If only it was as easy as replacing Wagner Park grass

Our city council and mayor were not thinking they would have to make very tough decisions balancing lives verus livelihood when they were running for office. It would be such a relief to be focusing on traffic, housing and the grass at Wagner park after Food & Wine weekend. Those were the days.

But you have to play the hand you are dealt, and it’s time for our elected officials and town managers to put on their big boy pants. Enough with arguments about if restaurants should close at midnight or 2 a.m.. Ditto on various attempts to educate locals and tourists as to masks and social distancing. These attempts have failed in Aspen and countrywide. It’s time to move to aggressive enforcement. Start handing out tickets for mask violations, close restaurants for crowds around the entrance, shut the gondola, reduce capacity at hotels and restaurants, and publish info on restaurants and businesses who have more than one employee test positive (if you knew what I know you wouldn’t eat out or order in).

Or own the consequences of community spread, which will be devastating for both lives and livelihood. If you think not being able to get a reservation at White House hurts tourism, just wait until tourists can’t get a med flight to a hospital at a lower elevation with a cardiopulmonary doc.

Ya gotta play the crappy hand COVID-19 has dealt ya, and we can dream of the future where we have heated debates about who pays to repair the grass after Food & Wine.

Dan Goldman

Aspen