4 Questions for Aspen.

The Wise Son asks...Why is this election different?Why is this election in Aspen different than other elections in Aspen ?  

Answer...it's not. I have 4 questions for the people of Aspen;  Answers provided below.

1) If you owned a $100 million business...would you want one guy signing off on all the financial decisions?

2) What are the traditional power brokers of Aspen afraid of?  

3) Do you want a town full of big square boxes?

4) Why is Wagner Park still closed? 

Answers;

1) No  

2) Unintended consequences (a more nebulus concept does not exist)

3) No

4) I don't know?

It's easy to be a critic and difficult to be a leader.   

A few follow up points;   1) Who do you think is watching the money at The City of Aspen?  Somebody on City council should be. I'm willing to take on that role.  It doesn't appear as if anyone else is doing it.

2) Re: Ref 1. What is the ACRA / Ski Co. / Industrial Growth Complex afraid of?   Unintended consequences?  What does that even mean?  I'd like one specific example even a hypothetical one to describe the desire to "Vote Know".  Are they concerned that someone besides them will the "buy an election"?  Maybe they're worried that the citizens of Aspen will make a poor decision?  I walk by several poor decisions every day.  One of them is 47 feet tall and looks like a picnic basket. But that "gift to the city" is a done deal and I do love Art.

3) Big square boxes.  Look around town.  Check out some of the construction sites.  The bull dozers and giant cranes and the back hoes.  Well... get used to it ho.   With the new City Hall, the new airport, the new $8 million errrrrrr $10 million bus stop there will be plenty of heavy machinery in town.   Smell the fumes, dudes.  Aspen ain't a ski town anymore its a construction town.

4)What Ev's.  Andy's bent out of shape about the park.   Yeah...think about it...that park is closed more than its open.  Why?   It's not because of Food and Wine or Ruggerfest or X Games Concerts  or the bike race or Art in the Park or even Snow Polo.   It's because our fabulous leaders feel the need to spend our money somehow...and putting up fences and tarps seems like a good way to blow some excess cash.  Also see; drainage...for catch-all spending sprees.

So maybe I'm the fool.  I'm the one willing to sit in the basement at City Hall every Monday night for 4 years.  I'm the one willing to listen to all the bull-sh*t that walks through that door.  I see all the saviors of Aspen rolling through the S curves in their dump trucks.

Look around you folks.  See the beauty.   Enjoy the mountains, the forrests, the rivers and all the natural wonders by which Aspen has been blessed.  That's what it's all about.

Please vote. Hopefully for me.

The Party Political Platform for Aspen.

It's official.  Because it's on Facebook.

Andrew M.  Israel, aka AspenSpin, aka Andy Party aka The Political Virgin has declared his candidacy for Aspen City Council.  

The time has come for me to speak up.  I believe the political process in Aspen is broken.  I have personally lost trust in "the system" and it's my goal to be a catalyst for positive change in Fat City.

To quote Moe and Larry of the the 3 Stooges--- "can we fix it"--- "i dunno can we?"  Now is the time for me to try.   Most people know me as the #1 blogger in Aspen who skis every day and party's every night.  But I am very proud of my past professional, philanthropic and academic success.

I grew up in suburban Detroit.  It was sort of a Leave it to Beaver type childhood, with two grounded parents. I am the youngest of 3 brothers.  I earned a B.S. in Accounting  from Michigan State University,1980 and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, 1985.  I practiced as a C.P.A. in Michigan and Colorado for 3 years prior to attending The Wharton School. I am currently a licensed Real Estate Broker in Michigan and Colorado.  I spent more than 5 years working for The Taubman Company, a super-regional shopping center developer, owner and manager.  At Taubman I worked on projects such as Beverly Center in L.A., Cherry Creek in Denver and The Mall at Short Hills in NJ.  I had a wide variety of real estate experiences at Taubman, including leasing, management and strategy.

In 1992, I began a new phase in my career, managing money at Morgan Stanley in NYC.  In those days Morgan had a small but elite high net worth division.  I was chosen to join that group as one 200 professionals around the World .  I performed as a stock broker, investment advisor, money manager and hand holder to the top 1% of the 1%.  Billionaires only.  My timing was fortuitous and I developed a talent for picking and trading stocks and equity options.  I personally profited handsomely from the 90's bull market and managed to "retire" to Aspen in 2003.  Since then I have logged over 1100 ski days.    I served as a PSIA Level 1 Certified Ski Instructor for 3 seasons at ButterMilk and then founded AspenSpin in 2006.  AspenSpin a is a life-style blog that documents the over-the-top social scene in Aspen. The rest.... it's documented history on Facebook, twitter and AspenSpin.

The Party Political Platform for Aspen is quite simple;

1)  No 7 hour meetings.   Not only is a meeting that long and late ridiculous, its unproductive.

2)  Simplify the process. One set of codes and laws enforced consistently for everyone. 

3)  Promote financial stewardship and fiduciary responsibility as a core value in the City of Aspen.

Squirm Night in Aspen...a non event.

Say what you want about Aspen politics, or we'll say it for you...its boring.   Squirm Night 2011 was basically a non-event.   6 candidates vying for 2 city council seats had their chance to perform in front of the media, the public and a live TV audience.  Run-on questions were followed by run-on answers with very few salient points made.  It always seems like the same faces on the dais and in the audience which leads to very few "new ideas" being discussed.  Board memberships, meetings, studies and hypothetical questions were debated for 2 minutes at a time.  It really doesn't matter who gets elected, its going to be same ol' same ol' in Aspen politics.  Lots of talk and lots of ill will.  We'll go on record to endorse Steve Skadron for re-election.  He works hard, he has the city's best interest at heart and he deserves to continue, although why he would want to is beyond comprehension.  As for the other seat on city council... pick 'em.  All 5 of the other candidates seem to have a real desire to get involved, they all love Aspen...but none of the others distinguished themselves so you pick'em.

As for the Mayorial candidates.  Andrew Kole...no comment, why bother.  Ruth Kruger...she seems a little loose on the details, not a good starting point.   Mick Ireland appears poised to retain his position of Mayor of Aspen.  Mick gets a bad rap---his impatience gets in his way---but he's doing the best he can.  The "pro business" crowd that wants bring him down has lost sight of what should be a primary goal of all Aspen residents---to enjoy a beautiful day.

We thought Squirm Night would result in a packed house.  On the contrary plenty of seats were available. Squirm Night appears to be a microcosm for Aspen politics.  All talk.

The 6 Candidates vying for 2 city council seats. You pick 'em.

Mayorial Candidates....are we having fun yet?