Photo courtesy unsplash.com and Joshua_J Woroniecki
2024 is a year filled to the brim with opportunities to participate in democracy and vote, and Ark Valley Voice asked, what questions do you, our readers and local voters, have for the candidates running for local office?
Amy Eckstein responded to our request on Instagram with the following questions:
What is your impression of the housing climate in Buena Vista? How can it be fixed? What is and is not working right now?
What are the candidates’ views on seasonal, in-town camping as a temporary workforce solution? If in favor, how would you make it happen?
To get our readers the answers they deserve, AVV reached out to the Buena Vista Board of Trustee candidates for their response to Eckstein’s questions on housing. We also asked that they provide a biography to introduce themselves to readers and voters ahead of the April 2 election.
Part I includes responses from Michal Rosenoer, Andy Matkovich, and Devin Rowe. Part II will include responses from the other candidates, of which we have received Thomas Brown’s reply and heard from Andrew Rice that we will be receiving his answers soon. Candidate Maggie Huyck has yet to respond to our inquiry.
These responses will be published in the order in which they are received.
Michal Rosenoer
Michal ‘Micha’ Rosenoer is running for a seat on the Buena Vista Board of Trustees.
Micha Rosenoer is a public policy professional with thirteen years of experience in rural economic development, land use planning, and conservation policy. She previously served as an elected city councilwoman in Edgewater, Colorado and was the Buena Vista representative on the Chaffee Housing Authority Board of Directors for over two years.
Micha currently serves as a governor-appointee to the Colorado Outdoor Equity Fund where she helps disperse $3 million annually in grants to get more Colorado kids outside, and works full-time as the head of government affairs for an outdoor recreation company called Hipcamp.
She has a degree in environmental science and policy from UC Berkeley and lives in Buena Vista with her two-year-old son, husband, and rescue dog.
What is your impression of the housing climate in Buena Vista? How can it be fixed? What is and is not working right now?
“In the last few years, almost every house in Buena Vista that’s sold has only been accessible to the top 10 percent of earners in the county. Buena Vista and Chaffee County’s housing market more broadly is struggling to provide affordable and attainable housing – both long-term rentals and options to buy – for our workforce and retirees alike.
That means the hospital, schools, and police force are consistently understaffed, and our small businesses are struggling to find year-round employees. To fix it, we need a dedicated funding stream for the Chaffee Housing Authority and coordination across the county to build affordable and attainable housing options. That could look like a mill levy or sales tax, but it needs to be something that the community as a whole contributes to, including developers and businesses.
The open market isn’t fixing our housing problem for us — if we want Buena Vista to stay a place for working families to grow, thrive, and retire, we need an all-of-the-above approach to fixing the housing problem here. “
What are your views on seasonal, in-town camping as a temporary workforce solution? If in favor, how would you make it happen?
“I was proud to work on a similar program with Chaffee County in 2022 via the land use code that would allow seasonal workers to camp on agricultural properties during May through September as long as the camping could be managed responsibly and safely (that includes managing human waste and fire risks, for instance).
Is it a long-term solution to our rental shortage? No. But landowners across the county and in Buena Vista would be able to make a little money, and we’d be able to divert workers from our public lands that are being loved to death.
If we allow camping in town I think it needs to be well-regulated and safe, and shouldn’t interfere with the safety or access to parks and recreational spaces that year-round residents and tourists alike depend on to get outside.”
Andy Matkovich
Andy Matkovich is running for a seat on the Buena Vista Board of Trustees.
Andy Matkovich grew up in a small town in southern Iowa. His father was a teacher and a farmer, and his mother was an entrepreneur in housing development and rental management. Matkovich grew up driving a tractor and working in property development from an early age.
He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the University of Iowa before moving to Chicago where he first worked as an Art director in the real estate and mortgage and banking industries before moving on to work in the public sector.
He has spent the last 10 years as a product developer for the American Medical Association (AMA). He and his wife relocated to Buena Vista in 2020 and instantly fell in love with the town and the beauty that surrounds it. “We both know we want to live here the rest of our lives. I want to do whatever I can to be a service to the community that I love,” said Matkovich.
“I believe the role of a trustee is to be open minded and listen to all viewpoints, contrast them with each other, as well as apply personal experiences and observations before coming to a conclusion or compromise,” explained Matkovich. “I have spent the last 20 years as a Product Manager doing exactly that. I lead teams of diverse skill sets to collaborate in a unified vision to build digital products and services – a skill set that can translate well in a Trustee role.”
What is your impression of the housing climate in Buena Vista? How can it be fixed? What is and is not working right now?
“Many of the things that we see impacting the housing climate in Buena Vista are not BV-specific such as interest rates, labor, unpredictable supply changes and material cost. The unpredictable cost of the building market is further exacerbated by our geographical location.
The problem that is Buena Vista-specific is workforce housing and fluctuating seasonal incomes. We need to allocate capital into incentive programs for landowners, business and builders to provide multi residential housing.
Additionally we need to consider new dedicated revenue resources to bolster housing incentives and address our community’s housing needs effectively.”
What are your views on seasonal, in-town camping as a temporary workforce solution? If in favor, how would you make it happen?
“Whether it’s intentional or not I think we are already there. I think the ‘BLM [Bureau of Land Management] like’ rules we have in place do an effective job in minimizing environmental impact.
I would be open to expanding additional zoned areas but not creating additional rules that would be specific to workforce camping.”
Devin Rowe
Incumbent candidate Devin Rowe seeks to continue his term on the Buena Vista Board of Trustees.
Incumbent candidate Devin Rowe grew up in a small town in New Hampshire and lived in New England for most of his adult life. Rowe has a degree in Social Work and worked for many years with troubled teens.
Rowe moved to Buena Vista in the summer of 2015 after getting a job with BV Roastery Wholesale. “Buena Vista was the first place in my adult life where I really felt at home,” explained Rowe.
In the fall of 2016, there was an opening on the Board of Trustees after a resignation. Rowe felt there should be more young people like him in local government, so he applied to fill the vacancy and was voted on the board to finish out the 18 months of the term.
Rowe then took a traveling job towards the end of that term and decided not to run in 2018. In 2020, he ran again and has been on the board for the last four years. Rowe works in the service industry and feels he represents people like him who love the community and are trying to make it their home.
What is your impression of the housing climate in Buena Vista? How can it be fixed? What is and is not working right now?
“Right now Buena Vista has many developments moving forward. Many include affordable housing such as the Carbonate Street Development and some have million dollar houses.
There is no easy fix to the housing crisis here in Buena Vista and across the state. Unregulated development has been the common way forward and has obviously not been working to support the citizens of Buena Vista.
I have worked with the current Board of Trustees to implement the Water Allocation Policy. This policy takes our current water portfolio and divides it into ‘buckets’ prioritizing where we want the water to go, such as affordable housing, infill, large developments, small development, ADUs, etc.
This policy really helps give us teeth to prioritize what development we want to see here in Buena Vista while also encouraging developers to build what we want here in Buena Vista.”
What are your views on seasonal, in-town camping as a temporary workforce solution? If in favor, how would you make it happen?
“This strategy is already being used in Crested Butte and by some rafting companies here in Buena Vista. I have known many people over the years that have worked in Buena Vista while living on public land. Some have done this because of the struggle to find housing and some have done it because they enjoy the lifestyle.
There has been talk over the years about having a town campground, which could help. I would be wary of allowing in-town camping without first researching towns such as Crested Butte that have implemented this and how it has affected the community feel. I am concerned how our town would change if we all of a sudden had hundreds of people living in campers here in town.”
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