Letter: Reduce traffic; vote Stevens for Basalt

Over the past few months, I have been fortunate enough to get to know Rick Stevens and his family. Rick is a thoughtful, genuine and compassionate natural leader with a strong sense of civic duty. Rick embodies the heart and soul of our small-town character we so often espouse with his keen sense of history and community pride, appreciation for the natural environment and open-minded, honest, down-home approach to leadership. Perhaps most importantly, Rick genuinely enjoys his civic duty and engaging with the people around him. He is generous with his time, available and committed to building a complete community with purpose and integrity. Rick shares my belief that effective governance begins on the street, in the neighborhoods, face to face, on the chairlift or at the pub. In one of his responses at the Basalt candidate forum Wednesday night, Rick emphasized his belief in the importance of allowing leadership to shift with the issues at hand, listening and being open to new ideas and solutions while seeking to bridge division and empower the community and staff. Rick not only has demonstrated his commitment to the next generation by talking about opportunities for addressing issues such as the growing need for attainable housing, day care and schools but has a track record to prove it. In the past 12 months, I’ve come to know Rick as a friend regardless of the fact that there may be several decades between us. It’s the beauty of small towns and the unlikely cast of characters who inevitably meet on the sidewalk. He’s a good dude, and I’m told he’d be pretty psyched to be able to walk to work. One more car off the highway. Vote for Rick in April.

Nick Aceto

Basalt