Eagle council candidate Shawn Bruckman in her own words

The Vail Daily is running Q&A’s with the nine candidates running for four seats on the Eagle Town Council. The questionnaires will run in the order that the candidates appear on the ballot. The town is participating in Eagle County’s coordinated election. Ballots will be mailed out Oct. 8.

Name: Shawn Bruckman

Occupation: Edaphologist, soil health consultant, small business owner at The Ground Up, director of sustainability and compost operations manager at Vail Honeywagon

Neighborhood: Old Town/Downtown Eagle

Length of residence in Eagle: Four years in the town of Eagle, 13 years in Eagle County

Support Local Journalism

Donate

Have you served on any other boards or commissions, in Eagle or otherwise? Eagle County Conservation District (current board supervisor); Colorado Compost Council (current co-chair); Climate Action Collaborative (current member of Material Management and Carbon Sequestration Sub-committees); New Roots CO (past secretary); EagleVail Community Garden (past president)

Why do you want this job? I want this opportunity to serve my community because I care about my town and I have substantial experience working with fellow community leaders to execute projects. My experience has connected me to state level politics and funding, longtime local ranchers, many of the daily infrastructure needs of the valley and the work-life balance of the food and beverage and hospitality industries. Eagle is going to see big changes in the near future, and I would be a strong council member voice coming from the old town district, if elected. That voice will be filled with a passion for environmental stewardship through healthy land use and local food systems. Let’s grow together!

What has the current Eagle Town Council done well? What could it have done better? The town has been working hard on visioning its inevitable growth in the past few years through the adoption of the comprehensive plan, the strategic plan and recently adopted climate action goals. They have engaged the public in future planning through surveys, work sessions and assessments and I think public input is crucial in all community decision making to foster smart growth. We can’t lose sight of the qualities that make our town special: outdoor access and land stewardship, healthy, safe, walkable and bikable communities, sustainable and strategic development and economic resilience. Something that could have been addressed more strategically is the lack of parking planned for all the new development that has been approved around town.

If elected, what’s the main thing you’d like to see the council accomplish in the next two or four years? Traffic flow and parking are topics of notable importance in Eagle. Supporting economic vitality for small businesses and local entrepreneurs in Eagle is a high priority for me. I would also like to see the Palmer Fund gain traction to support more sustainable initiatives in town.

What are your thoughts on the town’s plan for the East Eagle Sub Area? How should the town prioritize land use to attract the kinds of developments that will best support the broader Eagle community in the years to come? This area is just one of many proposed developments that is going to shape the future of our town, so it is important that we make smart and calculated decisions now as we are slated to update the town’s Land Use code and determine the conditions upon which more development occurs. Offering mixed uses in East Eagle can open more doors for business to thrive here, fostering more jobs and economic opportunity, and support a variety of uses not as compatible with other parts of Eagle, while still offering more housing and vibrant engagement in that area too.

How should the town of Eagle work toward achieving its recently adopted goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2030? Luckily, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to atmospheric carbon reduction, a myriad of solutions has been documented on this topic. A team of local experts has also determined a number of projects from this list best suited for Eagle, including solar photovoltaics and energy storage, net-zero building and electrical upgrades, food waste reduction, composting and land regeneration, and multi-modal transportation. We have to develop a multi-pronged approach to climate action in our community, and I think Eagle is poised to be an influential leader in demonstrating mountain town climate solutions.