ISSUE #193: The Burlingame Bombshell (5/9/21)

"A system is corrupt when it is strictly profit-driven, not driven to serve the best interests of its people." -- Suzy Kassem

ASPEN TIMES COLUMN

Another column, another housing travesty. At some point, someone is going to listen and do something, right? It obviously won't be any one of the hundreds of bureaucrats whose paychecks and benefits are on the line, but I'm hopeful that our elected officials will finally and rightfully feel ashamed of their permissive oversight and neglect of our housing program.

To quote from an email I received this morning. "So many residents are crushed under the powerful and often arrogant wheels of Aspen's bureaucracy. They truly seem not to care about so many of their own citizens."

I wholeheartedly agree. It's disgusting. And when the city manager and city attorney (top of the bureaucratic foodchain) are the direct reports of city council, it ABSOLUTELY falls to the five elected members of city council to right this ship.

It's time to clean up the city-caused messes, replace the APCHA board with citizens who will work to save the program, and show some common decency and respect for the hard working locals and families who live in our subsidized housing.

Read my column in today's Aspen Times HERE.