Olsen announces write-in campaign for Hamilton mayor

“I compared it to my tax bill in 2015 and found the City of Hamilton taxes had gone up much faster than from either the school district or the county, and much faster than inflation,” says James Olsen, who has announced his write-in campaign for mayor of Hamilton.

Olsen was surprised to find that the Hamilton 2025/26 preliminary budget passed by the City Council included a raise for the Mayor – which he had requested – to $32,000 a year, an entire year’s wages for many workers in  Hamilton, for someone whose bio states he has another full-time job. “I will work whatever hours it takes,” says Olsen, “but that is more than I could accept in good conscience.” 

Everybody knows the property taxes are rising; it is time to do something about it,  says Olsen. “We begin by treating every dollar as someone’s hard earned wages and make sure every dollar is spent for a worthwhile service the public needs. That means working with the department heads and the employees of the City of Hamilton to make the operation as efficient and effective as possible. If the public doesn’t need it, and it is not absolutely required by law, we need to ask why the City of Hamilton is doing it.”  

Olsen also takes issue with proposed new zoning regulations. The new zoning, which is expected to be passed by December, is by far the most far-reaching action the City of Hamilton has contemplated since the 1990s.

“It will forever change Hamilton, converting it into a land-grabbing urban center,” says Olsen. “When I looked at the text, it has nice words about infill while preserving the traditional neighborhoods and providing affordable housing. It will do neither. The single-family housing zone will be eliminated and replaced by fourplexes. It is a plan to urbanize Hamilton.  

“The idea that increasing housing density will solve the affordable housing crisis is not true — and there are plenty of examples. Having worked with the Bitterroot Affordable Housing Coalition for several years, I am aware of the intractable nature of the problem. However, the hard fact is that the numbers I examine suggest that at least one third of our workforce cannot afford to rent a place in Hamilton. This is a nationwide problem that Hamilton can take the lead in solving — providing affordable rent without relying on Section 8-like subsidies. It will be my top priority whether or not the new zoning is passed.” 

Son of a career naval aviator, Olsen is a veteran of the US Air Force and has successfully run large defense contracts both in the Air Force and in industry. In the early 90s he “ married into the valley” to Mary Byers, a local fabric artist who had been the fire lookout at Sula Peak.