Jennifer Wingard moves to leadership role with GBOS reorganization
GBOS Co-Chair shares her outlook for Girdwood’s future
By Jon Scudder
TN Publisher
Jennifer Wingard assumed a leadership role as co-chair of the Girdwood Board of Supervisors sharing governance responsibilities with current GBOS Co-Chair Briana Sullivan following Mike Edgington completing his tenure as co-chair to the GBOS.
Wingard began her service to the Girdwood Valley Service Area, representing Seat A on April 26, 2021, after winning in the general election on April 6, 2021, and has held her GBOS role along with serving on several other committees. This spring, following certification of the general election, the GBOS reorganized leadership duties along with the additional restructuring of roles to incorporate the Housing and Economic Stability responsibilities which voters approved in the April election.
The new co-chair to the GBOS grew up in several states including California, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Texas, Michigan, New Mexico, and lived abroad in Spain, with several other siblings. Her advanced education includes a degree in Political Economies of Industrialized Societies from University of California Berkeley, followed by promptly moving to Alaska. “Our toehold in Girdwood started about 25 years ago with a dry cabin in the Mines,” Wingard said. “Since then, my husband Ken and I have stuck like barnacles, gradually upgrading habitats and happily calcifying into place with our two kids, both of whom are in high school. Last year our family included a Swiss exchange student, and now hosting a student from Tajikistan,” she finished.
Wingard’s career and hobbies are intertwined. They include outdoor recreation, guide work, and instruction; piano and violin instruction; and property management, which she attributed to a natural outgrowth of a healthy remodeling addiction. The Turnagain News delved deeper into a myriad of pressing issues now facing the people of Girdwood by asking for her future vision and responding to some prepared questions.
1. What was your motivation to serve on the GBOS and more particular move into a key position of leadership of the Girdwood GBOS?I ran for GBOS under pressure from some community members and friends, and I viewed it as a civic responsibility. I became co-chair during the GBOS roles discussion a few months ago, and I’m still adjusting to both the shock and the role of the position.
2. Do you have any personal principles which guide you in land and resource growth, coupled with development decisions? I am passionate about the importance of community voice. I’ve come to realize it’s at the heart of many of the issues facing Girdwood. I think the underlying and unifying theme is Girdwood wants some say in decisions and projects which fundamentally, and often permanently, impact our town.
3. What is your opinion on the recent Holtan Hills proposed development? What I heard at the Municipality of Anchorage Assembly meetings about the Holtan Hills land parcels, from more than a hundred Girdwood residents, were clear statements that we need development, especially responsible development which meets our local economy’s most urgent needs. That is not a controversial or unusual request, and I hope we can move forward with the city assembly and administration to meet it. Though our interest in effective local involvement has been portrayed occasionally as “controversial”. Any community would want some say in land disposal and developments on publicly held land. There have been several instances over the past year when Girdwood was essentially invited to political theater, stages on which we were allowed speaking roles but not votes. They were situations in which we collectively spent hundreds of hours with no significant resultant changes in the proposed development. I think that has led to more automatic distrust of each new project, leading to a false perception of Girdwood opposing new development.
4. Your role on the GBOS encompasses land use. What do you believe this topic is one of our most important issues? I’m particularly interested in the decisions around development and sale of Girdwood Valley land held by Heritage Land Bank, referred to as HLB. About half of the lands HLB manages are in Girdwood, and HLB controls most of the remaining developable land in the valley. However, we have no influence in the employees hired to make decisions about those parcels, and there is only one designated Girdwood seat out of seven representatives on the HLB Advisory Council (HLBAC). Even that seat is appointed by the mayor, not elected. This situation seems predestined to discourage collaboration between the community and HLB staff, however hard-working and well-intentioned they are. There are further underlying organization structure issues as well. HLB was formed in the 1970’s, when market forces like vacation rentals and the work-from-home dynamics of our computerized, post-Covid world weren’t even dreamed of.
5. What changes would you like to see in the management of the Heritage Land Bank? Anchorage code stipulates that the HLB land sales must be “for at least the fair market value” and “shall be awarded to the highest qualified bidder”. Those requirements might have seemed logical in the 1970’s, but selling public lands to the highest bidder absolutely does not necessarily equate to the best use of those lands. In the case of Holtan Hills, Girdwood recognized that the proposed development would have added yet more strain on our local economy while providing little or no housing for local employees, amounting to a lost opportunity to use publicly held lands for the public good. It’s highly likely that related issues will arise with other HLB land disposals in the valley, including within the Industrial Park, along Ruane Road, and others, creating an unnecessary disconnect between Girdwood and HLB interests. We need to be looking beyond short-sighted analyses that focus on immediate profits from land sales rather than long-term costs and lost opportunities to plan for future economic vitality. The ramifications of that kind of decision-making affects Anchorage as well. Anchorage undeniably benefits from Girdwood being a world-class ski resort and vacation destination, so we should agree that what’s best for Girdwood’s economy, now and in the future, is also best for Anchorage. Imagine the things we could accomplish with that understanding and systems that encouraged mutually beneficial collaboration.
6. Housing in Girdwood is of upmost importance. How will you influence improvements in availability and development? Back when Girdwood was still battling the odiferous effects of an inadequate sewer system, who could’ve possibly foreseen our town being listed in the New York Times this year as one of the top ten places to invest? The Girdwood economy arguably now has more in common with other mountain resort communities than it does with the city of Anchorage. It’s time to question whether it’s still appropriate, or ever was, for HLB to be receiving and controlling all proceeds from land sales in the valley, particularly when Girdwood’s left bearing many of the infrastructure, environmental, and economic costs of resulting development. We should be (and are) questioning the control the city has over the Crow Creek Neighborhood Land Use Plan, which seemed to be used selectively for Holtan Hills and which apparently applies in perpetuity until the Assembly decides otherwise, regardless of what our community has to say about it. There are also questions about the extraordinary amount of bed and alcohol taxes Anchorage gets from Girdwood when little or nothing is returning to support infrastructure generating that revenue. The state of Colorado and many resort areas now use tourism dollars to support employees within the industry, specifically in the form of housing programs. It’s time for us to at least have the option of doing the same.
7. Girdwood and Pomeroy Lodging's relationship is viewed by many as needing improvement. How can you help improve the relationship? Alyeska Resort’s and Girdwood’s past, present, and futures are intricately tied together. Maintaining a good working relationship is in the best interest of both entities, so I’m confident that will continue with Pomeroy Lodging. The relationship between Girdwood and the resort is not based on a few individuals; it’s based on the cumulative relationships between management and employees; landlords and tenants; contractors and sub-contractors; and others. I’m encouraged GBOS voted in a representative from Pomeroy for the recently formed Girdwood Housing and Economic Committee, and Pomeroy’s management has been reaching out to local leaders and interest groups about their short and long-term goals.
8. How do you believe you can help improve the quality of life for GVSA residents over your tenure? I have relied heavily on the advice, hard work, and expertise of many Girdwood residents, and the last few years being on GBOS have taught me more about the Girdwood community than the previous few decades combined. I would like to continue fighting for Girdwood’s place at the table for decisions affecting our town, and to continue trying to network like-minded people together, so the ways in which our quality of life is improved are group projects and the results of as much community consensus as possible.
9. Anything else you feel strongly about that the Turnagain News readers should know about you? I welcome any projects or causes that community members bring forward, which helps GBOS represent our community, particularly if they disagree with me or with something GBOS has done or voted on. So, if you have something to say, please say!"