Concerns given short shrift
Now that the new Colorado Springs City Council has been sworn in, it’s time to engage in some serious reflection about the future of our city. Consider first, however, that over 73% of eligible Colorado Springs voters chose to sit out the recent election for six City Council members. We cannot afford to let apathy like that decide the future of Colorado Springs. Sadly, it may have already done so.
That’s because 5 of the six members elected have the appearance of if not an actual conflict of interest when it comes to voting on the future growth and expansion plans for our beautiful city. As detailed by Gazette reporter Mary Shinn in well-researched articles and by Ron Johnson in a letter to the editor, Randy Helms, Richard Skorman, Yolanda Avila, Mike O’Malley and Nancy Henjum had their election campaign significantly, if not totally, financed by Nor’wood, the Housing and Building Association and three other developers. Whether the newly-elect
Jena Griswold just might be the most polarizing figure in Colorado politics today.
To her supporters, she’s a pioneer: the first Democratic woman to hold the Secretary of State’s Office and one of less than a dozen women to hold statewide office in Colorado. She’s fought to expand ballot access and battled voter suppression.
She’s stood up to figures of authority particularly former President Donald Trump via tweets and the cable news circuit to defend and showcase Colorado’s “gold standard” voting infrastructure.
She’s overseen three statewide elections, including an eagerly anticipated Super Tuesday showdown and the first modern presidential contest to be held in the middle of a global pandemic, all while boosting turnout to record levels.
Point: Dave Williams
Colorado politicians are proposing a bill that implements a 19th-century solution to a 21st-century problem and, almost certainly, will be a monument only to their egos.
SB21-238 would create the “front range passenger rail district for the purpose of planning, designing, developing, financing, constructing, operating, and maintaining an interconnected passenger rail system along the front range.”
One doesn’t have to look too far to discover that these projects typically end up being government boondoggles that are plagued with cost-overruns and delayed construction schedules while being underutilized by the people.
Putting aside the many disastrous examples of other cities and states where these projects have failed to yield a return on investment, let’s look no further than the Denver Regional Transit District’s own struggling efforts to create its west light-rail line.
The announcement comes after steep increases in cost and significant delays driven by the coronavirus. It s been a complicated and a really difficult process, but we’re almost there, said Bob Cope, economic development manager for the city of Colorado Springs.
The bond markets fell apart in March of last year because of the coronavirus just as the bonds for the project were offered for sale. Since then, the markets have largely recovered and Cope said he expects the bonds to be sold in June because similar projects have recently been financed.
Following the delay, the Colorado Springs City Council had to increase the bonding authority for the project by $10 million earlier this year bringing the total debt limit up to $90 million to cover the visitor s center and public infrastructure across the 51-acre site. A business improvement district set up for the project will be responsible for paying back the debt, not the city.
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