A recently formed nonprofit with Republican Party ties gave $128,000 this spring to campaign efforts that backed three Colorado Springs City Council candidates.
Dave Donelson, elected in District 1.
Randy Helms, elected in District 2.
Springs Opportunity Fund, a so-called 527 committee, named for the IRS code under which such groups are organized, spent $128,000 promoting candidacies of Dave Donelson in District 1, Randy Helms in District 2 and Mary Elizabeth Fabian in District 5. Itâs called a âdark moneyâ group because the rules allow them to shield the source of campaign money from the public.
All three candidates supported by Springs Opportunity Fund are registered Republicans. Though Council races are nonpartisan, it appears the outside committee carried out a GOP mission, given who was pulling the strings. More on that later.
As life gets back toward normal with restaurants and many other businesses more fully opening, Colorado Springs City Council meetings are expected to stay closed to the general public through August because of the coronavirus.
Springs Taxpayers, a group that advocates for government transparency, sees no acceptable reason for the continued closure as vaccinations become more widespread and larger gatherings are allowed in many other places, group co-founder Laura Carno said. Why aren’t they willing to face the people whom they represent? I mean all of them, not just the developers, she said.
Resident Angela Gilpin, who watches nearly every meeting remotely, is among those who would prefer to see the meetings open for residents to make their case in person, particularly on contentious issues.
Today
Cloudy with showers of rain and wet snow this evening. Low 34F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 60%..
Tonight
Cloudy with showers of rain and wet snow this evening. Low 34F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 60%. Updated: May 3, 2021 @ 10:44 pm
oath of office on April 20 at the Pioneers Museum.
Members later elected new leadership. Tom Strand will serve as Council president, and Richard Skorman as president pro tem. Wayne Williams was elected to chair the Colorado Springs Utilities Board, and Mike OâMalley will serve as vice chair.
On April 23, former President Trumpâs
Navigable Waters Protection Rule went into effect in Colorado, stripping some
25,000 miles of streams, rivers and wetlands of
Clean Water Act protections due to an appeals court lifting an earlier stay preventing the rule from becoming effective.
The
2020 Census has determined that Colorado will gain its eighth seat in the