News Releases
Housing Op/Ed, by Mick Ireland
Governor announces agenda for "Bridges to the 21st Century" transportation summit; Ritter also names 30-member transportation panel as well as technical committee
Mick Ireland announces on mayoral bid this Thursday
OP/Ed on Housing
By Mick Ireland
Download PDF
I'm considered an affordable housing advocate. I am often invited to conferences to present on our success story and the problems of creating housing in resort communities.
If you asked me what my first priority as mayor would be for the affordable housing program, it would probably be to reduce the initial sales prices at Burlingame. The last lottery at Burlingame showed great demand for the lower priced units and hardly any for the most expensive.
After that I would pay down the municipal bonds which are financing Truscott Place affordable housing, and flatten the already rapidly escalating rents there. Just the other day, the only listing on the housing office web site was for $1,076 for a one bedroom unit at Truscott.
Some in town sites with walk to work possibilities like Truscott Place and the Forest Service properties merit further consideration. That doesn't mean I support every housing project proposed - I voted against the huge and inappropriate W/J project while a commissioner.
The idea that we should use millions of our housing dollars annually to give an appreciation bonus to owners of affordable housing units is just about the last thing I would do as mayor.
Too often, candidates seek to use temporary revenue surpluses to bid for support. We've seen it before in Social Security and TABOR refund policies - spend now, let future generations pay. Unfortunately, we're threatened with the same thing now with our housing fund.
Part of the great increase in the demand for housing stems from land use regulations that stimulate growth of the sort we have long tried to avoid. We have giant projects coming out of the ground, construction traffic everywhere and local serving businesses disappearing. So it's not likely that the best approach to our housing and community goals is to spend down our housing funds as quickly as possible.
Affordable housing comes with a deed restriction to keep it affordable for the next buyer, so, like everything else in life, affordable housing has its tradeoffs. Most of us bought our units because we want to live, work, and raise their families in a very desirable, healthy community, with good schools and low crime, set in a spectacular environment.
Affordable housing is a social contract - the owners get a low price in a great place in return for agreeing to share that low price with the next generation of buyers. The voters approved a tax and we should keep it in trust for the purpose it was approved: creating housing and keeping it affordable.
The public expects fairness not favoritism and a rigorous discipline over the decisions about how this money is to be spent. The public does not expect the money to be used to redistribute tax dollars to one set of individuals at the expense of a program intended for the benefit of the entire community.
Proponents of this plan claim the housing fund budget will continue to create a surplus, more money than is needed for buying down rents, building new housing, doing remodels and repairs and land banking. But that very budget document rests on the assumption that all housing production will cease after 2008.
If the goal is to raid the fund, gut the program, and build or remodel few or no units, this is the plan. Fortunately, we are wiser than that.
Beyond protecting the supply of housing, we need to address the demand being generated by ill-conceived projects and land use codes that shift the housing problem from private ventures to the community at large. The 125-unit Limelite Lodge remodel created exactly zero new units. New Infill code provisions have created loopholes that allow developers to build much less housing than in the past.
I have managed growth as a county commissioner, and I know when we have to make tough calls to protect the community from over-development and the associated job growth that forces us to expand the housing system. Not all development is bad, but some projects deserve a no vote simply because we, as a community, can't afford to make them work.
This mayoral election is not a game or an auction. It's about taking back control of the future of Aspen. It's about dumping the notion that it's OK to play fast and loose with housing policy, public funds, building density, height limits and housing mitigation requirements. Growth management and housing are the tools that have kept this a real town with a livable scale and a sense of community.
Mick Ireland
PO Box 1432, Aspen CO 81612
mickformayor.com
Governor announces agenda for
"Bridges to the 21st Century" transportation summit
Ritter also names 30-member transportation panel
as well as technical advisory committee
Download PDF
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OFFICE OF GOV. BILL RITTER, JR.
MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2007
Contact: Evan Dreyer,720.350.8370
DENVER -Gov. Bill Ritter today announced the full agenda for his upcoming "Bridges to the 21st Century" Statewide Transportation Summit on April 5, including presentations by U.S. Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary Tyler Duvall, Dr. Marty Wachs of the Rand Corp. and many other transportation experts.
Registration for the summit is now underway. The summit is open to the public but pre-registration is required. Participants can register online by going to www.wtscolorado.org or mailing a $40 check to the Colorado Department of Transportation, Terry Huddleston, Transportation Summit, 4201 E. Arkansas Ave., Denver, CO 80222. Registration also will be accepted at the door from 8 to 9 a.m. April 5. The summit is being held at the Colorado Convention Center, Korbel Ballroom, 700 14th St.
CDOT Executive Director Russell George will deliver opening remarks at 9 a.m., followed by Gov. Ritter, who will deliver the charge and mission to the new Colorado Transportation Finance and Implementation Panel.
"Colorado's transportation system is at a crucial crossroads," Ritter said. "Our primary sources of federal and state transportation revenues are not keeping pace with rising maintenance and construction costs. Demand and population also are on the rise.
"We must explore new ways to prioritize our transportation needs and secure sustainable funding sources for a 21st Century transportation system," the governor added. "Our quality of life, our economy and our future require a multi-modal transportation network that allows us to safely and efficiently move people, goods and services. This panel will set us on the road to overcoming our challenges, and the first step will be the 'Bridges to the 21st Century' summit."
In addition to presentations by Duvall and Wachs, the summit will outline transportation needs and funding challenges at the state, county and municipal levels. The agenda includes five breakout sessions:
- What are the options? CDOT Study on Revenue Options.
- Measuring the Pulse. Electronic voting exercise.
- Is Today as Good as it Gets? Presentation on current levels of service and outlook over the next 10 years.
- Brainstorming a Transportation Vision for Colorado. Presentation by the authors of the "Transportation Principles."
- Transportation, Livable Communities and the New Energy Economy.
"The panel will enable us to determine project priorities and identify strategies to fund those projects," the Executive Order states. "The panel will evaluate current spending practices; assess the transportation fiscal structure, funding and priority-setting processes; and propose new funding mechanisms and priorities for existing and future projects."
In addition to the April 5 statewide summit, the panel will hold regional meetings around the state over the spring and summer. It will submit a final report recommending project priorities and funding strategies in November.
Ritter last month named the three co-chairs of the panel. Today, he named the remaining members as well as a technical advisory committee:
Panel Co-Chairs
Doug Aden, Colorado Transportation Commission Chairman
Cary Kennedy, Colorado State Treasurer
Bob Tointon, President, Phelps-Tointon, Inc.
Panel Members
Ray Baker
Charles Bedford
Joe Blake
Mike Cheroutes
Ken Conyers
Cas Garcia
Bill Elfenbein (RTD Board Member)
James Hume
Mick Ireland
Leslie Jones
Joe Kiley
Carl Maxey
Mark Mehalko
Tony Milo
Dale Mingilton
Kevin O'Malley
Michael Penny
Joe Rice (State Representative)
Cathy Shull
Paul Smith
Vivian Stovall
Dan Stuart
Ed Tauer (Mayor of Aurora)
Will Toor
Stephanie Takis (State Senator)
Glenn Vaad (State Representative)
Melanie Worley
Technical Advisors
Debra Baskett
Dan Blankenship
Dr. Ray Chamberlain
Tom Fischer
Carol Hedges
Mike Johnson
Mark Larson
Cal Marsella
Bill Moore
Rachel Nance
Joe O'Dea
Flo Raitano
Henry Sobanet
Bill Vidal
Tamra Ward
Dee Weiser
Wayne Williams
For additional information, visit www.colorado.gov/governor.
###
Mick Ireland announces on mayoral bid this Thursday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 20, 2007
Download PDF
Aspen-- Mick Ireland, longtime local activist and recently retired county commissioner, will hold a press conference at 12:30 pm Thursday at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies.
With current Mayor Helen Klanderud's six-year term coming to an end, there has been considerable speculation over Ireland as a potential candidate. Thursday's press conference will put an end to the speculation.
In recognition of the community's growing reliance on the Internet, Ireland has decided to broadcast the press conference on his website mickformayor.com. It will be available for viewing within a few hours of the press conference.
Ireland said the move is an attempt to maximize the public's opportunity to see and hear it for themselves.
"Aspen's a wired community," Ireland said. "We need to allow citizens to use all means at their disposal to view and participate in local politics and government. This is a chance to expand public participation and discourse."
Ireland has spent much of his career in public service, including the last 13 years as a Pitkin County Commissioner. During his tenure on the BOCC, Ireland has championed open space purchases and trail development, expansion of public transit and construction of affordable housing. He has also played a key role in acquiring state funding for the roundabout at Maroon Creek Road and Highway 82, and the new Maroon Creek bridge.
Ireland has lived in Aspen for most of the last 28 years, leaving only to study law at the University of Colorado. He practices law in Aspen.
The Aspen Center for Environmental Studies is located at 100 Puppy Smith Street, behind the Aspen Post Office. The Web broadcast will be streamed through youtube.com.
For more information about Thursday's press conference, call Sue Smedstad at 925-3915.
For more information about the Web broadcast, call Margi Wilkinson at 948-4234.
Print This Page