A bridge to civility

In our era of political division and secularism, I was heartened to see both The Aspen Times and the Aspen Daily News feature front-page photos of Christians receiving the Ash Wednesday cross on their foreheads. Thank you, both newspapers. We need grace and civility at this time.

With grace and civility in mind, and in an effort to bring together our sharply divided body politic, I would like to offer my newcomer’s perspective as well as a constructive suggestion to correct a persistent problem.

I see four broad groups of people here in Aspen.

The first group is the multi-homeowner and extravagantly wealthy tourist group. Community consensus is to tax these people to the max.

The second group are the members of the Aspen government complex, who preside over the $100 million-plus a year in tax revenue haul taken from group number one, and redistributes it primarily to their less than 2,000 voter constituents in the form of subsidized housing and other free stuff.

The third group are the receivers of this government largess, the “entitled ones.”

The fourth group I would call “the ignored,” the second-class citizens. These people support Aspen’s economy by driving essential trucks in and out of town and get stuck in traffic every day.

For the sake of unity and civility, please build a second bridge over Castle Creek so these essential workers can perform their duties and spend more time with their families and less time stuck in traffic.

John Hornblower

Snowmass Village