Vail Town 撸先生 candidate Jack Bergey in his own words
Candidate wants to bring new ideas to create affordable housing
The Vail Daily is running Q&A’s with the 10 candidates running for four open seats on the Vail Town 撸先生. The questionnaires will run in the order that the candidates appear on the ballot, which town staff via a blind drawing on Sept. 5.
The Town 撸先生 election is a nonpartisan race and will be conducted as part of the Tuesday, Nov. 7, coordinated election in Eagle County. Voters within the town of Vail will be able to select up to four candidates. The three candidates that receive the highest number of votes will serve four-year terms, and the candidate that receives the fourth-most votes will serve a two-year term.
Ballots were mailed out on Oct. 16. 聽For more information on the Eagle County Coordinated Election 鈥� including how and where to vote 鈥攙isit聽.
Name: Jack Bergey
Occupation: Retired mortgage broker and real estate investor
Neighborhood you live in: West Vail North
Length of residence in Eagle County and Vail: Purchased a townhome in West Vail in 1996 and worked as a mortgage broker in Denver and Vail until I retired in 2014. I now enjoy all my time in Vail.
Have you served on any other boards/commissions/councils in Eagle County or otherwise? Tell us about your volunteer experiences, involvement and service to the community that you live. How will these experiences enable you to bring value to the board?
I served as a member of the West Vail Master Plan Advisory Committee in 2020, on the Chamonix Vail Employee Housing Committee in 2008 and 2009, and have been a president and board member of a host of HOA organizations in the state of Colorado.
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After graduating early from high school at 17, my parents took our family to Paraguay, South America, to work in a mental hospital, where I also聽worked. It is amazing how much you learn about humanizing those with mental challenges.
After a year in South America, I moved to Colorado. During my formative years, our family hosted foreign exchange students most semesters, which taught me to respect people from different cultures. In Denver, I was a volunteer in the “Partners” program where I mentored at-risk youth. In 2018 and 2019, I volunteered聽to go to Saipan聽as a FEMA volunteer to help with the rebuilding of homes destroyed by the typhoon.
I was raised to understand and appreciate service to others. I continue that practice today and feel this makes me a great candidate for Vail Town 撸先生.
Why did you decide to run for Town 撸先生?
There are many dedicated hard-working people currently involved with the town of Vail. I feel I can bring new ideas to help with the process of creating more affordable housing, immediately and in the near future.
What are the top three things you’d seek to accomplish during your term if elected?
I will finish implementing the West Vail Overlay District. I’ll start constructive talks with the stakeholders in the West Vail Commercial Center to bring to fruition the adopted West Vail Master Plan.聽I will come up with a plan to keep our paved聽scenic聽trails safe to walk on. I will also work to get a commitment from Vail Resorts to pay for their fair share of employee housing.聽
The town currently has more projects in the pipeline (bringing housing to West Middle Creek, Dowd Junction and other sites to revamping its municipal building and civic area, relocating the Children’s Garden of Learning, and other redevelopments) than revenue to pay for these projects. What do you feel should be the town’s top three priorities and why?
Housing, housing and small business development and retention.
First, I would collaborate with the city staff to identify and attract small businesses that qualify for SBA loans or town contracts. Dealing with the federal government can be a long and exhausting process, so I would meet with the smaller local banks to create a one-stop shop access for business loans granted to local entrepreneurs.
Creating zoning regulations that support small business growth is critical.聽Zoning should support multi-story, pedestrian-oriented areas. I would encourage the reuse of vacant buildings and create liaison positions that help small businesses navigate the local permitting requirements, and research the best way to permit, design and build affordable housing.
I would also review the special events schedule and improve events to create revenue during the off-season.
What additional sources of revenue do you think the town should consider and why?
Audit the lift tax receipts as well as explore TIF and the many different types of bond financing that are available. I feel we need to do this now because waiting any longer will just make the housing shortage worse and cost more to build.
The town has been in the midst of the condemnation proceedings with Vail Resorts over Booth Heights as Election Day approaches.聽How do you feel the town should move forward in repairing the relationship now that the Town 撸先生 voted to acquire the site?
We need to change our policies on how we work with our partners. Every time there is a change of Town 撸先生 or different committees, we can’t keep changing our housing development requirements otherwise it will be too expensive to do business with any competent builders/partners and take twice as long to accomplish anything.
Outside of affordable housing, what other workforce issues do you think the town needs to address and how do you propose it does so?
Parking. We need to partner with the stakeholders in the West Vail Commercial Center to build underground parking that is in line with the adopted West Vail Master Plan. We need to also research better transportation options for those who live down valley.聽
