Photo by Daniel J. Chacon
Colorado Springs Councilwoman Angela Dougan vehemently opposed a proposal to spend taxpayer money on a rooftop mural touting the city as the home of Olympic champions.
She was overruled 8-1, but that hasn’t stopped Dougan from asking questions — a lot of questions — about the project.
On Monday afternoon, Dougan sent Mayor Steve Bach an email asking for help in getting answers to questions from her constituents.
The email landed in city spokesman John Leavitt’s inbox, and Leavitt answered almost all the questions by 10:32 a.m. the next day.
Among the questions: Did the city have a contract, apparently with the muralist, that spelled out all the details?
“No,” Leavitt responded.
“We used our sole-source system for professional services to allow for a quicker response. We have a ‘not to exceed’ estimate from (Vladimir Jones) for the mural,” he wrote.
Dougan also wanted to know whether the city had the ability to say the mural didn’t meet expectations and not pay for the work.
“We believe the work has and will meet our standards,” Leavitt responded.
“We have no contractual ability to not pay.”
Say what?
“Are you saying that we have no contract, but we’re still obligated to pay for the work?” The Gazette asked Leavitt today in an email.
“We received permission from the contracting office to use Kim Polomka (through Vladimir Jones) as a single source professional service because of the unique nature of his business (outdoor murals). We did not negotiate a contract per se, we accepted a ‘not to exceed’ estimate from VJ for completing the mural. Informally, we have emphasized our desire to have the mural completed as soon as possible, unfortunately recent weather patterns have prevented the artist from completing the mural to date,” Leavitt wrote.
“We are pleased with the progress to date and are confident in the design oversight being provided. We look forward to a completed mural that declares our pride in having the U.S. Olympic Committee headquartered in our City,” he wrote.
“We would hope you would share that vision,” Leavitt added.
Here’s the entire Q & A between Dougan and Leavitt:
How much is the actual cost of the painter? The painter, Mr. Kim Polomka, will bill us no more than $19,000 for materials and labor to complete the mural.
How much for Vladimir Jones? VJ will bill us no more than $2,500 to oversee production.
(Vladimir Jones has decided to waive that fee in an effort to allay some of the controversy surrounding the project.)
Do we pay if painter does not adhere to design or will he fix at no cost? Graffetti? (sic) VJ is making sure the painter adheres to their design. Any subsequent fixes will be the responsibility of the City.
Time line on finishing? The latest estimate is to finish by the end of next week.
Did we go out to bid on this and what were the other bids? We did not go out to bid because of the super-short time frame. The USOC offered to pay for the design but basically insisted we use their contractors. Given the fact they had final say on the design, we felt it was expedient to accept their offer and get the work done as soon as possible.
What type of paint is being used to help with longevity of sign? I don’t know what type of paint is being used, but it has been chosen by Mr. Polomka, who is an outdoor muralist by trade.
Have we received the private money for the welcome signs in the 33,000 fund? No, all the private funds are being funneled directly to the Partnership for Community Design.
Have we paid anyone yet? No, no one has been paid yet, although we have receive invoices for the temporary signage produced for us by a local sign shop.
Do we have a contract with all the details? No, we used our sole-source system for professional services to allow for a quicker response. We have a “not to exceed” estimate from VJ for the mural.
What did the USOC actually donate? The USOC donated design costs for the mural, the billboards and the soon-to-be completed Greener Corners recycling bin signs.
What is the proportions of the actual artwork and the proportion of the roof that has been painted? I am checking with the vendor and will give you a response as soon as possible.
(In a later email, Leavitt said the roof is 400 feet by 48 feet and that the mural is intended to cover the entire area.)
Where there any promises made that this mural could be done by July 4th and in turn higher cost for the painter? No, we received approval from Council to move forward on June 14. There was one week of roof repair and priming that was done. The subsequent delays are all weather related.
Who decided to pay for sign greeters out of general fund tax payer dollars? I proposed the idea to Mr. Cox, the chief of staff, and he provided the go ahead.
Do we have the ability to say “does not meet standards” with end product and not pay? We believe the work has and will meet our standards. We have no contractual ability to not pay.
Do we know actual life expectancy in writing? No, the artist cannot guarantee the lifetime of the rooftop mural, but other murals he has done has lasted for years. We believe it will last for about a year.
I hope that huge flocks of migrating birds poop all over this eyesore!
Didn’t the same thing happen when Memorial Hospital started new construction without any contract. That ended up costing COS a whole wad of taxpayer funds. You would think that City Council would learn. Not when it comes to USOC, which is GOD is COS. GOD HELP US!!!
I just drove by this wonderful sign on I-25. I have to say that all the grafitti along the railroad tracks looks much better than this roof. If only the roof was as free as the graffitti.
Well done, Daniel. Thanks for getting the facts.
Remind me to NEVER work for Dougan. Anyone who decides they don’t want to pay should not contract out the job.
I would happily work for the City of COS without a contract for a lot of money. Maybe I could paint a mural at City Hall of people with actual brains actually working for their taxypayer provided salary!
I guess we’ll be paying for this sign each year. no bid contract because they were in a hurry? 30 year contract for the bldg is such a short time you know. in Olympic scoring I give the city a 2.5 for skill in contracting, A 1.5 for planning, But they get a 10.0 for BS.
Anyone involved in contracting who would have answered these questions the way Leavitt did would be out of a job!. It’s clear that contract oversight at the City Government is severly lacking or doesn’t exist at all!
No wonder Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, and even Pueblo are on the list of cites with a future. This fiasco is just another reason that there is no future for anyone except the military in Colorado Springs. Pueblo rules. Colorado Springs drools murals.
We are so fortunate that we were able to keep the USOC in COS for just such a total waste as this. Their new downtown building is so pretty, even if they won’t let us put the Olympic rings on the side of the building that my tax dollars were wasted on. Maybe we should just paint the mural on the side of the USOC building instead.
In a June 15 Gazette article, John Leavitt stated that ‘industrial paint, with a special polyurethane coat, which will prevent weathering and fading” would be used to paint the mural.
I am going out on a limb here – this “mural” (it’s really a sign) will not be completed by the end of next week.
C’mon John – you are starting to sound like “Baghdad Bob”!
“We believe that the mural will meet with OUR standards” so that payment will be made. Good to know that COS standards are completely out of proportion and frankly distorted just like this mural is turning out. Also glad to know that the whole thing is being supervised in order to turn out making COS look even uglier.
Just goes to show what a joke City Counci, USOC, and all of Colorado Springs are to the rest of the country. Only wish I was laughing all the way to bank—NOT!!!
Has anyone seen the mural lately. The letters are so out of proportion that the UN is the same size as the ITED. Regardless of when (or if) it is completed or what type or paint is used, it will need to be done over at our expense anyhow. PRAY FOR RAIN.
For Heaven’s sake, LOOK at the thing. The Council wants to say that this shabby work is up to snuff and a good way to spend our money? They really think that a badly done ‘mural’ on the corrugated roof of a warehouse is going to raise our profile? What happened here?
I think that wrestler is a perfect symbol for Colorado Springs taxpayers, bending over with that resigned look on his face. Grab your ankles, folks, and get ready for a long ride.
Moral of the mural story: don’t work without a contract, EVER. Where else on earth can you begin producing a product without the option to pay?
Sure. Start building the foundation of my new home, put up the walls, maybe add a few windows and if I like it – well, then I might pay. If I think you did a horrible job, then I shouldn’t HAVE to pay.
I wish we could decide if the City employees got their paycheck based on their performance.
Dan, do you know why this didn’t have to get approved by the Mayor? I’m sure he would have preferred this go toward watering parks, or something people actually asked for.
This is a proud stunt for VJ to pull off. First, they waive their fees. Then they hire a painter without a contract for a job that costs upwards of $19,000.
Where are they when some of these questions need answered?
John Leavitt should obviously have the info, but why isn’t VJ answering the call of controversy? My first question is: whose genius idea was it to use a photo of an athlete bent over in defeat?
If the USOC or City or VJ had even a fraction of a brain cell, they would have realized that this design should have NEVER been approved.
If any of us allowed a job to proceed on our property without a signed contract specifying period of performance, standards for acceptance, and cost, we would be called fools – here, they’re just Council members… glad it’s not our property… oh snap, I almost forgot – it is our property.
Based on what I see in the picture above, the taxpayers of COS got ripped off! This guy’s supposed to be a professional? Who’s he related to in City Hall?!
The painter is averaging less than 2 letters a day.
John Leavitt: “…finish by the end of next week.”
Do the math, John Leavitt. The poor artist hasn’t even started the wrestler yet – will that only take one day?
Also, the proportions and letters STILL do not match the original, approved layout.
If you figured for time to fix the mistakes, it will not be done until sometime in late September at the earliest.
It will not help to “finish” it – it is “wronge and getting wronrngerer”.
“crawling down a rat hole at a snail’s pace” – my term.
Well, if nothing else, for the rest of this artist’s career, such as it may be, a simple Google search will show why prospective projects ought to go to someone else. He’ll lose FAR more than $19,000 in the future. If I were him I’d be out there with white paint and a better plan tomorrow.
The whole thing’s a shame.
I have to say, it’s the strangest thing. I just went to the artist’s website: http://www.kimpolomka.com/. He does really gorgeous work. What went wrong this time? I don’t get it.
Sonnet – The “mural” is about 70% copy, and painting giant letters (and remaining faithful to a layout and typeface) is a game that is much different, and less forgiving, than painting colorful, imaginative images.
The artist is doing things the hard way, and he is apparently unfamiliar with old fashioned tactics a professional billboard/sign painter would use for a monster project like this.
The deadline was unrealistic, but this artist could be working about 6 times faster if he knew the tricks most of those old “wall dogs” used.
Unless the “client” (us?) simply accepts the mistakes that have already been made, in terms of lack of fidelity to the original artwork, the painter will have to start over with the right approach.
I have sympathy for the guy – he does get out there and work, but that metal roof gets too hot to paint for much of the day.
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