Pitkin County Commissioners select language for November airport ballot question
Ray K. Erku/The Aspen Times
During a special meeting on Tuesday, the Pitkin County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 to put an airport-related question on the November ballot.
Commissioner Kelly McNicholas Kury voted no during the fourth hearing for the question.
The ballot question seeks to amend Article II of the county’s governing document, the Home Rule Charter, to reaffirm Pitkin County’s power to approve and carry out the layout plan for the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport, as well as the location and expansion of the airport’s runway.
“The BOCC ballot question gives the voters the opportunity to reaffirm their support of the BOCC and its efforts to deal with the complex realities of maintaining a local airport that, one, does not exist in the bubble, no matter how much we would like to believe otherwise,” said Barry Vaughan, an Airport Advisory Board member.
Mick Ireland, a former Pitkin County Commissioner from 1993-2006, made a public comment supporting an opposing citizen’s initiative ballot question.
This ballot question, spearheaded by Citizens Against Bigger Planes, seeks to amend the Home Rule Charter to restrict county officials’ decision-making power regarding the expansion or relocation of any runway at the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport beyond the dimensions and locations that existed on Jan. 1 without voter approval in their ballot question. It also clearly defines “runway.”
“We’ve had an enormous concentration of wealth in the hands of people who can afford to fly to Aspen … now we are in a period of wealth concentration at the top, have been for some time, and that is reflected in the value of home prices that you all are familiar with,” Ireland said. “It has been touted that this airport expansion will open up direct flight access to more cities. Now, the only possible result of a bigger market is more demand.”
Citizens Against Bigger Planes’ Chuck Butler, who spearheaded the citizens initiative ballot question, also made an appearance over Zoom during the special meeting. He read a letter on behalf of Tom Melberg.
“The airport expansion proposal has seemingly created a great divide in our community. However, I believe the underlying resolve to protect our valley’s economy and community lifestyle is shared by all,” Melberg’s letter states “The great divide stems from if you do or do not believe the federal government, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), will turn its back on the will of the people, Pitkin County residents, the valley-wide voters, the affluent second homeowners, and the super wealthy private jet owners currently utilizing our airport. The reason 1,200 signatures gathered in less than a month by grassroot volunteers will finally allow the registered voters of Pitkin County to decide the future of our airport. If one believes in the power of the people and the pressure voters and constituents have on our state of Colorado politicians, the ballot question will pass over the county’s proposed interfering initiative.”
After public comment concluded, Kury said that while she understands why the 1,200 people signed the petition to get their own question on the ballot, she wished “nobody was messing with the Home Rule Charter.”
She also does not believe that airport decisions are a simple up or down vote, as suggested by the citizens initiative question. Kury also expressed concern about making the “wrong choice.”
“This is one of those votes where I’m like, ‘Gosh, am I going to go to bed tonight feeling like I made the wrong choice?’ You know, I’ve had that happen once in the last six years,” she said. “I don’t want that to happen again, and as tough as this vote is for people, I think the way I feel probably closely mirrors how the community feels.”
Commissioner Patti Clapper shared a similar sentiment with Kury, wishing that the Home Rule Charter was not being called into a public vote. She also said this was one of the hardest issues she has faced in her more than 20 years in office.
“It’s going to be a tough question for the voters,” she said. “But you know what? This election is going to be tough in general for the voters, and I hope people do ask more questions as this moves forward.”
In all, the commissioners passed four November ballot questions: the two airport-related ones, and one for the Pitkin County Solid Waste Center and another for affordable housing taxes.
The affordable housing tax question will ask voters to support a new property tax over the next 25 years at the most for a mill levy of 1.5 mills The tax is approximately a $121 increase for a homeowner per $1 million of property value annually, as well as a $435 increase per $1 million of value annually for commercial property owners.
Additionally, the Pitkin County Solid Waste Center question looks to issue revenue bonds for $22 million, not to exceed $37 million in repayment, in order to finance the expansion of the area where waste is deposited at the Pitkin County landfill.
Where the waste is deposited, also called the working face, is estimated to hit its limit within the next five years. The bonds would finance expanding the working face, relocating the landfill access road, and potentially adding fencing around the landfill to address a bear problem.
Regan Mertz can be reached at 970-429-9153 or rmertz@aspentimes.com.
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