{"id":2442017,"date":"2019-03-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=302328"},"modified":"2019-03-22T08:37:07","modified_gmt":"2019-03-22T14:37:07","slug":"aspen-mayoral-finalists-mullins-torre-defend-records-before-runoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-mayoral-finalists-mullins-torre-defend-records-before-runoff\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen mayoral finalists Mullins, Torre defend records before runoff"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.7595772787318\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-302328-21\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/squirmcouncil-atd-032219-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/squirmcouncil-atd-032219-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | Mayoral candidates Torre, left, and Ann Mullins talk after Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"9\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/squirmcouncil-atd-032219-1.jpg\" alt=\"Mayoral candidates Torre, left, and Ann Mullins talk after Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>Mayoral candidates Torre, left, and Ann Mullins talk after Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/squirmcouncil-atd-032219-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/squirmcouncil-atd-032219-1-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | Mayoral candidate Torre talks at Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"8\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/squirmcouncil-atd-032219-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Mayoral candidate Torre talks at Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Mayoral candidate Torre talks at Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/squirmcouncil-atd-032219-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/squirmcouncil-atd-032219-1-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | Mayoral candidate Ann Mullins talks at Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"8\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/squirmcouncil-atd-032219-1-2.jpg\" alt=\"Mayoral candidate Ann Mullins talks at Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Mayoral candidate Ann Mullins talks at Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/squirmcouncil-atd-032219-1-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/squirmcouncil-atd-032219-1-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | Mayoral candidates Torre, left, and Ann Mullins talk at Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"9\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/squirmcouncil-atd-032219-1-3.jpg\" alt=\"Mayoral candidates Torre, left, and Ann Mullins talk at Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>Mayoral candidates Torre, left, and Ann Mullins talk at Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/aspen-mayoral-finalists-mullins-torre-defend-records-before-runoff\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/aspen-mayoral-finalists-mullins-torre-defend-records-before-runoff\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">Aspen\u2019s two candidates in the mayoral runoff spent a good portion of a campaign forum Thursday defending their voting records during their time as officeholders while declaring they have the right leadership skills to lead collaborative efforts among an opinionated community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Squirm Night, hosted by Aspen\u2019s two daily newspapers and GrassRoots TV, was held at City Hall and was the first candidate forum during the runoff-election season pitting former eight-year councilman Torre against Ann Mullins, who is in the second year of her final four-year term as councilwoman.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The April 2 runoff election comes after neither candidate captured the 50 percent plus one vote needed to claim victory in the March election, which had four contestants for mayor. <a id=\"N0x17ac9e0N0x16efc50:N0x17ac9e0N0x17d6838\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-mayor-torre-ann-mullins-will-be-in-april-runoff\/\">Torre was the top vote-getter<\/a> with 1,281 cast his way, while Mullins generated 940.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The <a id=\"N0x17ac9e0N0x16efcb0:N0x17ac9e0N0x17d6958\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/lift-one-proposal-aspen-voters-approve-new-base-area-by-26-votes\/\">contentious Lift One project<\/a> will certainly be in purview of the next City Council, and both candidates have distinguished their positions on the Aspen Mountain development.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Torre campaigned against it, while Mullins showed her unyielding support.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">By a 26-vote difference, Aspen\u2019s electorate approved the Lift One corridor project in March. That decision paves the way for development on the western portal of Aspen Mountain of more than 320,000 square feet of commercial space, including the 107,000-square-foot timeshare project known as the Lift One Lodge and a 64,000-square-foot luxury hotel called the Gorsuch Haus. It also includes the replacement of Lift 1A down the mountain another 500 feet from its current lower terminal location to Dean Street.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Squirm Night co-moderator Carolyn Sackariason, The Aspen Times\u2019 city hall reporter, remarked she had heard the Lift One election was one of the most divisive issues in Aspen for a long while. That led to the question of which candidate could lead a city with such varying opinions about the future of development in Aspen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI don\u2019t think our community is divided (as much as) our goals and aspirations maybe, as this vote seems to say,\u201d Torre said, noting that now that the election has passed, \u201cmy intention is to do the best I can to help this project to be the best it can be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Mullins said, \u201cTo me, this is one of the biggest challenges for a new mayor, hopefully myself, because (the vote) was not a mandate, which is 60-40.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Like Torre, Mullins said realizing the project\u2019s greatest potential will be a chief task of the next mayor, while also making \u201csure the developer follows through with everything that\u2019s a promise. Nothing gets left on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Torre was questioned about his level of involvement, as a non-elected official, in the public meetings concerning Lift One.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI attended less than a handful; three meetings total,\u201d he said, remarking that the project proposal advanced to levels of development he did not expect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe Lift One corridor, I didn\u2019t think it would see the light of day or the support of council it received.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Torre also said he was not vocal at the meetings he attended because a majority of the council seemed set on its ways to send the multi-pronged proposal to voters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Torre and Mullins also found themselves justifying some of their council votes that led to polarizing projects. Torre voted in approval of the Aspen Art Museum, which has been either heralded or blistered with criticism about its exterior design. During 2012, <a id=\"N0x17ac9e0N0x16efd10:N0x17ac9e0N0x17d7018\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/how-2012-shaped-the-city-of-aspens-moratorium-strategy\/\">he also introduced an emergency ordinance<\/a> aimed at downzoning Aspen\u2019s Commercial Core District and the Commercial District on the west side of town. Emergency ordinances require four votes from City Council, and Torre mustered three. The result was what the city said was an unusual number of land-use applications that effectively defeated purpose of the proposed ordinance, which later was passed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Torre, however, said he stood by his decision and had been working behind the scenes for nearly two weeks in advance of his proposal. He also said he talked to Councilman Adam Frisch about his proposal, yet Sackariason countered that Frisch said such a conversation never happened.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI understand somebody has a poor recollection of the events,\u201d Torre said. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, that\u2019s not what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Mullins said she wouldn\u2019t have introduced an emergency ordinance without knowing she had secured the required four votes. Non-emergency ordinances required three votes to be passed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Mullins was challenged by Aspen Daily News editor Curtis Wackerle about her decision-making process during 2016 in the Old <a id=\"N0x17ac9e0N0x16efd70:N0x17ac9e0N0x17d72e8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/council-pulls-plug-on-power-plant\/\">Power House discussions<\/a>, where a host of organizations vied for the city-owned space, 590 N. Mill St., that most recently had been Aspen Art Museum\u2019s home before it relocated downtown. The Aspen Chamber Resort Association currently occupies the space.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The City Council initially tapped a group of entrepreneurs to take the coveted riverside space, but then it backtracked after public pressure and concerns about community access to a municipal space. The winning proposal included incubator space, a television studio and a dining spot serving alcohol, as well outdoor space used for private events.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The council got flak for its flip-flop, but Mullins said the original proposal they approved had changed to the point that she and her fellow officeholders could no longer support it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI don\u2019t think it should be a private facility,\u201d she said. \u201cIt should have community access, accessible to the community, not private space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Should Mullins win in the runoff, she said she is open to the idea of holding an election for her seat. Yet the council could appoint the replacement themselves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Asked if she would support the appointment of Torre, Mullins replied, \u201cWe\u2019ll have to see who the other applicants are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Torre said he would apply for the opening if he loses the runoff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI would absolutely apply,\u201d he said, adding he is focused on \u201cworking for solutions \u2026 it isn\u2019t about the title or office. I would most definitely put my name in for the vacancy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:rcarroll@aspentimes.com\">rcarroll@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/aspen-mayoral-finalists-mullins-torre-defend-records-before-runoff\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mayoral candidates Torre, left, and Ann Mullins talk after Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times Mayoral candidate Torre talks at Squirm Night on Thursday, March 21, 2019, at Aspen City Hall. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times Mayoral [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2442017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 17:11:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2442017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2442017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2442017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2442017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}