In the late 1940s Walter Paepcke said, “Our remoteness will be an advantage.” Think about it. “Our remoteness will be an advantage.” I believe it is healthy that those of us who live here must strive to make it here. This community was built by eccentric, passionate and interesting people who recognized a special place and were willing to cultivate and protect it, and not settle for the convenient or mundane. We, the committed citizens make our community unique and strong.
Since the Paepcke’s era, our valley has achieved spectacular success as a destination, in growth, prosperity, and property values. There are an infinite number of people who would like to travel, work and live here, and there is seemingly endless money coming in as well. Our leaders have done a difficult and admirable job managing this prosperity. If you question this statement, just take a look at other communities who would love to have our problems.
While I am a familiar face around town and public service is not new to me, I am new to politics. I’m asking for your vote for me because of my long view on the challenges we face. The fallout from Aspen’s stellar popularity has stressed housing, transportation, roads, open space, rivers and wild lands. We are loving the Roaring Fork Valley to death. My top concern is preservation of our livable vibrant community and a healthy environment, so our young people can thrive here. Like you, I am frustrated by the continuous traffic jams on our roads. I am concerned about quality of life for our residents, and about the quality of the experience for our guests. Of the candidates, I am the only one who has lived in and benefited from employee housing, so I know its value to the community, and I understand the challenges our housing program faces.
We need to expand our focus toward valley-wide solutions, as our community now includes the lower valley. Our watershed is also our “commuter-shed.” What we do affects communities in several other counties. I can work toward consensus with my fellow commissioners to engage our neighbors. I understand the importance of trust and cooperation with the federal agencies that manage the rural and wild-lands which make up a large part of our thousand square-mile county. With an inequitable budget shortfall forcing the US Forest Service to scale back on management of our treasured Maroon Bells and other heavily-used areas, (just as visitor numbers are exploding) I believe our community must pitch in to protect and maintain our back country. You can expect me to ask all valley residents to step up to the plate on this.
I want citizens of the valley to know with certainty that I have no conflicts of interest regarding development or land speculation. Finally, I must say that I am fiscally frugal and I do not believe we can build our way out of our problems. As a skeptic when it comes to spending public funds, I will question and scrutinize the sizable public expenditures that will come forward during my term. If there are alternatives to growing our government and infrastructure bigger, I will promote them.
I look forward to serving you. Thank you.
Greg Poschman, Candidate for Pitkin County Commissioner, District 3.