Marilyn, Milias Down For The Count

November 24th, 2009 at 05:42pm Michael Conniff 2

Of course, it goes without saying that Marilyn Marks and campaign treasurer Elizabeth Milias are not about to go away just because the Aspen City Council pulled the plug on the Election Commission. A technicality is all it took, but the ramifications are far-reaching:

(1) Marks and Milias burned their political capital and then some in a misbegotten attempt to reform a system that should simply be thrown out as unworkable.

(2) In the past, Marks could either say she was misquoted, or spew a vomitous stream of misinformation so relentless that nobody could figure out what she was really saying. This time around the "paper trail" of email left her intentions and machinations clear to anyone who might like to read them, thanks to former City Councilor Jack Johnson and his Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request. This time, finally, there was no place for her to hide.

(3)  Their calls of "transparency" and "process" have been irreperably undermined by the evidence at hand, whereby Marks used every conceivable method to overtake the law governing the Election Commission. Process is what counts to Marks (and Milias) except when it applies to them.

(4) Whatever good Marks accomplished in the early years of her reinvention of self in Aspen is long past; what remains is nagging evidence of narcissism, self-absorption, and myopia that costs taxpayers time and money in the pursuit of self-serving trivia. 

(5) Marilyn Marks is now and forever will remain a politician--no more, no less. Unlike Teabaggers who eschew party politics in the name of principle, she has chosen to give up the watchdog role and do what politicians do--try to get elected. Her fixation on overturning an election she lost narrowly all but guarantees she will never be elected to office in Aspen. In the end, that puts her closer to Andrew Kole, who gets fewer votes every time he runs, than Mick Ireland, her nemesis, who always seems to win.

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Entry Filed under: Aspen, Colorado, Aspen City Council