The Natural Candidate: Q & A with Franz Camenzind

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyoming -   Jackson resident Franz Camenzind is trying to parlay his reputation as an environmental and community activist into enough votes to unseat incumbent mayor Mark Barron. A former wildlife filmmaker who claims he was the first person to film panda bears in the wild, Camenzind, 66, retired a year ago as  director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance.
  
In an interview with JH Weekly, Camenzind discusses why he’s running, what he would do differently and whether he would use the office to speak on the broader environmental concerns with which he’s often associated.

JH Weekly: Tell me about the lead up to your decision to run.

Franz Camenzind: I deliberated and anguished for literally months. I talked with friends, with people who are in many ways philosophically different from me, but trusty people that I really put a lot of confidence in. It was all encouraging, but it was also some honest conversation that this race isn’t going to be easy. You’ve got a popular incumbent that’s been there eight years who’s well entrenched in the community, the business world.

It’s David and Goliath, but I’m willing to try it. I’ve gotten enough encouragement to feel that there’s a chance, a good chance, but It’s going to take a lot of work on my part.

Somebody once said that learning in public can be embarrassing, and a lot of what I’m going to be doing is learning in public. I’ve been doing a lot of homework and meeting a lot of people to learn what people are thinking, what they see as issues. And meeting with a lot of Town people, the department heads. So I’m getting a better feel for this business that I’m trying to get a job in. It’s been a lot of fun, but it’s very tiring, very demanding.

JHW: You recently ran a campaign ad about finances, which is not the first topic people tend to associate with you.

FC: A lot of people said the good news is that I have good name recognition in the community. But I would also say the bad news is I have good name recognition in the community. In a lot of people’s minds, I’m seen as a one-issue person – the environment. I’m proud of that, it’s certainly a core of who I am.
But, for this job as mayor, I know that there’s a lot more to it than that. I was a small-business person myself. I worked in this community as an environmental consultant and at the Alliance and as a filmmaker. I have some feel for what business is all about and the importance of finance, particularly in the nonprofit world. It’s not a push for me to be talking about finances. Having said all that, I know I have to define myself broader than just as a conservationist. I feel comfortable talking about finances because that’s what makes this thing work. I think it’s a very responsible issue to lead with as I introduce myself to the community.

JHW: Give me specific examples of recent decisions by the Town Council and/or mayor that you have disagreed with.

FC: I think the [planned mixed-use development] should have been eliminated months, if not years ago. I think it’s been two years since the idea was brought to the town council to put a moratorium on the PMUD.

It’s taken 20 some months for the decision-makers to say “OK, let’s put a moratorium on it.” It didn’t take me 21 months to realize that’s a tool that’s ineffective. It makes the entire development permitting process incredibly cumbersome for the staff, for the developer to figure out what they can do. It’s very cumbersome for the public and I don’t think it’s giving us the kind of product that this town really wants.

JHW: Specifically …

FC: The one on the corner of Pearl and Jackson, and some of those larger hotels across from Miller Park.

JHW: When you look at the new building on the corner of Pearl and Jackson, you see what?

FC: I see buildings that are too big for the space they’re in. I think they’re too big for the community. If we want to consider ourselves a small town, which I think most people do, we can’t pull that off if we’re overwhelmed by big buildings. It’s as simple as that.

Concrete and impervious surface is what drives the Karns Meadow project that’s going on now in terms of storm water retention. If you drive by [Karns] you’ll see that several acres of willow have been cleared off. It pains me to see that. I’m convinced that the overall rehabilitation of that site will probably make that site as good or better than it was before from a wildlife and/or environment perspective. But the whole point is the reason we have to do that is we have so much impervious surface. Water has to runoff, whether it’s snowmelt or the storms we had a few weeks ago. Everything we do is connected back to the environment.

I really think we have to rethink the size of our buildings. Rethink setbacks in a lot of areas. Make sure we have more impervious surface so we don’t have a growing problem of runoff, which pollutes Flat Creek and we have to spend millions of dollars – whether it’s ours or grant money – to repair it. I think the repair is going to be good, and it pains me to see it, but we wouldn’t have to go there if we didn’t have that problem to begin with. It’s things like that.

JHW: How do you differ ideologically from Mayor Mark Barron?

FC: A lot of the difference is in a future vision. Based on the track record we’ve seen so far, I think Mark is definitely supportive of these larger buildings, these larger developments. Whereas I think a lot of the community – we’ll find out – would favor smaller buildings and designs that are a little bit more like a Western town than basically any affluent town in the country. I think there’s a different vision there.

I also think we have not done enough to recognize our role in the larger geographic area. We are the largest community within the Greater Yellowstone area. We have a role to not only maintain the vibrancy of this community, but we have to make sure that we are not impacting the public lands around us. I don’t think there’s been enough attention paid to that.

There’s a lot of things we can’t go back on, and I wouldn’t blame the current administration on that. We’re sitting here looking at Snow King, and there’s a lot of trails up there. There are homes being built, including the latest one over by Snow King in the hillside. All of those have required the Forest Service to go up there and thin undergrowth.
 
We have exported our impact to the public land – quite unconsciously, but it’s very real. I think we have to be more cognizant of that. The kind of growth that could happen in the town doesn’t stay in town. All of us love to get out and we impact the trails. How many more people on your favorite fishing hole until it’s not your favorite fishing hole anymore?

We know we’re going to grow, there’s no way to stop a certain amount of that, but let’s do it on our terms. Let’s make it so it’s a quality growth so that we’ve done everything we can to help families stay in the town of Jackson. The other thing is, as a gateway community to these public lands, we have to do everything we can to ensure that families can afford to come and visit here. If we’re only building four-, five-, six-hundred-dollar-a-night hotel rooms, most families are not going to be able to stay here. I think we have an obligation to make sure we have motel rooms for families, that we have RV parks.

As a community, we need to make sure that we’re planning for those things. Otherwise we’re going to be catering to the very wealthy, and if that’s all we’re catering to then I think we’ve failed our role as a gatekeeper to these public lands. The only property I own is this house I live in. Other than being a local consumer, that’s the extent of my ties to the business community here. So I come at it with really only one objective and that is to do what I think is best for the long-term future of Jackson.

I could be retired but I’m getting into this because I truly love this town, I’m passionate about it. I want it to thrive but with the smallest impact. It’s a hard thing to put your finger on, but I think it’s time for some new leadership, some new ideas.

JHW: I feel you would have pockets of support in places like South Park and Wilson, areas whose residents won’t vote for the mayor. What about town?

FC: I’ll tell you November third. I think you’re right and it is something that I’m concerned with. I think that is one of the reasons I have to introduce myself more fully. It’s interesting because I’ve gotten a lot of private comments of support from town people. It’s hard to know how that translates into votes.
To me, there’s two obvious voter blocks: that older second and third generation that’s retired to town, and then that newer, younger working group of people.
It is going to be a challenge, but I think the older generation feels frustrated with the way the actual physical image of the town is changing. I hear a lot of ‘I don’t like the way we’re going.’

With younger people it’s a lot of issues that affect their life right now, such as housing. They’re going to have to get to know another Franz than that other generation. Same candidate, but there are different aspects. I’m in favor of getting workforce housing here. We’re just not going to have a workforce here if we don’t supplement the housing. It’s a subsidy and we have to call it that and deal with it that way.

JHW: What does that mean?

FC: I think we have to find another revenue stream to support, say, the Housing Authority so that it’s not too heavily based on [development] incentives and bonuses, which cause buildings to be bigger and more dense. I think we should have an exaction system that [developers] would pay into.

I also think we have to find a way to locate areas to find out where those types of affordable units can go, as opposed to the system now, which is really driven by available land and then trying to wedge the product in there, which then becomes very contentious in neighborhoods and sets back the whole process. I think we can come up with a better system.

JHW: If elected, do you see yourself speaking out about broader environmental issues like the wolf management?

FC: No. I’ll be very honest with you, that was something I weighed very heavily. If elected mayor, I would really concentrate my voice on the affairs of the town. That was a big thing in my deliberation, that I would be giving up my voice on some issues that I’m very passionate about, and people know where I stand. JHW

Photo: Franz Camenzind by Derek Diluzio

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