GONDOLA GOSSIP

by:  staff writers

By now everyone has heard about the local housing crisis and staffing shortages that aren't just impacting the resort and hospitality industries in your favorite mountain towns. The initial approach of making the resorts responsible for housing their employees seemed logical at first. After all they could afford the cost and that would not compete with local businesses and their pool of local workers. Problem solved… right? Considering the current state of things today… the answer is no. So what happened? First, no problem exists in a vacuum. There are always variables that can and do influence results and outcomes. Sometimes they are obvious and other times they can remain undetected. This is why even solutions with the best intentions can still have unintended consequences. That’s how a well intentioned solution begins to contribute to a different version of the same problem it was intended to solve.

In this instance it is now apparent that dormitory style employee housing for seasonal workers is very different than local housing for teachers, nurses, and the community that the resort relies on for it's name and public services. But, as we touched on above, no problem exists in a vacuum. Enter second homes and vacation rentals. The result was a shrinking inventory of homes and rentals that once were enough to balance the needs of the community with those of the BIG resort corporations. When that balance was lost finger pointing and blame games began. Meanwhile animosity toward short-term rentals and seasonal workers grew, the problem got worse and solutions became more and more expensive.

Today local governments and school districts are failing to meet critical staffing numbers and lacking needed expertise in childcare, healthcare, education and other community services that visitors and residents rely on. It has become so desperate that now the communities seek to house teachers like exchange students and even transitioning hotels and motels into their own dormitory style housing as a solution. But, the plethora of job openings across government and private sectors they're discovering this isn't solving the housing needs of working families and key professionals. Small efforts with lotteries for a chance to buy where you live and work can see over a 100 applicants for 10 restricted units.

That brings us to finding actionable solutions that work and can be agreed upon. Even though it seems everyone agrees there is a problem... finding solutions and money to pay for them has proved elusive for key local stakeholders at almost every level. Many mountain communities are also limited by protected area designations and open space. This only exacerbates costs and limits options in many cases. Compound that with hard feelings and local politics and we have even less trust and willingness to compromise today when we are needing it most!

Sometimes doing the right things still means doing the hardest things. Maybe this is why local politicians can't bring themselves to admit their mistakes and those made before their election. That would be good leadership setting a good example. The truth is this problem was not caused by a single person or policy. The greed first every man for themselves approach isn't working for the communities that built destination resorts for visitors and a brand for those who still profit from it today. Unfortunately, the current economic and political landscape are extinguishing hope that those with the ability to act will find a compromise and can get past name calling and personality conflicts...meanwhile the situations facing our visitors, students, parents and residents continues to deteriorate.

See what I mean… it's complicated.