JACKSON, Wyo. — The first Jackson Town Council meeting of 2021 occurred last night, Jan. 4 at 6 p.m. This was the first meeting for Mayor Hailey Morton-Levinson and Council Members Jim Rooks and Jessica Sell Chambers, all three were sworn into office earlier in the day. 

Mayor Hailey Morton-Levinson presented two resolutions, honoring outgoing Mayor Pete Muldoon and outgoing Council Member Jim Stanford.

Resolution 21-01, honored Mayor Pete Muldoon’s service from Jan. 2017 until Jan. 2021. The resolution read in part, “We shall miss his leadership along with his sincerity, humor, and passion for equally engaging all sectors of the community.”  Morton-Levinson presented Muldoon with the framed resolution and thanked Mayor Muldoon for his service to the community on behalf of the council and the Jackson community. Muldoon was given an engraved gavel. 

Mayor Morton-Levinson also presented Resolution 21-02, honoring outgoing Council Member Jim Stanford. Stanford served as a Jackson Town Council member from Jan. 2013 until Jan. 2021 and as vice mayor from 2017-2019. “Jim has been a loyal advocate for employees and employee issues during his tenure on the council, consistently supporting wage and benefit issues and the welfare and equal treatment of all employees in an organization,” read the resolution in part. 

Town Manager Larry Pardee presented Jim Stanford with a golden shovel for his passion for providing snow plowing and sidewalk shoveling services to the community. 

Council Member Jonathan Schechter also presented Stanford with a certificate of classification, renaming the winter part-time plowing position for the town of Jackson to the “James Edward Stanford frozen fluid elimination evacuation and stockpiling specialist.”

Both resolutions were carried unanimously by the council. 

Mayor Morton-Levinson announced that Arne Jorgensen will be her vice mayor. Vice Mayor Jorgensen took a moment during the meeting to state his conflicts of interest for the record, including his ownership of Hawtin Jorgensen Architects and his position as an advisory board member for First Interstate Bank. He also noted that he is a founding member of the Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust, but has not been attending meetings. He said, “I have no ongoing effort or involvement there.” His father’s old firm, Jorgensen Associates does a lot of work with the township but Jorgensen explained he has no involvement beyond a summer job in high school and college. 

Jim Rooks also announced that he will be sitting on the board of the Jackson chapter of Trout Unlimited.