A message from county commissioner candidate Wes Gardner:
JACKSON, Wyo. — For decades, the Jackson Hole community has been rightfully worried about housing for the rank and file while “billionaires kick out the millionaires.” However, the pandemic accelerated a crisis unfolding in slow motion through several factors largely reversible through policy, said Teton County Commissioner candidate Wes Gardner.
“Global market pressures have dramatically accelerated our housing crisis,” Gardner said. He’s identified two key areas to address to make housing affordable for working class folks.
Gardner’s work on these two housing issues has pushed ShelterJH, a grassroots political nonprofit holding candidates accountable for housing, to endorse his candidacy.
“Wes Gardner’s policy stances and priorities closely align with ours: he supports all housing SPET measures,” the nonprofit shared on its website. “He asks us questions and thoughtfully engages with our organization.”
Gardner said that two major problems have taken root in Jackson that need to be weeded out through policy interventions:
1. The wealthiest people in the world have discovered Jackson Hole’s real estate market as part of an investment portfolio.
According to realtor.com, median listing prices rose in Jackson from less than $1.1 million in January 2020 to $2.9 million in September 2022. That’s a 165 percent increase in two and a half years.
A $1.1 million investment in the S&P 500 during the same time frame would have only netted a 41.6 percent increase to about $1.5 million. In other words, Jackson Hole real estate has outperformed a key stock market index by approximately four times. Not a bad place for global investors to park money.
Combine that with Wyoming’s tax advantages and low-interest loans and Jackson looked even more attractive as a post-pandemic investment.
That means the sky-is-falling housing narrative Jackson residents have lived with for decades is now more true than ever.
How Wes Gardner will solve it as Teton County Commissioner:
“In every negotiation with developers where we have leverage,” Gardner said, “We need to use it.”
Gardner added that when he’s elected as a commissioner, he will push the county to negotiate with developers to acquire land directly and maximize affordability designations.
Since in Jackson even a high middle-class income won’t get someone into free-market housing, the county has to be willing to open that door by using every ounce of leverage it has during negotiation phases.
“I pledge to negotiate with private partners, exchanging valuable density bonuses for assurances of permanent affordable, workforce housing,” Gardner said. “I am prepared to negotiate these tricky pitfalls to get affordable workforce housing in the ground.”
2. Short-term rentals are taking over what used to be affordable employee housing
Gardner recounted that in his first two decades in Jackson Hole, most older houses would have several cars outside as they formed the backbone of affordable employee housing. “You knew there were a bunch of regular folks renting those houses and making their way in Jackson Hole.”
That balance remained for decades until Airbnb and VRBO showed homeowners they could make more money by becoming a host rather than a landlord.
Under the current model, a $3,000 to $4,000 rental for the workforce can easily fetch $10,000/month or more as a short-term rental.
Because of the revenue potential, more people can justify paying double or even triple what someone paid for a house just a couple years ago, contributing to the 165 percent valuation increases since 2020.
“It’s access to a whole new revenue stream that didn’t exist before,” Gardner said. “We’re not only losing inventory to second-home buyers, but now we’re also losing inventory and affordability as property owners capitalize on short-term rental revenue for massive profit, and who can blame them?”
How Wes Gardner will solve it as Teton County Commissioner:
Gardner said he’s closely followed the town of Jackson’s short-term rental policy review. Property owners have found opportunity to rent short-term outside resort and lodging overlays partly due to a lack of clarity and supervision.
“Many homeowners choose to rent on what can only be called a short-term rental black market,” Gardner said.
He wants to provide for a more robust housing department that has the leadership and enforcement to do the detective work necessary to keep short-term rentals off the black market.
“I don’t blame property owners for wanting the extra cash,” he said. “I blame laws that haven’t evolved to this dynamic shift in the market. The law can’t afford to fall behind while the shifting housing market in Jackson Hole surges forward.”
By addressing these two salient issues, Gardner said we can once again house our workers locally. He said the community needs leaders like him with the compassion, creativity, and commitment to find solutions.
“We need a plan for moving forward or this community will continue to flail,” he said. “My focus is on helping the thousands of workers and retirees facing housing insecurity in our valley today to find permanent housing solutions.”
Read more on Gardner’s platform at his website:
Read more from Wes Gardner on Buckrail:
