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Aspen Public Radio's news coverage, interviews and public forums on the issues and the candidates of the 2016 elections in the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond. Want to learn about everything that will be on your ballot this election? Click here.

Commissioner candidates debate housing, open space

Two candidates for Pitkin County commissioner faced off last night at a live debate hosted by Aspen Public Radio. Greg Poschman and Scott Writer are running for a vacant seat on the board and discussed affordable housing, development, and the open space and trails program.     

 

es_debate_web.mp3

Both candidates are running on slow-growth platforms, but Poschman and Writer clashed over housing.

Writer said Pitkin County should take a more active role in affordable housing, including converting free market units to deed restricted, even if means spending more money. Poschman advocated for more development downvalley and more fees for building expensive properties.

The candidates both endorsed reauthorization of the Open Space and Trails program. Earlier this summer, Poschman said he would not vote to extend the tax, but last night he explained that a new biodiversity policy changed his mind.

Updated campaign finance reports were due Tuesday. Poschman has raised nearly $14,000 to date, while Writer has brought in just over $10,000.

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.
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