Side-by-side on the front page of the local paper Friday morning were two stories that said everything that’s wrong about Aspen—and, more to the point, everything that’s right.

The first story spoke of the open house on affordable housing I moderated for “The Jerry Bovino Show” at the Paepcke auditorium Thursday night (and seen on GrassRoots TV); the second of Aspen City Manager Steve Barwick’s decision not to support placing a $50 million bond on the ballot come November 2008 to pay for affordable housing.

In my opinion, the news contained in both stories was nothing less than a monumental ellipsis in the history of Aspen, a “Return of the Jedi” moment for the plain old people who form the heart and soul of the town. The town hall meeting at the Paepcke, ferociously organized by Marilyn Marks and her new Generalissimo, was a wonderful and unexpected example of democracy like it ought to be, with citizen experts and select City officials standing up with detailed explanations and suggestions as to how the City might move forward in a compassionate, reasonable, and responsible way.

To their credit, from the City staff came Community Relations Officer Sally Spaulding and Assistant City Manager Barry Crook—but only Dwayne Romero, wearing a “Police” vest as protection, made it from the City Council. Jack Johnson, J.E. deVilbiss, and silent Steve Skadron stayed home, as did Mayor Mick Ireland, which I will take as yet another “no comment” from a beleaguered Swift Boat victim.

Also notable for his absence was City Manager Barwick, who had said on my “Con Games” show that he would go anywhere, any place, any time to meet with people who wanted to talk about Burlingame and affordable housing. “I’ll bring the pizza,” Barwick said on the radio—but no refreshments or replenishments were in any way necessary Thursday night at the Paepcke. MIA Ireland and the Council Members had their excuses—me, Marilyn, the stars, themselves—and we have the comfort of knowing that all of the above are sure to watch the proceedings on GrassRoots TV.

What is there for all to see is a group of passionate, caring people who really know their stuff inside out, creating a template for the future that the City should embrace, study, debate, and ultimately implement—a brand-new way of “moving forward” for the Mayor, if he yet has eyes to see it. There was no name-calling, nothing personal, and when it was over I went home thrilled to have been a part of it.

I saw the bond story the next morning, and I have to say I was dead wrong about what happened. I told Marilyn Marks a couple of weeks ago Council would put the bond on the ballot regardless of her efforts and her Committee That Knows No Name would lose that fight.

“Oh we know that,” she said.

I wondered to her out loud about the wisdom of forming a committee for a losing cause when the real fight would come with the vote in November. But it turns out she was right to draw a line in the sand to fight the battle, and she can be forgiven if she did not know right off the bat when she had actually won.

When Marks was told last week the City was pulling the plug on the bond, her response was: “Oh no!”

A neophyte in politics, she had won (for now) without even knowing it. Many people share the credit, all of them good citizens of Aspen who should remember the war still wages on. Before the events of last week, I had given up on Aspen. Now I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Entry Filed under: Aspen, Affordable Housing, Aspen City Council