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Letter: Housing solution?

As a candidate for state representative in Eagle and Routt counties, I have a partial solution to help provide affordable housing for hundreds and hundreds of ski area employees. Let’s put pressure on our federal officials to designate free forest land on Vail, Beaver Creek, Steamboat and all Aspen ski mountains for ski area employee dormitory housing.

Remember, the Forest Service works for us. We granted the ski area operators a virtual, 50-year monopoly to manage our land for our recreation purposes.

Vail Councilman Greg Moffet, a moderate Republican, called the idea “genius.” Vail resident Stephan Connolly, who is registered unaffiliated, said the idea was “the most novel idea presented” at a recent Vail housing meeting. Avon Mayor Pro Tem Jake Wolf, a Democrat, said there are more than four win-wins available.



This is a nonpartisan issue and emblematic of my campaign to be Basalt and El Jebel’s state representative to try to help fix problems.

Four win-wins:



1) 21-year-old winter workers won’t need to bring cars to our counties, helping to alleviate parking problems, because they can walk or ski to work.

2) Young workers tend to enjoy happy hour after work. Remember when you were 21? Happy hour sometimes doesn’t end until midnight. Imbibed young people won’t have to take the bus home and can’t be drunk and disorderly if they don’t need to ride it.

3) Young workers won’t drive home drunk and our roads will be safer. Courts won’t be as clogged.

4) Hundreds of employees, who can live the dream of skiing to work, won’t need the existing housing throughout the rest of our counties and won’t need to lie to landlords by signing a year’s lease when they know they will only be there for ski season. Less hassle for landlords, more units available for year-round employees.

In my survey, 95 of 100 people asked support this effort from all political persuasions.

Let’s return the Colorado House back to commonsense decision making that doesn’t raise our cost of living.

Michael Cacioppo

Avon


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