Letter: A Basalt election wormhole?

A founding member of the OneBasalt group charges that our mayor broke the law and violated her oath of office and therefore should be removed from office after winning a close, heated election. Let’s look into the OneBasalt founder’s allegations just to keep the fun going, since a long and drawn-out, spite-filled election season is not enough for some.

A founding member of OneBasalt, Stacey Craft, has condemned the mayor for violating an open-meetings law with regard to Willits. A righteous and condemning proclamation! Craft apparently feels that rules and the integrity of the process are critical, especially if you oppose her point of view. Ah, let’s forget about a July 27 email, OK? On July 27, Stacey’s choice for mayor, Rick Stevens, sent out an email to her and 12 others, plus one other council member, letting them all know how he was going to vote to help get Resolution 34 passed. The resolution passed the next day, instructing the Planning and Zoning Commission to prepare language to zone the Roaring Fork Community Development Corp. river parcel for 75,000 square feet.

What is next? Craft also charges that the mayor broke the law in voting to put the citizen petition on the ballot. What happened was more of a question of which attorney you believe and whether you err on side of the public or the developer group that opposed the petition. The citizen petition was prepared by one of the most respected attorneys in the valley, who has practiced law successfully for the past 35-plus years. The petition was signed by 400-plus who said they were residents of Basalt. The town attorney disagreed with what the petitioners’ attorney had authored and said that the petition should not be put on the ballot due to a technicality. The council, except Jacque Whitsitt, voted against modifying the petition so that it could be put on the ballot.

Is there a wormhole in Basalt that is not being shared with others?

Mark Kwiecienski

Basalt