|
Here are some of the stories we are following this week. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for up-to-the-minute news.
-
New responses to our Colorado Springs Mayoral and City Council Candidate surveys appear to have dwindled. We may get more candidate responses before the election. If we do, we will be posting survey responses for mayoral candidates here, and city council candidate responses here, so that you can access and review them anytime.
-
For you, our dedicated subscribers, we have included additional links at the bottom of both the mayoral candidate survey response page, and the city council candidate survey response page. These links to news articles and videos will serve as a collection of all the candidate information you need.
-
We have added videos of a mayoral candidate forum and an at-large candidate forum from Sixty35 media.
-
Colorado Springs City Council Candidate Michelle Talarico has been accused of plagiarism for copying and pasting her responses to surveys from various websites. The surveys in question were from your humble watchdogs at Springs Taxpayers United and other local civic organizations.
-
So far, voter turnout in Colorado Springs has been low. Please, take the time and look for the candidates that most closely represent your views. Local representatives make decisions on the issues that most impact your day to day lives.
-
Our friends at the Independence Institute broadcast a comprehensive discussion of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, and the Colorado Legislature’s goal of eliminating it. Is this the year that the leftist radicals will finally succeed in their life-long dream of eliminating your right to consent to tax increases on your income?
-
If you have business downtown at the CSPD Police Operations Center, you will now have to pay for parking.
-
Also in parking news, small business owners in Old Colorado City are pushing back against a new plan to charge for parking in the surface lots in the area. The lots have been free, but now the city wants the business owners, their employees, and everyone else who parks there, to pay. This money-making plan will likely have a negative impact on the surrounding neighborhoods, which have very narrow streets. So, nobody wins except the city parking enterprise.
-
As we have seen before, this scheme to charge for parking in Old Colorado City was decided by the city, and then announced to the business owners after the decision was made. One quote from a recent article stands out: "We had this meeting discussing this six months ago or so and then it's like the decision got made but none of us knew the decision was made and set in stone," said Morris, who owns Mekari Springs. "I would just think you want business owners involved in decision making not just informing us that the decision has been made."
-
Legal questions are being asked about an attack ad aimed at mayoral candidate Sallie Clark. The City Clerk’s office believes this ad breaks the law.
-
Colorado Springs Utilities used $6 million of ratepayer money to buy land to house a new electric substation on Austin Bluffs Parkway.
-
Authoritarians in the Colorado Legislature are inventing a new way to micromanage and fine people. They want a new law that will designate 4% of any large capacity venue to be designated as “substance free”, which means drug and alcohol free in normal people terms. They will levy large fines against any venue that does not comply. No word on how they expect marijuana smoke to stay out of the substance free zone at Red Rocks concerts, and other venues.
-
In new government bureaucracy news this week, the Colorado Legislature is considering creating an Office of Eating Disorder Prevention. How they plan to solve the problem of eating disorders when they can’t even competently address core functions like locking criminals in jail is anybody’s guess, but we’re sure it will cost taxpayers even more money.
-
A new series of townhall meetings, Living with Wildfire, are being held throughout the next several months. Details on upcoming meetings are shown below in our Miscellaneous Meetings section.
-
In this era of record inflation and ever-increasing costs of government regulations, more and more Coloradans are using credit cards to get by. Colorado ranks 6th in the nation for increased credit card usage. This is not good news, especially considering rising interest rates for credit cards. Tick tock goes the time bomb.
-
The El Paso County Board of Commissioners has delayed a vote on a proposed 450 home development in Black Forest. The development plan was previously denied. The developer is heading back to the drawing board to make some changes to the plan.
-
A taxpayer-funded rebate program is helping Colorado Springs develop affordable housing. Politicians will, of course, pat themselves on the back, but this is your money being used.
-
Will you be receiving your own tax money back in the form of a TABOR refund this year?
-
If you would like to help support us in our mission as government watchdogs by becoming a Newsletter Sponsor, we are offering two sponsorships for each weekly newsletter, at the nominal cost of $100 each. Funds raised from these sponsorship opportunities will help us to keep looking out for taxpayers.
Here are some upcoming meetings in the area. We hope you can attend one or more!
If there are other public meetings you’d like to see announced here, please drop us a line. We are happy to include them in an upcoming newsletter. These might be government-related, candidate, or elected official meetings. Thanks!
Colorado Springs City Council Meetings
Monday, March 27, 10:00 a.m.
Colorado Springs City Council Work Session
107 N. Nevada, 3rd floor
Live stream link here
Agenda
Tuesday, March 28, 10:00 a.m.
Colorado Springs City Council
107 N. Nevada, 3rd floor
Live stream link here
Agenda
El Paso County Board of County Commissioner Meetings
Tuesday, March 28, 9:00 a.m.
El Paso County Board of County Commissioners
Centennial Hall
200 S. Cascade
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
Tuesday, April 4, 9:00 a.m.
El Paso County Board of County Commissioners
Centennial Hall
200 S. Cascade
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
Colorado Springs Utilities Board of Directors
No meetings currently posted
Miscellaneous Meetings of Interest
Tuesday, April 18. 6:30 p.m.
Living With Wildfire Townhall for Cragmor, Falcon Estates, Garden Ranch, Palmer Park, Pine Creek Estates, Pulpit Rock, Rockrimmon, Rustic Hills, Sunset Mesa, Thunderbird Estates, Woodmen Valley
Pulpit Rock Church
301 Austin Bluffs Parkway
Agenda
Thursday, April 20, 6:00 p.m.
Independence Institute Local Govt. Project Training Workshop
Online via Zoom
Agenda and information
Tuesday, May 16, 6:30 p.m
Living With Wildfire Townhall for Bear Creek, Broadmoor Bluffs, Broadmoor Hills, Broadmoor Oaks, Ivywild, Lower Skyway, Midland, Old Broadmoor, Quail Lake, Upper Skyway
Cheyenne Mountain High School
1200 Cresta Road
Agenda
View the full Colorado Springs City Council meeting schedule here to see upcoming meetings.
View the full Board of El Paso County Commissioners meeting schedule here to see upcoming meetings.
View the full Colorado Springs Utilities Board meeting schedule here to see upcoming meetings. Please also follow CSU on social media at their Facebook Page and on Twitter.
Don't forget to subscribe to our You Tube Channel. Since most of the City and County board and commission meetings are not televised or recorded, we are trying to remedy that. We now have a camera and tri-pod for volunteers to check out for future meetings.
If you have a tip about a story in the Pikes Peak region that you aren’t seeing reported, let us know. We will see what we can find out.
How to Contact City and County Officials:
City Hall
107 N. Nevada Avenue
Colorado Springs CO 80903
(719) 385-5986
Contact City Council
Mayor's Office
30 S Nevada Avenue, Suite 601
Colorado Springs, CO 80901
(719) 385-5900
Contact Mayors Office
County Commissioners
200 South Cascade Avenue, Suite 100
Colorado Springs, CO 80903-2202
Phone: (719) 520-7276
https://www.elpasoco.com/contact-us/
Thank you!
Laura and Rebecca
| 
