A local musician is calling for a citizen’s arrest of Councilman Tim Leigh for trespassing on the Manitou Incline.

“It is NOT currently legal to trespass on The Manitou Incline, and here we have one of our city council members (Tim Leigh) shamelessly breaking the law,” Chuck Snow wrote in an email to his friends.

“We simply cannot have our politicians flagrantly circumventing the law under the excuse, “Everybody Does It”…….” he wrote.

Snow is asking his friends to get the word out by circulating a “Wanted” poster on their Facebook pages or by circulating his email to other friends.

“Mr. Leigh obviously doesn’t think much of ‘overweight people’ either so I say it’s high time,” Snow added, referring to a comment that Leigh made to the editorial page editor of The Gazette.

“They got a guy to go sit up there and enforce it,” Leigh said recently. “But he was overweight. You’d go halfway up, and when you saw the guy you’d jump over to Barr trail. What was he going to do about it? He wasn’t able to do anything that required endurance.”

Leigh, who is on vacation in Hawaii, got wind of Snow’s efforts.

“Let’s say the fine is $150 per time. Let’s use this piece to challenge other Incliner’s to bail me out by making a donation to the ‘Bail-out Tim Campaign’ for the benefit of the Friends of the Incline,” Leigh wrote in an email to The Gazette.

“Just trying to make some lemon aid from the lemon,” he added.

Snow said he’s sending a letter to City Council along with copies of his poster

Here’s the letter that Snow plans to send:

Dear Valued City Council Member ,

Enclosed is a “Wanted” poster for your fellow council member Tim Leigh. Tim has been illegally trespassing on The Manitou Incline and has admitted it as such to the local press and has been photographed running up the Incline on more than a few occasions. Since he is an elected official, this is in direct violation of  The City of Colorado Springs Policy and Procedure Manual- Policy #41 Page 101. Business Ethics which says as follows;

“The City is committed to strictly observing all laws, and employees are expected to uphold this commitment to legal compliance. Employees should avoid any conduct creating the appearance of impropriety even if those actions do not violate specific policies, standards, regulations or laws.” 

As you may or may not know, making a “Citizen’s Arrest” is perfectly legal in Colorado, and is certainly the responsibility of every law-abiding citizen. I urge you to follow this protocol to the letter in prosecuting Mr. Leigh for his flagrant disregard of property rights. Being a realtor he certainly must know the value of the law concerning trespassing and property rights. I’m certain he would not enjoy a family of squatters living in his back yard, or a motocross trail across his driveway. He seems to feel that because “Everyone is doing it”, he is entitled to ignore the law when in fact, as an elected official, he should be held to a higher standard for setting a good example for our kids and retaining the trust of his constituents.  I look forward to your swift action on my concerns to hold him responsible for his errant and lawless behavior.

Sincerely,

Charles D. Snow

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