I agree with the Mountain Express editorial "A Bad Case of Food Poisoning." With its plans for vendors in the town square, Ketchum should be careful about indirectly subsidizing new food vendors that could threaten businesses that already exist. These vendors would endanger not only the fragile restaurants, but the town's entire resort economy too.
What would happen if Lefty's went bankrupt tomorrow? Ketchum's entire food-based economy would be in imminent danger of systemic collapse. Put another way, Ketchum restaurants are "too big to fail."
I suggest the Ketchum City Council create a new sub-council charged with preventing such devastating closures. It could be called the Food Dispenser Insurance Committee (or FDIC for short) and it would monitor the solvency of Ketchum's restaurants. If a restaurant was found to be in an especially weak position, the FDIC could shut it down and have it absorbed by a bigger, stronger dining establishment. Ideally, FDIC staff would swarm the restaurant on a Friday afternoon, work through the weekend on a transition and reopen on Monday. The work must be done quickly and efficiently to mitigate any potential "run" on the restaurant's remaining food (which could also pose a public health risk).
The FDIC would be a sound insurer of weak restaurants in the valley and would ensure protection of those year-round, fine-dining institutions that most people in the valley depend on for their nightly meals. Whatever Ketchum chooses, it must not allow any new competitive business models to threaten any kind of change, ever.
Greg Boyer
Seattle
