Mayoral candidates talk leadership styles at library forum
JACKSON, Wyo. — Mayoral candidates Arne Jorgensen and Jessica Sell Chambers appeared at a public forum at the Teton County Library on Thursday, Sept. 19, ahead of the Nov. 5 election. While the majority of the interactions between the coworkers (both serve on Town Council) was friendly, tensions rose during the closing arguments.
League of Women Voters member Susan Dong moderated the discussion, including questions from media panelists Dante Filpula Ankney (KHOL) and Marianne Zumberge (Buckrail).
The forum was off to a jocular start; when asked what kind of role they tend to assume in a team setting, Sell Chambers compared herself to Billy Beane, the baseball executive depicted in the movie "Moneyball" (2011).
"I'm the teammate that says, 'Hey, we can do things differently,'" Sell Chambers said. "We've been doing a lot of the same things for a really long time that aren't working, and we can do things in a different way, in a bold way. We're in a crisis with housing, childcare, the cost of living. ... I would make courageous and different decisions."
Jorgensen, responding to the same question, said his role depends on the makeup of any given team.
"As the leader of a team — the mayor, in this situation — it's a matter of working with the community as issues come up, and recognizing that we each come to these discussions with different strengths and being willing to accommodate that," Jorgensen said. "It's also showing up for the work. I'm not a performative politician. I'm not out there looking for the headline. I want to get the work done. When I hear a question, when I hear a concern, I will sit down with staff, I will sit down with the public comment to work through what that question is."
Sell Chambers said she would focus on preserving community character by retaining working class residents, and by making sure kids who grow up in Jackson can afford to live in the area as adults. Similarly, Jorgensen said he hoped to expand the number of rentable living spaces in town to accommodate a wide variety of community members.
The atmosphere in the room shifted when it came time for the closing statements.
Sell Chambers used her allotted time to confront Jorgensen about two incidents — one from 2018 and one from this past week — in which he didn't say anything when she informed him she was offended by sexually inappropriate jokes told by other men. In response, Jorgensen said he has worked hard to be respectful in these situations. He wrapped up his closing statement by saying he's proud that he has helped people step into positions of power in the community, including women.
The event was presented by the League of Women Voters of Wyoming, Teton County Library, the Jackson Hole News&Guide, KHOL Radio and Buckrail.
