For weeks now, Ketchum has been trying to have a conversation about allowing food vendors in the town square planned for this summer. The idea for food vendors is the same as the idea that launched the original town square plans: an attempt to inject some life and some fun into the center of our town.
Unfortunately, the public discussion has turned into a divisive fight. Restaurant owners have been steadfast in their opposition to food vendors and, both in these pages and on the Express' online comment boards, those who disagree have been denounced and depicted as a small minority.
What this debate really needs is some clarity, some statistics on what the average Ketchum citizen and business owner thinks.
Luckily, this survey exists! Last month, the Ketchum-Sun Valley Chamber & Visitors Bureau distributed a survey to determine the mood among its members, Ketchum's business owners.
In what has been a fairly one-sided public argument against food carts, the survey's results are surprising.
The 17 restaurant owners surveyed were, predictably, against the vendors idea, 16 to 1. But among non-restaurant businesses in Ketchum, support for vending was overwhelming—84 percent in favor of vending. Among retailers, professionals, recreational businesses and nonprofits, there were nearly three votes of support for every vote against.
What this survey accomplished is no small thing. In our small town, there is nothing harder than publicly fighting against our friends, neighbors and customers. The chamber's survey cut through all that and took the town's temperature in a fair and anonymous way. We now know where the consensus lies. Ketchum wants food vendors in the town square.
Shaun Kelly
Ketchum
