State of the Valley: Leaders talk challenges, exude optimism at annual Vail Symposium forum
Panelists praise valley's multiple partnerships for successes in the community
The Vail Symposium’s State of the Valley panel this year brought a broad array of perspectives to a number of topics, but most shared a general optimism about the community and its future.
Discussing the current state of the valley, Paige Baker-Braxton, Vail Health’s director of outpatient behavioral health, acknowledged that the state of the valley from her perspective is “complicated,” with problems of substance abuse, along with decades of undertreated or untreated mental health issues. On the other hand, she said, “Until I moved to Eagle County, I didn’t have a home for my family.”
- Moderator: Former District Judge Tom Moorhead
- Melisa Rewold-Thuon: Eagle County School District
- Paige Baker-Braxton: Vail Health Behavioral Health
- Magda King: General Manager, The Antlers Vail
- Chris Romer: Vail Valley Partnership President and CEO
- Jeff Shroll: Eagle County Manager
Responding to another question about mental health challenges from panel moderator Tom Moorhead, a former district judge, Baker-Braxton said she doesn’t want people to think there aren’t answers to hard questions and encouraged people to have more dinner conversations, with less alcohol and screen time.
Magda King, the general manager of the Antlers Vail, is also a member of the Eagle Valley Behavioral Health Board of Directors. King said she tries to focus as much as possible on the 50 employees at the Antlers and their families.
“You do what is possible within your reach,” King said.
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Big concerns
Moorhead asked panel members what currently causes them the most concern.
Melisa Rewold-Thuon, the assistant superintendent of student support services for the Eagle County School District, said the valley’s cost of living is one of her big worries. A publicly funded organization is limited in what it can pay its people, Rewold-Thuon said. That means “we’re going to keep losing people,” and that has an overall effect on the community.
Vail Valley Partnership President and CEO Chris Romer said retention is a concern in the private sector, too. Romer noted that Eagle County has lost population — about 1,300 people — since 2020.
The cost of living — multiple times the national average — can mean it can be difficult if not impossible for some people to survive in the valley, Baker-Braxton added.
While there are plenty of causes for concern, Moorhead received a variety of answers when he asked panelists for their favorite causes for optimism in the near future.
Eagle County Manager Jeff Shroll said he’s optimistic that the county will soon break ground on an international terminal, primarily for visitors from Central and South America. Shroll also said he’s optimistic about “growth, not necessarily people-wise, but about how we solve problems.”
Romer noted that people around the state often ask him how Eagle County can successfully tackle so many issues.
“I tell them it’s because we have a unique spirit of collaboration,” Romer said.
Baker-Braxton said the valley’s resources make her optimistic, from the way her young children are being nurtured to the fact that so many local nonprofits were represented in Wednesday’s audience at the Eagle River Presbyterian Church.
She noted there was so much in the session that the Vail Symposium had to change the event’s location.
The power of partnership
“Partnerships are the key,” Rewald-Thuon said. “We have some great resources,” she added noting that the school district has built 34 apartments, with more coming.
In addition to the panelists, the session was also open to questions from the audience. One attendee asked about the prospect of mountain rail, to which Romer replied, only half-joking, “not in my lifetime,” adding that the economics simply don’t work without freight.
Shroll noted that the Eagle Valley line has been abandoned since 1997, with a lot of homes and businesses built right up to the tracks.
Another audience member noted that older people are the fastest-growing segment of the valley’s population, and asked what’s being done to address the needs of those people.
“That’s something we’ve been grappling with,” Vail Health CEO Will Cook said, adding that the community may have to come together to do something similar to what’s been done with behavioral health over the past several years.
But, Romer added, “Those discussions have started.”
As the session wound down, Shroll noted he’d like to see turnouts like Wednesday’s at more meetings.
“We’re better at solving things together,” he said. “We need to hear from the community. … It’s not going to be easy, but call me, or call my directors…
“We’re stronger with your voice.”