Jen Mason, a ‘worker bee’ who was always in the know, reflects on 8 years on Vail Town Council

To many of her fellow Vail Town Council members, Jen Mason was seen as the heart of the council during her eight years of service.

“Her friendships throughout the community know no bounds and she brings those friendships with her to council,” said Council member Jonathan Staufer.

“Frequently, the business of government and politics get drowned out by discussions of business and finance. Jen is always there to remind us that, at the end of the day, everything we do is about people and people care deeply about this community and what happens to it,” he added.

Mason — alongside Kevin Foley and Kim Langmaid — completed her most recent term on the Town Council in November 2023. It’s the first time in 18 years that Mason hasn’t served on a town board or council.

Coming to Vail

Mason officially moved to Vail in 1994, following her parents who had moved here during her freshman year of college in 1989.

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However, even before moving to Vail full-time, Mason began working in customer service in Vail during the summers at the town’s welcome center. She quickly began to know “where everything was and what it was in town,” she said. At this time, she also spent a lot of time at her mom’s coffee shop, which existed in the Vail Transportation Center where La Cantina sits today. It was there that she met most of her friends.

In 1994, she took a full-time job as a host at the resort, one she referred to as “the best job on the mountain,” Mason said.

She worked there through the 1999 World Ski Championships where she first became aware of the Vail Valley Foundation.

“I really wanted to work for them. And so, I took a job at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in 2001, hoping that it would turn into a full-time job,” Mason said.

And it did. Mason started full-time with the foundation later that year, where she worked for 18 years until moving to the Colorado Snowsports Museum in 2019, where she now works as the executive director.

Going for government

It was during her time with the Vail Valley Foundation that Mason first got a glimpse at the power of local government and her voice within it.

Mason had been serving on the town’s Art in Public Places board since 2005, and in 2015 she went to the Town Council as a citizen. Working at the Ford Amphitheater, Mason dealt firsthand with a confusing bus route and single stop at the park. So, she suggested that the town add another bus stop to ease the confusion.

“And they did it, I was just blown away. I never thought it was going to work,” Mason said. “I realized you really can make a difference.”

It was this experience as well as former Council member Jen Bruno that inspired her to run for council in 2015. Mason had always viewed Town Council as a job for retirees, but seeing how Bruno balanced her Town Council service with other committee positions, her business and her family showed Mason that it was possible to do it.

“When I first started, (Town Council) didn’t have so many worker bees, but that’s changed, which is so cool,” Mason said. “I’m so excited for this new council because I feel like everybody on the council has a job and they work. I love that.”

Mason was elected to Town Council in 2015 and ran for re-election in 2019.

“I had zero agenda,” Mason said. “I just love where I live, and saw this as a good way for me to give back.”

Plus, it was an easy transition for her, because she knew a lot of people in town through her role with the Vail Valley Foundation and working with the World Ski Championships.

During these eight years, she believes that her approachable nature — and being a “worker bee” — made her a valuable asset to council.

“People felt comfortable telling me how they felt. I’m easy to talk to, so I got lots of feedback from the community,” Mason said. “I feel like I was a good listener to people.”

Her fellow council members agree. Travis Coggin, who is now serving as the town’s mayor, served on Town Council with Mason for six years. Coggin said that “working in the heart of town, she was always in the know.”

“Jen was always approachable and happy to chat with anyone,” he said.

In those eight years, it’s the council’s progress on housing that Mason said she is most proud of. Specifically, she sees the development of the Chamonix neighborhood — which happened early in her first term — as well as the accumulation of town-owned, deed-restrictions as the biggest contributions.

As the new Town Council is seated, it’s what Mason hopes “they continue looking at creative ways to find and build workforce housing.”

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“I’m super excited because I feel like new people bring new perspectives,” she added.

To Coggin, Mason’s specific legacy on the council will be seen in her advocacy for the Art in Public Places Board as well as in her work to preserve the skiing history of the town and mountain.

However, her service was clouded slightly by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing legal battle with Vail Resorts over Booth Heights. Both of which brought division to the community, Mason said.

Still, with both challenges, Mason said she learned that all she could do was vote with her heart.

“I’m voting with how I feel is right, and that’s all I can do,” Mason said. “And whether or not people saw it that way — some people did and some people didn’t — that was hard because it was very dividing.”

As Mason steps back from her service with the town for the first time in 18 years, she’s not sure how she’ll fill her newly found free time yet. One idea she’s playing with is starting a program to cultivate new leaders from the younger generations in the community. However, no matter what is next, Mason will miss working with and being so connected to the town.

“The town of Vail is the best employer in town and has the best staff,” she said. “They really put together a phenomenal team and that’s what makes Vail more fun.”