Housing, housing, housing: It’s a top issue for all four candidates vying for two seats on the Snowmass Village Town Council — as well as both candidates for mayor — and while no one’s arguing about the need for more units, they have different ideas for how to solve the problem.
It’s a particularly hot-button issue this November, as Snowmass voters will also face a ballot measure about a proposed workforce housing project on the “Draw Site” behind Town Hall. Question 2D seeks approval for up to 79 units, at a cost of $86 million; it wouldn’t increase taxes, but the price tag is big enough to warrant a public vote.
Some community members are gung-ho about the prospect of a significant addition to the town-managed housing stock, given the yearslong waitlist for local workers to get into a unit. But others have expressed concerns about the size and the price, suggesting that the town should pursue multiple other smaller-scale projects instead.
At a "squirm night" on Oct. 23, three of the four council candidates — Tom Fridstein, Debbie Alcorta and Cecily DeAngelo — indicated they have some qualms about the Draw Site. They’d like to see the project scaled down, and they expressed interest in “development neutral” options that transform existing buildings into workforce units. (The current council, which includes Fridstein, has already begun discussing such ideas.)
“I'm totally supportive of whatever we can do to not create new buildings and take existing building stock and reinvigorate them, reinvent them as employee housing,” Fridstein said.
One example is the Snowmass Inn, which the town bought and remodeled several years ago. Alcorta actually lives there — she agreed with Fridstein.
DeAngelo said she also likes that approach, because she believes the community is “suffering from construction fatigue.”
The “low and no growth” approach “not only will get us units faster, but it also reduces the environmental impact and just the construction impact on our community,” DeAngelo said.
Alcorta, D’Angelo and Fridstein all believe the project could be scaled down, and the town could look at other housing options in the mix as well.
Art Burrows was the only one in the council race who vocally supported the measure — citing the urgent need for more housing. He said approving question 2D is an important step toward that goal, and the plans could still be refined if the measure passes on Nov. 5.
“We need to make forward progress on this, and I think there is room within the process and within the Planning Commission to make those changes that would benefit our community in a better way,” Burrows said.
Alcorta, speaking more generally about workforce housing in Snowmass, also thinks it’s time to pick up the pace.
“We need to pick what we're going to do, and … we need to start it,” Alcorta said. “We cannot keep delaying with special meetings, sessions, PUDs, we just need to move forward.”
Meanwhile, both incumbent Mayor Bill Madsen and his challenger Alyssa Shenk say they support measure 2D.
Madsen believes more housing is critical to the success of the Snowmass community — and he sees some benefits to one large project, like the Draw Site.
“I understand the concern about density, but sprawl is also a huge concern with communities around the country,” Madsen said. “So sometimes it's better to go up than out, so that you can keep people close to public transit, keep them close to where they work, and keep them close to where they recreate.”
Shenk said she’s all for workforce housing too, but she also wants to recognize the concerns some people have raised.
“When I think about the Draw Site specifically, I feel like Bill is more of a “housing at all costs” (view), and I'm more of (the view that) housing is really important, and I believe in it, but I want to make sure it's the right fit for our community,” Shenk said.
It wasn’t the only time mayoral candidates identified the distinctions between them. Shenk and Madsen have both served on the council for a decade, and they share similar voting records, but they take different approaches to reaching the same decisions.
Shenk said she spends more time "doing homework,” researching issues before council meetings and taking the pulse on council and community sentiments. She’s also willing to “pivot” when she hears new ideas and input in the process.
“It's good to have a vision, but it's also good to be open-minded and be able to admit that you don't know what you don't know,” Shenk said.
She also suggested that the council is struggling with consensus right now, and she believes she has the skill set to help them work together.
Madsen responded to some of those comments later in the debate.
He said he does test the waters and reach out for feedback about town issues — and he believes he’s more firm when he reaches a conclusion.
“I just think my style of leadership is different,” Madsen said. “I'm very decisive. I do my research, I talk to the community, and I make up my mind, … and I think Alyssa has a hard time being very decisive.”
Those remarks about leadership style came amid sparring over comments Madsen had made earlier in the election cycle. He told the Aspen Daily News in September that he’d support Shenk for mayor in 2026, but he felt it was “awkward” that his colleague was running against him now. He’s eligible for one more two-year term as mayor.
When Shenk asked him about his remarks during the Squirm Night, Madsen reiterated that he was “surprised” that Shenk was running — but he did not double down on the suggestion that she should wait two years.
“We've had a very cordial relationship for 10 years, and so when she said she wanted to challenge me, I was fine with that, but I was just curious as to know why,” Madsen said.
Shenk is term-limited as a council member and believes now is the right time for her to step up as mayor. She’s previously said that she’s running for the community rather than against Madsen.
During her closing remarks at Squirm Night, she responded to Madsen’s statements from earlier this fall.
“My own daughter is sitting here tonight watching this, and I would never tell my daughter that she should wait for a job that she is eminently qualified for because someone else felt that they were entitled to that position,” Shenk said.
Candidates also discussed issues like childcare and transit infrastructure. The full recording is available through GrassRoots Community Network video; the election is Nov. 5.
