ISSUE # 63 .... I'm IndignANT: Cocaine & Welfare. Really?

"Always the wrong way first and the right way last.  In every case, the right way, once we find it, is so direct and obvious that to have missed it seems the strangest fact of all."  -- Garet Garrett, A Time is Born

THE SUMMER SERIES

This issue of The Red Ant was to have been the first in a multi-part series on our local subsidized housing program, specifically the bureaucracy's clouded judgment regarding oversight and management of our 2800-unit portfolio, and the failed entity called APCHA (the Aspen Pitkin County Housing Authority).   

This expose, in the works for over a year, and timed just as the city of Aspen is pushing pre-sales for phase 2 of Burlingame in hopes of floating a bond (likely to be in the $50-100 million range) as early as November 2011, will shock and awe you.  It should galvanize your opposition to the massive general obligation bond money needed for further construction at Burlingame, as well as fuel your opposition to more subsidized housing in general until we get a firm grip on the program:  who's in charge, who currently lives in our units, whether or not they qualify, whether or not they pay (and are current on) their homeowners association dues, whether or not the various HOAs have sufficient capital reserves, etc. etc.  The list goes on. 

But alas, the news of the day delays the launch of the series.  But it's definitely coming!  Stay tuned.

THE BIG DRUG BUST

On May 19, federal DEA agents made a major drug bust in Aspen.  Six Aspen residents were popped in an early-morning raid:  Peggy Schlaugher, Wayne Reid, Jack Fellner, Joseph Burke, Joan Anastasi and Christopher Sheehan.  Who'd have guessed that 5 of the 6 are in their 60's!?  And, according to a list of subsidized housing residents provided to The Red Ant in 2010, suspects Jack Fellner and Joseph Burke live in publicly subsidized housing  (Centennial and Aspen Village, repectively)! 

Here's the real kicker: the feds (including DEA, IRS, US Marshalls, FBI and Homeland Security) admittedly and purposely left local law enforcement out of the loop on this investigation and the bust.  Hmm, you ask.  Why?  As part of its year-long investigation, the feds discovered "some kind of relationship" between our local sheriff's office and the suspects!  Yep.  It seems the feds feared that their investigation would be compromised if our local guys learned of the impending bust!  And they admit that they just don't trust our sheriff's department!

Details are still unfolding, but this is no small case.  The suspects are alleged to be part of an organized drug ring that trafficked over 500 pounds of cocaine from Los Angeles to Aspen over the last 15 years.  Yes, you read that right: 500 pounds! 

Sometimes it's just best to print the quotes.  Most of these are from The Aspen Times and Aspen Daily News interviews with participating DEA agents, however I spoke at length with DEA special agent Jim Schrandt to confirm the details.  I have a great imagination and am a true conspiracy theorist, but I'm not THIS good:

• "Oftentimes we work with other jurisdictions and we've actually integrated them into our investigations because usually there's a local narcotics task force that we're working with hand-in-hand from the inception of the case.  Unfortunately that does not exist in the City of Aspen or Pitkin County."  --  Jim Schrant, DEA special agent  (NOTE:  Agent Schrandt tells me that both Telluride and Vail law enforcement fully cooperate with the DEA.)
• "And the reason we weren't able to do that fuller notification (of local law enforcement) was because of the relationship of (current sheriff) Joe DiSalvo and (former sheriff) Bob Braudis and several targets of this investigation who were being arrested."  -- Agent Schrant
• These "arrests make Aspen and its surrounding communities safer by taking significant amounts of drugs off the street and putting violent criminals behind bars."  --  Kevin Merrill, DEA special agent
• Regarding Merrill's reference to "violence," Agent Schrant stated, "We don't know if they (the Aspen suspects) are (violent) or aren't.  But I can tell you with absolute certainty that the organization in Los Angeles is extremely violent and the kilos being consumed in Aspen - and the kilos being trafficked by this (local) organization - essentially sent money to that (LA) organization committing this egregious violence."
• Regarding Aspen's role, "The consumers funded it.  The traffickers paid for it directly with Aspen dollars in excess of at least 500 pounds of cocaine.  This cocaine appears to be consumed entirely in Aspen.  This was the end of the ramp in Aspen.  So all that dope was coming here, and this cocaine being bought and paid for in Aspen was (financially) going directly to this organization in Los Angeles."  -- Agent Schrant
• "There is a strong appetite for cocaine in Aspen." - Agent Schrant
• "Communities like Aspen are consuming these copious amounts of cocaine and their dollars are fueling violence in places like Los Angeles, places like Mexico."  -- Agent Schrant

HATE TO SAY IT BUT, I TOLD YA SO

Last fall, The Red Ant (Issue #50) endorsed Rick Leonard over Joe DiSalvo for Sheriff.  There were several reasons, not the least of which was, "Twenty-three year sheriff's deputy and current sheriff Bob Braudis' anointed one, Joe DiSalvo, stands by the status quo of the department," well known for its lax enforcement of the war on drugs.  "Leonard is a big advocate of cleaning up the local drug scene, even if this involves undercover investigations in certain circumstances.  When Braudis and DiSalvo agree that our local drug problem is a health issue and not a criminal one, we are nothing but a sanctuary city/county for drug dealers.  It's 2010.  This mentality does not fly with The Red Ant."  Alas, DiSalvo won in a landslide.

      "Frankly, based on our investigation, we had revealed close ties between the current sheriff and several of the targets that were arrested." -- Agent Schrant 

The DEA was so intent on keeping our sheriff in the dark that they stationed a DEA agent outside the sheriff's office during the early-morning raid as a "preventative measure" in case word of the bust leaked out.  The Aspen Daily News reported that this action was to "avoid a potentially violent confrontation between officers."  Good grief.  Just how far did the feds think (know?) our sheriff would go to protect the local drug trade?

While the DEA will not elaborate on the relationship between DiSalvo and the suspects, public records reveal that several of them made generous contributions to DiSalvo's recent campaign and those of former sheriff Bob Braudis.  Coincidence?  You decide.

The DEA is also quick to point out that it has no beef with the Aspen Police Department.  The Red Ant surmises that the close quarters of the APD and the sheriff's office in the basement of the county courthouse was reason to additionally keep the APD in the dark.

Best yet, our friend mayor Mick and his pal county commissioner Rachel Richards have both committed to writing formal letters to the DEA in support of Sheriff Joe DiSalvo and asking that the DEA cooperate with and inform local authorities in future investigations.  They both intend to have these letters signed by city council and the board of county commissioners next week.  This is a representative democracy, folks.  By doing this, they effectively say that the residents of Aspen and Pitkin County agree with them that, under the guise of public safety, the local sheriff's office should be notified in advance of any federal drug operation being conducted here.  The Red Ant wholeheartedly disagrees, especially when the DEA affirms that this case is "very much ongoing" and they "anticipate further arrests."  I, for one, am very anxious to know more about these "relationships" before DiSalvo gets one iota of intel from the feds!

By clicking this LINK, you can send an email to the DEA, thanking them for this major bust, their continuing investigation, their early-morning arrests (that ensured maximum public safety and minimized disruption), and their on-going fight in the war on drugs.  They have just made our community safer, when our local sheriff's office would not.  PLEASE take 2 minutes to do this.  Write "Aspen" on the subject line and share your gratitude!  It's bad enough that the Aspen community is, according to Agent Schrandt, perceived as having a "passive attitude toward cocaine use" and is viewed as a "hotbed of illegal drug activity."  Let's support the feds in their efforts to change this.

And to think we spend so much time debating the environmental impact plastic grocery bags.....

ASPEN: THE WELFARE STATE?

"The Pitkin County commissioners this week approved spending at least $9,500 for a phone poll gauging voters' mood on approving a property tax to support the Healthy Community Fund, which supports public assistance programs and aids local nonprofit organizations," according to the Aspen Daily News.  Yep, they're planning to gauge public opinion on the reauthorization and increase of the current property tax to fund "social services" in the county.  We've had the Healthy Community Fund since 2002 with $800K in annual funding for its first 5 years.  In 2006, voters upped it to $1.25M through 2012.

Now that demand for "social services" has drastically increased over the past 3 years, the Healthy Community Fund is seen as the next great way to provide more free stuff - to the tune of $3.5M annually.  This property tax increase would of course entail approval by voters, perhaps as soon as this fall.  Yes, times are definitely challenging.  But when the Wall Street Journal (3/4/11) names Aspen "The Most Expensive Town in America," at what point do we collectively acknowledge that it's ok if some people leave town when there are not enough jobs and they cannot afford to live here any longer?

Furthermore, this can be viewed as a tax that makes local non-profits into component units of government, eliminating their need to fundraise, and replacing private donations with tax dollars.  This would make the non-profits subservient to the government's political mission rather than their own missions to serve people directly.  VERY dangerous.

I received a note from a former resident of Aspen who wrote me upon his learning of these latest welfare developments.  Again, sometimes it's just best to quote:

"If I were going to create a welfare state I would find a town in the most beautiful place in the world, attract millionaires to live there, offer them services, and then impose property taxes on them at a level that would let me subsidize all my friends in the lifestyle they have seen but cannot afford."

He continued, "Apparently, Aspen and Pitkin County have chosen this road.  First there was the building phase, when lots of people were attracted to town to help construct mansions.  Then, the city imposed a moratorium on building, putting many out of work.  The solution: impose a property tax to support welfare for the out of work." 

Oh, and the $9500 buys just 300 phone calls. 

Again, can't make it up.

HYDRO HIJACKED

Was it just a political ploy during election season when Mick and council switched gears and voted to withdraw their controversial conduit exemption from the FERC in favor of a "minor water power project" that will entail more environmental studies and greater federal oversight?  Probably.  Believe it when you see it.  In a recently released report, it seems that a secret, closed-door "mediation session" that didn't even include all parties, yielded a "unanimous" conclusion that a 3-member board (a rep from the city, PitCo Healthy Rivers and Streams, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife) should make all the decisions regarding stream diversions for Aspen's hydro plant.  This is patently ridiculous -- the government is poised once again to have the final say, despite the egregious bureaucratic mis-management of the project at just about every turn thus far.  Notable is the fact that those invited to participate in the secret meeting could not bring counsel, nor could they share with the public or press any details of the meeting.  (For this reason, a large group of stakeholders - the Castle Creek landowners - declined to participate.) 

If you are interested, please plan to attend a public forum on Thursday, June 16, at Paepcke Auditorium, starting at 5:30p, although sadly, I'm not confident it will be anything more than a city dog-and-pony show.  This event was originally conceived and planned by local citizens (the Castle Creek landowners, or "NIMBY's" as the city calls them) as a "community forum" on the hydro plant and its myriad issues, but in their generosity, the group offered the city a seat at the table.  With that, the city proceeded to hi-jack the event, steam-rolling the agenda by usurping the opening statement and even featuring self-proclaimed water expert and I-want-a-hydro-plant-on-my-resume mayor Mick on the panel.  It will be valuable to get Mick on the record regarding the "Castle Creek Energy Center," the monicker for the larger project in the works under the guise of a hydro-electric plant, as well as other nefarious and dubious decisions he has personally made, but with the city in charge, one thing not to expect is the truth! 

 I'm still investigating the securities fraud aspect of the $5.5M bond and the use of its proceeds.  This story is far from over.

AACP TIDBITS

City council recently voted not to fund an update to an 2007 economic conditions study that would provide factual, realistic and current information for use in the beleagured Aspen Area Community Plan update.  The outlay?  $12,000, but ACRA had offered to pay half.  The rationale?  Again, let's quote.  Mayor Mick stated to the Aspen Times, "I don't think we need to rehash the economics because I don't think the AACP should be driven by economics."  He continued, "I think the AACP should say what we want to have happen, not what the market wants to have happen."  Yep, he said it.  Straight from the mouth of your mayor, someone who knows nothing and respects even less about business.

Here are three letters to the editor that ran in response to this patently stupid decision:

• Semrau:  Eyes wide shut? (5/28/11)
• Maple:  AACP process "hijacked" (5/27/11)
• Milias:  AACP is an advisory document  (5/27/11)

TOO IDIOTIC TO OMIT

While the city denies funds for useful, relevant and critical economic data, check-out their latest foolish $30,000 expenditure: $20,000 for re-usable water bottles and another $9400 on "filling stations" for them.  They plan to try to sell "some" of the bottles to recoup maybe $15,000.  Great ROI, huh?  (Incompetent city manager Steve Barwick must've approved this math!) Ahhh, to eliminate plastic water bottles at any cost!  It pains me to even write about this -- see this LINK for the Aspen Daily News story on the city's latest plan to pour your money down the drain!

A RED ANT REMINDER

The Red Ant is political commentary (read: opinion - mine - it's an editorial), designed to present, interpret and discuss local issues that the papers either ignore outright,  merely toe the line provided them by city hall, or fail to connect the oh-so-important dots.  Often derided as a "conservative blog" by these same papers, The Red Ant always strives to present verifiable facts with my perspective and ideas on subjects that relate primarily to accountability and transparency in our local government.  (Detractors regularly cry for more "transparency" from me.  My personal business is not required to be transparent.  I am a private citizen and The Red Ant is a private LLC.  However, the government IS required to be transparent, and that is my focus.) 

Please note that I say "verifiable facts" above.  I do extensive research and am happy to provide my facts to you upon request.  When I utilize information from the newspaper, I quote and attribute it.  And should you find factual errors in my reporting, please let me know ASAP.  The Red Ant has no problem admitting an error or issuing a correction.  Just ask Aspen Area Community Plan (AACP) author and advocate Marcella Larsen.  When contacted to correct a detail of her hypocritical and self-serving land deal in Issue #52, The Red Ant graciously made the change and noted it as a correction in the very next issue.  Again, this is commentary -- my interpretations and opinions -- but I insist on the facts.  I always welcome your feedback and comments.  Just hit "reply" to this email.