James Olsen for Mayor of Hamilton
Dear fellow resident of Hamilton,
I am James Olsen. It is time for a change. I would appreciate your help: Write In James Olsen for Mayor of the City of Hamilton on the mail-in ballot you will receive in late October.
Rising Taxes: Our property taxes are going up. When I compare my 2015 tax bill with my 2024 tax bill, Hamilton is the worst offender, rising at twice the rate of the school district or county. I need your help to change that so I can work with Hamilton’s employees to make our city more cost-efficient.
I have reviewed the budget and don’t see any silver bullets, so it is department by department. I did this when I was in the Air Force as Deputy Program Manager for Cobra Judy, which was delivered on time and on budget. I did this while running large defense and air traffic control systems for industry. I did this in my own business in Hamilton. What I found is that often, the first-level supervisors and those doing the work have a good part of the answer if you just ask them to think about it. The rest of the answer involves examining how the operation works and applying some innovative ideas — I will ask you and every other Citizen for input.
I am struggling to understand this. Although the current Mayor holds another full-time job, he requested a 54% salary increase to $32,000 per year, and the City Council approved it on July 1. This seems excessive. I don’t think Mayor is a full-time job, so I would feel the need to turn down this raise. I would not feel right taking any more hourly pay than the highest-paid department head. So, I will fill out a certified timecard and post it on the website just to make sure.
You have the opportunity to make your voice heard on the budget on September 16 at 7:00 p.m. It will be informative, even if you just want to watch the City Council in action. Here is the link to Hamilton’s calendar: https://cityofhamilton.net/#events.
Rezoning to eliminate single-family lots: Hamilton has a major zoning update that they intend to pass in December. The plan is to rezone what is now a single-residence (RS) zone to allow fourplexes as a right — renaming the zone R-1. This will destroy the century-old traditional neighborhood, urbanize it, and put the value of existing homes at risk. The next Zoning Working Group meeting for rezoning is on September 22 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. I hope you can be there. The latest zoning plan: https://www.hamiltonzoningupdate.com
This is the most consequential initiative by Hamilton since I lived here in the early 1990s. It will change the character of Hamilton. A key assumption is false: that increasing density will solve the affordable housing crisis — it doesn’t in a place like Ravalli County that is attracting new residents.
Affordable housing: The wages of at least one-third of the workers in Hamilton are not enough to cover the rent affordably. Having done some work with the Bitterroot Affordable Housing Coalition, I know it is a hard nut to crack. I called a member who works closely with people experiencing homelessness, and he indicated that what we are doing is not working; Section 8 housing is insufficient; grant-driven solutions fall short. Years ago, I scratched out a design concept and cost estimate for nonsubsidized affordable housing for the Coalition. In 2020, I presented this idea, along with the Coalition's annual report, to the County Commissioners. https://www.jamesrolsen.com/affordablehousing
My idea may not be the right answer; the cost estimates need an update. However, the problem will remain unsolved until we develop something that does the job without subsidies. The City of Hamilton needs to get real. What does it take so people who work here can live here? I will form a working group, invite the Coalition, people struggling to pay rent, developers, and you. I have asked a local developer to think about the problem. I am examining what works and what doesn’t work in other communities.
It may be hard; it may take a while. Unfortunately, the new zoning plan is not the answer to affordable housing. I have been blessed to be part of initiatives that led Ravalli County to be the best in the state in the response to domestic and child abuse, community-based mental health crisis intervention, and bridged a gap to keep a community-supported performing arts series going with Grammy award-winning artists — at one time, each of these issues seemed almost impossible to pull off. We can do the same for affordable housing, making Hamilton the place to emulate, rather than a place that only implements oh-so-orthodox ideas that fail to do the job.
Empowering public participation: A common refrain from the public is that the government won’t listen to me— so why participate? This breakdown in public trust extends to all levels of government, including the City of Hamilton. While City officials may object that they are doing their best, it is clear that this sentiment is endemic.
I have spent decades working in advocacy outfits and one-on-one to help give the voiceless a voice and organize to be heard. Sometimes, as in the NIAID BSL-4 expansion at RML, it takes litigation. After submitting 100 pages of substantive comments with peer-reviewed citations that yielded non-answers, I sat in a room with a lawyer and two other representatives in a court-ordered mediation. The mediator asked, “What do you want?” “Answers to our questions.” So, she marched in people from the headquarters in Bethesda and made them answer. And, while very imperfect, our community got the best deal in the country during this expansion of labs during the Bush bioterrorism initiative. It doesn’t need to be this hard.
Even though a well-worn activist knows how to force an issue, someone who is busy working for a living should be able to show up and have a dialogue with the elected officials and get an authentic answer to their question — even when the answer is “no.”
The City of Hamilton can do better. Too many agencies view public input as an inconvenience they must endure. The City of Hamilton needs to embrace it. This is what I will do for the City of Hamilton: create a dialogue with the public in committee meetings. In addition, I will do what the County Commissioners do. If you send a letter or email to the Mayor or City Council, it will be posted on the City’s website in addition to getting an answer to your questions.
I am a Veteran who has worked in blue-collar roles, managed large engineering projects, and run a business in Hamilton. I have been a volunteer advocate in social and environmental issues in Ravalli County. For more, see https://www.jamesrolsen.com/resume.
I ask for your vote to help me help you. Write In: James Olsen for Mayor of Hamilton.
Thank you. I would appreciate hearing from you about how to make Hamilton a better place.
James R. Olsen