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A tale of two campsIt's the developer versus the environmentalist
Mick Ireland and Tim Semrau, candidates for mayor of Aspen, each backed by his own PR firm, officially threw their hats in the ring Thursday in their own inimitable styles.
"I'm here to announce that I've decided not to run for mayor," Ireland quipped at his opening, adding that his website, www.mickformayor.com, might have given away the surprise.
Some 30 people showed up for the announcement at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies as Frank Peters, a former city councilman, introduced Ireland, calling the choice of venue symbolic.
"He's the one who always stands up on environmental issues," Peters said, touting Ireland's "serious environmental ethic." Read more>>
February 23, 2007 | By Charles Agar | Photo Jordan Curet | Aspen Times
The mayoral circus arrives
Boy, oh boy! The circus is coming to town!
Thrills and chills. Geeks and freaks. Elephants and hyenas. Popcorn and cotton candy.
Or, to put it another way, it's election season in Aspen - specifically, mayoral election season ... which really brings out the sideshow freaks and geeks.
Speaking of freaks and geeks, we have the usual categories of candidates:
Serious: Tim Semrau, Mick Ireland.
Whacko: Is Andrew Kole really going to run ... again?
And Cheesecake (a new category this year): Torre, Bonnie Behrend. Read More>>
March 8, 2007 | By Andy Stone | Aspen Times
TV and politics: Do they mix?
Running for office means losing tube time
for some candidates
Television and politics march hand-in-hand across the U.S. political landscape, and as the nation goes, so goes Aspen - only more so.
Three of Aspen's political candidates in the upcoming municipal election -Bonnie Behrend, Andrew Kole and Torre - have been broadcast personalities for local television stations. Read More>>
March 9, 2007 | By John Colson | Aspen Times
Ireland to continue on regional transportation board
After 10 years representing Pitkin County as chair of the Intermountain Regional Planning Commission and working on transit issues at a state level while serving as county commissioner, transportation guru MickIreland will continue to represent the county in the chairmanship as an independent contractor through June of this year.
Pitkin County commissioners at a meeting yesterday unanimously approved a contract to keep Ireland on because of his long experience and proven effectiveness with transportation issues in the valley and the region.
"He is so well informed and highly respected at a state level," said Commissioner Dorothea Farris. "He's not provincial in his approach and he knows the people, the plans, the governance. There is no way anyone else could step into that role and do as well as Mick at this time,"Farris added, especially given that Gov. Bill Ritter is setting up a blue ribbon coalition to deal with the state's growing transportation problems. Read More>>
March 1, 2007 | By Sarah Gilman | Aspen Daily News
Open letter to Torre
Dear Torre,
Please, please, please, don't run for mayor this May - run for City Council.
You have the opportunity to run for another four years on the council and you will be a shoo-in to win that, you will definitely win that, so why take a chance on losing it all?
It's possible that you could be elected mayor, but it's a very long shot, and we need your voice and your vote on the council to be a sure thing, not a gamble.
If Mick Ireland is elected mayor (the probability), a council consisting of Mick, Jack Johnson, J.E. DeVilbiss and you would be one of the most powerful we've had in many years. Read More>>
February 28, 2007 | By Su Lum | Aspen Times
Mayor's seat won't come cheap
With the stage set for one of the most robust mayoral contests in years, some are wondering if the price tag on the mayor's chair may be higher than it has ever been.
No doubt that Mick Ireland and Tim Semrau, the first candidates to officially enter the race and the apparent frontrunners, have the ability to raise large amounts of cash. Ireland, fresh of a 13-year stint on the Pitkin Board of County Commissioners where he won three elections and survived two recall attempts, has a legendary ability to run a grassroots campaign. Semrau's campaign kickoff splash at Jimmy's an American Restaurant and Bar on Thursday attracted some wealthy developers.
Read More>>
February 28, 2007 | By Curtis Wackerle | Aspen Daily News
Mayoral race begins - Mick Ireland
In a campaign kickoff speech that took aim at the unbridled free market control of Aspen, mayoral candidate Mick Ireland said Aspen needs amayor who will uphold values of growth management, affordable housing, public transportation, and arts and culture.
Speaking to about 30 supporters and media members at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies on the opening day of his mayoral campaign Thursday, Ireland said the community, not the forces of the free market, should determine what Aspen becomes.
"I think I'm laying out a clear, positive vision consistent with what this community has done for the last 30 years," said Ireland, standing at a podium surrounded by stuff wild animals and a painted mountainscape in the background. Read more>>
February 23, 2007 | By Curtis Wackerle | Aspen Daily News
TV host already in mayoral PR scrap
ASPEN- Bonnie Behrend hasn't announced her bid for Aspen mayor yet, but she's already in a scrap with one of her opponents' PR firms.
The former CNBC news anchor, now a broadcaster for Aspen TV, was scheduled to conduct a television interview with mayoral candidate Tim Semrau on Thursday. But when the Darnauer Group LLC learned Thursday that Behrend is considering a run for mayor, it pulled the plug on the interview, which was to telecast next week.
Jeannette Darnauer, who runs the PR firm, said Behrend has no business interviewing Semrau if she's thinking about a run for mayor.
"If you're going to be running for mayor, it's not journalistically appropriate to be interviewing a candidate," Darnauer said.
Behrend, however, called Darnauer's decision to cancel the interview a "dirty campaign move." Read More>>
February 23, 2007 | By Rick Carroll | Aspen Times
Ireland isn't scaring anyone away from race
Mick Ireland's intention to run for mayor of Aspen has gotten other potential candidates fired up for a good challenge. Read More>>
February 16, 2007 | By Scott Condon | Aspen Times
Preserve a mix of economic cultures
Amidst the many problems confronting Aspen and Pitkin County, it's easy to lose sight of how good life is here in the CEO sponsored socialist worker's paradise. Read More>>
January 27, 2007 | By Mick Ireland | Aspen Times Guest Opinion
G'day Mick!
Wednesday was "Mick Ireland Day" in Pitkin County, according to a proclamation in honor of the long-time public servant.The county commissioners' meeting room in Aspen was packed at noon, andwhen Commissioner Ireland called the order, all in attendance covered their faces with masks depicting Ireland at different... Read More>>
December 21, 2006 | By Charles Agar | Aspen Times
All Mick, all the time
February 20, 2007| By Scott Condon | Aspen Times
This year's Aspen mayoral race has the potential to be all Mick, all the time.
Mick Ireland is preparing to use new technologies for his campaign in away never introduced into local politics. Ireland is considering theuse of audio podcasts, Internet video, blogs and a website to get his messages out, said Steve Kaufman, a midvalley technological wizard.
ProjectWest, an Aspen marketing company helping organize Ireland's campaign, contacted Kaufman to see if he would help create and post the podcasts that could be downloaded and the video that could be streamed onto personal computers from the Internet.
Kaufman said he volunteered to assist Ireland's campaign. He stressed that his work won't be on behalf of Access Roaring Fork, a Basalt-based public access television station and nonprofit organization he created.
Kaufman said Ireland plans to shoot video of a question-and-answer session today, when he will outline his positions on major issues.Video will also be shot Thursday when Ireland makes a formal announcement of his entry at noon at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, according to Kaufman.
The video could be posted on a site like YouTube, where potential voters could be directed to see Ireland talking about a position on a topic like the Entrance to Aspen. YouTube is a popular, free video-sharing website. Just the audio portion of a shoot would be necessary for a podcast.
"My recommendation is do it all," Kaufman said.
Ireland didn't respond Monday to a telephone message or an e-mail from The Aspen Times seeking comment about his high-tech campaign strategy.
While Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, among others, relied heavily this year on new technologies to announce their candidacy for U.S.president, it isn't a tool that has been in wide use in Roaring Fork Valley politics.
Kaufman said he believes Ireland is making a wise move. New technologies provide candidates a way to send messages that aren't reduced to sound bites by reporters in newspapers, radio and television, he said. Plus, interested voters have access to campaign information on the Internet whenever they want it - not when a media outlet wants to give it to them.
Ireland, who served 13 years as a Pitkin County commissioner and was victorious in three regular elections and two recall elections, is known for his tireless campaigning. Kaufman said he wouldn't expect that Ireland would stop following traditional campaign strategies, like going door to door and buying newspaper and radio advertisements, despite the high-tech approach.
"My sense is this will not slow him down one iota," Kaufman said.
Ironically, perhaps, Ireland will still have to depend on old technologies, such as newspapers, to help people find his messages onthe new technologies, Kaufman noted.
Mayoral mayhem: Today, it's official
February 22, 2007 | By Rick Carroll | Aspen Times
Two public relations firms, three television personalities, a politician who wears bicycle tights covered with muffin crumbs and another who drives high-performance vehicles: Say hello to Aspen's upcoming mayoral race, which officially cranks up today.
Former Pitkin County Commissioner Mick Ireland isslated to announce his candidacy at 12:30 p.m., with the help of ProjectWest, an Aspen-based firm that specializes in PR, marketing, advertising and websites. Ireland's announcement about his announcement came Tuesday.
Not to be outdone, former Aspen City Councilman Tim Semrau's PR and marketing firm, the Darnauer Group LLC, announced Wednesday that he will make his announcement at 5 p.m. today.
That Ireland and Semrau - the two candidates the smart money says will replace term-limited Helen Klanderud as mayor - are working with two of Aspen's biggest PR firms could be telling of this race's direction. At least that's how one potential candidate, who admits his chances to win are slim, sees it.
"To me this says, 'Politicians, politicians, politicians,'" said Andrew Kole, who hosts a television show on the public access station GrassRoots TV. "They claim they're not politicians, but who hires a PR firm? Politicians."
City Councilman Torre, who said he plans to run for mayor but has yet to announce his candidacy, deadpanned: "I'm not going to hire a PR firm."
Torre, however, seemed amused by the campaign strategies of hisopponents, especially Ireland, who will broadcast today's announcementon the Internet.
"I'm going to have a double-secret cyber campaign that is so high-tech that I'm going to broadcast my message on a frequency that only dogs can hear," said Torre, a host on Plum TV.
Kole, who has run unsuccessfully for Aspen mayor and City Council inthe past, said he hasn't decided whether he will run because of the health of his mother, who has suffered two strokes in recent months. But if he doesn't jump in, he said the entertainment value to this race that can't be disputed.
"These guys, Mick and Tim, are black and white," he said. "I would say I'm the gray one."
Kole said he won't hire a PR person, chiefly because, he said, "I'm my own PR firm."
Another local TV personality could be joining Kole and Torre: Bonnie Behrend, the anchor and news director for TV Aspen, has been batting around the idea of a mayoral bid. She, too, said she won't enlist any spin doctors.
"I don't need to sugarcoat anything," Behrend said Wednesday night. "I have my own bullhorn."
She added: "I feel like I'm standing at the top of a run, trying to gauge the size of the bumps and the depth. But I care about Aspen's past and want to help navigate her in the future."
While the three TV types have the pause buttons pressed on their mayoral desires,the contest between Ireland and Semrau officially gets going today.
And the differences between Ireland and Semrau only begin with their modes of transportation - Ireland drives a beat-up Volkswagen Rabbit and rides a slick road bicycle, Semrau an antique Porsche convertible and a BMW motorcycle, among other vehicles.
Their venue ofchoice to make their announcements also illustrates how much they don't have in common. Ireland will go public with his bid at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, a nature preservation organization. Semrauwill fire off his declaration at one of downtown's trendiest restaurants - Jimmy's an American Restaurant and Bar.
But, Semrau the developer and Ireland the preservationist do have one thing in common: They're confident they'll be Aspen's next mayor, as evidenced by the verbal swagger from their PR firms.
"Tim will win," Jeanette Darnauer, owner of Darnauer Group, said. "I'm surewhen people get to know Tim they will understand him better. He can't be pigeonholed as a developer or any one type of description. He was on City Council, and people know him from that. And he's a citizen, not a career politician."
Margi Wilkinson of ProjectWest expressed similar confidence.
"Mick will win," she said.
Wilkinson said it was a savvy move by Darnauer to have Semrau makes his announcement just hours after Ireland makes his.
"I think with a town like Aspen, with so many stakeholders, it'simportant to get the message out clearly and cost effectively in these campaigns. And both of these PR firms do an excellent job of that."
Darnauer and Wilkinson said the two candidates have yet to set up a fee structure with the firms. No retainer fees have paid, and Wilkinson said that for now, she is working with Ireland on a volunteer basis. But when ProjectWest handles certain components of his campaign - "We haven't determined everything yet," she said - the billable hours will begin.
Both PR firms also indicated they don't plan to expose the negatives of their opponents, and extended a peace pipe of sorts.
"We've got two good candidates," Darnauer said. "But I know that Timhas the ability to reach people that Mick doesn't reach. I really likeTim's style and leadership."
"I have respect for Tim and we [ProjectWest and Darnauer] rarely go up against each other," Wilkinson said. "But I like Jeanette and I she think she's talented. She's a fellow Democrat, and I'm an Independent. In fact, she's a very strong Democrat."
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