Driven by a commitment to tackling the housing crisis, bringing a business-minded approach to local government and pressing for a fundamental shift in city leadership and priorities, local business owner and longtime Steamboat Springs resident Kim Haggarty has stepped into the crowded race for the city’s at-large council seat.

“I just don’t like the direction council has gone,” Haggarty said in an interview with the newspaper on Thursday. “They’re not looking out for people in the businesses that live in Steamboat Springs anymore.”

Originally from New Jersey, Haggarty came to Steamboat when a lucky lottery win aligned with a love for mountains and small-town western culture. 

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“I was going to school in Boulder, and then I graduated and I was working at a hospital in Denver,” said Haggarty, who was a competitive figure skater prior to college. “I won the lottery in ’92 and then came to Steamboat and loved it. I was like, ‘I’m moving here.'”

In the 33 years since Haggarty decided to call Steamboat home, she has started the skating program, helped lead the initiative to put a roof over the ice rink, organized major fundraisers and championed local arts at the Main Street Steamboat theater. Now, she is the proud owner of Schmiggity’s, co-owner and landlord of Aurum and co-owner of Table 79.

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Through it all, she’s watched the town’s growth and evolution closely. But for Haggarty, the progress she’s witnessed is being undermined by current city leadership — something she hopes to change by being elected a city leader herself. 

Council leadership: ‘Big-time fractured’

Haggarty criticized the current council as dysfunctional, incongruous and “going in the wrong direction.” While she is not running for the District 1 seat, Haggarty was particularly blunt in her critique of Council President Gail Garey, calling her “definitely not for the people.” 

“She’s out for a money grab, like taxing second homeowners and the short-term rental stuff and going after (Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation). Like, that leadership is probably the worst I’ve seen in a long time,” said Haggarty. “The direction she’s giving is not positive.”

Haggarty considered running in District 1 but decided against it, opting instead to give candidate Kelly Phillips “a fair shot” against Garey and to avoid splitting the votes. 

“I’ve never seen anyone fight this much amongst each other. There’s uniformity, there’s no cohesiveness. It’s almost like they’re attacking each other and fighting each other,” she said. “And who’s letting that happen? That has to come from the direction of the (council) president.”

She called the current council dynamic “big-time fractured,” marked by close voting margins and personal attacks between members.

“You don’t have enough like-minded people. Not that you all have to have the same opinion. It’s not like you want to go into city council and have everyone vote and be a certain way,” she said. “But I’ve never seen it become so personal before.”

Haggarty’s core concern: Affordable housing

Within the matrix of the many challenges facing Steamboat Springs, Haggarty maintains that it all ties back to one core issue: the housing crisis. 

“As long as I’ve lived here, we’ve talked about this subject. It’s never, ever not been a subject. Why are we still talking about it?” she said. “That’s the difference I want to make. Let’s do something about it.”

She is critical of past council efforts, citing consequences from recent short-term rental policies and green zoning that, in her view, have made housing less affordable. 

“Most people could afford their houses because they were able to do these short-term rentals. So now you’re thinking that way, and now you’re forcing people out of Steamboat,” she said. “Everything they did, in my opinion, did the opposite of what I think their original intention was, which was to do affordable housing.”

Her approach to Brown Ranch, Steamboat’s controversial large-scale affordable housing proposal, is supportive but measured, expressing concern over the project’s scale and costs but noting that it’s something the city can work with if they “dialed it in.”

“That’s what freaked everybody out, mostly. It’s like this huge growth, too fast,” she said of the approximately 2,200 units originally planned for the Brown Ranch development. “So why not downscale and maybe do it in stages, or just come at it with a different approach?”

Haggarty admitted she wasn’t entirely familiar with the leadership of the Yampa Valley Housing Authority but noted a pattern among conversations with other community members, who she said have consistently mentioned a lack of transparency and a need to “start fresh.”

“I don’t really know what the (housing authority) leadership is like. I know what the leadership is like on city council, and it’s not good,” she said. 

Regarding other alternatives to housing, Haggarty referenced new housing units planned for construction in Hayden, such as Moonlit Meadows, an upcoming development planned to create around 900 units one mile south of the downtown area by the end of its third phase.

“Look at all the building they’re doing in Hayden. How are they able to do it? And they’re nice,” she said. “If Hayden can do this, so can we.”

Approaching policy from a business perspective

As a business owner, Haggarty advocates for including more business-minded members on council and applying fiscal discipline. 

“The city needs more of a mindset of, ‘okay, let’s look at this as a business now,’ instead of ‘let’s just spend money and we’ll figure it out later, or we’ll tax all these people,'” she said. “There’s so many creative avenues that they have not even wanted to consider or explore that I have been talking about for years.”

Haggarty drew parallels between her extensive experience running various businesses and her ability to help balance the city budget, emphasizing the need to cut costs and find out-of-the-box revenue solutions. 

“Every month I look at numbers, especially in the slow season, and I say, ‘okay, what can we cut out?'” she said. “The budget right now with the city, I think most of the spending is on salaries and employees.” 

She links these costs directly to Steamboat’s cost of living in tandem with its housing crisis.

“You have to pay them that much because it’s so expensive here. We can’t keep nurses and doctors. So everything keeps coming back to, how do we retain employees? They have to be able to afford to live here,” she said. 

Haggarty opposes taxation initiatives like the recently killed vacancy tax, calling it a “slap in the face” to second homeowners. 

“These people actually spend money in our town. That I do know…they hit every restaurant, they have their list. They don’t miss them. And they go shopping, they spend money here,” she said. “So what (the city is) targeting, I think, is crazy.” 

On transit, Haggarty supports practical, user-focused solutions for both visitors and the local workforce, suggesting the city implement paid parking on Lincoln Avenue and fare-based buses during later hours. 

“Name a town that you go to that you don’t pay for parking,” she said. “If you want to park close to where you’re going, pay for it. If not, walk a block.”

Where Haggarty especially hopes to make a difference, she said, is breaking up what she views as chronic inertia on council. 

“You’ve got to stop talking about it. Like, that’s my thing. I’m a doer. That’s my personality. Like, I want to get in there and actually do something and not just sit there with lip service,” she said. Let’s come back and come up with solutions.”

Preserving Steamboat’s community character

Haggarty sees Steamboat’s unique character — its sense of community, inclusiveness and a “why” that draws people from around the country — as essential to preserve. 

“People love Steamboat so much that they want other people to love Steamboat, and that’s what created Steamboat,” she said. “We’re getting away from that…So I’m going to keep that.”

“Back in the day, if we had any issue, we used to personally like to call up the city council member. You became friends with them. You would take them out to lunch and you’d say, ‘okay, here’s how I feel about this. How do you stand?’ I think that has all gone away,” she continued. “If I can go and get people to open up and talk to me, at least I can actually hear what their concerns are, and I feel like that’s seriously lacking right now.”

After more than three decades in town, starting businesses and raising three children, Haggarty remains committed to Steamboat, calling it “the coolest town.” 

“I don’t have to stay in Steamboat. But we haven’t found another place yet. And we’re looking,” she said. “But we do everything we love right here.”

For Haggarty, whose tentative campaign slogan is “a voice for the locals,” returning city council to local values is paramount. 

“We elected you. And you’re supposed to be representing us as locals. And this is what we’re doing?” she said. “I think we got away from why we all chose Steamboat.”

To contact Haggarty or learn more about her campaign, reach out at 970-846-0052.