Equal TIme

 

It seems symptomatic to me that while this town struggles for its philosophical soul and balance, this venerable newspaper replaces an old school and respected columnist with a pro growth newcomer, the Director of the Chamber of Commerce.  What’s next, having Vail write a column on expanding development densities and zoning changes?  Is this equivalent to the fox guarding the hen house?  Where is the balance, where is the local opinion, where is the consideration of those who live and work here?

Now she is probably a very nice person, and she certainly is a good writer and very professional with good vision and values, but do we really need another public cheerleader for oxymorons such as ‘sustainable growth’ or ‘industrial tourism’.   Existing columnists Tom and Amy are polite and funny, and Terri is a great historical and matriarchal grounding influence so maybe we need another columnist to bring up alternative opinions on growth, economics and politics and the skiing industry. 

The Chamber, along with the Main Street Merchants, have always been very effective, maybe too effective, and have spurred unprecedented growth and economic development even during down times.  They were especially quick to recognize the ‘driving solutions’ to the Covid crisis and continued to put heads in beds and welcome the car culture to town this past year.  They deserve our thanks and support as well as our opinions on Sundance, Olympics, the Art Festival and the future of our town.

At a Leadership Meeting, years ago, I asked them when enough would be enough and was told that our economy was like a swimming shark and that to slow it or stop it would mean death.  I countered with the belief that endless growth is the mindset of a cancer cell, and we should be careful not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.  Maybe the Chamber and Merchants are too powerful or outdated and they are entities that need to be questioned or revised.  Do we really need to fill all the beds all the time, have three or four events each weekend or sell more and more T-shirts on Main Street?  What about the people who live here?  Isn’t it our town too?  What price can we put on peace and quiet, a weekend off or perhaps even a shoulder season?

So, I ask for an equal voice and column space for the dissenters, those who support our quality of life and not just real estate, development, and the almighty dollar.  Why don’t we give Rich Wyman a shot with his pointed questions about the next Olympics, or Peter Marth and Kathyrn Decker battling up on the top of Main Street for residential district rights, or even Myles or Dana or John Haney for some old ideas and new opinions on one way streets, satellite parking  or affordable housing.  I realize they don’t run for office or buy advertisement or support the newspaper in many ways but they represent who we are or who we could be and they deserve a voice too.  There is a place for the Chamber’s opinions, but do we need it every week?   What about the rest of us?