Part of taking a foreign vacation is cutting ties with home and getting away from it all, especially when crossing the international dateline and waking up 14 hours ahead of Aspen time. But springtime and off-season in Aspen predictably enable governmental nonsense and shenanigans at City Hall, and spring 2012 has been no different. But it was somewhat amusing, a wee bit frightening and certainly ironic, amidst Politburo member Bo Xilai's corruption scandal and political activist Chen Guangcheng's "asylum" mess, to be checking in on our very own People's Republic over the internet from China, the communist motherland.

SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER

There's a notable new wave of public activism alight in our midst, and frankly, The Red Ant is elated. Citizens from Aspen and throughout the Roaring Fork Valley have organized, formed coalitions, and articulately expressed their views on a variety of perceived concerns, injustices and/or governmental over-reach to encouraging levels of publicity and outright success. This is a promising trend on many levels. An American's right to disagree with, speak out against and petition the government is a Constitutional right, protected by the 1^st amendment. In the close quarters of our small community, this right has long been suppressed by intimidation and fear of all-too-real reprisals. The chutzpah of the following "activists" is to be commended, regardless of your stance on their missions. (And authors of letters to the editor are to be equally championed.) Speaking truth to power is necessary and highly valuable to our democracy. To those of you involved, welcome to the neighborhood. I've been looking forward to your arrival!

• Geothermal Drilling Project: Neighbors of the Prokter Open Space parking lot across from Herron Park have received yet another reprieve from the city's large and loud geothermal drilling experiment. It seems the California-based contractor could not get here in time to continue and complete drilling beyond the 1000 feet they reached last fall without finding water. The neighbors voiced concerns over an industrial drilling site in their front yards during high-season, forcing council to put a May 25 stop-work deadline on the experiment. Look for the drilling to commence in the fall, however. (Remember, this is Aspen, and it's green energy at any cost.)
• Friends of Rivers and Renewables (FORR): Local filmmaker and environmentalist Chelsea Congdon Brundige has teamed up with Public Council of the Rockies' Tim McFlynn to form Friends of Rivers and Renewables (FORR) on the heels of the heated debate surrounding the city's controversial hydro plant on Castle Creek. But the organization is not focused on one specific issue. Rather, its intent is to "change the culture of our relationship with water" by working with communities to "ensure that the projects (they) pursue are developed with minimal harm to local freshwater ecosystems." Initially, FORR plans to install a comprehensive system of gauges on Roaring Fork streams to measure water levels in order to better understand their health, according to McFlynn. While FORR does not plan to weigh in on Aspen's Castle Creek Energy Center, the organization believes a balance between smart hydropower and the protection of riparian habitats is indeed possible. It is, however, not sure if the city's hydro plant can achieve that goal.
• Airport Expansion: Cliff Runge, former manager of the airport's fixed-base operator, has formed a group named "Citizens for Responsible Airport Development" in response to the county's requirement (by the FAA) to update its master plan for the airport. The group's concerns are several proposed ideas for the plan including an enlarged passenger terminal, the development of the west side (Owl Creek Road) of the airport for private aviation operations, and a multi-level parking structure, among others. The discussion has gained traction due to the ongoing print advertising by Runge's group as well as the County, which is offering "behind the scenes" tours, austensibly to provide a framework for the master plan.
• Plastic Bag Ban Overturned at the Polls in Basalt: Earlier this year, Basalt's "Green Team," comprised of residents and elected officials, promoted a ban on both plastic and paper grocery bags. Basalt's council supported the effort with an ordinance to institute a 20-cent fee (tax?) on both types of bags, slated to go into effect on May 1. But citizen and bag-ban opponent Ron Chorbajian saw the decision as "government overreach." He organized a petition drive and collected the necessary signatures to get the issue onto the April 4 ballot. In the meantime, the council modified the ordinance to echo Aspen's bag ban (no plastic, 20-cent fee on paper), but Basalt voters rejected this at the polls. Chorbajian said "winning made him feel good about the democratic process." As it should Ron, as it should.
• Don't forget the "Hydro" Petition in Aspen: Locals Ward Hauenstein and Maurice Emmer beat crazy odds when their effort to collect 600 voter signatures yielded 953, all collected over a 2-week period during the busy Aspen holidays. The result was that, for fear of a special election, council rescinded the ordinance that re-zoned part of the Marolt Open Space for industrial (hydro plant) use. Sadly, yet realistically, all council has to do is pass another identical ordinance on a whim in the future to get that industrial zoning back. What DID occur was that council made a commitment to place a "hydro" question on the upcoming November ballot. Effort organizers are not convinced however that council will write an up/down binding question on whether to continue building and spending millions on the hydro plant. In my opinion, they'll simply ask a vague and advisory question, and ignore the result. The hydro chapter is far from over, but the petition effort spoke loudly.

ANOTHER TAXPAYER-FUNDED BOONDOGGLE FOR MICK

Mick's abuse of power and council's fear of stopping him has netted him yet another taxpayer-funded vacation.

It worked last year, so he did it again. Mick just spent your tax dollars (amount t.b.d., it was just last week) on an off-season junket to California to see the Tour of California professional bike race in person. Technically, he really didn't ask; he simply announced his plans. That's how much control he has over the other 4 yes-men at the council table with him. His justification for the trip? Officials from the police and special events staffs went on a similar fact-finding trip last year for the USA Pro Cycling Challenge (which returns to Aspen for year #2 in August), but Mick wasn't there. "It's always best to check the facts out for yourself and go to the scene," Mick told the Daily News. Somehow his desire to know how other communities "pay for" similar events warranted a personal trip by our mayor. How about an email?

The Red Ant recently received a note from a frustrated subscriber who pointed out that "the Tour of California is in May, after Aspen's (2012) plans are already set. And Mick's term ends next June, before the 2013 race in Colorado. Even if the race stops in Aspen next year, his term will be up (and he will be gone). How is the city going to benefit from Mick's newly acquired wisdom?"

The answer: It won't. Are you kidding?

ASPEN TAPS YOU FOR FILTERED WATER

Our local greenies have gone "limousine" on us.

Look for 3 new public "filtered-water" stations in town this summer. Installations at the municipal golf course, Francis Whitaker Park and Koch Lumber Park will join last year's stations at Wagner Park, Conner Park next to city hall and at the skate park near the Rio Grande Trail. The "Aspen Tap Program" is designed to "wean residents and visitors off water sold commercially in plastic bottles made from oil products," according to the city's environmental health department. This year's 3 installations come at a cost of $44,600.

"Aspen Tap" is a pretty lame name for the program. After all, the stations don't provide "tap" water at all, rather filtered water for our persnickety greens. What ever happened to good old-fashioned drinking fountains?

The funds for this folly come out of the city's "water department enterprise fund," yet another bucket of cash the city dips into to indulge its wacky ideas. This is the fund into which all water utility service fees are deposited and out of which all operating and capital improvement costs of the water are supposed to come. And it's also the source for the millions of dollars of cost-overruns incurred by the city on the ill-conceived and mismanaged construction of the yet-to-be-federally-approved hydro plant on Castle Creek.

In 2012, the city plans to spend about $3M more than they take in. They've been burning cash from this fund for quite a while. At the end of 2008, the cash balance was $9.6M and in 2009 it was $9.9M. Since then, the balance has been sliding downward to $7.9M in 2010 and further to $6.8M last year. The budgeted balance for 2012 is $3.8M.

We clearly have too much "funny money" in slush funds at city hall - an endless supply of slush from what they see as an endless supply of other people's money. And to think, they are looking at raising water rates yet again.

VELOCI-RFTA & THE NATURAL GAS HYPOCRISY

Public transportation advocates (read: our local government) are caught between a rock and a hard place ("fracking" pun intended) in their attempts to balance their enthusiasm for environmentally friendly natural gas-powered buses in the Roaring Fork Transit Authority (RFTA) fleet with utter disdain for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) drilling in general.

In the Roaring Fork Valley, the green light is on for a revolution in local bus transportation. The $46.4 million "Veloci-RFTA" project broke ground recently, and by September 2013, will offer bus riders from South Glenwood Springs to Aspen a bevy of new conveniences, including warm, dry bus stations with WiFi, bathrooms and public art, electronic ticketing and real-time bus arrival information. The Federal Transportation Administration kicked in $25 million for the project, and a year ago, voters in Pitkin County (and other RFTA jurisdictions) approved bonds to cover the balance. Ugh.

But the crazy part is, the 18 new buses will run on compressed natural gas (CNG). This has our local greenies in a tailspin. On one hand, CNG is far less expensive than diesel fuel and far better for the environment, but locally, there is a huge brou-ha-ha over CNG drilling leases in the Thompson Divide area near Carbondale. Greenies can be NIMBYs too; they want the benefits of a smaller carbon footprint by RFTA of course, but don't want the "cost" of nearby CNG drilling nor any indication of their support for CNG drilling anywhere. Leave it to Aspen's environmental initiatives manager to tell the RFTA board, "My concern is seeing environmental benefits erased in the name of cost savings." Typical. Note how she neglects to acknowledge the (significant and obvious) "environmental benefits" of switching from diesel fuel to CNG! Can't have it both ways, folks! Some would call it hypocrisy, but in Aspen, remember, it's always "green" at ANY cost! (Note: The CNG-powered buses have been ordered.)

ASPEN SCHOOLS: A TAXING DILEMMA

There's a quick way to "fix" the local school district's funding problems. And - surprise - it does not involve yet another tax for a change! (The Aspen School District has received voter approval for many bond measures and mill-levy increases in recent years. The community loves its schools but is sick of getting taxed and taxed again.) I have a solution. It will take some elbow grease, but collecting approximately 1500 signatures at the Saturday Market this summer is certainly not a tall order.

There is no question that the school district faces future budget cuts and the Aspen Education Foundation (AEF) is actively looking at viable solutions to the inevitable financial shortfalls. To ask voters for a 0.35 percent sales tax increase on retail sales within the school district boundaries is simply taking the easy way out. And taxpayers might just reject another tax increase, regardless of the beneficiary, especially when they learn that there was better option presented.

Instead, The Red Ant has presented and is championing a "reallocation" of one-third of the existing Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) revenue that currently goes to the Wheeler Opera House. Sitting on a nearly $30 million endowment built up by the RETT, the Wheeler has no upcoming development plans, and still receives $1.5+ million in operating subsidies (and counting) from the city every year. This won't change. To "relieve" the Wheeler of its RETT revenue for the next 5-10 years (at which point the reallocation would revert back unless extended by the voters) in favor of the Aspen schools is certainly a viable proposition. And voters will surely prefer the reallocation of an existing tax to a new one!

I encourage the Aspen Education Foundation to actively pursue this route instead of a sales tax increase. My early indicators (through the grapevine) are extremely favorable in terms of voter approval. But there is one sticking point. AEF leaders met recently with mayor Mick and his sidekick Torre to see about putting such a measure on the November ballot. Both said no. (Ya think?) Mick of course expressed his support for an increased sales tax, however. But this is not the end. AEF must realize that with a little work and some boots on the ground, they can circulate a citizens' petition and get their "reallocation" measure on the November ballot. Let's hope they do. AEF: please don't simply take the "easy way" out and ask for a sales tax increase with such a solid solution close by!  Check with hydro petition leaders Ward Hauenstein and Maurice Emmer! It's really not that hard!

COMPARED TO WHAT?

A big shout-out to Aspen High School, recently ranked #1 in Colorado and 59^th nationally by US News and World Report. This incredible recognition is for our local students, educators and frankly, the taxpayers who foot the bill. As columnist Roger Marolt recently noted, this award benefits property owners in Aspen as well, due to a "substantially large" non-linear relationship between real property owners and school quality. To quote Marolt, "Cha-ching!"

But before we let such an accolade go to our heads, and perhaps lead us to justify and blindly support any and all new taxes to support the schools, there are some important thoughts on the newsmagazine's methodology for bestowing this honor. (I do not mean to diminish this recognition in any way, but want to acknowledge several determining criteria for this exceptional ranking.)

Please take a moment to read this week's column by Paul Menter entitled "We're Number One." The former city finance director and father of two graduating seniors at Aspen High (congratulations Jordan and Alex!) thoughtfully examines the news weekly's three-step process that sent Aspen to the top of the class.

In short, Aspen High, based on its 2010 CSAP test scores (step 1), ranks 17^th in math and 12^th in reading out of the 40 Colorado high schools considered in the ranking. Step 2 measured the performance of its "least advantaged" students, reported by Aspen as "N/A." The strength of Aspen's Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) participation and passing rates served to generate a "college readiness" measure (step 3). This is clearly what put Aspen on top.

Keep up the great work, Aspen. But rest not on your laurels. As Menter concludes, "In education, it's not about how a newsmagazine compares you to thousands of other schools, it's about how successful you are in helping students achieve individual academic success."

MY RIDDICU-LIST: THE "YOU CAN'T MAKE IT UP" FILE

The latest installment of complete buffoonery at City Hall was the transportation department's April 11 "free beginner cycling class." No, this class was not a primer on how to conserve gears for your ride to the Bells, nor was it a valuable lesson on how to change a tire. Rather, it was "an effort to inspire people to commute via bicycle," including a "refresher" on "rules of the road and basic cycling skills." Puh-lease.   I was airborne over the Pacific during this nutty event, so sadly, I cannot comment firsthand, but to have observed our municipal employees teaching the merits of "bunny hopping over curbs, balance and turning tight corners" to Aspen's biking-uninitiated in hopes of turning them into bicycle commuters would surely have been a sight. Ahh the lengths our government will go in their (mayoral-driven) efforts to eliminate cars in Aspen.

IN THE BREEZE: LOCAL TOPICS BLOWING AROUND

• Galena Street: Will Mick's hatred of cars (and their owners) be the impetus for closing Galena Street to traffic and paving it over in red bricks just like the Cooper Street and Hyman Avenue malls? He's lobbying hard for it.
• 3^rd Story Variances: The city's online "open city hall" feature on its website is a complete joke. Asking citizens to weigh in on what they would like to see as 3^rd floor additions in the downtown core is a gratuitous exercise at best. Nobody at city hall cares. Mick has already said he wants to ban condos and free market residences, and limit third floors to tourist lodging, retail space and other "local serving" businesses. And as you know, what Mick wants, Mick gets. Don't waste your time.
• Airport Master Plan: Get informed. I've read the papers and the ads. I also took a "behind the scenes" tour. Trust me, I learned A LOT. No propaganda. I'll share my thoughts and opinions in an upcoming issue. Like everything else in this community, it helps to get personally informed. Go see what we have (it's pretty incredible). It will surely help frame what we need, and perhaps what we want. Take a tour. Call 429-2852.