2024 County Commission Candidate Questionnaires
We released a questionnaire to all candidates. We added the bold font to their responses emphasize the most important aspects of their views. Otherwise, their responses are unedited.
We have only included responses from candidates who advanced during the primary election. To see responses from Jim Rooks please email info@shelterjh.org. Candidates Melchor Moore and Vicky O’Donoghue did not submit responses to our questionnaire.
We have set ambitious housing goals in the Comprehensive Plan, but we do not yet have enough stable funding to achieve these goals. How would you obtain permanent and dedicated revenue for safe, secure and affordable homes for our community members—especially the most vulnerable and lowest-income among us?
Len Carlman: No public revenue streams are permanent, but some are more stable than others. $80 million for five different 2022 SPET-approved publicly subsidized housing efforts is a good start; with another $85 million for other SPET projects also approved in 2022, and $22 million/year in SPET revenue, the 6th penny SPET excise tax is booked until about 2029. A real estate transfer tax, half devoted to affordable housing and half to conservation measures, could materially help. We need the state legislature to enable it. I’ve supported a transfer tax on high end Teton County real estate transactions since about 1990 when I lobbied for it in Cheyenne. We can get transfer tax enabling legislation passed in Cheyenne if grassroots citizens team up with local officials and like-minded citizens from other parts of Wyoming to lobby state legislators with the powerful real-life stories about our housing cost structure, our community’s needs, the success of already-achieved publicly funded affordable housing developments, and the lived experiences of hard-working residents.
Natalia Macker: I will continue to support SPET funding for housing. Two potential dedicated funding streams will require collaboration and work with the state. The first is funding generated through mitigation. Teton County’s mitigation program may potentially be at risk from the state legislature. I plan to continue working on the program itself and will fight to prevent mitigation from being removed from the toolbox. New funding sources that require state authorization/legislation include a real estate transfer tax designated for affordable housing, a new sales tax option, or recalibrating the lodging tax to dedicate a portion to affordable housing. I would support all of these and work to get them passed, recognizing that the legislature has not looked favorably on new taxes recently. Another program that I would be interested in exploring but do not know the extent of the legal framework we would need is a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes/tax abatement program. While this is not dedicated funding for housing, it is an incentive to create affordable housing for the lowest-income. Here is an example in TN and here is one in MD. While I have not had a chance to vet this broadly, I would anticipate we may need some enabling legislation, and this may be best suited to Town if we could figure out a way to enable it on existing rental properties. We could also explore if there is a way of establishing long-term dedicated housing funding via conservation. The federal government makes payments in lieu of taxes to local governments based on acreage of federal land to offset the lost revenue to local governments. Teton County is receiving ~$2.4M in the current fiscal year. I’d like to think creatively to see if there is a way of generating revenue from permanently conserved, private land in the county that supports affordable housing.
What is your vision for the Virginian neighborhood? Do you support the current recommendation to move forward with Pennrose as the developer? Do you support the new Affordable category (120-160% MFI) incorporated into these plans? Do you support the original breakdown of Affordable and Workforce homes proposed by Pennrose?
Len Carlman: Shelter JH board member Kelsey Yarzab wrote a persuasive letter to the editor, published on page 5A in the Wednesday, June 26 2024 edition of the Jackson Hole News and Guide. I’m grateful our community had two development proposals to consider, and I favor moving ahead with the Pennrose team. I’m close friends with a young local couple with good careers who fall exactly in the 120% to 160% AMI gap that the Pennrose proposal would partly serve. My friends just bought a fixer-upper in Alpine, so they won’t benefit from this development, but I’m glad others eventually will.
Natalia Macker: I am broadly supportive of the direction we are headed with the Virginian neighborhood. My primary disappointment is that affordable space for childcare won’t be included in the development. I support Pennrose as the developer and the new Affordable category, especially given what we learned in the housing nexus study. I am eager to participate in the ongoing conversation and negotiation around issues (including unit type and mix, greenscaping, options for financing) that staff was directed to undertake and look forward to having this back on our agenda soon to discuss updates. Ultimately, my vision is for a vibrant neighborhood of people living, playing and thriving in community together. It is a fantastic location, and I support the desire to create a livable neighborhood.
What would your response be to community members who expressed opposition to incorporating deed-restricted homes into their neighborhoods? How do you communicate the importance of housing locals locally?
Len Carlman: Wilson Park, and parts of Wilson Meadows. The residents there are my friends and neighbors. For the past 24 years, my wife, our kids and I have welcomed our neighbors, whether from the affordable lots or not, to walk their dogs on our property and splash in our small pond. Our lives are better because of that. If there’s a new affordable housing development in an older, established neighborhood, I’d suggest the longer-term residents host an annual community potluck picnic with some nice music so people can meet each other and find common ground. The importance of locally available affordable housing is not an open question. If the June 2024 Teton Pass closure hasn’t convinced the current generation of Jackson Hole people about the importance of “housing locals locally,” nothing ever will. But the case for affordable housing in Teton County was already understood and accepted before Highway 22 over Teton Pass failed. Proof: $80 million in 2022 SPET funding for all five proposed projects says voters are putting their, and our visitors’, money where our values are.
Natalia Macker: I do my best to really listen to people to try to find common ground to move forward from. This is different in every instance. My experience has told me that the opposition is not necessarily to the deed restriction itself but usually the increased density that is part of the project that will be deed restricted. I think stories are the strongest way of reaching people as it can humanize everyone and work to move past assumptions or stereotypes. I also think providing good, factual information can be helpful. If the concern is that property values in a neighborhood will decline if there is affordable housing nearby, providing data or examples that show this didn’t happen can be persuasive. If the concern is that parking will be disrupted, showing the details of what will actually be required and the management plan can be helpful. At the end of the day, everyone cannot be persuaded, but everyone should be heard and treated with respect. I think communicating the extreme housing conditions that families face – as well as the unimaginable cost – can paint the picture of why locals need housing. Beyond that, I think it is a focus on quality of life – both for individuals and families and for the quality of the life of the community at large. Housing locals locally means that we have people investing in community life with pride – not just “serving” the community. The goal is to have a thriving community, and this isn’t a zero sum game. Ensuring there are safe, secure, and affordable homes in our community doesn’t reduce or take away anything from someone who already has housing. It just means more people have the opportunity the springs from stable, affordable housing. Not having to worry about housing means people can focus on their education or career, they can address health needs that may have been postponed, they can spend more time with their children, or they can take the leap to start a business. Stable housing grows opportunity.
It will take unprecedented and strategic partnerships to move the housing needle meaningfully. Which entities (besides other housing-specific organizations) should be working together to address housing insecurity? In practical terms, how would you use the levers of local government to help build collaborative partnerships among stakeholders in this region?
Len Carlman: The ShelterJH website suggests we convene a Housing Council. I like that idea. I do not like the current conflict between various local housing groups. We will make more forward progress by working together, against tough odds and inherently big obstacles, than we will if groups waste their time being mad at each other. Rather than post a roster of entities that might need to collaborate in favor of housing security, I’d work up an outline for a meaningful and useful Housing Council, and find a trusted convening team, such as the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole and Town and County governments, to invite participation and see who self-selects.
Natalia Macker: Our business community needs to be a partner in housing. I think we have perhaps taken a position of business will take care of itself and/or businesses need to pay mitigation. I do think many businesses are doing what they can to take care of themselves and that perhaps there is brainpower or resources we can leverage there. Contained in this is also our housing finance sector. The ongoing mortgage rate crisis is creating a new spectrum of inaccessibility, and I think we need to be creative so that we can still have movement within the housing market. As mentioned earlier, I am very curious how we might merge affordable housing efforts and conservation champions. This would include our federal land management partners, private land owners, conservation NGOs, and the broader community. Wildlife and conservation are generally seen as our community’s first goal, and again, I don’t think this has to be a zero sum game and we should look for alignment. With both business and conservation, local government is in a position to be a convener to bring various parties to the table. The resulting potential action may then be in the hands of local government but could also be actions for other sectors to take. I also want us to be sure we are working outside Teton County on the policy and advocacy side as different areas of our state face challenges, perhaps opening the door for more innovative action at the state level down the line. This is something I think we can do as local government and as individual elected officials. I will continue to remain engaged with the Wyoming County Commissioners Association so that we can help lead dialogue with other counties on this issue as well as through other relationships and positions I hold.
Town of Jackson elected officials have recently pushed the pause button on commercial development in certain town zones so we have time to recalibrate our land development regulations (LDRs) to incentivize the development we want to see in our community. What changes would you make to LDRs, zoning regulations, or other local government systems to house more locals locally?
Len Carlman: With respect to commercially zoned property, I would tighten controls over new development and redevelopment, particularly hotel re/development. I highlight hotels because they generate a lot of low paying jobs where the jobholders who are not directly housed by the hotel itself can’t afford to live in Teton County. That means they commute from Teton Valley or Alpine, and that means we get more and more roadway congestion. It’s long been true that the number of jobs in Teton County outnumbers the people who live here. Our community is already out of balance between locally housed workers and commuters; it will take a concerted effort for many years to fix that.
Natalia Macker:
1. We need to make progress on the immediate actions of the water quality management plan, including identified updates to the LDRs and working on sewer infrastructure and capacity. This will help us identify and streamline adding density or approving projects so that water quality and wastewater don’t have to be a limiter in any way. Delayed approvals can drive up costs or result in declined development because of uncertainty or unanswered questions regarding water impacts. Our concentrated attention on the plan actions will hopefully begin to resolve outstanding concerns so that water quality can’t be used as a reason to say no.
2. I think we should consider what role mobile homes and tiny homes can play in our future zoning in the county.
3. As Northern South Park moves forward and we address wastewater issues, I am curious to see where the community is on Hog Island and whether some modest density could be successful there.
4. I don’t yet have a solution to proposed, but I want to keep working on the housing preservation front to try to find a way to make that more desirable and functional.
5. I want to work on our rules and regulations, and cross check what we have there with our efforts to support housing for seniors and folks with disabilities.
6. As we move forward with planning at Stilson, I think we will be faced with some challenging questions about changing uses there, including opportunities to consider affordable housing.
7. I think there is the potential to consider another large update, or possibly the initiation of a comprehensive plan process towards the end of the next 4-year term of commissioners.
