Dear Editor:
I read with interest the conclusions a pair of papered pundits drew in their recently published “The Slums of Aspen.” They bear witness to what Aspen's workforce has become. But things were not always so.
Back when I first moved to the valley more than 30 years ago, there were very few illegal immigrants working in Aspen. The landscapers, the maids, the cooks and the rest of the working class were U.S. citizens.
My first job in Aspen was doing maid work with my wife at one of Aspen's finer hotels. We averaged more than $10 per hour and got to take home all the food and booze left in the rooms, and at season's end we each got a $450 bonus.
Thirty years later, the same job at the same hotel pays $8 per hour, you don't get any guest leftovers, and as a bonus you don't have to speak English. The authors' liberal bent must have prevented their distinguishing between legal and illegal workers.
(Bruno Kirchenwitz)
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