Eagle Council candidate Weston Gleiss in his 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: Weston Gleiss

Occupation: High school civics teacher

Neighborhood: The Bluffs

Length of residence in Eagle: Nine years in the valley, six years in Eagle

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Have you served on any other boards or commissions, in Eagle or otherwise? I am the vice president of my homeowners association.

Why do you want this job? This is a wonderful town to live in, and I want to make sure it continues to be that way for my children. People are drawn to the community of Eagle, and I want to make sure Eagle is able to maintain that character as it grows.

What has the current Eagle Town Council done well? What could it have done better? I think the current council has done a good job creating a positive community. They have promoted a good community through events like the Block Party, the Eagle Outside Festival, the Show Downtown, the outdoor ice rink, the Christmas tree burning,and the countless races and kids camps.

They could improve on the promotion of new and existing business. They can do this through zoning, infrastructure and potential tax incentives. We need to make sure we promote the types of businesses that offer careers for our residents.

If elected, what’s the main thing you’d like to see the council accomplish in the next two or four years? Over the next four years, I would like to see businesses that offer career opportunities set up shop in Eagle. This will help the town as it will increase our revenue and allow us to offer more amenities to our citizens. It will help our people by giving them the opportunity to own a home, eat at restaurants, shop in our shops and enjoy all our town has to offer.

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? The zoning that was laid out in the early August meeting was a great start. Encouraging business development is crucial in bringing good paying jobs to Eagle. Bringing business to Eagle will offer a positive return on investment for the town and allow us to continue to improve the quality of life for our residents. The plan also addresses the need for housing by incorporating workforce housing into the plan. This can help new and existing businesses in the area by ensuring their employees have a quality housing option.

How should the town of Eagle work towards achieving its recently adopted goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2030? We need to start internally and ensure that town of Eagle facilities are operating with zero carbon emissions. We can also work with the businesses to incentivize them to build and maintain their facilities, so they align with our zero-carbon plan.