parking lot. There is plenty of space for lots of units--and parking. The City's narrative of parking vs. people is false.
As for your last series of questions, anyone who can afford a home in Ketchum can live in Ketchum--that seems obvious. As for who "deserves" to live in Ketchum, that's a framing that I can't address. I think scarce taxpayer resources should not subsidize the tourism industry so it can depress wages, and that those resources should be prioritized to house essential workers like teachers. But if the majority of Ketchum voted to approve spending tax money to house nannies for rich people, who am I to object? As for who I would like to see live in Ketchum, I prefer families with children because if there are no children in your community, do you have a community? But again, that's my preference; more important is the consensus preference of the community.
Now, I have answered your questions. I am curious about your answers to your questions. I'd love to learn from your perspective. And is that your real name? Thanks.
Based on your past, the fact that you judge people's value on localism as their contributions in the town is not surprising from such a capitalist. But you make a fair point, and I do tend to agree. I view locals as the folks stocking shelves at the store, at the gas station counter, teachers, carpenters, electricians, hospital workers, working and helping enhance the local economy. I don't tend to think of locals as second/third home owners who do nothing but pay property taxes on their 10k sq/ft third home, clog up the local post office with their amazon shopping habit, and work remotely in their tech job, and then do nothing but complain about parking.
If you've been reading you know that the "low income housing" requirements are such that it's not helping the people we want to help. Police, fire, teachers, medical professionals, etc. They all make too much money to qualify. I think everyone wants a solution for these people, but not everyone wants to subsidize retirees or corporate employees.
I've also never heard anyone say people shouldn't be allowed to live here. The question is who we subsidize and encourage, and what the building requirements are. The in-lieu fee is a joke, for example. We shouldn't let money destroy the beauty and character of the town.
As for Perry, he talks often about critical workers and families as absolutes.
I understand all the challenges we have, and there are no easy solutions. All the more reason for a better planning process involving the community. Are there any small mountain towns that are doing a better job at this than we are that we can look to for inspiration?
Not really. Maybe Sandpoint, but they aren't under as much pressure as we are. No one has the magic bullet. As P&Z Chair Morrow pointed out, it is very hard for small towns to resist the influence of money. How else do you explain the upzoning that City Hall is jamming through despite the lack of resident support for it? Selling out your town is very profitable!
I think people tend to yell louder when they are in disagreement with the policies or changes trying to be made. Tyranny of the negatives?
How do you poll for support/appose these issues? Are you polling? Or are you anecdotally taking notes on how many people in your echo-chamber oppose these issues?
I question that; my experience is the larger the town, the greater the greed/corruption. I write that looking for incentives to restore Ketchum to previous sanity. Bonnor County (Sand Point) has twice the population of Blaine, and an Interstate highway runs through it.
There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you hold money from the county, don`t you end up with more county levees? Doesn`t it become a tax shift?