Incumbent Colorado Springs City Council member David Geislinger has a battle on his hands, according to campaign finance reports due Feb. 15, which also suggest Republican politics will play a role.
Two of the three candidates trying to unseat Geislinger have raised more money by far than Geislinger. The other, Dave Noblitt, has raised $7,260 â $5,000 from the Colorado Springs Professional Firefighters Political Action Committee â and spent $6,363, leaving him with $897 on hand.Â
Geislinger has raised $3,254, compared to Randy Helms $11,361 and Jay Inman s $7,233.
Helms got a $5,000 boost from Gary Erickson, developer of Polaris Pointe, while Inman gave his campaign $10,000 and also received $100 from former Republican state representative Gordon Klingenschmitt.
Work together, look out for others
Jay Inman’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic seems to miss the point. Colorado Springs is not in competition with the state. Colorado receives an “A” rating for its response in containing the virus. Colorado is held as an example for other states that have ignored Dr. Anthony Fauci and CDC protocols such as Florida, Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama. Now is not the time parse our successful state mandates in favor of local Home Rule shortcuts. El Paso County and Colorado Springs need to be in line with the rest of our state, not in competition.
City should flex its muscles
We are a Home Rule city in Colorado. Here’s what that means in the Colorado Constitution, Article XX, section 6, Home Rule for Cities and Towns:
A city or town vested with Home Rule authority in Colorado shall always have the power to make, amend, add to, or replace the charter of said city or town and shall be its organic law. Charter and ordinances made in such matters shall supersede within the territorial limits of said city and town any law of the state in conflict therewith.
That means we can resist the state government in Denver when their mandates are bad for the citizens of Colorado Springs. The biggest example in front of our faces is opening up our city, businesses, and churches in a ‘scamdemic’ rigged to never end. Masks and social distancing should be individual choices, not unlegislated mandates. Locking down businesses and restaurants to 25% occupancy is ludicrous and destructive.