Candidate's defeat challenges 'managed growth'

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo. - Brian Grubb’s failure to advance beyond the primaries in his bid for county commissioner could be attributed to a number of factors.

For starters, Grubb, the former town planner who spent a short-lived tenure as director of the controversial Save Historic Jackson Hole, ran as a Democrat against popular incumbent Andy Schwartz and political newcomer Claire Fuller, a 24-year- old valley native with some familial name power.

With each party’s top two vote-getters vying for the two seats up for grabs in November’s general elections, Grubb’s 589 votes were handily outnumbered by Fuller, who got just over 1,000, and Schwartz, who received 1,178.

In a recent interview, Grubb downplayed the idea that his politics greatly affected his bid for county commissioner, saying the bigger issue was his status as a relative newcomer to the valley.

“If you analyze the difference between myself and the other candidates – assuming everyone is equal on funding – the difference is the length of time in the community,” he said.

Grubb’s name has grabbed headlines over the past year, first as the Jackson planning director who submitted his resignation ahead of the Comprehensive Plan revisions, and later when he took the helm of Save Historic Jackson Hole, a union that lasted less than four months.

Grubb, who spent 18 years in city planning around the Mountain West, is largely considered a voice with conservative views on land-use planning and an advocate of “managed growth.”
 
Grubb opposed the failed 500-unit Teton Meadows Ranch project, and his efforts to help build a case against that proposal helped align him with Rich Bloom, a South Park resident who helped organize South Park Neighbors. That group opposes residential up-zoning in areas of South Park, and many of its members feel similarly about other rural parts of the county.

Bloom, citing Comp Plan community surveys and a voter referendum, has said that South Park Neighbors reflects the majority of Jackson Hole residents in wanting to preserve much of South Park’s remaining open space.
With the appearance of strong support in South Park and, ostensibly, other pockets of the county and town itself, how then was Grubb beaten so soundly?

“A lot of South Park residents I know voted Republican,” Bloom said, arguing that many otherwise Grubb supporters would not have been able to vote him through the primaries.

Grubb said his connections to Save Historic Jackson Hole, which was barred from the upcoming Old Bill’s Fun Run for running an ad that attacked the non-profit Housing Trust, probably helped his campaign as much as it hindered it.
“My gut feeling is it probably was a wash,” he said.

Grubb said his position on growth was perhaps misunderstood by voters, explaining that his “approach to the problem” – including a 60 percent workforce housing exaction – “would have created more affordable housing than most of the other candidates.”

Asked if he had considered starting a new valley conservation group, Grubb said only that he was “concerned that there is void of community voice right now.”
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Candidate's defeat challenges 'managed growth' | Planet JH News Article: General News

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