A group hoping to change the date of Aspen’s municipal elections is holding a public meeting Tuesday evening.
Aspen Citizens for Democracy is made up of elected officials, business owners and long time Aspen locals. They say the May elections for Aspen’s governing bodies excludes many registered voters who leave town during the off-season month.
They are hosting a series of listening sessions about a ballot initiative they hope to see this November which moves back the timing of local elections.
Skippy Mesirow, who serves on two city boards and ran for city council in 2017, said if even a few more voters can participate, it could greatly affect election outcomes.
“Even if it’s one percent, in an election that’s somewhere between 17 and 27 votes,” Mesirow said. “In the last 15 years everything from the entrance to Aspen to who the mayor is to your council people are, are regularly decided by less than that.”
The discussion begins at 6 p.m. Monday at the Aspen Tap.