ISSUE #267: Later, Aspen Times Censors! (1/14/24)
January 14 "Well, I won't back down
No I won't back down
You could stand me up at the gates of Hell
But I won't back down.
No, I'll stand my ground
Won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down
Gonna stand my ground.
And I won't back down."
-- Tom Petty
ASPEN TIMES COLUMN
Hello loyal followers!
I am sharing this week's "column" with you directly because The Aspen Times censors refused to print it.
The Aspen Times capitulated to demands and threats from the city manager regarding my last column, editing it online after it ran. And my new editor declined to educate himself on the critical details and chose to ignore independent legal analyses of Mayor Torre's suspect real estate transaction last summer.
Recall that I stayed with the Times throughout its serious and damning legal challenges because of the paper's iconic masthead and rich history, but cannot in good faith remain part of an editorial regime that doesn't (and I quote) "want to piss off the city because (he) has to work with them every day. Besides, it's a small town."
As a result, I will no longer be contributing as a columnist to The Aspen Times. My pursuit of truth in journalism wherever it leads is not compatible with the culture and direction of that paper.
The Fourth Estate and holding the government to account is officially dead at The Aspen Times. Censorship is alive and well. Consider it Aspen's Pravda.
I stand by EVERY LAST WORD of this week's column and have received legal advice from an attorney who regularly beats the city like a drum. Are you really going to believe APCHA executive director and city manager puppet Matthew Gillen's defensive justifications for Torre's sketchy deal? LOL.
APCHA broke its own rules. Torre benefitted. The seller (his landlord) got royally screwed. Everyone involved kept quiet. Then the city lied when confronted with the evidence.
The Red Ant is not going anywhere in its 16th year. I won't be silenced.
Remember, before The Aspen Times column, together we killed the Hydro Plant and got city manager Steve Barwick fired, among many other notable victories. Lately, we prevented Mick Ireland from being elected county assessor, kept fools like Skippy Mesirow to one term on city council and have APCHA on notice. We also make several councilmen and citizen boards very nervous, with good reason. This will not change.
Contact me for your "Torre-Gate" pin (see the square above) to show your unwavering support, follow @theredantaspen on Instagram and stay tuned for UNCENSORED content as we march forward in earnest toward good governance in Aspen.
Principles matter.
EM
* * *
THE RED ANT
A Highly Unusual Home Purchase
It’s never the crime. It’s the cover-up.
My last column kicked the hornet’s nest. I made bold assertions about how APCHA facilitated a special home purchase for Mayor Torre. I stand by my story.
Despite APCHA executive director Matt Gillen’s desperate attempts to diffuse the issue, he only dug himself into a deeper hole, beginning with the claim that the transaction was “completely normal.” It was anything but.
I said the transaction was “sketchy” and “squirrelly” because standard APCHA policy was not followed in a complicated and highly unusual transaction that specifically awarded Torre the 419 sf unit he now owns.
It was highly unusual that Torre’s unit had been a free market unit, encumbered by a 50-year deed restriction that was set to sunset in 2032. This is entirely different from an ownership unit in the APCHA portfolio with an expiring deed restriction. Torre’s unit could absolutely have been sold on the free market with its deed restriction intact, not unlike the sale of the Centennial Apartments in 2020. A301 was in fact not required to be sold to an APCHA buyer at a set price despite The Aspen Times’ cub reporter’s flawed reporting. APCHA can change its own rules, regs and definitions but it cannot change a deed restriction until it actually owns a property. It simply does not have the jurisdiction to do so. (This has been independently confirmed by an esteemed local attorney who is best known as "the city’s nemesis.")
It was highly unusual that Torre’s unit was Category 2 when Mr. Gillen insisted that 18 other similar transactions APCHA conducted made this one “completely normal.” What Gillen omitted and the Times’ inexperienced reporter did not properly research was that the other 18 “similar” transactions were actually APCHA resident occupied (RO) units, which never require a lottery. These transactions were in no way similar to Torre’s.
It was highly unusual for a free market unit with a deed restriction to transact at such a shockingly low sales price considering its increasing net present value given the approaching deed restriction sunset date. The fact that Torre negotiated this unbelievable deal for himself made it a priority sales transaction for APCHA because council had made buying-down expiring deed restrictions its #1 housing priority for 2023 and this one cost them nothing.
It was highly unusual that given the attaiment of such a high profile council goal, the sitting mayor “rescuing” a unit from its impending return to the free market was not shouted from the rooftops as a huge success story for a program that doesn’t have many.
It was highly unusual that when APCHA bought the unit and quickly updated the deed restriction into perpetuity once it had jurisdiction, it did not conduct a lottery at this critical nexus of momentary ownership before it sold the unit to Torre.
It is standard policy when APCHA acquires a unit, unless it is RO, to sell it in a lottery. If APHCA purchases a unit and can legally update its deed restriction, it can also conduct a proper, fair, honest and transparent lottery. Someone at APCHA apparently chose not to. If this has occurred before, it’s highly unusual and not adherent to policy.
Gillen dug himself a deeper hole claiming this action was because “there was nothing in this old deed restriction that said it had to be purchased in a lottery.” The 1982-era document was written pre-APCHA when there weren’t lotteries! Besides, Torre’s had been a free market unit. Please dude, stop digging. In the absence of specific language that precludes a lottery, you conduct one!
Torre bringing the deal to APCHA likely saved the city hundreds of thousands of dollars on the unit buydown. It’s a financial travesty for the seller, but not illegal. Perhaps this savings was grounds for APCHA to discuss allowing Torre to buy the unit. I wouldn't, but someone could probably make a case. But then own it and discuss it publicly. Instead, someone at APCHA made a highly unusual decision, then took steps to keep it quiet.
Way deep in the hole of his own digging, Gillen told a local reporter the highly unusual sales transaction was omitted from APCHA’s monthly sales report because it “had not been updated.” Pressed with proof of recorded sales from the very next day and throughout the fall and December, Gillen, with his shovel, stuck to his story.
There are hundreds of complex deed restrictions out there and it is going to be pricey and difficult to update any of them. The free market unit owners would be foolish to do so. It will not be an easy process. Special exceptions may have to be made. The key is transparency, unfortunately a foreign term at APCHA.
But APCHA has rules for a reason. It simply must live by them if they require everyone else to. Bring these anomalies to the council table, or better yet the APCHA board to give them something to do. Air them in public. But do not cheat, then deny, obfuscate and make absurd justifications after the fact. This only further muddies the already murky waters and suspicions surrounding the corrupt agency that is APCHA.
A sale to the sitting mayor should be the most transparent of all. Can you imagine what else APCHA is hiding?
The lady doth protest too much, me thinks.
*** Now forward this to 10 friends, neighbors and your HOA,and tell them to subscribe today!