The Aspen-Pitkin County Housing Authority controls nearly 3,000 units of housing in a town of 6,800. Some units are four-bedroom homes; some units were completely built by the owners with their own hands. With great power comes great responsibility.

APCHA recently passed a public comment policy that is entirely unconstitutional. The First Amendment of our nation’s Constitution states that no law “abridging the freedom of speech” or “the right of the people to peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Our state Constitution gives us greater freedom of speech than even the First Amendment.

Residents of Aspen asked for a judicial injunction on the new public comment policy. Instead of agreeing to change their public comment policy, we found out today that the City of Aspen instead is going to attempt to have our lawsuit dismissed. Aspen, once the beat of the counterculture, has copied corporate culture and adopted a progressive authoritarian “morality” intent on silencing voices.

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Lee Mulcahy and Ned Carter

Aspen