City Council Goals

The Aspen City Council has a long history of establishing goals to direct priorities for the City. These goals guide the actions of the City Council and the City Administration in budgeting and programming initiatives. 

The following are the top three critical goals adopted by City Council on August 10, 2021 (Resolution #76, Series of 2021): 

1. Increase the number of Affordable Housing Units: In order to deliver an affordable housing system that is high quality, sustainable, and results in a lived-in community, Council will continue to evaluate, identify opportunities, plan, partner, facilitate, and leverage existing and new resources to invest in the development and maintenance of affordable housing. This will be accomplished through:

   • Convening a City Housing Retreat;

   • Creating an affordable housing strategic plan;

   • Completing Council directed affordable housing development projects;

   • Continuing to seek additional affordable housing development opportunities;

   • Leveraging and amending regulations and policies in support of affordable housing; and

   • Supporting continuous improvement with the APCHA program, including ensuring adequate resources.

2. Increase the number of available childcare spaces. This will be accomplished through:

   • Plan, design to repurpose or build new buildings to add physical capacity to increase available childcare space.

   • Increase the recruitment and retention of qualified early childhood teachers

   • Generate funding to support the development of new childcare spaces

3. Reduce Aspen's Greenhouse Gas emissions: Take meaningful action and provide leadership in reducing the Aspen community's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions by the amount which is scientifically proven to limit global temperature change. This will be accomplished through:

   • Maximizing efficiency and minimizing carbon emissions in all of Aspen's emissions in all inventory sectors including Waste Reduction and Diversion, Transportation, and the Built Environment 

   • Leading climate policy and legislative efforts at local, regional, national, and global scales