The Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association, KMTS and the Glenwood Springs Post Independent hosted an Issues and Answers Candidate Forum at city hall on Tuesday with the four city council candidates.
Four men are running for Glenwood Springs City Council. Jon Banks and Steve Smith are vying for Ward 5. Ward 2’s Ray Schmahl and at-large David Townsley are running unopposed.
The candidates presented their stances on affordable housing, transit infrastructure and civic engagement.
Affordable housing
The lack of affordable housing is a hot topic for municipalities across the Roaring Fork Valley (add factoid).
Most recently, Glenwood Springs voted to appropriate funds to the West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition over the next three years for its Good Deeds Program.
Schmal, however, said he was skeptical about government involvement in private market activities and does not think affordable housing can be completely solved.
Instead, Schmal suggests that employers should pay their workers well enough to afford the higher cost of living in the valley.
“And that’s the source of where affordable housing comes in,” he said. “Affordable can be defined from price or from income.”
Smith, who represents southwest Glenwood, said that when plans were developed for the Cardiff Glen area, he jumped at the chance to participate in public comment and planning opportunities.
If elected to council, he wants to ensure the same involvement opportunities for the people of Glenwood Springs.
“Housing support should prioritize local workers for shorter commute, more time at home and more engagement in schools and communities,” he said.
Transit infrastructure
Banks and Smith talked about what infrastructure projects they would focus on if elected.
Glenwood Springs is the pinch point in commuter traffic between the Roaring Fork Valley and the I-70 corridor, traffic often backing up for miles during rush hours.
Banks said construction can add to these delays.
“We’re choking on traffic, and that’s what you’ll hear from anybody you talk to, especially during the construction of 27th street,” he said. “That was miserable for people.”
Banks is also concerned about another possible construction project - the South Bridge.
This is an estimated $84 million project meant to create a secondary evacuation route connecting Glenwood Springs to Highway 82.
Smith is focused on easing the flow of traffic within the city. He recently helped secure voter approval for renewed and expanded streets and infrastructure funds.
“That program now puts every single street and the infrastructure underneath on a schedule for maintenance, repair, even replacement, starting soon in Glenwood Park,” he said.
Smith said if elected, he’ll also push for expanded transit services in the city’s southwest neighborhoods and fix walking and bike routes.
The growing Latino community
With almost 40% of Glenwood Springs residents being Latino, the candidates were asked how they would foster cross-cultural relationships and encourage civic engagement among Latino communities.
Townsley, who is running unopposed, said the local government already translates most materials into Spanish and puts the onus on the public to find ways to get involved.
“But I think some of that responsibility goes back onto the people that are assimilating into our city, into our place, to go, ‘okay I want to become involved, I want to take part, I want my voice to be heard,’” he said.
Schmal, who is also running unopposed, said he does not think the local government should differentiate between individual communities and that everyone needs to be treated equally.
“I think our city government should be open and blind to race, creed, color, ethnicity, any of those aspects, and if we’re open and inviting, I think that's the limits of our responsibility,” he said.
Questions were elicited from the public in advance, as well as taken from a media panel to avoid duplication and ensure a variety of topics were addressed by the candidates. Questions were not taken from the audience.
Election day is April 1st.
