JenEngel

Aspen’s famous Independence Pass is now open for the summer season. Independence Pass climbs up over 12,000 feet and offers spectacular views, along with snowfields, throughout the summer.

The wildlife and topography offer numerous photo opportunities. Independence Pass is located in the White River National Forest, and there are many day hikes and picnic areas to investigate and a ghost town named Independence is a great rest stop.

Locals enjoy the easy access to Denver and Colorado Springs, typically cutting 1/2 hour off of their drive time by going over the pass. But Independence Pass is not for the novice driver. There are two locations on the Aspen side of the pass where there is no yellow line to separate the two-way traffic.

Independence Pass is only open during the summer. Enjoy it while you can!

May 5th saw record voter turnout for the City of Aspen’s elections. Over 2,500 Aspen residents voted, either via mail-in or at the polling precincts. This was the first election that the City of Aspen initiated the “Instant Runoff Voting” technique, which asked voters to rate their votes. In the event of a close race, the ratings would come into play instead of making the candidates continue their campaigning for another vote scheduled in the future. Fortunately, the system produced winners in all the races who also received the most votes in the first round of tabulation, so there were no discrepancies this year as in the past.

RESULTS:

Mayor–Mick Ireland was voted into service for another 2 years with 134 votes over Marilyn Marks. The race was very heated, especially since these two opponents have been very critical of each other in city council meetings.

City Council–There were two seats available in this election. Jack Johnson was replaced after his tenure by Torre, a city council member from previous years. The other vacancy was fulled by Derek Johnson, a local Aspen retail manager.

Aspen Art Museum–The idea of moving the Aspen Art Museum was stopped by the Aspen voters. The amendment to sell the property to the Aspen Art Museum was voted down by 62%. Most voters considered the vote as giving City Council a “blank check” to make the move happen.