Letter: Do not vote for bullies

The ballot initiative on Base2 was initially predicated on the merits of the proposed lodge itself. It took on a second life as a vote to sustain “the will of the people” by seeking extension of Referendum 1 beyond its legal limits. It has now morphed into a contest where a small number of irresponsible bullies contend that the city and its methods are “corrupt,” and that becomes the rational to defeat the lodge.

The vote no crowd has badly overplayed its hand. First, it harped on advice of counsel that was fatally flawed attempting to stretch Referendum 1 to cover applications pending before passage. When the defects of that opinion were exposed, the referendum proponents then pivoted into the gutter with personal attacks and unsupported accusations of “corruption.”

Along with many of my friends, I have heard enough. Faced with the choice of living with Base2 despite its shortfalls or embolden a continuum of strong-arm tactics by these critics of everything tied to City Hall, I personally think it is now an easy vote — I will vote for the lodge and hopefully shut the critics down. Some time ago their rallying cry was “Keep Aspen, Aspen” — along the way they forgot what that means.

Neil B. Siegel

Aspen