Steve Schuck

Mayoral candidate Richard Skorman’s new TV ad portraying opponent Steve Bach as a “developer” who would lead Colorado Springs down a dangerous path of “more sprawl, more traffic and neglected neighborhoods” is generating a lot of heat.

On Thursday afternoon, it prompted Colorado Springs developer Steve Schuck to send Skorman a blistering email, telling him that his comments at last week’s debate and the new TV ad “tell me that you have become just an everyday, run of the mill, wannabee politician whose personal ambitions transcend any sense of integrity and honesty.”

The ad has received more than 400 hits on YouTube. To see the ad, click here.

Here’s the full text of the email, obtained today by the City Desk blog, as it was written by Schuck:

Richard

this is being sent to your personal email address, rather than the one listed on your fundraising letter delivered to our home, as this message is more personal than it is political, and you are entitled to hear it directly from me.

for many years, it has been my choice to subordinate my philosophical, idealogical, and political differences with your liberal stands to what seemed to be more important qualities: your perceived character and integrity.  my support of your last campaign and my urging of others to support you cost me credibility among many of my soul mates who, to this day, continue to criticize and question my judgment.  That has never bothered me until now.

after observing friday’s debate and your recent ads, it is clear that my friends were right and that it was my mistake to think that you were, and are, somehow different.  your hypocrisy is outrageous, offensive, and revealing.  for starters, let me remind you that it was just a few weeks ago when you appeared before the housing and building association political action committee, singing our praises as you sought our support.  Somehow, in the intervening weeks, you have now determined that we same developers are responsible for, and the cause of, every community problem, real and perceived.  Your ad hominem attacks – truly cheap shots coming directly from you personally and from your own campaign, not an outside 527 – tell me that you have become just an everyday, run of the mill, wannabee politician whose personal ambitions transcend any sense of integrity and honesty.

your broadside, indiscriminate attack of all developers at the debate and in your ads may be among the least responsible and inaccurate political ploys of recent memory.  it is my sincere hope that you continue, and even increase the frequency and intensity of, these attacks as it is my opinion that the good citizens of colorado springs are too smart and have too much common sense to buy your snake oil. These people live in the homes and neighborhoods of which you are so critical.  How elitist and arrogant of you to be so dismissive of them and their choices.

It is sad that you have now revealed yourself as a tool of polls (which have likely steered you wrong) or totally devoid of decency.  do you not live and work in buildings created by a developer?  do you not recreate in the stratton open space, made possible by my willingness, as a developer, to forego my development rights and the potential profits associated with them?  would you volunteer to do, or have you done, the same?   have you taken advantage of medical facilities in printers park, a thriving and attractive infill development that we created out of a community eyesore?  there are literally thousands of such examples throughout our city, made possible by the good work and generosity of many, many responsible and caring developers, starting with general palmer.  can you point to a single example of a project that you have created in our community that has contributed as much as they have to the enhancement of our quality of life?

your self righteous protestations about the unpleasantness of an “ugly” campaign now ring very, very hollow.  Obviously your version of a positive campaign is to demonize some of the most generous, giving, loyal, hard working, community serving, and job generating businesspeople in our community.  You have done so in a cynical, self serving attempt to gain what you clearly perceive as a political advantage.  more important than your miscalculation, you have disappointed those of us who mistakenly thought that somehow you were made of better stuff.  shame on us.

Steve Schuck

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