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Letter: Disenfranchised in Pitkin County

George Newman’s Pitkin County 5th District sure needs a fairer shake in real-time dealings with the Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners’ live sessions.

Why should his polity and Snowmass Village need to trek miles to participate in the real-time agenda-session goings-on? Perhaps the Pitkin County commissioners should hold 50 percent of their formal meetings in Snowmass Village and Redstone to be equitable and reduce physical governing isolation, because Aspen as the county seat should not monopolize and centralize governance to such an unfair disadvantage and torturous travel burden of time and geography upon its voters and population.

In addition to the 50 percent location session-allocation recommendation to take place in Redstone and Snowmass Village, the Pitkin County commissioners should stop teasing faraway residents with pitiful Internet streaming of their meetings.



What else should these elected politicians do to prove actual thoughtfulness and proper governmental-participation consideration throughout their county? They can supplement the Internet streaming of their sessions with real-time, live telephone call-in participation in agenda items. Their voices would be heard loud and clear at the live telecast and live Internet-streamed programming and on reruns.

For many years now, Beverly Hills, California, has done live telephone call-ins at its formal City Council meetings. What stops bragging, big-money real estate selling Pitkin County from immediately following the world-class city of Beverly Hills’ lead? Is it a too-fair and too-liberal participatory civic act for these so-called elected liberal politicians who appear to use the same anti-democratic tricks they say they abhor? They use Jim Crow tactics on you Pitkin County white folks, isn’t that right?




Just bear in mind that the 1965 Voting Rights Act helped both disenfranchised American black and white folks in America to vote. Let’s not forget New Hampshire had the poll tax and millions of uneducated and poor whites across our country could not vote nor be involved in government doings!

Pitkin County does things to make it very difficult for American whites to participate in its governmental affairs. Take that to the bank!

Emzy Veazy III

Burbank, California, and Aspen