Aspen mayoral candidate Katy Frisch to focus on leadership, problem-solving
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Katy Frisch, a longtime Aspen resident and former president of the Aspen School District Board of Education, is running for mayor in the March 4 election with a focus on fresh leadership and strategic problem-solving.
Frisch played a key role in her husband Adam Frisch’s campaign against U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in Congressional District 3, which includes Pitkin County.
“Adam and I firmly believe that we have a responsibility to serve our community, and I do this through elected community service,” she said. “I spent a lot of time working for nonprofits and schools, and I believe I have something to offer in terms of fresh ideas and community-oriented solutions through leadership in the city.”
With experience on multiple nonprofit boards, including the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, Aspen Public Radio, and the Roaring Fork Youth Orchestra, she has been an active volunteer in the community.
“I am not a politician, and I view this as community service — as a way to bring fresh perspectives to a town we all cherish,” she said. “It comes down to thoughtful leadership, and I have the experience in the business world and education to help us reach our best days, which I feel are ahead of us.”
Frisch, who has lived in Aspen for over two decades, emphasizes collaboration and pragmatic solutions.
“One of the reasons I am running is because people have encouraged me to do so,” she said. “People are looking for new leadership. I have campaign experience, so running for mayor was not as daunting for me. I believe that these positions are community service. They are not full-time, nor should they be treated as such. It is a part-time position, and your role as council or mayor is to help provide a vision for the city and to provide a board that the city manager reports to.”
She stresses that elected officials should not micromanage the city’s day-to-day operations.
“We need to let the city manager and staff do their job and help provide direction for doing that,” she said. “If things are not going well, your job is to change that but not to micromanage.”
A key issue in her campaign is the long-debated Entrance to Aspen. She advocates for immediate action to repair the aging Castle Creek Bridge, improve wildfire evacuation plans, and reassess outdated traffic solutions.
“It is our primary ingress and egress, and any solution for the entrance depends on that bridge functioning,” she said. “That means pursuing a new Environmental Impact Statement that the current council has opened up and getting that bridge fixed.”
Frisch supports the three-lane shifted bridge plan, which would replace the existing Castle Creek Bridge with a three-lane structure allowing two inbound lanes and one outbound lane.
“It was clear to me that was the best solution based on cost-effectiveness and with the least disruption, as you can have two lanes open at once during construction,” she said. “Wildfire solutions through a second bridge are not a solution today. It will be 12 to 15 years before that bridge is built. If we are talking about wildfires, we cannot wait a decade and a half to act. We need to talk about them now. That means focusing on hardening homes to make them more resistant to wildfires.”
She also opposes relinquishing local control of open space to the state, arguing that Aspen residents should determine the city’s infrastructure plans.
“The Entrance to Aspen needs to improve traffic, and when the current Record of Decision was completed 30 years ago, that was not a focus. A lot has changed in 30 years,” she said. “The Lumberyard project was not contemplated, nor was Burlingame, and Snowmass Canyon was a two-lane road, with a single lane in each direction. We need to take a breath, see what the best solution is now, and ask ourselves: What are we trying to accomplish?”
She is also critical of Referendum 2, which she believes would cede too much local authority.
“This plan with Referendum 2 basically states we will not get another vote on the matter,” she said. “There is a lot of misinformation out there, and a lot of things that are being conflated. The cut-and-tunnel is not going to happen. There is no way the city is going to pay for that. The city does not have to, and they are not going to.”
Beyond traffic and transportation, Frisch is committed to managed growth that aligns with the Aspen Area Community Plan, developing the Armory Building as a local gathering space, and strengthening environmental policies.
“We need to make sure we have an appropriate mitigation and management plan. The city, county, and federal government are working together on this, and I want to be part of that conversation,” she said. “From the discussions I have had so far, it sounds like they have plans in place and are doing great work, but they have not communicated well with the broader community. One of my goals is to help with that. One of the things I am good at is executing processes. I have been a CEO and CFO and ran companies for 20 years.”
She believes that community input should shape policy decisions.
“Everyone — from people who live in town, on the West End, Cemetery Lane, or North 40, down to Rifle and Silt, along with our visitors — needs to be considered,” she said. “What about our school community and how traffic impacts them? We need to talk about that.”
She wants the Armory Building to serve as a true community space.
“I do not love the current plans that I have seen. I do not believe we need another giant bar in town,” she said. “There are parts of our community that are not being served. Our teenagers and young 20-somethings do not have a place to hang out. It’s far too expensive in this town for them to go to dinner.”
She is also a strong supporter of preserving the Isis Theatre.
“A lot of people have talked about how Aspen is losing its character. I see the Armory and Isis buildings as an opportunity to reclaim some of that,” she said. “We are identifying things that we are missing in town — things that used to be here but are no longer. Whether it’s poetry night at Victoria’s, community meeting tables at Main Street Bakery, or the Wienerstube, these are the kinds of things that create a sense of community that we need to foster and fund.”
Through campaign events and open discussions, including weekly “Friday Lunch Runs” at Gondola Plaza, Frisch is engaging with the community to ensure Aspen remains a thriving place to live, work, and visit.
To learn more about her mayoral campaign, visit katyforaspen.com.
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