An election mailer against the Lift One Corridor Plan quoted an Aspen Times reporter without permission and had incorrect information credited to that reporter.
The Aspen Times in no way is affiliated to the mailer, which went out to Aspen voters this week, and does not approve of the use of the reporter’s name.
We have reached out to the author of the mailer, Alex Biel, who said it was a misunderstanding and apologized. We were not asked nor did we provide any facts for his printed material. If we had, we would have told him the correct information is that it was over a 90 percent occupancy rate in Aspen and Snowmass on President’s Day Weekend, from Friday to Monday.
Times reporter Carolyn Sackariason was interviewing Biel on Feb. 14 about the formation of his committee against the ballot question. He told the Times on Tuesday that he misheard the occupancy number that she cited for a day in the middle of the week in the context of whether Aspen needs more “hot beds.”
Biel did not disclose that he was using any information from his conversation with Sackariason for campaign material.
Biel also said last week it was an error that he did not include the Committee for Improvement of Lift One Corridor Plan as the entity behind two mailers that were sent to voters.
Recommended Stories For You
If your name has been used without permission in any election material this year, please reach out to Aspen Times editor David Krause at dkrause@aspentimes.com.