The fox and the henhouse

It's hard to believe at this stage of the game that Aspen might actually elect a developer as mayor.

It would be like the chickens getting together to elect a fox to guard the henhouse.

Like Alcoholics Anonymous choosing Coors as a corporate sponsor.

Like Weight Watchers deciding to have a hot fudge sundae for a mascot.

Like the American Cancer Society naming Joe Camel as its national spokesman.

Am I getting through to you?

Look, you don't have to believe that Tim Semrau is a cynical opportunist to realize that a developer just isn't the right person to guide Aspen through the artillery barrage of development proposals.

No matter what a developer says, his job is to develop. His bottom-line concern will be ... well, his bottom line. A developer may care truly, deeply, sincerely about the community - but when his interests and the community's interests diverge, you know what he's going to choose.

And, sadly, a developer is someone whose concerns are almost inevitably going to diverge from the community's. Just like the lion's concerns are going to diverge from the lamb's. It's in the nature of the beast.

The difference between the best developers and the worst developers is just that the best ones believe the rationalizations they come up with to explain why their way is really best for the community. The worst developers know they're lying.

Either way, as has been said, it's hard for someone to see the truth when his livelihood depends on believing a lie.

But Tim Semrau isn't the real problem in the coming city election.

Aspen long has - and I believe it still has - a solid, if narrow, majority of voters who know that development has to be kept under control. Runaway development, fueled by ego and greed, will destroy Aspen.

And, yes, growth control has been a double-edged sword. Limiting growth has launched the real-estate skyrocket that has itself been pretty damaging to Aspen. But that's still been better than the alternative.

And if you think development has been out of control over the past few years ... well, just wait an see what happens if the fox is put in charge of the henhouse.

So I think the growth-control majority still holds sway.

And that means the real danger to Aspen in this election is the seemingly harmless Torre.

Torre's not a bad guy, I suppose. But I don't think he has the depth of character or intelligence to be the top guy in Aspen. And I know he's not going to get elected.

The only thing he can do right now is split the vote and hand Aspen over to the developer.

Those whose memories extend all the way back to November 2000 may recall how Ralph Nader picked up enough votes to hand the presidency of the United States to George Bush.

And those who think that was a good result probably also think a developer would make a great mayor of Aspen.

No, I don't think Tim Semrau would declare war on Basalt. But I think the result of him becoming mayor might be about the same as declaring war on Aspen.

And, again, the problem isn't Semrau. The problem is that he might get elected.

And that brings us back to Torre and his hopeless, doomed attempt to get elected mayor - which just might screw everything up completely.

So I'm not going to make any recommendations about whom you ought to vote for.

If you really think Tim Semrau is the man who will preserve Aspen's character, if you think he will see Aspen as a special place to live, rather than a profit center, then go ahead and vote for him.

But if you don't think Semrau's the man, then please, please do not vote for Torre. A vote for Torre is a vote for Semrau.

And I don't think this henhouse ought to elect the fox as mayor.

<i>Andy Stone is former editor of The Aspen Times. His e-mail address is andy@aspentimes.com.</i>