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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.
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El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker has some insightful comments about the new law that provides in-person voting for jailed prisoners around the state. Was this new law passed by the legislature with genuine, good-faith intentions?
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Governor Jared Polis has signed the supposed “disinformation bill”, which gives the Colorado Attorney General broad and arbitrary power to regulate your political speech online. It’s the Orwellian Ministry of Truth in real time here in Colorado, Winston.
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Also in disrespect to the citizenry news this week, the cost of filing a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request has just increased. Starting July 1, the CORA fees will increase over 23%. This will both discourage the filing of CORA requests and also generate more revenue for the bureaucracy. It’s a win-win for them, and another large serving of disrespect for us.
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Do you know who this fee increase will impact? Your humble and hard-working watchdogs at Springs Taxpayers United, that’s who. We file CORA requests regularly on your behalf so that we can all see the dirty details of how the government uses taxpayer dollars. If you are so inclined, please chip in a few bucks to help keep our mission going.
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Governor Jared Polis has signed a bill into law that could impact any potential roll-out of a ranked-choice voting system. Signatures are being gathered now to get ranked-choice voting on the November ballot.
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If you live in Academy School District 20, you may see a ballot measure in November to approve funding for upgrading schools in the district.
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The Colorado Springs Police Department is again getting attention for long response times. One theft victim actually managed to get his stolen bicycle back on his own while waiting for police to respond to his request for assistance.
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The National Motorists Association is pushing back against the plan to install revenue-generating speed cameras in Colorado Springs.
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Colorado Springs City Council has rejected the proposal to make ambulance services a city enterprise within the Fire Department. What will be the next step for ambulance services in our region?
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One local television news station has won a lawsuit for transparency. Local station KOAA sued the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo, forcing them to honor a CORA request regarding employees who have been placed on administrative leave.
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Public transportation in the Denver metro area is failing, so the Colorado Department of Transportation is stepping in. RTD is being plagued with light rail delays, so CDOT is letting people ride Bustang buses for the same cost as RTD trains. As a reminder, Governor Jared Polis wants to force us all onto trains in his egomaniacal master plan for how we should all live.
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Forbes magazine has released their 2024 ranking of worst places for summer travel. Colorado Springs is number two on the list. Just another thing we can be proud of in Colorado.
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Also in Colorado Springs news this week, CSPD is seeing increased violent criminal activity among the vagrant population in town.
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An ethics complaint against current Colorado Springs City Councilmember Dave Leinweber has been dismissed. The complaint alleged that Leinweber used his position on the City Council to help his campaign for a seat on the El Paso County Commission.
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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, June 24, 10:00 a.m.
Colorado Springs City Council Work Session
107 N. Nevada, 3rd floor
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
Tuesday, June 25, 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, June 18, 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, June 25, 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
Tuesday, June 18, 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
Thursday, June 20, 10:00 a.m.
Special Utilities Board Meeting
Blue River Board Room
Plaza of the Rockies, South Tower, 5th Floor
Live stream link here
Agenda
Thursday, June 20, 5:30 p.m.
Colorado Springs City Council District 1 Townhall with Councilman Donelson
East Branch Library
5550 North Union Boulevard
Information and Agenda
Miscellaneous Meetings of Interest
Monday, July 1, 5:00 p.m.
Law Enforcement Transparency and Advisory Committee
City Hall
107 S. Nevada Avenue, Suite 200
Also, online via Microsoft Teams
Information and 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 their Facebook Page and on Twitter.
Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube 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 tripod 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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