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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.
- This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Armi and Joni Hall. Thank you to the Halls for their generous support of our mission!
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Have you received a telephone poll asking what you think about giving up your TABOR refunds for a new police academy? Many people are receiving this call. We looked into it, and the interesting thing is, we can’t find any information on who is conducting this poll. Read our original article to discover what we’ve learned, or haven’t learned.
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During the campaign, Mr. Mobolade promised transparency. At the August 7th City Council Work Session, a completely different message was sent by the mayor regarding the poll mentioned above. Read all about it in our original article.
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Managing CORA requests takes us quite a bit of time and money. Given what we’ve seen so far from Mayor Mobolade, this work won’t slow down anytime soon. Please feel free to kick in a few bucks if you have the inclination to do so.
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Speaking of funding a shiny new police academy for CSPD, a recent report shows police response times are worse now than they were in 2019. A shiny new building won’t fix that. Which issue is the priority for CSPD and Colorado Springs city officials?
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The Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments wants you to take their survey regarding future plans for transportation in the county. The survey asks you about preferences for travel. We'd love for our readers to participate.
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A meeting about an affordable housing complex near the Pine Creek neighborhood became lively last week. In fact, it appears that not a single resident is in favor of this new apartment complex. Residents have genuine safety concerns about this development, and they want to be heard.
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Colorado Springs City Council has voted 6-3 in favor of forcing a very expensive apartment complex for homeless youth, The Launchpad, onto westside neighbors. This is despite major concerns with the development.
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Mayor Mobolade has kicked off his listening tour. Residents cite public safety and housing as top concerns.
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The first stop on Mayor Mobolade's listening tour left us wondering if the attendees were truly representative of District 6. Watch the meeting and let us know what you think.
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There was a data breach at the Colorado Department of Education. Some bad actor out there now has personal information on students going back decades. Should bureaucrats be micromanaging other people’s lives when they can’t even competently do their jobs?
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Unemployment fraud is so out of control at the Colorado Department of Labor that legitimate unemployment claims are stuck in a holding pattern. This comes on the heels of rampant unemployment fraud during the government response to COVID. Should bureaucrats be micromanaging all our lives when they can’t even competently do their jobs? If the Colorado state government were a business, people would go to prison.
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Do you trust government enough to give them even more of your hard-earned money forever? Don’t be fooled by proposition HH. It’s a scam. They don’t care about providing property tax relief. They care about permanently ending the tax collection restrictions required by the TABOR law, and growing government.
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Speaking of government trust, did you know that in 2021, the Colorado legislature passed a law mandating compelled, and false, language on ballot measures? It’s true. One taxpayer rights organization is suing in federal court. El Paso County Commissioner Carrie Geitner has joined the plaintiffs in the lawsuit to overturn this clearly unconstitutional law. We appreciate Commissioner Geitner. Why do we have to continuously sue elected representatives to stop doing things they shouldn’t be doing in the first place?
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Speaking of Colorado state government, over 100 new laws went into effect this year. Because one thing we were missing in our lives was these 100 new laws.
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One of these 100 new laws is an expansion of the Colorado paid family leave program, that voters put into place in 2020. You may recall that there were concerns about the program’s financial solvency from the beginning. Regardless, starting August 7th, people can now get these taxpayer-funded benefits when missing work due to inclement weather, and grieving the death of a loved one. Soon no one will have to take any responsibility for their lives. Taxpayers will be forced to do this for them.
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Meanwhile, in Costilla County, Colorado, some property owners who appealed property values ended up with higher valuations. Ouch.
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The Cheyenne Boulevard neighbors achieved a partial victory with regard to sewage from the Seven Falls complex being transported through their neighborhood.
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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, August 21, 10:00 a.m.
Colorado Springs City Council Work Session
107 N. Nevada, 3rd floor
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
Tuesday, August 22, 10:00 a.m.
Colorado Springs City Council
107 N. Nevada, 3rd floor
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
El Paso County Board of County Commissioner Meetings
Tuesday, August 15, 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, August 22, 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
Wednesday, August 16, 1:00 p.m.
Utilities Board of Directors
Blue River Board Room
Plaza of the Rockies, South Tower, 5th Floor
Live stream link here
Agenda
Miscellaneous Meetings of Interest
Friday, August 11, 5:30 p.m.
Mayor Mobolade Listening Tour – City Council District 5
COS City Hub
4304 Austin Bluffs Parkway
Information and Agenda
Friday, August 18, 5:30 p.m.
Mayor Mobolade Listening Tour – City Council District 3
Hillside Community Center
925 S. Institute Street
Information and Agenda
Tuesday, August 22, 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
Broadmoor Community Church
315 Lake Avenue
Agenda
Thursday, August 24, 6:30 p.m.
Independence Institute Local Government Training Workshop
Online Meeting
Information and Agenda
Saturday, August 26
Proposition HH Townhall with Representative Rose Pugliese
Tri-Lakes Chamber of Commerce Community Room
166 2nd Street, Monument, CO
Agenda not yet posted
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!
Rebecca
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