Someone you know may still be wondering what are the real differences between the candidates in the district 3 council race. We decided to highlight  those differences to help you and your friends, family, neighbors and colleagues cast an informed vote. If you’re struck by the sharp contrasts, please recommend your friends take a look.

We’ve prepared a handy comparison chart and a list of corrections to Jerry’s misrepresentations of fact during the campaign. I encourage you to check them out.
 
I also want to share with you this question I asked at a recent forum about my opponent’s voting record. He offered the audience no explanation of these votes. If Jerry will answer them I would be happy to share his responses with you.
 
My Question: Jerry, your campaign treasurer has one of the biggest local developers as a client. The Housing and Building Association endorses and funds your campaigns. Numerous developers and other growth profiteers have contributed to your campaigns. Yet you swear they do not exert any undue influence on your decisions.
 
If that’s the case, how do you explain these votes?
 
●     2004 - you voted against UPAC recommendation to instate electric and gas tap fees

●     2004 - you voted to approve WoodmenHeights annexation, which guaranteed Failing Level of Service at two major intersections on Woodmen Road

●     2008 - you voted against implementing an annexation fee to help fund construction of the badly needed Northern Service Facility

●     2008 - you voted to nearly double the amount Utilities proposed for Economic Development Corporation funding in the 2009 budget, even as water rates were projected to increase by over 40%
 
These are just a few examples of a record that appears to put one special interest ahead of the needs of the entire community. If that’s not the case, help us understand why.

Since I have the district 3 race locked up, a lot of questions and the news media are focusing on controversial ballot question 1A. 1A would extend a sunsetting capital improvements tax and allocate about $50 million over 16 years to fund stepped up economic development activity in Colorado Springs.

I’ve announced that I oppose 1A, and I expect you may want to know why. It makes no sense to take money local businesses could use to make payroll, expand or innovate, and use it instead to gamble that stealing businesses from other cities will provide a big payoff to our community.

One of the keys to my opposition: studies by the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and the University of Iowa indicate only 1 in 5 newly attracted jobs go to local residents.  Proponents of 1A, in their materials, have claimed either that 95% or 93% of new jobs go to local residents. I’ve challenged them to provide a study and data to back up those statements. So far, no response. You’d think they could at least make up their mind which shade of lipstick they’re going to put on this pig. Is the official spin 95% or 93%?

My point, and that of these studies, is the hidden purpose of 1A is to drive migration of new residents (following the flow of jobs) to Colorado Springs to boost the real estate development and homebuilding industries. Our 8.1% unemployment rate today is similar to the rate in 1992, only today that means we have over 25,000 unemployed vs. 16,000 in 1992. So 17 years of economic development efforts and rampant city growth have not improved a citizen’s employment picture, but simply increased the size of our unemployment problem.

I wish we could snap our fingers and put our unemployed to work. But the citizens deserve the truth. 1A is not an effective way to get you a job. It will attract people to move to our city and compete with you for any new jobs.

The growth industry is attempting to exploit your fears and sentiment about the economy and unemployment. Builders/developers conceived 1A and are the ones heavily promoting it. It represents a great deal for the growth industry. They invest $100,000 today promoting 1A and convincing citizens this will put them or their neighbors to work, and in return they get the citizens to fund $50 million of growth industry ad campaigns, junkets, and incentives designed to keep the market of new home buyers expanding. If their goal truly was to help our local economy, you have to wonder why their issues committee is banking in Denver and has spent significant sums with non-local firms.

If you want the details, just ask and I’ll send them to you. In a nutshell, the list of contributors to the pro-1A issues committee (”Jobs Now”) is DOMINATED by developers and construction companies. Proof positive that the brand of “economic development” contemplated by 1A is more of what we’ve been getting from the developer-dominated Economic Development Corporation - a program designed to grow the market for developers and homebuilders. 1A was brought to the Sustainable Funding Committee by a developer/homebuilder, written by that developer, and presented to Council by that developer. The chair of the issues committee promoting 1A has an accounting firm with developer Classic Companies as a client. (Interesting note: my opponent’s election committee chair is a partner in that same accounting firm).

Let’s defeat 1A. Then, under my leadership we’ll assemble an advisory committee that doesn’t need $50 million. This group will be committed to true prosperity for our community rather than simply subsidizing the homebuilders. This committee should include a teacher, a police officer, a retiree, and local business-owners, rather than homebuilders, to investigate more modern approaches to economic development that truly support our local economy and don’t simply add to our local population and increase our number of unemployed.

If you want to be a millionaire, then perhaps you should become a developer and join the effort to dupe our community into funding your advertising and marketing costs. If you want to have real community and true community-wide prosperity, vote no on 1A.

Also see Economic Development Incentives - Words of Wisdom

Guest Post By Daphne Greenwood
Professor of Economics
Director, Colorado Center for Policy Studies
Former Colorado State Representative
Co-author of the Upcoming Book,
The Future of Local Economic Development: Quality of Life and Sustainability

This year, we citizens of Colorado Springs face many economic challenges along with the rest of the nation. Unfortunately, the problems here at home are going to be even worse if we embark on some of the unwise policies proposed by current local leaders.  These leaders are well-intentioned. I respect the hard work that many of them do. But “business as usual” has been the mantra for too many for too long. Dave Gardner on city council will mean a new voice for a change in direction.

One of the important jobs council members have is serving as the citizen elected board for our city owned utilities department. As we struggle through an economic crisis without a definable end, Colorado Springs Utilities proposes to double the debt it owes. Just to pay the interest on the new debt will mean sharply higher water rates for utilities customers - -about 50% more next year alone.  Of course, a massive new water project like the Southern Delivery System (SDS) is expensive — it literally plans to make water flow uphill!

We don’t need to spend the money to bring water uphill for people living here today, who have already been conserving. It is plans to double the size of Colorado Springs that create a “need” for this new water source and delivery system. Current customers will pay more for water to subsidize more growth in housing developments. In your last utility bill, was an insert explaining that rates are going up more than expected this year because there haven’t been enough new hookup fees from new homebuilding lately.  As Homer Simpson would say… DUH?  Rates have been going up for several years to pay for the water projects for new housing, but now when there isn’t enough new housing built rates go up even more????  Could somebody please dig us out of this hole?  Dave Gardner’s run for city council gives me hope that help is on the way!

The bursting housing bubble had been coming for a long time, but our council members and the folks they listen to thought it wouldn’t affect us.  It was clear that banking on homebuilding as a sustainable source of prosperity was a big gamble. Now that the bubble has popped, these same leaders have gotten behind a  special tax increase to lure new businesses here and revive the housing market. But repeated studies have shown that tax rates and incentives are not cost-effective ways to lure businesses.  Good schools, safe neighborhoods, clean air, our wonderful park system, good roads, affordable water rates – the list of what it is more important to preserve for both quality of life and a sound, sustainable economy could go on and on.

Dave Gardner will be a top notch addition to our city council because he takes the time to learn the facts and study the issues. You won’t find Dave getting his “analysis” from a developer or site consultant/lobbyist. Common sense, along with the experience of running a successful small business, show in Dave’s understanding of the true sources of economic vitality and prosperity. Dave understands the importance of quality of life to attracting high quality jobs.  Dave has read the research and seen the evidence — special tax breaks or other so-called incentives to businesses just don’t pay for themselves over time.  Ever.  Raising our taxes now to turn the money over to businesses that come and go makes no more sense than compromising the very quality of life that makes us special. Unfortunately, our city leadership is starting down this path right now (despite the economic crisis).  Higher water rates, higher taxes – both for things we don’t need. If we aren’t careful, we will all pay the bill.

 I am endorsing Dave Gardner for the city council of Colorado Springs because he speaks for sustainable economic development that preserves quality of life. Dave wants to make sure the costs of growth are addressed as well as its’ benefits – and that we don’t see the benefits flowing to a few while the costs are paid by the rest of us. There has been far too much of that coming from Wall Street. Let’s bring a voice to “Main Street” here in Colorado Springs by electing Dave Gardner to our next city council.

Some activated citizens at last night’s candidate forum suggested I share my opening comments here:

What do we, as citizens, want from our city government?

Police to get to our house before the burglars get away with the silver.
Firefighters to arrive before the house burns down.
Traffic to flow. Streets plowed.
Affordable, reliable, and clean power and water.
Parks with green grass and unlocked restrooms.
Safe, attractive neighborhoods.
And clean air.

These are our issues. And there are good people working on each of these. I support you and applaud you for that. And I’d like to make your job easier, not harder.

The 1950s-era philosophies of this city council have made every one of these problems worse, not better. We’re scrambling just to slow them down. I’m here to tell you we can not only stop the decline, we can get on a path to improvement.

To really fix them we need a forward-thinking, big-picture perspective. All these challenges have one common denominator: never-ending city expansion makes them harder to overcome. Subsidized city expansion both starves them of the resources needed to tackle them, and accelerates the growth of the problems.

I offer us hope for a bright future.

We can have true prosperity and enhance our quality of life if we can just get over our obsession with growth. Our growth addiction is sucking up resources and creating expenses faster than revenue. We should be investing those resources in our community instead of wasting them subsidizing the growth industry.

Think about it: For nearly 20 years we’ve been getting a negative return on our investment in growth subsidies. If that were a stock we’d have dumped it long ago.

We’ve proven it to ourselves: Expansion and population growth no longer create community prosperity. That was last century. Now we have entered the century of sustainability.

The healthy community of the 21^st century is one that is willing to leave the old paradigms behind, stop focusing on stealing prosperity from other cities, and instead invest in ourselves - our community assets, our locally owned businesses, and our citizens.

The next candidate forum is Wednesday night 3/11 at 7 p.m at the Senior Center. There’s another on 3/12 at 5 p.m. at the downtown library. See the events schedule for a complete listing of opportunities to become an informed voter. 

As reported in the Westside Pioneer, my opponent declined my invitation to hold a debate. This would have given us more time to clarify how our approaches differ on a variety of issues important to the community. So these forums are your best opportunity. 

There is a lot of information on the two candidates in this race at our websites. I encourage you to compare. I believe you’ll find my thinking more clear, logical and informed; and my positions less vague. You’ll also find I am not stuck in a rut, insisting on continuing policies that have outlived their usefulness. 

I’m so confident, in fact, that I will ignore the conventional wisdom about political campaigns and make it very easy for you to visit the website of my opponent, Jerry Heimlicher. I will break further with tradition and encourage you to remember his name. That is the name you cannot afford to have at City Hall for four more years: Jerry Heimlicher. The person you want to lead this city out of the past and into an enlightened future is: Dave Gardner. 

I’ll be highlighting some key differences in our philosophies and offering some examples from his voting record as the campaign continues. For now, check us both out, here on the web, and at the upcoming forums!

PAST:         www.jerryheimlicher.com

FUTURE:  www.dave4council.com

 Heimlicher declines invitation

Please mark your calendar and join activated citizens from across the community for a State of the Community Town Hall this Saturday, March 7. Your attendance is critical to the success of this event. It’s designed for you to have an active voice in the present and future of Colorado Springs. Whether your thinking is inside the box or out, my fellow citizens and I want to hear from you.

I’ve invited every City Council candidate to join us, as I’ve found the current Councilors’ minds and ears to be most open to citizen input around election time. Unfortunately, my opponent - Councilmember Jerry Heimlicher - has declined my invitation. I’m going to keep the welcome mat out, however, and hope he has a change of heart. It appeared his schedule was open, as he initially indicated some interest and wanted to know “who will select the questions and from whom?” I explained to him that my vision is for a free and open discussion - an interactive dialogue in which no one is screening questions and the candidates listen as much or more than they speak.

This style of truly interactive community discussion is exactly what this community needs. In fact I was motivated to organize this town hall because I find the rules for citizen participation in City Council meetings to be frustrating and counter-productive:

1. Citizens limited to 3 minutes. The Mayor exercises wide discretion on this, but in my experience if Councilors feel the comment doesn’t align with their thinking, the 3-minute limit is pretty strict. Meanwhile millionaire real estate developers and their hired guns are rarely time-limited, and are even invited to make long presentations at informal Council meetings where citizen comments are not allowed at all.

2. No dialogue allowed. The Mayor insists citizens sit down immediately following their comment (unless they fit that special millionaire developer category). At that point Councilors are free to rebut and refute the citizen’s comments and end of story. There is no interactive dialogue that might result in a better understanding for all. And since Councilors get the last word, the public and news media can be left with a false impression - because the citizen had no opportunity to offer supporting evidence to rebut misstatements made by Councilors. Yes, perhaps you can tell, I’ve experienced this.

If this is the way Council meetings must be conducted, then at least our community should be holding town hall meetings that encourage more open, respectful, two-way discussion. If this were taking place today, perhaps this City Council would be a little less stuck in its 1950s-era approach to managing our city.

Of the other candidates, Bernie Herpin declined due to the wedding of his daughter, Scott Hente declined with no explanation, Darryl Glenn has not responded, and Tony Carpenter has indicated he will attend. Please encourage your representative to attend, and plan to join us yourself! I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

STATE OF THE COMMUNITY TOWN HALL
Saturday, March 7
2 to 4 p.m.
Penrose Library (downtown Colorado Springs)
Carnegie Reading Room
20 North Cascade Ave
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Public, City Council Candidates, and News Media are welcome

Thanks for reading,

Dave

I will have much more to say right here about the ballot measures over the next few weeks. For now I invite you to attend the community meeting organized by Skyway Dems to learn about and discuss the 4 items referred to the ballot by City Council. I’ve been invited to lead the discussion, and I will certainly not be shy about my opinion of each measure, but I expect we’ll have a diversity of opinions and can all educate each other.

I’ll have campaign yard signs in the car, so it will be a good opportunity for you to get yours!

Saturday, February 28
1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
Gold Hill Police Substation
955 West Moreno Avenue 

Cheers,

Dave

Extreme budget cuts are under consideration by the City. Under the current proposal, our streets will not be plowed or sanded as often. Severe cuts to parks include closing the Starsmore and Helen Hunt Falls visitor centers in North Cheyenne Canon.

Police officer and firefighter positions will be eliminated, and 34,000 hours of transit cuts are proposed (on top of a 24,000 hour cut previously planned). It looks like elimination of FREX service to/from Denver will be spared, though it had its neck on the line along with the downtown Dash shuttle (the most popular route in our transit system).

While the current Council guts our vital services, millions of dollars in growth subsidies remain in the city budget. Over $100 million is budgeted by our utility in a gamble on growth, and this Council wants to extend an expiring tax and drop that $3 million in the slot machine next year to gamble that growth will bring prosperity (even though it hasn’t over the past 15 years).

We should be investing our precious resources in our community, not cutting that investment and running to Vegas to gamble those funds on growth. Developers have convinced this city to waste hundreds of millions of dollars on growth subsidies in a misguided quest for community prosperity. That strategy has failed us for the past 15 years - miserably.
 
Importing prosperity just doesn’t work. We can unlock the prosperity in our community if we believe in ourselves and take care of what we have.

Our beloved city is under siege. This is a critical time. I’ll try to keep you informed, but there is more information than I can pack into these posts. So I encourage you to read the city’s current proposed cuts, call or e-mail me about this subject, and plan to attend the town hall meeting City Council has scheduled February 17 at 7 p.m. to hear from citizens on this subject.

This Thursday night (Feb. 5) there will be added energy in the air downtown. I invite you to join activated citizens of Colorado Springs who believe our community is ready to step into the 21st century. I know it’s 2009, but better late than never! My campaign is attracting a diverse group of supporters who share my positive vision for change here in our town. You’re invited to join us for the campaign launch and find out more about this vision. I hope to meet you there.

Real Community True Prosperity
Elect Dave Gardner Campaign Kickoff
The Warehouse Restaurant and Gallery
25 West Cimarron Street
Colorado Springs, CO  80903
Thursday, February 5, 7:30 to 9:00 p.m.