ISSUE #204: Skip A and Go Straight to Z (10/13/21)

"You have to be involved during midterm elections, you have to care about what happens at a school board level." -- Barack Obama

Your mail ballot for the November 2 election should be arriving any day now. The school board election is critical. Please vote! And if you have any questions about your ballot, please visit www.PitkinVotes.com My endorsement of Dr. Susan Zimet and Anna Zane can be read in my column from Sunday's Aspen Times HERE.

AND..  Since you often ask, HERE is how I am marking my ballot.

ISSUE #203: Who Lives There? (9/13/21)

"Sometimes it's very inconvenient to tell the truth."

-- Cynthia Kahohata

APCHA's long-awaited HomeTrek database is finally up and running. And while the data is incomplete, the story is no surprise. We have HUGE issues with how our housing inventory is and has been managed, and all indications are that it will only get worse.

Read my column in yesterday's Aspen Times HERE.

ISSUE #202: No COVID Test for You! (9/12/21)

"I hate prejudice, discrimination and snobbishness of any kind - it always reflects the person judging and not the person being judged. Everyone should be treated equally." -- Gordon Brown

My most recent column focused on a local private COVID testing center's refusal to administer a test because of the politics and personal choices of the person seeking one. It was national news and is a local disgrace. In response to my column, I received some of the most vile and hateful emails, attacking me for MY politics and wishing hideous things to happen to me for decrying this wrong. (Yes, via email, from people we all know.)

These letter-bombs do not daunt me in the least, but they do disgust me, just like discrimination on the basis of political preference and personal choice. I will continue to write on subjects that interest me and will always share exactly how I feel. I will name names where appropriate and always will.

Read my column in Sunday's Aspen Times HERE.

And, if perhaps you wonder if my personal Libertarian politics slanted my article to the point where it "went too far," please take a moment to read a column by my friend and colleague Meredith Carroll, who also writes for the Aspen Times. Our politics could not be more different, yet her take on the COVID test refusal is equally damning. Read it HERE.

ISSUE #201: If You Ignore It, Will It Go Away? (8/28/21)

"In boxing, they say it's the punch you don't see coming that knocks you out. In the wider world, the reality we ignore or deny is the one that weakens our most impassioned efforts toward improvement."-- Katherine Dunn

I'm trying to keep the drumbeat going about Aspen's traffic woes, but for now, it appears that the city wants to ignore them. It's not unlike how they treat the most pressing issues with our subsidized housing program.

Read last Sunday's column HERE.

ISSUE #200: No Green Light at the Virtue Signal (8/15/21)

"Why do they call it RUSH hour when nothing moves?" -- Anonymous

City Council can be counted on to prioritize pet projects above community needs, and their three goals for the coming year are no different. It's mind-blowing how they can put childcare, subsidized housing and climate policies above the untenable traffic plaguing our town.

It's time to do something - anything - to find a solution. There is no political will (nor space) to build a huge parking lot so we have to think differently.

Read my column in yesterday's Aspen Times HERE.

ISSUE #199: The Myth of Pandora: Just Open The Box!! (8/1/21)

"Pandora's box had been opened and monsters had come out. But there had been something hidden at the bottom of Pandora's box. Something wonderful. Hope" -- Lisa Marie Rice

Sunday's column features my endorsement of the re-zoning of "the Pandora's terrain" on Aspen Mountain from Rural and Remote to Ski-Recreation in order to accommodate a 153-acre addition to in-bounds skiing.

The BOCC will be taking this up later in the month and it should be a no-brainer.

Read it HERE.

If you agree, I encourage you to sign THIS petition.

ISSUE #198: Compost This! (7/18/21)

"Do not spread compost on the weeds."

-- William Shakespeare

City council is currently meeting to set its goals for the next two years. One idea being considered - in an effort to address climate change and extend the lifespan of the county landfill - is mandatory residential composting. My column in Sunday's Aspen Times makes clear what a stinky idea I think this is. Read it HERE.

AND.. ABOUT THE PETITION TO RE-ALLOCATE WHEELER FUNDS This is a premature action to force a measure onto the November ballot that, if approved by 60% of the voters, will split the Wheeler Opera House's RETT proceeds in half, with half staying with the Wheeler and the other half going to other arts uses, including remodeling the district theater. I agree that the Wheeler's bloated coffers ($39.3 million) are an easy target and definitely warrant some careful consideration, but this citizen-driven reallocation is a direct bypass of the legislative process. I get it - city council has been inept at best of late when it comes to making good community-minded decisions, but the Wheeler RETT is in their crosshairs and it is already a priority for a November 2022 ballot measure. In the meantime, council intends to weigh the various community needs before determining the best beneficiary of any re-allocation. So, when asked to sign a petition this week, don't. Let's consider all the community needs before automatically reallocating just to arts, culture and music. In the end, these may indeed be the designated beneficiaries, but when the community is screaming for mental health and additional childcare funding, this petition leaves them in the dust.

ISSUE #197: Aspen's Stationary Parade: Going Nowhere Fast (7/4/21)

"It will be celebrated with pomp and parade, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other."

-- John Adams

Ahhh, the Fourth of July in Aspen. It's perhaps our most beloved holiday. This year, bars, restaurants, and music venues are open. This morning, the traditional "Boogie's" runs take place, and tomorrow, the Aspen Music Festival and School hosts its cherished free concert of patriotic music at the tent. Flags are flying, beds and bellies are full.

But the City of Aspen can't get out of its own way. Or ours. They have cancelled the parade. Wait until you read about what they're doing instead. It's illustrative of how they think on most every issue they face.

Destroying traditions in the name of progressive re-imaginings are NOT our community values.

Read my column in today's Aspen Times HERE.

Incidentally, the city has a survey out to gauge your enthusiasm for their destruction of our cherished traditions. Somehow they're under the impression that re-imagining (destroying) our timeworn yet valuable holiday traditions into something "new" is a community value. Please take the time to answer the quick survey HERE and let them know IT IS MOST DEFINITELY NOT!

Happy 245th Birthday, U.S.A!! And may God Bless America.