City Hires Consultants to Lead Public Art Outreach

The city of Aspen’s creation of a public arts program will be shaped by a team of consultants charged with designing both a plan and community-engagement process, the Aspen Daily News reported. The consultants come in response to residents’ pleas in the fall for a public arts program. The program likely would consist of city-owned art displays installed around town for community members and visitors to see. The consultants, ThereSquared LLC and Stilwell Cultural Consulting LLC, will conduct research, look at the city’s current art collection of about 27 pieces and where they are located, and make recommendations on their placement.

Website Launched to Track STR Permits

The city of Aspen staff added the STR-C Permit Availability Summary to the city’s website, the Aspen Times reported. This report shows detailed information about the number of issued and available STR-C permits in capped zones and is intended to inform applicants about waitlist length in zones for which STR-C waitlists exist. Map users can enter any address in the city of Aspen to see if an active STR permit exists for a property. Users can also see the type of permit, permit number, and name of the permittee for active permits.

New Police Chief Announced

The city of Aspen announced that Kim Ferber, operations commander at the Sterling Police Department, will be Aspen’s next chief of police, the Aspen Daily News reported. Ferber was selected from five finalists, including two internal candidates, after a comprehensive, nationwide search. A press release described Ferber as an innovative, empathetic, and transparent leader with more than 27 years of rural, suburban and state law enforcement experience.

Torre, Guth, Rose Win City Election

Aspen voters re-elected the incumbent Mayor Torre by a margin of 561 votes, rejecting political newcomer Tracy Sutton, the Aspen Times reported. He garnered 1,675 votes, and Sutton won 1,114 votes. Torre gained about 60% of the vote to Sutton’s 40%, which is in line with the short-term rental excise tax Aspen voters confirmed in November. City voters elected the council’s possibly youngest member in history, Sam Rose, 29, and William “Bill” Guth. Rose had a big lead over the other two candidates — first-time challenger Guth and incumbent Skippy Mesirow. Guth defeated Mesirow by roughly 210 votes. Guth, whose proreal-estate-development campaign seemed controversial at times, eked out a win for the second City Council seat.