Steve Pomerance

I was going to write about national politics this week, but the death of local climber Jack Roberts led me down a different path. Jack was a friend and a climber who inspired me to do more. His death from a fall on an ice climb near Telluride hit me much harder than I would have expected. I have been climbing for about 50 years. Climbing is important in my life, and has consumed large amounts of time and energy over all those years. For me, climbing is not like most other activities. When I’m doing it, I am fully engaged — physically, mentally, and emotionally. At the moments of choice which occur in climbing — about whether to keep going up or turn around, or more starkly to climb up or fall off — there is nothing else in focus. And at the “up or fall” moments, when it’s not possible to just quit and walk away, making the choice to commit, stay focused, and let go of the fear, is a microcosm of what a lot of life is all about. Climbing is also an aesthetic experience. It is outd...

As has been reported, Ben Pearlman resigned from being county commissioner as of January 1, with about a year still left in his term. In a meeting unattended by the public just before Christmas, he was appointed to be the County Attorney by the two other commissioners, Will Toor and Cindy Domenico. He will replace Larry Hoyt, who recently resigned after many years on the job. Pearlman’s commissioner seat will be filled by the Democratic Party vacancy committee, and if that appointee is also currently an elected official, his/her vacancy will also be filled by the party. Apparently, the commissioners’ argument for making this appointment and doing it now is that Pearlman is very qualified and knowledgeable and the best of the applicants, and the timing during the holidays was unavoidable. But there are some very good arguments as to why this position should not have been filled in this way. First, both Toor and Pearlman’s terms expire at the end of 2012. They are both term-limited...