Steamboat Springs City Council member Ed Briones announced that he would not seek reelection to his fellow council members on Tuesday, creating an open race for the two-year, at-large seat in November.
Briones said he felt like he was able to accomplish some of the goals he had when he ran for council, including prioritizing affordable housing and passing the short-term rental tax. He also wants to be able to focus more on his job with Mount Werner Water.
“I set out what I needed to do as far as affordable housing and the short-term rental tax,” Briones said. “That’s kind of done for now, and I feel I set out some goals to do and I reached my goals.”
Briones was elected for a two-year term in November 2021, beating his opponent by nearly 2,000 votes. During his campaign for the seat, Briones said that he feels the state of affordable housing in Steamboat had surpassed emergency status and that the city needed to partner with entities like Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. and the lodging industry to help address the issue.
During the campaign, he also called the Yampa Valley Housing Authority’s Brown Ranch project a step in the right direction, according to a column he submitted to Steamboat Pilot & Today. In an interview with The Yampa Valley Bugle after announcing his decision, Briones said getting an annexation agreement is a priority not completed, but that he was hopeful to “have that achieved before I go.”
Around the time Briones was elected in 2021, he was also promoted at the water district to supervisor of distribution and collection, a role that has a pretty strict time commitment during the day. That commitment made it hard to participate in some of the subcommittees he serves on.
“The time constraints with my job, I feel I’m selling the city short,” Briones said. “There’s a lot of subcommittees that I sit on that I can’t attend because they are midweek and midday. … I’m not totally leaving the community; I’m serving the community in a different way.”
Briones said he ran for council because he had long been an “arm-chair quarterback” in private, but hadn’t been public about some of his views. He encouraged people who feel they are in a similar situation to do the same.
“[I] encourage people to get involved in the city,” Briones said. “If you want to make change and be an influence in this town, run for city council.”