A calm and reasoned way forward

One Community, One Town, represented by citizens of both Sun Valley and Ketchum, began with one simple goal in mind. We initiated a discussion to calmly explore the merits of a potential consolidation of two towns with the sole aim of improving the potential for our community and for our children.

We live in one community; we are in the same business; we face common challenges; and by coming together, we could not only save money, but also improve our common fate. Through this process, we learned a lot about our respective towns’ finances and more. This has created both useful debate, but also fear and rancor, which was not our intention. Some folks are aggressively raising emotional and “cultural” objections that act far more to divide us than to bring us together.

It is most unfortunate that willful misrepresentations and political sound bites intended to stir up emotions and cause fear have clouded the financial and legal discussion, and that alleged “cultural” differences have galvanized many opponents. Apparently a few vocal people in Sun Valley really believe they are a different kind of people from those in Northwood, Bigwood, Warm Springs, River Run, Thunder Springs and other Ketchum neighborhoods.

Even more disturbing are the personal attacks on individuals who have no agenda other than facilitating a discussion of the pros and cons of consolidation. Additionally, it is puzzling that two Sun Valley elected officials actually traveled to Boise to argue against an amendment to Idaho Code that would have allowed the citizens of merging cities to vote on the name of the consolidated city— they acted against voter choice, substituting their own judgment over that of the citizens.

A calm, open discussion of facts might still be possible, and could be facilitated by both the One Community, One Town and the Save Sun Valley groups agreeing to four things:

1. An independent third party municipal finance expert reviews both groups’ financial analyses and provides a report on the comparable state of finances for each town, including debt levels, financial health, tax levels as well as potential areas for cost savings through consolidation of services.

2. An independent legal expert (e.g., a retired judge) assesses the legal issues associated with a consolidation including topics such as naming, governance during an interim period, grandfathering of zoning ordinances, etc.

3. A joint working group is formed to address other issues and to present all the findings to the community.

4. Upon completion of the first three items, Wayne Willich and Nils Ribi, both Sun Valley elected officials who have expressed strong opposition to consolidation, jointly agree to a moderated debate with Charles Conn and Dave Chase, the Ketchum and Sun Valley council members who support a community dialog regarding consolidation.

One Community, One Town agrees to the above requests. We are proposing this framework to the Save Sun Valley group. If there is agreement, we will work cooperatively to implement this proposal. In any event,,, we will continue to pursue our belief that the citizens of both Sun Valley and Ketchum will realize substantial benefits from some form of consolidation, Further exploration and discussion is merited, whether it is only in regard to essential services or goes beyond. We are willing to undertake this endeavor at a moderate pace, for the long-term well being of our community .

Sincerely,

One Community, One Town

Thorson, Conn, Chase won’t run

In an effort to stifle discussion and debate on a topic that could save taxpayers $2MM or more, a concerted FUDD (fear, uncertainty, doubt & distraction) campaign is under way. One of the conspiracy theories involves Jon Thorson running for office in a combined Ketchum and Sun Valley.

Jon Thorson has stated he wouldn’t run for mayor in a combined city. His contribution to the community includes his role as chair of the hospital board and acting in Clint Stennett’s Senate seat are keeping him busy along with family. Like Charles Conn and Dave Chase, he simply wants what is best for the community. There is no political agenda.

Conn and Chase have previously stated that they wouldn’t run in a combined city.

When you add it up, we are left wondering what the public officials opposed to putting the merger question to the voters are afraid of.  Maybe the towns will decide to combine services to achieve significant savings, while maintaining separate administrations, or some other plan. Surely we are better for having come together and discussed the facts, whatever the outcome.  All we’d ask from people in the community is to fully consider the topic, ask hard questions and to gather information from sources that aren’t trying to protect their jobs.

Media Coverage

Thus far, the efforts by Citizens for One Community, One Town have received coverage on KECH Radio, KTVB, the Idaho Mountain Express, SunValleyOnline and The Times-News. [See links below]

News links:

• Citizen Group pushes Sun Valley-Ketchum merger
  
• Should Ketchum & Sun Valley merge
• Councilors hope for merger vote
• Petition effort underway to merge Ketchum & Sun Valley
  
• Elected officials weigh in on city merger
• Consolidation debate could be hot

Press Release: One Community, One Town

On Monday, February 23rd the following press release was sent to the media:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Dave Chase & Charles Conn
ONE COMMUNITY, ONE TOWN February 23, 2009
An ad-hoc group of citizens, non-profit and business leaders, current and former elected officials and second homeowners have formed Citizens for One Community, One Town. The intent is to place the idea of consolidating Ketchum and Sun Valley on a ballot for consideration by the voters in both cities.
Citizens for One Town, One Community believe we are one community that shares a common interest, downtown, economy, cultural activities and more and that we would be better served by one government.
Spokesperson Charles Conn expressed that “Many visitors to the area express confusion and bewilderment over the division of Ketchum and Sun Valley. It isn’t clear where one city begins and another ends. They ask why the downtown is housed in one city, while the resort is in another.”
One of the most compelling arguments to merge is the estimated cost savings of approximately $2 million/year. Spokesperson Dave Chase states, “Consolidation of the two cities has been talked about for twenty years but fiefdom protection has thwarted efforts in the past. The tremendous cost savings can be utilized to improve infrastructure, reduce taxes and/or provide better services to its citizens.”
There are two ways for letting the voters of Ketchum and Sun Valley decide to merge. The first is a resolution where each City Council and Mayor votes to hold a special election with the issue on the ballot. The second is to organize a citizens’ petition. “We feel that the citizen petition allows the broadest public involvement and transparency. There are numerous compelling reasons to merge the two cities and we owe it to our constituents and our visitors alike to take this issue under serious consideration.” – Charles Conn.
Citizens for One Town, One Community have already done extensive analysis and study of the consolidation and will hold a Town Hall meeting in the coming weeks to discuss the benefits, review the procedures and to answer questions.
Dave Chase conveyed, “We have anticipated many of the questions as they were ones we had ourselves. For that reason, we have developed a whitepaper that outlines our perspective on the questions people have as well as let you know about the legalities of the process. We have created a website where this whitepaper is posted – http://www.onecommunityonetown.com. We invite you to review that and ask any questions that you might have so that we can respond with the answers.”
If you wish to sign the petition to put this before the voters of Ketchum and Sun Valley, please email us at oneconet@gmail.com.

Top 10 Reasons to Merge Ketchum and Sun Valley

1. Sun Valley and Ketchum are one community, but two towns. We share our downtown, our economy, cultural activities and more.

2. A merger of Sun Valley and Ketchum would result in savings due to efficiencies of approximately $2 million/year. That means we have squandered about $40 million over the past 20 years that could have been invested in our community programs and infrastructure and possibly lowered our property taxes! Future cost savings can be invested in initiatives that will improve our community’s economic outlook and our sustainability.

3. Homeowners in Sun Valley would have a greater voice in decisions made about their downtown. Ketchum voters would have a greater say in decisions about proposed development by Sun Valley Company. If downtown Ketchum deteriorates, property values in Sun Valley will decline. Conversely, when Ketchum thrives, property values in Sun Valley rise and vice versa.

4. Consolidation of the two cities has been blocked in the past because of “fiefdom” protection. Now is the time to come together for the benefit of our current citizens as well as future generations.

5. We must pool our community resources to better deal with challenges of today and tomorrow. It’s important to note that neither city nor any property located therein is legally responsible or obligated for any debt or obligations of the other city incurred prior to the effective date of consolidation.

6. Service levels will remain the same and in many cases will get better. Fire response time can be shortened and EMT response can be substantially improved.

7. Design Review Standards should be maintained. The combined town honors the zoning codes already put in place and adheres to existing design review requirements for that neighborhood.

8. Leverage valuable real estate. In merging the two towns, many of the efficiencies come from eliminating redundancies such as two city halls.

9. Ours is a tourist-based economy. One town allows marketing our area more effectively and more efficiently.

10. Elected officials have a fiduciary duty to put the consolidation decision on the ballot and let the decision be made by the voters. Once this petition is filed, there will be a town hall meeting to review the process, the pros and the cons and to answer your questions. It then becomes your decision. If consolidation is passed, there will be election of a mayor and Council. Exercise your right to decide what is in the best interest of our one common community. Community means common unity, and it is time for us to recognize this and work together.

Different cultures?

Some have asked “what about the two different cultures that exist?” This is largely myth put forth by those opposing city consolidation. Both are high end resort communities with a substantial number of 2nd home owners and tourism have a large effect both communities. Both towns have also seen an influx of people with portable careers moving to the valley for lifestyle reasons. In other words, people move here for the same reasons. The biggest difference is that Ketchum is Sun Valley’s downtown since Sun Valley doesn’t have its own business core. It isn’t like we are combining Sun Valley with Jerome let alone facing the challenges that were reconciled in Northern Ireland. The “cultures” aren’t anymore different than the culture in West Ketchum vs. Warms Springs vs. Northwood. In fact, one could argue that each community has it’s “twin” neighborhood in the other community (Twin Creeks and West Ketchum. Fairway Road and Northwood. Sun Valley Village and Warm Springs base area.) If you take the “different culture” argument to its logical conclusion, we should then have Twin Creeksville, Warm Springsville, FairwayRoadVille and so on. We are already one community. We are simply having the city bureaucracy act as one as the citizenry already does.