Back to Normal?

Uh ... No Thanks Secretary Buttigieg, Not Here, Not Now

I’ve been in a tizzy over this social media post all week. Normal? Really?

There is a crack, a crack in everything;
That's how the light gets in

~ Leonard Cohen

By now, I trust you’ve heard of the “catastrophic collapse” that started with a crack on Teton Pass that separated Jackson Hole from its source of gravel, timber, painters, cleaners, servers, fresh bread, and healthcare workers. During the busiest time of the year, a significant percentage of the Jackson Hole workforce has been tasked with a 4-hour round trip commute instead of the (normal?) 1.5 hours. Local economist Jonathan Schector estimates this landslide is “costing the typical Teton Valley commuter about $168/day in a combination of extra driving costs ($80/day) and foregone wages ($86/day).  Multiply that $168/day by five working days, and the total cost is  $840/week - for someone whose average weekly wage is only around $1,600.”

“Normal” around here is where people who work in Jackson Hole can’t afford to live in Jackson, and people who live in Teton Valley, Idaho, can’t afford to work in Teton Valley. “Normal” for our fragile mountain communities around the West are massive second-third-fourth homes with elaborate landscaping and incredible views that sit empty for 300 or more days using exorbitant energy, material, and human resources. “Normal” is where those who give away money to “help the poor” with one hand continue to create the conditions that keep people poor and separate. “Normal” is parking lots at ski resorts that sit empty in the summer because who wants the riff-raff workers camping overnight? Living and working in iconic resorts has always been a sacrifice, but are we really OK with “Normal?”

In the bigger picture, I wonder if “Normal” is what is making this country so uncomfortable with our presidential election choices. “Normal” is a worldview, and world views are a human construction and a choice. They can be changed. So many of us are paralyzed by fear and anxiety over the environment, politics, war, and economy that we fail to act because it’s too overwhelming. But we don’t have to change the whole world, we just have to take the first step and change our mindset.

Colonial structures are the foundational principles of our modern economies in which Divide - Control - Exploit is “normal.”

We need a paradigm shift to where “normal” is Connect - Relate - Belong.

~ from Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance by Edgar Villanueva

As an elected official working hard to soften the blow to our community, I’m often asked what I think about Teton Pass and the heroic attempts to open it just a few weeks later. Of course, I’m so thankful for everyone’s generosity and the outpouring of community support, but I sincerely hope this hurts enough that we see lasting change. Just getting back to normal is not OK.

The swift response to this “emergency” has been that people in Jackson are graciously opening their homes and extra bedrooms, Teton County is allowing temporary shelters like tents and RVs on private property, and employers in Jackson are bending over backward to accommodate creative scheduling and paying stipends for gas. County commissioners voted to allow emergency housing in an empty former assisted living facility with 57 units, most of which are empty due to years of legal challenges of allowing dense workforce housing near a residential neighborhood. Why can’t this be the “New Normal.”

Over here in Teton Valley, I pledge to do everything I can to dig deeper into our goals of becoming a place where small is beautiful and living within our means is “Normal.” Let’s create truly affordable housing. Let’s support what exists and start new businesses aligning with our values to become a self-sufficient community. Let’s trust in “gentle action theory” and the power of our interconnection and each of us doing just “one good thing” that creates lasting change. Let’s try to buy every-single-thing locally, and if you can’t afford to, don’t buy at all. Hunt. Grow our own food or buy from the Farmer’s Markets. Make art, or support your artists. Give the biggest part of yourself to this community, not just in an emergency.

Take a risk. Show up. Stand up. Slow down. Think different. Create something. Be Normal. 

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On another subject …

I’m just back from a road trip to California to celebrate my daughter’s graduation from Stanford. , but I am also struck by these young people thriving despite drinking a cocktail of anxiety and ambition from a fire hose. I was also struck by diversity, equanimity, peace, and hope in these extraordinary times.

Already doing things differently, hundreds of students, including mine, walked out when Stanford’s President took the stage in a peaceful protest of the Israeli-Hamas War. Elite colleges get a bad rap these days, but all I saw were tireless activists, movement-builders, and creative, caring, engaged young citizens demonstrating that forward movement is possible, even amid these unprecedented challenges, and imploring us all to do our part. 

I’m one proud Mama.

Lastly … I’m proud to announce the 2024 Teton Leadership Center Summit. This event will be all about thinking differently and creating a new normal. Thursday, Friday, Sept 26-27, 2024/ I hope you’ll join me!

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