Letter: Bert supports opportunity for locals

When I ran for Aspen City Council in 2010, I sought Su Lum’s support. Her comment to me was basically, “Let’s see who supports you before I make any decisions.” The entertainment value of who supports whom in this election between Bert Myrin and Mick Ireland is awesome. It’s almost like middle school again. Who hangs with the cool kids?

I say the same thing now that I said to Su Lum then: It should not be about who supports whom, it should be about whom you trust to carry your priorities as an Aspen resident forward. Righties shouldn’t “hate Mick” because of prominent lefties who support him, and lefties shouldn’t oppose Bert because of high-profile righties who support him.

Me, I am looking for the candidate most likely to diversify affordable housing by creating more opportunity to enter, stay and grow out of the affordable-housing market into the free market. The Aspen real estate market should be a ladder that leads to free-market housing on which anyone can stop as high or low on the ladder as they wish. What we are on now is a ladder missing so many rungs that opportunity and prosperity is out of reach. Who is mostly likely to fix the ladder and provide opportunity for hardworking locals to grow and prosper? Who believes that those who form the backbone of this community deserve more than just a roof over their head, but deserve opportunity? Mick has always scoffed at me on this concept — he seems perfectly content with the current “us versus them” glass-ceiling system. Bert seems far more open to the idea of earned prosperity being a good thing for those in the affordable system, so I’m going with Bert. Vote for Bert.

Scott Writer

Aspen