I’ve heard three of the Aspen mayoral candidates deliver their pitches seriatim. Had their identities been disguised by witness protection I couldn’t distinguish among them; except one brags more than the others with less justification.
Two have been on City Council for the past six or eight years. The other was on two previous councils; he claims credit for anything he likes that happened while he served, whether his role was significant or nil. All argue our biggest issues relate to affordable housing (we don’t know what we have or who’s living in it, but we need to find out), traffic (something must be done), and recruiting a better city manager than the last one.
If you attend a forum where the candidates deliver their stultifying pitches, here are questions to ask. You’ve been on council for X years. Why didn’t you ensure we got an accurate inventory of affordable housing and a census of the residents? If you haven’t solved the traffic challenges in your X years, why should you be given more time? Why did you wait until an election was looming to terminate a city manager who under-performed for years while you were on council (and in one case, why couldn’t you decide it was time for him to go)?
Maurice Emmer Aspen