Housing director
sees hope in transition
Kellett to leave
Aug. 16
"There
is a general political will, where everybody likes the idea of housing,
but it is going to take a super strong person to help see the next
project through."
GATES
KELLET, Blaine
County Housing director
By GREG
STAHL
Express Staff Writer
As Blaine
County Housing Director Gates Kellett prepares for her Aug. 16
resignation, the Wood River Valley is entering a period of transition
that could help or hinder local affordable housing efforts.
Kellett
is looking to the positive side of the transition as an opportunity to
hire someone who is better suited to the Wood River Valley’s needs and
to rebuild the organizational structure of a program she said is
somewhat dysfunctional.
It’s
also a time for someone to lead the charge toward actually achieving
more housing, she said.
"This
is a time to be decisive, to be a leader. We need a leader," she
said. "That’s something I really want to get across. Someone has
to be a leader on this. And this is the political test, to see if the
leadership will emerge and be strong. And the next site will be the best
site, hopefully."
Kellett
is Blaine County’s third housing director in six years. She arrived a
year and a half ago with aspirations of sticking with the job for at
least three years, "maybe a lot longer." But she came to build
housing, and what she did was tinker with ordinances and fight political
battles.
Last
winter, Kellett fought for affordable housing in downtown Ketchum on
city-owned property only to be denied financing. But the political
skirmish over the potential development of a central downtown property
also raised local residents’ hackles. The project’s opponents
presented vehement arguments that hinged on everything from parking to
financing, and, in the end, city officials decided not to appeal when
the state denied the funding proposal.
"It
is my opinion that, today, the political will isn’t there,"
Kellett said. "There is a general political will, where everybody
likes the idea of housing, but it is going to take a super strong person
to help see the next project through."
Kellett
said her decision to take the housing director’s position a year and a
half ago was based on a perception that Blaine County and its cities
were ready to build, that former housing directors Karl Fulmer and Steve
Amsbaugh had already fought the tough battles and educated the
community.
"I
said, ‘This group is ready for the next step.’"
And that
is where Kellett’s expertise lies. She knows how to fund and build
affordable housing. She comes from an urban setting, where she worked
for a private developer and helped build multiple affordable housing
projects at the same time. And this fall, she will return to Atlanta to
head the real estate division of a company called Initiative for
Affordable Housing.
"I
was very unfulfilled here, because I didn’t see myself being able to
build housing in the near future. I want to build housing. That’s all
I ever wanted to do. I’m used to working on five or six projects at a
time, and I’m certainly able to ratchet that down to work in a smaller
place—but, nothing?"
Kellett
said her departure is an opportunity for the city-county housing
programs to hire someone who has the political savvy to help get the
Wood River Valley where it needs to be to embrace affordable housing. It’s
an opportunity, she said.
"There
is going to be a good number of months, maybe years, where there’s
just not going to be much bricks and mortar, and this position needs to
be almost a pure administrator-slash-policy person, a housing advocate,
minus the actual bonus of being able to build housing, and I don’t
think I’m the best person for it."
While
Kellett has announced her resignation, she has not quit trying to push
organizational changes she said would benefit the local housing
programs. It is not yet clear how Ketchum and Blaine County political
leaders are going to weigh in on the ideas.
At a
Ketchum City Council meeting July 15, Kellett’s presentation to
further empower the Blaine County Housing Authority and to dilute
Ketchum’s direct control over the housing director was postponed. That
discussion has been moved to Thursday, July 25, at a noon meeting.
"I
believe this change is necessary," she said.
And
despite the struggles, Kellett still has a cup-half-full attitude about
local housing efforts.
"We’re
on the cusp of being where it needs to be to be successful," she
said. "It took Teton County (Wyo.) five years to really start
producing housing, with consistent leadership and consistent funding. It’s
basically five or six years of getting people used to the idea, spending
a lot of time educating, spending a lot of time making people aware. And
all of a sudden, people will start to come around.
"I
think we are at that place today."