The people have spoken: the Bolsheviks rule in Aspen.
But are the people listening as The People’s Republic of Aspen is snatched away by those they voted for?
Am I wrong to call Aspen Mayor Mick Ireland and his band of three “Bolsheviks”? The word, though far from historically neutral, simply means “The Majority,” and Mick The Quick has put together a rubber stamp four-of-five majority that does whatever he damn well pleases.
With the exception of City Councilor Dwayne Romero, who appears to live in the real world, the Mick stampede governement–with Jack Johnson, Steve Skadron, and the Judge always assenting–does two things and two things only.
It says “yes” when Mick Ireland tells it to say “yes.” And it says “no” when Mick says “no.”
If if costs taxpayer’s money the City Council says “yes.” But if it involves development of any kind you can count on a “no.”
Don’t think so? Consider the Castle Creek bike path: within minutes of being sworn in, the Mick City Council could not wait to reverse its predecessor and spend City money on a path outside City limits. And the Mickster’s insistence that the Aspen Music Festival & School was ready to pony up was premature by half.
The same could be said for employee housing. The Council can’t wait to spend millions of dollars–millions!–to generate a handful of extra units for the City along Castle Creek. The Waterloo to come is the truly Bolshevik Pitkin County office building about to be plopped down on Galena Plaza, if the Comrades have anything to say about it.
As for the “no” votes, leave us not forget the historically laughable idea that any Aspen building built on or before 1977 is “historic.” To call that one an “emergency,” the Council had to swallow any sense of independence from a Mayor who always gets what he wants. The entire Council should have to give up their food stamps for pulling such a fast one.
They don’t call him Mick The Quick for nothing.
On the other hand, Mick said the greatest achievement of the last Council was the moratorium on development: to the new Mayor, there can be no greater achievement than doing nothing.
What’s going on here? I like to think of it as communism with a human face.
Skadron, Johnson, and the Judge don’t even need to show up: if history be our judge, they’re going to do what Mick tells them to do. Sometimes they will vote “yes,” and sometimes “no,” but they will never say never unless Mayor Mick tells them what to do in Neverland.
I love being able to say “I told you so”. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Ireland is steamrolling with his personal agenda, that what he does – always has. Good luck, Aspen, you made a deal with the devil, and now it’s time to pay the piper…*evil laugh*.
I love being able to say “I told you so”. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Ireland is steamrolling with his personal agenda, that what he does – always has. Good luck, Aspen, you made a deal with the devil, and now it’s time to pay the piper…*evil laugh*.
Right on, Con Man! Comrade Mick is the puppet-master of the proletariat and his blind compatriots follow without dissent. He must have put a commie spell on the other lemmings, because it is amazing what one man has accomplished with his tyrannical rule in just a couple months. I hardly recognize our commi-unity anymore.
I heard from a credible “news source” that all buildings in Aspen thirty years old will never, ever be torn down, and that the only construction that will occur in the future will be employee housing for the low-income slackers and paths for those weasly bikers that get in the way of my Hummer. Why Mick Tse-tung can’t follow through on Mr. Semrau’s free-market idea to give people more tax dollars as a result of their hard work and sacrifice living in affordable housing, I have no idea. The People’s Republic of Aspen should have a sister city in Siberia!
We, as god-fearing, invisible-hand-supporting citizens should rise up and recall this red abomination and his clever schemes to separate tax dollars from the wallets of hard-working Americans. I heard through the grapevine that Mick n’ Minions want to spend millions of dollars building a fence around the Roaring Fork Valley to keep the illegals out and quadruple the anti-drug task force to bust the drug-dealing illegals that are already here. Where will the government spending end? A good tax dollar is a saved tax dollar–besides, we need to make sure we have enough tax money to send to Iraq. These commies have no idea that affordable housing is not the future threat–we should be worried that jihadists will come to our valley and kill us for being infidels.
And we have only seen the beginning, folks. Mick and his Politburo will not stop until every hard-working capitalist is run out of town. What will happen when there are no more rich people to take care of the leeches. Boy, will that be a rude awakening!
Right on, Con Man! Comrade Mick is the puppet-master of the proletariat and his blind compatriots follow without dissent. He must have put a commie spell on the other lemmings, because it is amazing what one man has accomplished with his tyrannical rule in just a couple months. I hardly recognize our commi-unity anymore.
I heard from a credible “news source” that all buildings in Aspen thirty years old will never, ever be torn down, and that the only construction that will occur in the future will be employee housing for the low-income slackers and paths for those weasly bikers that get in the way of my Hummer. Why Mick Tse-tung can’t follow through on Mr. Semrau’s free-market idea to give people more tax dollars as a result of their hard work and sacrifice living in affordable housing, I have no idea. The People’s Republic of Aspen should have a sister city in Siberia!
We, as god-fearing, invisible-hand-supporting citizens should rise up and recall this red abomination and his clever schemes to separate tax dollars from the wallets of hard-working Americans. I heard through the grapevine that Mick n’ Minions want to spend millions of dollars building a fence around the Roaring Fork Valley to keep the illegals out and quadruple the anti-drug task force to bust the drug-dealing illegals that are already here. Where will the government spending end? A good tax dollar is a saved tax dollar–besides, we need to make sure we have enough tax money to send to Iraq. These commies have no idea that affordable housing is not the future threat–we should be worried that jihadists will come to our valley and kill us for being infidels.
And we have only seen the beginning, folks. Mick and his Politburo will not stop until every hard-working capitalist is run out of town. What will happen when there are no more rich people to take care of the leeches. Boy, will that be a rude awakening!
Bravo, Rat. Very funny.
Best, Michael!
Bravo, Rat. Very funny.
Best, Michael!
I love Mick! His commie regulations on county development have boosted my home value by 400% since 1997. Econ 101…supply and demand. I am certain he would be apalled to realize how much he has helped ME.
I love Mick! His commie regulations on county development have boosted my home value by 400% since 1997. Econ 101…supply and demand. I am certain he would be apalled to realize how much he has helped ME.