Introduction and Qualifications
Hello, I am Toby Babich, a 16 year resident of Blue River, and 26 year resident of summit county. I am married with three teenage daughters, and have been a volunteer leader in Summit County for 15 years serving on dozens of national and local boards/committees. I am an avid mountain biker, horrible golfer, and am consistently chasing 40 days on the mountain each ski season. I am a skilled leader, collaborator, meeting facilitator, and have a track record of success as a public servant. Over my years of service locally I have forged valuable relationships with other non-profit and elected leaders across the county, which I am able to leverage in service of our Town, and work tirelessly to ensure we always have a seat at the table, voice in the room, and credibility in all discussions. In addition to my extensive history of board/committee service, I have been fortunate to serve this community as Mayor, and I fundamentally believe there is no substitute for experience, which is why I believe I am qualified to earn your vote. I have done the work, sacrificed the time, devoted my passion and experience, delivered on my commitments, and opened the doors of the town government to the citizens. I am humbled to serve the citizens of Blue River as Mayor, and no matter how difficult the discussion, or polarizing the issue, I will greet the situation with an open mind, active ear, and commitment to finding solutions where none are apparent. As a leader, I am always a listen first collaborator, and believe all perspectives and ideas should be heard, evaluated, and treated with respect. I also lead with curiosity, and understand that leadership is a balance of confidence and humility, knowing that no one person has the correct perspective (including me), and that problems are solved best when consensus is built.
My platform is simple, I have a strong track record of leadership success as part of this BOT, a demonstrable dedication to public engagement as a necessary component of that success, and a vision for our future that includes enhanced internet and cell connectivity across our valley, improved maintenance of our roads, continued implementation of safety measures along hwy 9 and on our town roads, a dedication to ensuring any entity or individual, including CDOT, that proposes a project within our boundaries is held accountable to the unique and serene character of our community, and a continued dedication enhancement of community engagement that will help guide the actions of our elected officials and will channel the voice of our residents, and improve the quality of life for all. My continued commitments to the individuals in the community are to always actively listen, participate in good faith in building consensus, be transparent and honest in all interactions, and ensure that no matter the challenge our actions and decisions represent what is beneficial for the entire community. We have some serious issues to face as a community, and challenges will be many. Now is the time when we most need experienced and tested leadership. Leaders who possess knowledge of the nuances of our challenges, have many strong and valuable relationships with other leaders across the county, and have records of success.
Humbly, I am asking for your vote for Mayor of Blue River, and offer my experienced and proven record of public service in return.
The Issues I am Passionate about
1. Continued work on improving digital connectivity in our town, including enhancing cell service and development of fiber optic connectivity- We have already begun the process of addressing connectivity, including hiring a consultant to assess our current situation and provide us with options to consider. We are actively working with other jurisdictions in the county, and seeking grant funding, while researching partnership opportunities with vendors who can assist with infrastructure development. We have some great opportunities to enhance digital connectivity across our town that are within our reach.
2. Ensuring safety along our main Hwy 9 corridor- In addition to developing an access control plan with CDOT, we have also worked through our police department to implement better safety patrols along the highway, in particular during school bus hours, and are currently working with SSD and the Theobald family to move the school bus stop to a safer location. We have just this week set a meeting with CDOT to discuss speed on the highway, and are hoping to address our issues with them. This ongoing work will continue until we feel our community is as safe as possible and has a voice within CDOT.
3. Enhanced care and maintenance of our roads- This is currently being addressed with a new proactive roads contractor who has worked with staff to formulate an enhanced maintenance plan and timeline for the community. In addition, the BOT passed a significant roads maintenance budget increase for 2024 to more fully fund our growing needs. We are also looking at individual roads projects, including at Spruce Creek, to make improvements to the existing road, reducing the need for maintenance, and increasing safety.
4. Increasing the ability for residents and homeowners to engage with the Town in meaningful ways- In the time I have served we have implemented many enhanced ways for residents to interact beyond public comment at monthly meetings, including a monthly newsletter, trustee talks, educational meetings, Facebook engagement, hybrid meetings and online recordings, and seating our Citizen Advisory Committee who also actively engage with our Citizens. I believe more can be done here and would like to see a survey go out to the community asking how we can offer more opportunity to connect with them, and that information will assist our CAC in making recommendations to the Board to improve citizen engagement.
My Vision for Blue River
The Town of Blue River endeavors to nurture our serene mountain community by conserving our natural residential environment, promoting unity with our neighbors and surroundings, channeling the voice of our residents, and enhancing the quality of life for all. I helped to craft that mission, and still believe in it today. I also believe times change, and priorities shift, and it is time to seek input from our residents and ensure this statement reflects the community as it exists today. Our community has changed over the years, and we need to ensure our government is changing with us, meeting our collective needs, attending to our values, and managing our town in ways that benefit everyone. 5 years from now I would envision an environment where residents had consistent cell phone coverage to enhance their quality of life and safety, highway 9 travel is safe and accidents are on the decline, and our residents are able to actively engage with their government in productive ways to solve the challenges we will face as our population continues to change and our community needs grow. In my time as Mayor, I have seen so many positive changes and want to be part of using our collective achievements as a community to reach the unlimited heights of what Blue River can become. Though we are 92% built out within our borders, we need to manage density and development carefully moving forward and ensure that what we all moved here for and have come to treasure so much about Blue River is preserved and protected. This is a special community, built of passionate residents, dedicated volunteers and elected officials, and a caring staff- I am asking for your vote, so I can continue to be part of building our future in this special community we all call home.
Q&A- Community Issues
Short-term rentals within the Town: Do they need to be further regulated. Facts- licenses have grown by only 3%/24 properties over the last two years, low in comparison. Average 11 code violations per year 80% trash, low. We are actively monitoring STR growth and impact every month and should continue. I don’t believe we need to take any action at this time, but we may need to in the future, as I think we all agree there is such a thing as too much.
Road maintenance- primary role and focus of the Town, already increased budget and implemented a new proactive timeline and maintenance plan. The roads looked great last summer and will be better this summer.
Speed, congestion, and people walking on Hwy 9- Continued work with CDOT and enforcement activity by our PD will improve safety. Relationships and experience will help move this forward.
the heavy use and impacts of cars on the west side of Blue River due to heavy trailhead/trail use (1 min)- Through we have attempted multiple times already, we MUST get the county engaged on helping us find solutions. Discussions are underway with the new county leadership, and we have had recent discussions about mitigating the disturbances and maintenance issues caused by trailhead traffic. For example, one idea has been to push for a shuttle and reservation system, like they implemented for the quandary trailhead, which will reduce traffic and better manage access. We have also discussed enhancing signage, in particular speed detection signage to alert people when they are speeding in our neighborhoods. We have one of these installed at Blue River Road at hwy 9. These are not our residents that are causing issues on roads we have to manage and maintain, and I believe the county must share some responsibility here.
Term limits: they are currently 2 terms or 8 years. Do term limits need to be longer?- Big fan of term limits, in particular federally. Since 1995 four elected officials of the TOBR have served in excess of two full terms, including partial terms, between 9-16 years in duration. We need to standardize terms, and ensure the appointments, partial terms, and partial elected terms are understood by everyone. I support our current model of two full four-year terms, and then an elected official needs to sit for four years.
Home rule vs. Statutory Municipality: What should Blue River be?- There are some benefits to home rule that seriously need to be considered, including home rule ordinances supersede state law so we make our own rules, and we would be able to collect and validate sales tax collection currently handled by the state. I do not have enough information to take a position at this time, other than we need significant community engagement and input before any proposal is made.
Why Vote Babich?
As a Candidate for Mayor in 2020, I articulated my focus for the next 4 years as highway 9 safety, development of trail connectivity and open space strategies, and completing a comprehensive plan. Looking back at my time as Mayor in service of our Town, we have addressed these issues, and many more. We have taken significant steps to improve safety on 9, including recently working with the Theobald family to relocate the school bus stop and with CDOT to address our concerns. We have completed a trails plan, and are in the process of developing an interactive town map highlighting trails and other valuable information for the public to engage with. Through our comp plan committee, we completed and adopted an updated comp plan as a vision for the future of this community. We have also started the process of improving connectivity across our town, addressing fire safety through grant and mitigation programs, implementing a successful STR licensure and regulatory framework, increasing overall town revenues YOY consistently, purchasing workforce housing to attract and retain staff, Building out a full police force to serve our community 24/7, increasing our roads maintenance budget significantly, enhancing community outreach through community educational events/trustee talks/monthly newsletters and surveys, updating our antiquated land use code, adopting 1041 regulations so we are able to have a say in any and all projects that would impact our community on a large scale, enhancing staffing to better align with the growing needs of our residents, expanding town hall to better service the needs of our community, building a comprehensive CIP to guide our future, and much more that would take more time than I have to explain. We have overachieved, I am proud of what we have accomplished, and there is so much more for this community to dream, plan, and implement to ensure the future of Blue River is bright, and our quality of life continues to grow. I am asking for your vote today because I believe in our past achievements, and believe in our ability to continue overachieving in service of each resident of Blue River.
Thank you for getting to know me, and reach out with any questions