Jon Banks has lived in Glenwood Springs for 30 years and is known for leading the “Keep Glenwood Glenwood” campaign, which focused on preserving the city’s character. With experience in radio and TV technical work and community advocacy, Banks is running for City Council to ensure Glenwood Springs continues to be a place where residents feel at home and valued.

Tell the community about yourself. How long have you lived in Glenwood Springs? Have you been a part of any councils or commissions in the past?

I’ve been lucky to call Glenwood Springs home for 30 years. I feel blessed that my daughter, Diana, was able to grow up in this incredible community. I had a career doing technical work for radio and TV stations. People know me as a leader of the “Keep Glenwood Glenwood”  campaign. I also worked to preserve the airport, and I serve on the city’s Charter Committee.

Why are you running for Glenwood Springs City Council?

Running the “Keep Glenwood Glenwood”  campaign was a great experience. It took leadership, vision, tenacity, and lots of hard work. But the results, and the support I received, were so encouraging that I decided to carry the message on and run for city council.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing Glenwood Springs, and how do you plan to address it if elected?

What makes Glenwood special is the quality of life we all share. I’ll work to protect and preserve this way of life for future generations — and keep Glenwood a place where people act like neighbors, with trust, kindness, and consideration for one another. Growth and development aren’t bad, and they will happen. But we should make Glenwood Springs better, not just bigger.

Housing affordability remains a major concern for residents. How do you think Glenwood Springs can best address the high cost of housing so that people who work in Glenwood Springs can also live in Glenwood Springs?

We’ve got a workforce housing committee that’s doing good work and trying different strategies to spend the affordable housing money effectively. They’ve talked about helping mobile home park tenants buy their parks. That preserves naturally affordable housing without increasing traffic or other impacts. It’s a proven model with a good track record that turns renters into owners and helps them build equity and financial security. It creates a strong neighborhood of people committed to Glenwood Springs. That’s good thinking. If those parks get sold and redeveloped, we’ll be losing affordable housing faster than we can create it.

Editor’s note: The candidate combined the following two answers in his Q&A responses.

How would you balance economic development with preserving the character and livability of Glenwood Springs?

Tourism is a key part of Glenwood Springs’ economy. What steps should the city take to balance tourism growth with the needs of local residents?

Tourism drives our economy, and we don’t mind sharing Glenwood with the tourists on the three-day weekends. Tourists visit and leave their money. That’s good for us—it makes Glenwood vibrant. Tourists come because Glenwood is a wonderful place. If we keep it wonderful for the people who live here, it’ll be wonderful for our visitors, too. But tourism has impacts, and I’m sure we’ll have discussions about how to get the amount and type of tourism that’s right for us.

What do you think Glenwood Springs can do to best prepare for wildfire danger?

In the long run, building codes; in the short run, education. Our police and fire departments are the experts on emergency response and evacuation planning.