Tim Leigh
City Councilman Tim Leigh says the deputy state director of Americans for Prosperity called him Tuesday morning to ask him not to engage in a public debate about a homegrown coal emissions technology being tested at the Martin Drake Power Plant downtown.
“I just took a phone call from my pal, Sean Paige who asked if I couldn’t argue with Dave Neumann outside the front page of the Gazette,” Leigh wrote in his electronic newsletter.
“I told Sean, it’s not my intention to argue with anyone in the Gazette or otherwise, and that I feel no animas toward Dave Neumann or his Neumann Scrubber system,” he wrote.
(Read the story that sparked the telephone conversation between Leigh and Paige by clicking here.)
Paige, a former city councilman and former editorial page editor of The Gazette, disputed Leigh’s characterization of what he said.
“It’s not that I would say he misrepresented what I called for,” Paige said.
“I wasn’t telling him not to discuss it in The Gazette. All I did was call to say, ‘Hey, have you sat down with Dave Neumann? Have you guys done a briefing? Have you talked about it?’” Paige said.
Colorado Springs Utilities, which owns the downtown power plant, has invested about $17 million in the technology and stands to profit if it goes commercial. The technology could also help it meet increasingly strict regulations involving sulfur dioxide emissions.
Paige said he had been out of town for 10 days and came back to see a story about Leigh questioning the technology and Neumann alleging that Leigh has a financial motive to kill the deal.
“I’m just trying to be peacemaker as someone who is familiar with the Neumann project and also somebody who respects Tim Leigh,” Paige said. “I just felt like maybe there was a lack of communication and a situation of talking past each other.”
When asked if he was trying to silence Leigh, Paige said: “Absolutely not.”
“For once in my long and undistinguished career, I was trying to maybe play peacemaker,” he said, laughing.
There is a reason why Mr. Paige wasn’t elected again. Glad Leigh isn’t in his pocket.
Regardless of the performance of the Neumann Scrubber, we are only an EPA administrative policy revision away from not being able to use or market the technology and it is already well known what this administration’s position is regarding the use of coal to generate energy.
Don’t want to further the controversy or this misunderstanding by saying that Tim mischaracterized our conversation, but he did, as I would hope that my quotes in the body of this post make clear. As someone who did my share of question-asking and feather-ruffling while on council, and respects and encourages that in any member of council, I’m the last person who would be asking Tim Leigh to “put a lid on it” or even tone it down. I just thought, based on my respect for the two parties involved, that it might be helpful for them to sit down together and discuss these issues in person. That, and that alone, is what motivated my calls to both Tim and Dave Neumann. And I think/hope that meeting might happen as a result, despite this unintentional diversion, so maybe a better understanding, and something good, can come from this.
Sean Paige
Tim mischaracterizes everything, that is why he should keep his thoughts to himself.
What is Tim’s purpose?
Tim seems to do anything he can to get his name in print, even to the point of twisting the words of others.
No real professional board member acts like that. Does anyone know if CSU staff refused to answer his questions or he couldnt get answers from his fellow board members? Didnt Councilman Leigh vote yes to the huge utility budget that included this project?
Ive sat in several utility meetings listening about this coal scrubbing project over the last 4 years. The previous Utilities board began this, there has been info given to the public, testing proven, and budgeted money. Since Mr. Leigh has been appointed as a board member has he just now started to pay attention? Doesnt give me much confidence since I know he has voted to approve the money for it.
Both dudes need to be quiet.