Colorado Springs businessman and musician Buddy Gilmore wrote a song about the Waldo Canyon Fire.

Here it is:

The Ballad of Waldo Canyon (aka The Battle in the Pines)

Saturday, the month of June, a hot Colorado day,
The call comes in just after noon, the chief says get on your way
Says “grab your gear we need you here there’s a fire on the edge of town,
There’s no time to hesitate, cause Waldo’s burning down”.

I kissed the wife and hugged the kids, scratched my dog’s head for good luck,
Yelled out “this won’t take too long”, as I rolled out in my truck
I hoped we’d quickly douse the flames, and by nightfall I’d be back,
But just off Highway 24 the sky was turning black.

(Chorus)
There’s fire in the mountains and tankers in the air
The winds are in the canyons, and there’s trouble brewing there
But fifteen hundred firefighters worked to hold the lines
Night and day they fought their way through the battle in the pines.

Three days gone the fire had raged it was Tuesday afternoon
Evacuees had high hopes they’d be going home real soon
When howling winds came rushing in, the smoke turned day to night
The fire had jumped Queen’s canyon – we were headed for a fight

Through smoke and heat and little sleep we fought on through the dawn
The Shadows on the Mountain – many saved but some were gone
The Big One we’d all talked about and hoped would never come
Just turned some dreams to ashes, and took the lives from some

(Chorus)
There’s fire in the mountains and choppers in the air
The winds are in the canyons, and there’s trouble brewing there
But fifteen hundred firefighters worked to hold the lines
Night and day they fought and prayed through the battle in the pines.

The flames have all been beaten back, the fire is near its end
The Shadows on the Mountain will soon rise up once again
This song is just a tribute, to those who held the lines
To those brave souls who fought to control the battle in the pines

The inaugural Mayor’s Cup golf tournament at The Broadmoor next week is expected to generate $50,000, about $10,000 more than the original goal.

“We filled the tournament last month. That’s pretty tough for any tournament to pull off, as there are so many local tournaments to choose from,” defense contractor Buddy Gilmore, a former mayoral candidate and tournament chairman, said Thursday.

“We have a great tournament committee, and the help we have received from the Broadmoor staff has been tremendous,” he said.

Proceeds from the fundraiser on Thursday will benefit Mayor Steve Bach’s Spirit of the Springs initiatives, which are designed to, among other things, celebrate the good things about Colorado Springs.

El Pomar, which donated $10,000, is the lone platinum sponsor. There are four gold sponsors that donated $5,000 each, including Comcast, TechWise, Security Service Federal Credit Union and Shape Technologies LLC., which is owned by Gilmore.

The money raised from the event will be held by the Pikes Peak Community Foundation, and a citizen panel will “direct fund appropriations,” according to the mayor’s website.

The event has 132 registered golfers, city spokeswoman Mary Scott said.

Steve Bach

Mayoral hopeful Richard Skorman really hit a nerve.

Skorman, who has been calling opponent Steve Bach a “developer” during debates and in his latest TV ad, is being criticized from various corners.

Today, former mayoral candidates Brian Bahr, Tom Gallagher and Buddy Gilmore — who weren’t planning to endorse either Bach or Skorman — broke their silence.

The three men issued a joint statement calling “Skorman’s recent attack on the real estate industry” divisive.

“Although both candidates in this runoff election have laid out their plans for the future of Colorado Springs, only one candidate remaining in this race has consistently presented a plan that upholds the conservative, limited government values we believe in,” according to the statement.

“That candidate is Steve Bach.”

In a telephone interview, Gilmore said he was “disappointed” in Skorman’s TV ad.

“He was really attacking a whole industry,” Gilmore said.

“You can sit there and demonize developers, but they’ve done a lot of good for the city, too.”

The statement from Bahr, Gallagher and Gilmore was sent via email by Sarah Jack, who works for the Housing and Building Association of Colorado Springs.

Here’s the full text of the statement:

During the last three weeks since the April 5th election the three of us have worked to get our lives back to some sort of sense of normalcy – re-establishing ourselves in the private sector, and more importantly, re-establishing our lives with our families. During this time, we have spoken with many of our friends and supporters. Many of them urged each of us to stay involved, and to publically endorse a candidate. We have resisted the urge to do so – until now.

Mr. Skorman’s recent attack on the real estate industry that provides tens of thousands of jobs in our community, an industry he has eagerly accepted contributions from in the past and from which he actively sought endorsements during this campaign, was divisive and caught our attention.

We believe that the best days for Colorado Springs are ahead of us.  To achieve the city’s full potential will require all of us to unite behind common values and goals.

Our concern in this election is two-fold: First, the next mayor must have a solid plan for the future success of Colorado Springs.  Second, that candidate’s plan must be one that reflects the conservative values that support a limited government focused on providing quality, essential services.

Although both candidates in this runoff election have laid out their plans for the future of Colorado Springs, only one candidate remaining in this race has consistently presented a plan that upholds the conservative, limited government values we believe in. That candidate is Steve Bach.

This election is certainly one of the most important ever for Colorado Springs. We collectively encourage our friends and supporters to join us in upholding the conservative, limited government principles that have made Colorado Springs a great place to live. These principles will be essential to the future success of this city we love.

The Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council is hosting a forum today for local educators to talk about the highly sensitive issue of medical marijuana and schools.

“Recently, a school district in town has had the difficult task of attempting to regulate the usage of medical cannabis in a high school, and this is probably only the first of similar issues coming your way,” Tanya Garduno, council president, said in an invitation to the event, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

Representatives from districts 2, 49 and 20 are scheduled to attend the forum.

The story about medical marijuana in a local high school involves a 16-year-old who suffers from a rare condition known as Myloclonus Diaphragmatic Flutter.

“This condition is characterized by severe seizures of the neck and diaphragm muscles that can last for hours or days. This patient is only 16 years old and is being denied his right to public education because of his medication,” Mark Slaugh, the council’s membership director, said recently in an email to state Sen. John Morse.

The student’s story even made it into the mayor’s race.

In fact, for Buddy Gilmore, it was among the most memorable on the campaign trail.

In February, Gilmore was a campaign meeting with Father Bill Carmody and two others at a restaurant near downtown.

“There were four of us in the booth, talking a lot of issues, when MMJ came up,” Gilmore said in an e-mail.

“Carmody was dead set against MMJ. As we talked, I noticed our waitress behind the wall beside the booth. She was listening to the conversation, and I could tell she was getting upset. At one point she went into the kitchen, but I still had eye contact with her, and she was getting more upset by the minute,” he wrote.

As Gilmore and the others got ready to leave, the waitress brought the check.

“You have a story, and I want to hear it,” Gilmore told the woman. “Please sit down.”

The woman told them that she and her husband are recovering meth addicts and have a son with a rare nervous disorder, Gilmore said.

“He has been given several drugs in the past to help him cope with his disorder, but none really work, and she was concerned about him getting addicted. They turned to MMJ, which she says works miracles. At one point, he was taking lozenges to school, where the nurse would dispense them to her son. At some point that capability was taken away, and he had to go home at lunch to take his lozenge,” Gilmore said.

“As she continued her story, I noticed how engrossed Carmody became in the conversation. At one point, he asked her if marijuana was her ‘gateway drug.’ She said no, it was alcohol. I think Carmody had never actually met someone like this, who could provide a personal story the way she could,” Gilmore said.

The group talked for about 30 minutes.

“At the end of the conversation, Carmody seemed to be a changed man,” Gilmore said. “It was fascinating to watch the transformation take place. Just before I got in my car to leave, the waitress came out and gave me a hug. Out of all the things I experienced campaigning, this is the meeting that will always stick with me.”

This is the picture that Buddy Gilmore e-mailed to the more conservative mayoral candidates

What is it about gays and Colorado Springs?

Last week, former mayoral candidate Mitch Christiansen referred to the Gill Foundation as a bunch of “homos” in a private e-mail in which he shared his perspective on the election.

Today, Christiansen shared with the Gazette a separate, 3-week-old e-mail that mayoral candidate Buddy Gilmore sent to Christiansen and the other, more conservative candidates.

The March 6 e-mail included a picture of candidate Richard Skorman wearing a shiny gold suit at the Carnivale Parade in Manitou Springs with the following line: “Fast forward: 2012 Colorado Springs Gay Pride Parade?”

“Buddy: Remove me from your email lists immediately!” Christiansen told Gilmore today in an e-mail.

“I do not want to be included in your position and beliefs as a homophobe,” he wrote. “It’s too bad you have to take this position in this election.”

Gilmore said he didn’t mean any harm.

“I thought it was funny – great suit and a great picture of Richard campaigning,” Gilmore said in an e-mail

“I did think it would look great in the annual Gay Pride Parade, as it is typically a very colorful parade. No different than talking about Brian and his Superman suit showing up during Halloween,” he said.

“We have all tried to poke fun at each other during the campaign and keep things light-hearted. It certainly wasn’t meant to be anything more than that,” he added.

Gilmore also took a swipe at Christiansen.

“Mitch sent me this picture earlier this morning, and I’m not sure why he is trying to make an issue out of this,” he said. “I guess he’s not through lashing out.”

Scott Gessler

Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler says the City Clerk’s Office is well prepared to conduct the April 5 election.

“Following my office’s initial review of the city’s election preparedness, I’m happy to report that the city clerk’s office is well poised for another successful election,” Secretary of State Scott Gessler said today in a statement.

“In particular, the clerk and her staff have established sufficient security protocols and thorough procedures to ensure the integrity of this election,” he said.

The review was triggered by several mayoral and City Council candidates who expressed doubt about City Clerk Kathryn Young’s ability to run the election after a series of missteps.

“I am satisfied with this report,” Buddy Gilmore, one of the mayoral candidates who requested an observer, said in an e-mail.

“I believe this interim report provides a sense of comfort to the voters that the clerk’s office is working diligently to ensure all ballots are handled properly, and that results will be reported accurately,” he said.

Mayoral candidate Brian Bahr’s campaign manager, Kyle Fisk, echoed a similar sentiment.

“The Bahr campaign is pleased to hear this report,” he said, also in an e-mail.

“This is about the voters of Colorado Springs and ensuring they can have the highest confidence in the accuracy of the election results,” he added. “We appreciate the work of the Secretary of State and his office.”

Gessler said his office would continue to observe the election next week to review ballot processing and other procedures.

“Again, I would like to thank City Clerk Kathryn Young and Mayor Lionel Rivera for their warm welcome and cooperation,” he said. “I look forward to continuing our successful working relationship.”

Rivera and Young are holding a press conference at 2:30 p.m. today to comment on the report.

Mitch Christiansen

In a rambling and rabid e-mail sent last week, one-time mayoral hopeful Mitch Christiansen lashed out at nearly everyone in the race but the candidate he endorsed after dropping out.

Christiansen called Richard Skorman and Dave Munger “two of a kind” and then made a homophobic remark.

“Munger will not beat Skorman. He does not have the backing of the Gil foundation (homos),” Christiansen wrote in the e-mail to Sheryl Glasgow, a businesswoman who contacted Christiansen after hearing that he had endorsed Steve Bach for mayor and accepted a job from him in return, which Christiansen denied.

(Read more about Glasgow by clicking here.)

In the e-mail to Glasgow, Christiansen also ripped into mayoral candidates Buddy Gilmore and Brian Bahr as well as two of Bahr’s campaign workers, brothers Kyle and Nathan Fisk.

Christiansen said there was “no way” he could endorse Gilmore.

“He has been feasting at the taxpayers’ expense and wants to bring in more DOD. I do not like his constant name dropping of people he knows in Washington, DOD, green jobs, which make no sense – you lose 4 good jobs for one green job. 20 years from now they might be viable,” he wrote.

Christiansen said he couldn’t even support Bahr in a run-off “as I would not vote.”

“He is an absolute immature idiot, a rank amateur. We have a rank amateur in the white house do these people want another one to occupy city hall. All Bahr is trying to do is buy an election as a stepping stone to higher office,” he wrote.

Christiansen blasted Kyle and Nathan Fisk.

Kyle Fisk is Bahr’s campaign manager, and his brother also works for the campaign.

“The Fisk brothers along with Bahr are the sleaze operators in this entire campaign,” he wrote.

Kenneth Paul Duncan doesn’t stand a chance, Christiansen wrote.

“Duncan will not get more than a handful of votes,” he wrote.

Christiansen told Glasgow, who owns and operates Turf Master Industries, Inc., that he dropped out of the race to prevent Skorman from winning the election.

Glasgow had contacted Christiansen after hearing that he had endorsed Bach.

“Being the point blank person I am, from what I have heard, you have endorsed Steve Bach and accepted a job from him. That news is not being well accepted by your friends and colleagues,” she wrote in an e-mail.

“Certainly it is fine to drop out of the race and certainly it is fine to accept a job with Steve. However endorsing him immediately after, looks deceiving when people now believe the two scenarios are seemingly connected,” she wrote.

Christiansen denied that he had accepted a job from Bach, calling it “absolute bull!”

“If that is what people want then I should have stayed in,” he wrote. “However Bach is leading and I was a strong 2^nd yet I don’t think I could have caught him. I made the decision to endorse Steve so we have a better chance of winning. Yes I will be working with him to have him bring out more direct issues and solutions as I have done. I have told him I would do that.”

He said his decision to drop out was based “upon what is best for this election” and the Republican Party.

“People better get over this nonsense of not going after a fellow republican,” he wrote. “They had better get after Bahr as he is another Rivera.”

Christiansen said Bach is the best choice.

“Bach has conservative convictions as I have, maybe not as strong but at least he is real,” he wrote. “And for everyone’s info the biggest portion of his money donations come out of the Broadmoor area. (Steve) Shuck is not the big player just a contributor.”

Last week, Christiansen announced that he was dropping out of the race and backing Bach.

On Monday, Christiansen called himself a “stand in” for Bach at an event hosted by the Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council.

Laura Carno, Bach’s chief of staff, said Bach appreciates Christiansen’s endorsement but that he’s not an official spokesman for the campaign.

Bach is running “a clean, issues-oriented campaign,” she said.

“Mr. Christiansen’s endorsement of Steve Bach does not indicate that Steve has co-opted any of Mitch’s views,” she said. “He speaks for himself.”

Steve Bach was the top vote-getter among mayoral candidates in a straw poll taken after last night’s forum at the Stargazers Theatre and Event Center.

Buddy Gilmore came in second, and Brian Bahr was a close third.

In the at-large race, Councilman Sean Paige topped the other candidates with 67 percent support, making him the top vote-getter in that category.

“While encouraging, it certainly won’t breed complacency, and I’ll be pushing hard in these last few weeks to reach out to every voter I can,” Paige said in an e-mail.

With 54 percent support, Brandy Williams came in second.

Angela Dougan emerged the winner among the District 2 candidates.

With 91 percent support, Lisa Czelatdko decimated Michael Merrifield in the race for District 3.

About 150 people attended last night’s forum.

Tom Gallagher

“We had no knowledge of the press release, so it was probably a campaign stunt, but it’s a campaign stunt by Bahr.”

— Councilman Tom Gallagher, who signed a letter to Secretary of State Scott Gessler asking Gessler to send an observer to monitor the city’s April 5 election.

Gallagher, who is running for mayor, said neither he nor fellow mayoral hopeful Buddy Gilmore knew that Brian Bahr‘s campaign was going to send a press release about the request immediately after sending the letter to Gessler.

“Buddy and I did this because we thought … it would just add voter confidence to the process. We did not think that Bahr was going to issue a press release and attack Kathy,” he said.

The battle to become Colorado Springs’ first strong mayor is proving to be a costly competition.

Altogether, the nine mayoral hopefuls have spent at least $537,000 in campaign-related expenses, according to reports filed Monday with the City Clerk’s Office.

Most of the money has been spent on advertising, political consultants, yard signs and mailers.

But other expenses include liquor for fund-raisers, pizza for volunteers and gas to get around the campaign trail.

Homebuilder Brian Bahr, who gave his campaign $100,000 plus a $100,000 loan, is leading the pack with nearly $174,000 in expenditures since August.

Bahr, president of Challenger Homes, still has nearly $58,000 cash on hand.

Steve Bach, a commercial real estate broker, has burned through nearly $119,000.

Bach has about $38,000 left in the bank.

Retired businessman Dave Munger, president of the Council of Neighbors and Organizations, has racked up nearly $104,000 in expenses – including about $65,000 on a slew of advertising in recent weeks.

Munger, who lent his campaign $67,660, is running on empty.

Although fundraising efforts continue, Munger has only about $6,500 cash on hand.

Businessman Richard Skorman, a former councilman, had spent nearly $88,000 as of Feb. 23.

Skorman’s latest campaign report has not been posted on the city’s website.

Skorman’s campaign spokeswoman, Camille Blakely, said the report was turned in about 4:45 p.m. Monday and that Deputy City Clerk Cindy Conway “said it wouldn’t be scanned until this afternoon.”

When asked whether she could send the report via e-mail, Blakely hesitated but then said she would try.

Defense contractor Buddy Gilmore has spent nearly $45,000. Gilmore is almost entirely funding his own campaign.

With about $75,500 left in the bank, Gilmore could launch a massive effort to reach voters as ballots start to arrive in the mail.

The four other candidates, including Councilman Tom Gallagher, are in a different class when it comes to campaign spending.

The four, who have raised little – if any – money, have spent about $8,500 altogether.