Support Jason Welker for Sandpoint City Council
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Goal
My name is Jason Welker. I have lived in Sandpoint with my wife and daughter full time since 2017, but have called this place home for 17 years, spending a couple of months each year here while on breaks from a career teaching Economics at international schools in Asia and Europe. Today I work for two local non-profit community organizations, as executive director and business administrator. I also serve as chairman of Sandpoint's Planning and Zoning Commission, a role that has allowed me to help steer the city's growth and development in a manner that respects the community's vision as described by the Comprehensive Plan.
As a city council member, my objective will be to increase the amount of local control over the path of our city's growth over the coming years. I believe that it is citizens, not developers and administrators, who should have ultimate say in what development looks like, and our means for expressing our desires is through Sandpoint's Comprehensive Plan, which has not been updated since 2009. City Council must re-engage citizens in the process of updating the Comp Plan before adopting new amendments to city code; only then can development progress in a way that respects the community's vision for its own future.
As a council member I also plan to advocate for the advancement of a multi-modal master plan that prioritizes pedestrians and bicyclists over vehicles, and people who live here over people who are only passing through. This means allocating resources towards improvements in pedestrian and bicycle corridors that connect where people live to where they work and play.
Last, but definitely not least, as a council member I will fight to advance the "achievable" housing agenda for Sandpoint residents, pushing for both affordable housing (for people below median income level), but also workforce housing (for people who work for local employers but earn an income at or slightly above median income level). Sandpoint cannot continue on the path it is on; more development for working people must occur, and it is up to City Council to steer city staff, landowners, and developers towards a more livable future through, first, engaging the community to update the Comprehensive Plan for the new decade, and second, amending city code to reflect the vision of Sandpoint residents for their community's future.
