Editor:

The recent story (“ Private ski area proposal near Steamboat divides community ,” Nov 30, Aspen Daily News) brought back a great memory and learning experience for me.

In 1973, I was mayor of Aspen, and Dr. J.A. Utterbach was a Routt County Commissioner. The Region 12 Council of Governments held quarterly meetings to discuss issues common to ski county Colorado.

Arriving at a meeting hosted by the commissioners, I was a couple of hours early, and decided to sit in on the commissioners’ meeting. A contingent of white-shoe and sport-coat-wearing, briefcase-carrying guys walked into the room, followed by their flunkies carrying a ping-pong table sized model of a real estate development.

They put the model down on the exhibits’ table in front of the commissioners and proceede

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