Voter Variances, letter to the editor

This is in response to the anti-variance petition article in the Aspen Daily News My major concern which I didn't put in the letter is opening the building variance permits to a ballot questions also invites big money into the process in a way we've never had in Aspen before. Can an election in Aspen be bought? This would be the test.

Oh joy, voter variances.

Getting a building permit in Aspen is a draconian process. 

Do we really think making each application a ballot question will be better?  You think you have information overload now, just wait.

What on earth makes you think the voting public will read each permit application? I soooo look forward to the building permit ads. Don't you want to see ad campaigns for parking spaces and increased roof to floor area? What if it's easier to "spin" the electorate than our elected representatives? Should we vote ourselves out? Nominations are open.

https://www.icivics.org

for those who need a refresher course on the definition of "Republic"

No one pays attention until things turn into a screaming match. 

Don't kid yourself the only reason ordinance 19 was rescinded was due to fear. Fear works. A whole bunch of people showed up after public comment was closed and yelled. Yep that's what we need more screaming matches at City Hall, more finger pointing. It's gonna be greeeeeeeeeat. Just like the good ol days, yippee. (No beatniks allowed)

In my opinion all 91 pages of ordinance 19 sucked.The original intent which was to help older properties renovate was a good one. 

Wheeler Opera House, did it need renovation?

this

or this?

The ordinance strayed from that original intent, greatly. The Council chose to listen to the majority of citizens who showed up for public comment. Badaboom- enact ordinance 19. So where does the fault lie? In my opinion it's two fold there was insufficient feedback to staff when they strayed off point and there was insufficient input during the public comment and work sessions.  The "rethink" of ordinance 19 suffers from the same malaise. Clicker sessions with questions crafted to silo the answers and using the failed ordinance as a template is not the way to win friends and influence people. 

Asking for public participation in these sessions only on weekdays during working hours is the height of class discrimination.

My vote goes to the next representative who is forthright enough to give clear direction to staff and brave enough to point out when the focus is getting blurry. My vote goes to the next representative who will go out and talk with people who don't write letters to the paper or start petitions. My vote goes to the next representative who has the guts to clean our bureaucratic house and start fresh.  My vote goes to the next representative who has the courage to listen.

"Let's Regulate it." letter to the editor

This is in response to the Alpina Haus article on February 9. and the proposed amendment to the town charter.

Is providing a clean and safe rental property with modern appliances the same as "overdevelopment"?  Our "carefully crafted" permitting process makes no distinction between the two and I believe that is a core problem in our land use code.

During a public comment session in City Council this January (ordinance 19 redux)  I heard Mick Ireland​ say words to the effect that dilapidated properties rent for less which helps to keep our housing "affordable".  He may of been joking, sometimes it's hard to tell. 

Why doesn't Aspen have hotel/rental property inspectors and ratings? I've suggested this before as a way to encourage property owners to maintain their rentals. This would have a much higher probability of success than the deed restrictions and fee waivers proposed in the original ordinance 19. You could make it even more attractive by "fast tracking" any permit which seeks to comply with the inspectors recommendations. It would benefit both the guest and the proprietor by giving our visitors an impartial guide for the essential qualities of a rental (not unlike the "star" system in Europe) while promoting healthy competition between property owners to get the best rating with clean and safe rentals. 

"Regulation" doesn't just mean collecting permitting fees. It implies a certain responsibility to insure compliance with the rules.

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

lodging ordinance rescinded, letter to the editor 2014

I'm posting some old letters to the editor. This is so I can remember what I wrote, and to keep myself honest.  I'm posting them in the order I wrote them so this goes back a couple of years.

The more things change….

Summer 2014

Ordinance 19 will not be enacted.

Don't gloat. No name calling. Take a time out please.

If we don't use this moment to work together what makes Aspen any less polarized than Washington?

Lodging Incentive redo, letter to the editor 2014

I'm posting some old letters to the editor. This is so I can remember what I wrote, and to keep myself honest.  I'm posting them in the order I wrote them so this goes back a couple of years.

The more things change….

Fall 2014

The City Planners graciously invited me to participate in their "lodge feedback session". I was hoping this would be a fresh start for the lodging initiative. That's me, hopeful.

Sigh…. sadly this was a rehash of ordinance 19. The presentation had not changed one jot. The same studies were cited, the same conclusions pushed forward and we were told outright that this was not the place to "share opinions". We were given push buttons and slide show of questions. There was no "none of the above" option there was only the  "I don't understand the issue" option. (Like hell I don't understand the issue).

When several of us tried to clarify the questions- by pointing out clear bias- we were told that we could write down our concerns on the post it notes provided.

There was no attempt to incorporate the resounding slap back referendum petition from the electorate. After all when was the last time you heard of 797 City voter signatures collected in under a week during off season? I've haven't seen that degree of bi-partisan support here since Tommy Moe won the downhill.

My sad conclusion is that it doesn't matter how many petitions or post it notes we, the public, give our local government. They will continue to propose the same tired strategies over and over again hoping that eventually they will change our minds instead of listening to our concerns. (….and continue to call for public input during weekday working hours so that people who have 9-5 jobs cannot attend but that's a different letter)

The key issues remain the same:

1. Building Height.

2. Building new rentals.

3. Upgrading existing rentals.

Please stop lumping these into one question.  Issue 1 and 2 are linked but you can surely have one without the other, issue 3 is not linked to the other two. We do not need a power point presentation. An honest calm exchange of ideas on how to address these three issues  and how to implement those ideas is what we need. In a community this small, this tight knit and this wealthy that should not be an impossible task.