Mesirow will elevate Aspen

After my first foray into politics as an intern, I decided against entering that world. To me, politics is synonymous with corruption, bad examples, ineffectual and power-hungry individuals. Couple that with me resisting offering opinions on how others should live, and politics is not for me.

I have, however, gotten involved in the Aspen City Council race. Seeing this campaign process begs the question, is this politics as usual? Or has Aspen politics morphed into something new and different (and welcome)? Individuals who care so much are raising their hands and fighting for us and the Aspen Idea — and first, they are asking what fights are most important to us.

Without reservation, I want Skippy Mesirow to represent me on City Council. Skippy sees something not right and finds a way to collaborate and rally us to make it right. I think wanting to be inspired brings us all together. Whether it’s inspiration from the mountain, the music, the ideas or the people, we all want to be pushed to be better and live more extraordinary lives. And that is what Skippy does. His smile, his attitude and his essence gives me hope and inspiration that we are in the right place and going in the right direction. Am I a concerned citizen? Nah. Am I an inspired citizen? 100 percent. And Skippy has brought that out in me and many others.

Removing the political aspects from this race, we are hiring Skippy for a job. Skippy has the candidate qualities of integrity, intelligence, cultural fit, creativity, collaboration and effectiveness in spades. He would elevate Aspen politics, and the role of a City Councilmember, to a position of effectiveness that I believe we have not seen before.

Lizzie Cohen

Aspen