JACKSON HOLE, WYO – As anticipated, a roomful of constituents showed up at Monday’s town meeting upset with the town council’s decision on September 5 to deny a championship snowmobile racing series the chance to run at Snow King. The outpouring resulted in one councilor calling for a revote on the proposed event.
Competitors, fans, and other in the snowmobiling culture expressed their displeasure with being singled out and discriminated against. From extreme ‘biling celebrity Shad Free to local legends like Norris Brown, sledders cued up one after another to say their ilk is true family and the proposed ISOC snocross race is legit.
The parade to the podium was led by applicant Ryan Stanley, GM of Snow King Mountain Resort. Stanley claimed the council had received some 50 public comments—mostly in opposition to the denial of two weeks ago.
Councilman Jim Stanford, who was on the prevailing side to deny previously, took an opportunity to remind those who were laying blame with the town it wasn’t their fault.
“This process should have been kicked off months ago and not laid at the lap of the council in the eleventh hour. That’s the applicants fault,” Stanford said. “If you are planning an event on property you don’t own, it’s helpful to at least ask permission of the person that owns the property before making all kinds of promises. It’s not the town’s fault.”
Some in the business community also rallied from the dais last night. They voiced unanimous support for a promotional event that promised to bring sales tax revenue and exposure to Jackson Hole.
Snow King Resort GM Geoff Young said his hotel could benefit from the event during the money-losing month of December. In fact, he said Snow King Hotel loses money five months of the year.
Chamber of Commerce president Ann Olson dropped some DestiMetrics data on the gang of five, painting December as a virtual ghost town with empty hotels and boarded up souvenir stands. “This would be an ideal time of year to potentially run a flagstone event which could boost those numbers,” she said.
After the public comment, councilwoman Hailey Morton Levinson called for the minutes of last meeting to be pulled from the consent record in order to express her desire for a reconsideration of the event.
“I am surprising even myself. I came into this meeting not interested in changing my vote,” Morton Levinson began. “I’m sorry for this but it’s important to make sure each item is vetted properly and the community has the opportunity to speak. Obviously, we heard a lot tonight, and I expect to hear a lot from the other side. By reconsidering, I’m not saying I’m going to vote that way. I still have many concerns. But we owe it to the community to have another meeting.”
Mayor Pete Muldoon was fairly non-committal and joined Stanford in voting no for a reconsideration. Bob Lenz and Don Frank appear to be solid yes votes. That leaves Morton Levinson as the sole elected who will determine whether ISOC’s snocross race happens on December 8-9 or not.
The deciding meeting will take place Monday, September 25 at 6pm in the town hall.
