Stewart’s impact will live on here

When I came to Aspen in 1989 to be the Pitkin County manager, Curt Stewart sought me out. He had something important he wanted to pass on and also wanted to welcome me to the community. I was honored and happy to learn from someone who’d been in my then-new frightening large shoes that I feared I could never fill. Curt wanted to pass on something he had inherited from former City Manager Mick Mahoney. This was serious. And important.

He made me pinky swear. Leave the place better than you found it. Be willing to lose your job every day to do the right thing. And remember that you work for the people of Pitkin County; the commissioners are simply the representatives they sent you.

That promise informed and guided my six years in the position and demanded that I seek out my subsequent successor until I was able to pass that promise along. I did.

Curt’s impact on our community lasts well beyond his years here.

Reid Haughey

Basalt