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A different side to Andrew Kole

Dear Editor:

As the mayoral election looms ever nearer, I thought it might be a good idea to offer a bit of a different perspective on one of the candidates, my good friend Andrew Kole.

While I might not be Andrew’s closest friend and others might feel they know him better than I do, I have a hunch I have seen a side of him that perhaps others have not experienced as consistently and to the degree I have. Andrew and I met and became close friends as a result of our involvement as volunteer coaches at Aspen High School. He worked with the boy’s basketball team while I worked with the girl’s team. On many occasions, along with Boogie Wineglass, our fellow volunteer coach during those years, we found ourselves as the only adult chaperones on the bus trip home from Gunnison, Meeker, Olathe, or points beyond. On those late-night journeys we whiled away the hours talking about everything imaginable ” politics, religion/spirituality, sports, current events, and frequently shared the stories of our lives. To say we got to know one another well would be an understatement.



As a result of those conversations, and many more conducted in numerous coffee shops and restaurants in town, I discovered a side of Andrew that might get lost in the hothouse atmosphere of the mayoral campaign. While others might think of Andrew as merely a controversial local television personality, political gadfly, or provocateur, I know him to be a man of heart and compassion who readily gives of his time and energy to people and causes in which he believes. Those include the city of Aspen and ALL of her residents, the students in the Aspen schools, and those of us fortunate enough to be considered his friends.

One thing I have learned about people is that we are many-faceted beings and very few of us have the opportunity to experience every facet of every person we know. In the interest of fairness, I thought others should at least be aware of these other facets of Andrew Kole that I believe contribute to his ability to be an outstanding mayor for the city of Aspen.




Thanks for your consideration.

Randy Youngling

McKinney, Texas