ISSUE #262: Philistines on City Council (11/6/23)
January 5 "Am Yisrael Chai."
This past week has been about as ugly as it gets in Aspen. The city council meeting on October 30 blew up with unabashed anti-semitism and ignorance over a motion to fly the flag of Israel from The Armory just as we have flown the Ukrainian flag since March 2022. It was APPALLING.
The Aspen Daily News succinctly covered the still-unfolding story HEREand HERE. Meanwhile, The Aspen Times ignored it altogether and censored my use of the words "anti-semite" because they saw this as hate speech. How ironic.
HERE is my column on the matter from yesterday's Aspen Times.
In the meantime, the mayor and two city councilmen have issued pathetic and weak apologies, less regretting what they said and more because they fear for their political futures. As they should. Each of them managed to make matters worse with the statements they subsequently made. Here are Torre's, Ward's and John's "apologies." (Spare me.)
This episode is illustrative of what happens when we elect virtue-signaling fools to office in Aspen. They are incompetent at their jobs and even worse leaders. Is it any wonder they make the decisions they do?
Shame on Mayor Torre, and councilmen John Doyle and Ward Hauenstein. They are a disgrace. The best thing they can do today is to resign from office.
And speaking of virtue-signaling fools who we've elected to office, where is former Aspen city councilman Adam Frisch in all this? His silence is deafening. As someone of the Jewish faith who just so happens to now be running to serve our district in the US Congress, since when is saying nothing ok?
Ninety years ago a lot of people stayed silent. "Never again" is our collective responsibility.
Stay tuned. This one isn't over.
Oh, and here's the VIDEO of Doyle in action that set the wheels in motion. And in case you were wondering, as covered in the second Daily News article above, Bill Guth discussed his motion with city manager Sara Ott prior to the meeting and she informed Torre of it. For Torre to say he was "blindsided" is simply BS.
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There has never been a shortage of idiotic discussion among the ill-informed on Aspen’s city council, but the meeting on Monday, October 30, took the display of ignorance and stupidity to an entirely new level.
In response to a motion brought by councilman Bill Guth to hang the flag of Israel above the Armory in solidarity with Israel and the Israeli people following the terror attacks of October 7, just as a Ukranian flag was hung there in March 2022 as a symbol of support, the citizens of Aspen were presented with pure and unadulterated antisemitism.
Mayor Torre, and councilmen Ward Hauenstein and John Doyle voted to oppose. Then Doyle (to call him ignorant or uninformed is to give him too much credit) responded with his objection to the moral equivalence, stating “There is a difference. The Ukranians were not being held in a concentration camp.” Yes, he said that.
A simple review of an earlier council meeting on March 8, 2022, revealed the striking contrast and glaring hypocrisy of sitting councilmen Doyle and Hauenstein as well as Mayor Torre, who, together with former councilpersons Skippy Mesirow and Rachel Richards, proudly, emphatically and unanimously celebrated a formal proclamation in support of Ukraine:
“The city of Aspen stands in unwavering solidarity with the people of the sovereign nation of Ukraine, as they defend themselves against Russia’s unprovoked invasion and war against their democracy and sovereign right to exist as an independent nation. And whereas the city of Aspen stands with other countries, private corporations, religious leaders, states and cities from around the world in condemning this horrific act of aggression by Russia, and demands the immediate cessation of all hostilities. And, whereas, in these moments of crisis, the leadership demonstrated by president Zelensky, members of the Ukranian armed forces and the citizens of Ukraine are a beacon of resolve and commitment to democratic principles and values. And whereas the public servants at the local level in Ukraine should be recognized as they continue to practice servant leadership under the most dangerous of conditions to provide essential municipal services. Now, therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and city council of the city of Aspen that one, we are condemning the act of Russian aggression, we support the people and the government of the sovereign nation of Ukraine and we urge the Aspen community to contribute resources to aid the people of Ukraine.”
It is unfathomable that in 19 short months, the same sentiment would not be extended to the state of Israel and its people, especially and notably at the express request of fellow councilman Guth and seconded by councilman Sam Rose, who is also Jewish and had lived in Israel for a year before moving to Aspen. It was personal.
But we are clearly now in uncharted waters here in Aspen, home to a large and active Jewish community.
Following Doyle’s unconscionable statement, when they realized what had been revealed, council quickly passed a motion to remove the Ukranian flag from the Armory, ostensibly so as not to appear as the hypocrites they truly are and likely in hopes that the messy and emotional debate would go away so they could return to ambivalence and both-siderism.
But Hauenstein dug in. He voted for the Ukranian flag to stay, sanctimoniously stating, “I sympathize with Bill and Sam and the Israeli people and all the people who have been subjected to terrorist acts, but it’s complicated and I don’t want to discuss it at this point in this venue.” For a man so actively involved in the Aspen Chapel, perhaps the faith leaders there can counsel him on the definition of heresy.
Mayor Torre also doubled down. “I have said that my support for Israel and the Israeli people is there.” Where, exactly, Torre? Where is that support? His nervous blathering about sending a statement to Aspen’s representatives in Washington or to erecting a “display” somewhere in town was insulting.
As for John Doyle, this unapologetic antisemite must resign at once. Torre and Ward should resign as well. They are unfit to lead. But they won’t. Their arrogance and self-righteousness won’t allow it. So they should be censured at the very least, and there is local precedence for doing far less. Censure, a formal and public group condemnation of an individual whose actions run counter to the group’s acceptable standards for individual behavior is entirely appropriate here. Think of it as public shaming, as if their public statements weren’t shameful enough. The problem is, in this case, “the group’s acceptable standards” are nothing close to being in any way acceptable.
In the absence of educated, experienced or informed elected leaders, we find ourselves at the mercy of inept, virtue-signaling fools. The recent election of two new representatives, Guth and Rose, who have disrupted the status quo with their thoughtful questioning and willingness to express minority opinions, has demonstrated the need to continue raising the bar for future candidates.
Doyle can run for re-election in 2025. Thankfully Torre and Hauenstein are term-limited out. I’m not sure I can wait that long.
I stand with Israel. And I’ll support any recall efforts. Contact TheRedAntEM@comcast.net