What could the mayors of Aspen and De Beque, or Snowmass Village and Silt, possibly agree on?
A lot, they say. Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, New Castle, Rifle and Parachute, too. And they hope to become a louder regional voice and a stronger political force.
For the past seven months, the mayors throughout the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys have been meeting every two months to discuss issues of common interest. Despite differences in geography, demographics and political affiliation, the mayors have found there's more that unites them than divides them.
They have gathered in Carbondale, Rifle, Basalt and Silt. On Friday, some wearing fleece, some wearing flannel, mayors from Aspen to De Beque braved falling snow to gather in a conference room at the Aspen Alps to talk about gas drilling, gravel pits, water diversions, affordable housing and what to talk about next.
They usually meet without constituents, lobbyists or pesky reporters listening in. And they unanimously agree that they have a lot to unanimously agree on.
"Not too long ago, people would say, 'What do these communities have in common?'" said Aspen Mayor Helen Klanderud. "Clearly there are some real differences in the communities, but there are some real similarities, and what we have found is how much we agree on."
The group has been so popular, mayors have come from as far as Grand Junction, and mayors from Palisade, Fruita, Paonia and Hotchkiss have expressed interest, too. They hope that by acting jointly, they can find power regionally and statewide they couldn't find working separately.
"There is strength in numbers," said state Rep. Kathleen Curry, D, who sat in on Friday's meeting. "If they can find common ground and communicate that, it's only going to benefit their region."
They come from playgrounds of billionaires to communities surrounded by the natural gas industry, to towns caught in between. But they've found issues like affordable housing bind them, and impacts from natural gas drilling and gravel pit expansion unite upper valley environmental sensibilities with downvalley realities.
"As far as I'm concerned, the only political thing I'd like to see this group jump onto is conservation. Conservation for conservation's sake," said De Beque Mayor Donald Cramer.
The group of mayors, who meet without a formal name, say they meet without regard to political affiliations -- they don't even know their political affiliations. Most are Democrats, though, even those from traditionally-conservative western Garfield County, and Silt Mayor Dave Moore, a Republican, has been a vocal critic of gas impacts and some Republican policies.
"We have more in common with each other than we do with our county, to say the least," Moore said. "We've been a little disappointed with how the county has responded."
During a break, Moore threw his arm around Klanderud.
"She's my mentor," he said.
Garfield County mayors say their collective voice may ring louder not just to commissioners, but to state legislators. With the Western Slope often drowned out by Front Range interests, they hope by representing a broader region, they can find more support for issues like oil and gas impacts and collecting energy severance tax dollars to deal with it.
"This group of mayors that represent a broad area in Colorado could make a difference," Klanderud said.
Mayors from Aspen to Rifle got their councils to back a resolution supporting roadless area protections. They're at work on a resolution asking for more energy severance tax dollars.
"After being part of this group, I was surprised at how willing people were to talk about issues and not turn this into a battle of Democrats versus Republicans, upvalley versus downvalley," said Parachute Mayor Roy McClung.
The group started meeting in February at the urging of Healthy Mountain Communities Executive Director Colin Laird. It had been a while since mayors across the region had gotten together, he said, but regional issues have started to come to the forefront.
"I think that there's value in elected officials being able to share what their ideas are without it being a formal event," he said. "They don't even have to take action on it. ... In a way, there's power in not having power."
After having reporters scribbling notes at their last meeting, mayors admitted they clamed up a little.
"This is an informal organization," said Snowmass Village Mayor Doug "Merc" Mercatoris. "This is not an elected body. This is people sharing their mutual concerns and coming up with recommendations."
dfrey@aspendailynews.com 
