Expanding public transportation, managing economic growth and addressing the affordable housing crisis have been longstanding issues plaguing the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys.
But at an election forum on Oct. 9, Silt Board of Trustee candidates discussed their proposed solutions.
Incumbents Derek Hanrahan, Kim Inglehart, Justin Brintnall, Andreia Poston and newcomer Alex Sanchez are running for four empty seats.
The top four vote-getters will be sworn in to the town’s board of trustees on Jan. 12, 2026.
Public transportation
Public transportation is limited between Glenwood Springs and Parachute, especially when compared to the Roaring Fork Valley's services.
The town of Silt does not have a microtransit service, and the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority’s Hogback route from Glenwood Springs to Rifle only runs for a portion of the day.
Candidate Alex Sanchez wants Silt to partner with local municipalities and the county for a circulator bus service, where residents can request rides on demand.
“That’s a real opportunity … for our residents to get them between municipalities and even from one end of Silt to the other,” he said.
Incumbent Derek Hanrahan said the town expects its population and housing stock will increase in the coming years. Each of these homes will bring new people to the area and increase cars on Interstate 70 — making commute times longer.
“Each of those houses is likely to have at least two cars, so I would disagree with the sentiment that it’s alternative transportation — it’s essential,” he said.
Hanrahan said that there is no need to reinvent the wheel. RFTA exists, and he said the town should partner to provide more frequent routes during a larger portion of the day.
For incumbent Kim Ingelhart, walkability and public transportation are essential. She said the town has a lot of work to do compared to nearby municipalities, and she wants more data to understand what the community’s needs are.
“For example, I want to know how many people would utilize an express bus from Silt to Aspen and back everyday, or what the population of our youth and students need,” Ingelhart said. “What about our elderly? What about people on the south side of the highway?”
For incumbent Justin Brintnall, the town needs more bus routes, but he echoed Inglehart’s sentiment that more data is needed to make a decision.
“One of the reasons people don’t use the bus is because there’s not more routes available,” he said. “You can take the bus into Glenwood for an appointment at 11 o’clock, but then you don’t want to be stranded in Glenwood until 4 p.m. when the bus comes back this way.”
Brintnall added that it would not be fiscally responsible to start a new bus service, but he said that joining RFTA is a solution.
Incumbent Andreia Poston also supports connecting with RFTA, but she recognized there are associated costs.
Economic growth
While discussing ways to support the local economy, Hanrahan said Silt should be an attractive place for entrepreneurs to invest.
“Such that new businesses can come to town and succeed, but we’re not alienating our existing businesses?” he said.
Hanrahan referred to a time when the town put a moratorium on food trucks, saying that they threatened existing restaurants.
For Ingelhart, balance is also key. She said the board of trustees does not want to drown people in red tape, but they also do not want to open the floodgates to every new business.
“We just have to balance those different interests of making sure everyone has a meaningful opportunity to participate,” she said.
Ingelhart also said that while public comments at meetings may seem tedious for new business proponents, it provides residents an opportunity to voice opinions about what businesses may come to town.
Brintnall said that the best way to attract new businesses to town is to have successful ones already.
“Personally, if I was opening a business, and there’s a town that doesn’t have any successful businesses, it’s tough to be the first,” he said.
Brintnall said existing businesses are becoming more successful because of the town’s growing relationship with the chamber of commerce, which has implemented initiatives to attract new businesses to the area.
With the town expected to grow, Brintnall said more businesses are essential for locals to find employment.
But Poston believes the board of trustees “should not control the free market.” They do, however, have a responsibility to protect resident interests, especially those who come forward during town meetings.
“We really do need to listen because that’s who we’re representing,” she said.
On the other hand, Sanchez said that town trustees should be a champion of economic development by engaging with local industries.
Affordable housing
Balancing affordable housing needs with town development was also a top issue among candidates.
Inglehart said that some people may equate affordable housing with cheap builds, which she said she does not support.
But Inglehart thinks there is a way to build affordable housing in an aesthetically pleasing way. Another one of her concerns is attracting transient residents who have few ties to the community or are facing instability in their lives.
She said that when basic needs are not met, like housing, people are more likely to commit crimes.
“I think those are the scenarios we suffer from as a community and as a society,” Inglehart said. “It’s about having guard rails in place to avoid those extremes that can then become an issue of public safety.”
Brintall’s issue is when multiple families live in single family homes. He acknowledged, however, that some families have to do this because the cost of housing is so high.
“It’s about giving guidance to [developers] about what we'd like to see by mixing single-family and multifamily homes to create good neighborhoods and a diverse community."
He said building more housing will increase inventory, which will lead to decreased prices.
Poston said that when Colorado voters passed Proposition 123 in 2022, this became an option to build more affordable housing in Silt. However, the town still needs to make and submit a plan in order to receive funding and to start building.
Her plan is to work with the town’s revived urban housing authority and to build community partnerships with organizations like Habitat for Humanity.
“The state is not telling us how we should do it,” Poston said. “So we should explore options. So once we have those plans, we can move forward.”
Sanchez said he wanted to strike a balance between writing concise requirements for developers and the protections residents want.
“For residents, they want the community that they live in to be enhanced but not changed in a way that's different than what they were originally buying into,” he said.
He agreed with Poston, saying that private, public and nonprofit partnerships, like Habitat for Humanity and West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition, are key.
Hanrahan added that ongoing code revisions and zoning changes are crucial.
Watch the full forum on the town’s YouTube channel.
Election Day is Nov. 4.
