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Archive for the 'Buddy Gilmore' Tag

Councilman predicts Skorman and Bahr will be top vote-getters

March 2nd, 2011, 4:15 pm by

Does Brian Bahr have the muscle to lead the ballot in April?

Councilman Randy Purvis is writing off Buddy Gilmore, Tom Gallagher and four others in the mayor’s race.

“The contenders are now down to three: Skorman, Bahr and Bach,” Purvis wrote in his blog after Tuesday’s mayoral forum at the Fine Arts Center.

“Of the three, Bach is hanging on for dear life. I just do not see much of an ability in Bach to connect with the voter. He may have some endorsements, but they are from people he has known for a long time,” Purvis said.

“Skorman and Bahr have that ability to connect, which is why I expect them to lead the ballot by a significant margin over the remaining seven,” he added.

Quote of the Day

February 18th, 2011, 1:50 pm by

“While your campaign undoubtedly contributes to citizen engagement, at this time it appears to us that it has not reached sufficient critical mass to include you on the panel that evening.”

– Robert Todd, chairman of Middle Market Entrepreneurs, which is organizing a mayoral forum March 1 for business leaders, wrote in a letter to the three mayoral candidates who will were not invited to be on stage “due to time constraints.”

The forum will feature only six candidates: Steve Bach, Brian Bahr, Tom Gallagher, Buddy Gilmore, Dave Munger and Richard Skorman.

The candidates who were left out are Mitch Christiansen, Kenneth Duncan and Phil McDonald.

“Don’t you find it strange that I have not been included in this forum?” Christiansen wrote in an e-mail to Paul Kleinschmidt, director of Taxpayers for Budget Reform, LLC. “I was told that I was not a viable candidate.”

Despite the snub, the candidates who were not invited to sit on stage were offered, among other things, two complimentary tickets to the event, table space and the opportunity to suggest questions to ask the other candidates.

Mayoral candidate takes the stage with the Commodores

February 14th, 2011, 11:36 am by

Does a strong mayor need strong pipes?

If so, Buddy Gilmore might be your man.

Gilmore, a defense contractor who is running against eight others to become the city’s first strong mayor, took the stage Saturday night at Il Postino downtown to sing with the Commodores – minus Lionel Richie.

The group, which has reportedly sold more than 75 million records worldwide, is best known for songs like “Easy,” “Three Times a Lady,” and “Brick House.”

It was a chance meeting that put Gilmore on stage with the group.

Last week, Gilmore said he joined county Commissioner Sallie Clark and council candidate Lisa Czelatdko at Il Postino after the Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition mayoral forum and ran into the Commodores, who were there for a taping of a new TV pilot.

“I mentioned that I had recorded one of their songs on my last CD,” he said via Facebook. “They invited me to sing with them in the production wrap party. No way could I turn down an opportunity like that!”

Gilmore said the night was “even more rewarding” because he and his wife, Lee, were joined Saturday night by Councilman Sean Paige and his wife, Pam.

Businessman Perry Sanders, who owns Il Postino and is developing the new Mining Exchange hotel, also sang with the group, Gilmore said.

“I should also note that one of the Commodores will be the new music director for the Mining Exchange hotel,” Gilmore said.

Gilmore is no stranger to singing.

When he was 12, Buddy performed at Madison Square Garden with members of the Grand Old Opry.

Buddy once sang karaoke with Bruce Willis; he has also sung karaoke with Cuba Gooding Jr.

In 2009 Buddy recorded his first — and only — CD titled “Under The Covers with Buddy Gilmore.”

No doubt, Gilmore can sing.

His dancing abilities, well, that’s another story.

To listen to Gilmore sing with the Commodores, click here.

Quote of the Day

February 11th, 2011, 1:07 pm by

“There’s a lot of smoke in that question.”

– mayoral candidate Buddy Gilmore said Thursday night during the Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition mayoral forum.

Gilmore was responding to moderator Jeff Crank, who asked the candidates: “Have any of you received money from those in the MMJ industry – medical marijuana industry? If so, how much and from whom, and would you support guns in pot shops?”

After his initial response, which drew loud laughter, Gilmore said he has not “not received any money or any sort of in-kind contributions, any sort of green things from those guys.”

Gilmore said guns should be allowed in dispensaries.

“Right now, like it or not, they’re a legitimate business. You look at other legitimate businesses around town and ask yourself,  ‘Should you be allowed to carry in those places?’ And the answer is yes… I think that as long they’re law-abiding citizens within the realm of our city right now, that they should be able to carry guns.”

Collective bargaining for cops and firefighters heats up in mayor’s race

February 11th, 2011, 12:25 pm by

Following yesterday’s news that the Colorado Springs Police Protective Association and Colorado Springs Professional Firefighters Association had endorsed Richard Skorman for mayor, fellow mayoral candidate Buddy Gilmore said he sort of expected it.

“I couldn’t go the collective bargaining route,” Gilmore wrote on Facebook.

Does that mean Skorman supports collective bargaining for the city’s cops and firefighters?

“As I told the police and firefighters when they asked, I do not support collective bargaining in the current economic climate,” Skorman said in an e-mail last night.

That sounds like Skorman is leaving the option open.

Pete Tomitsch, president of the CSPPA, said his group is “proud” to endorse Skorman.

“We believe that Mr. Skorman has a proven and tested track record of looking out for the best interests of the citizens of this city,” Tomitsch said in a statement released by the Skorman campaign.

“His vision for Colorado Springs is broad and inclusive and reaches out to all demographic groups. Our organization believes that Richard Skorman is the best candidate to lead our city into a challenging future,” he said.

Jeremy Kroto, president of the firefighters association, said Skorman is a proven leader.

“Richard has an established track record of advocating for the resources Colorado Springs Professional Firefighters need to safely and efficiently protect the citizens of Colorado Springs,” Kroto said in the same statement.

Skorman, a former councilman, is being supported by other city employees.

According to campaign finance reports:

Ann Crossey, the city’s human resources director, contributed $300 on Jan. 26.

The city’s sustainability coordinator, Carrie McCausland, contributed $75 on Jan. 28.

Juliet Draper, a gay firefighter who became the poster child in the fight for health care benefits for same-sex partners of city employees, contributed $100 on Jan. 26.

Quote of the Day

February 2nd, 2011, 4:27 pm by

“I think they are all fine. I think Buddy should make the final call. Also, read them aloud with a stopwatch, and make sure the time is close to what we planned. The “E Pluribus Unum” might be lost on the KILO crowd – I am thinking it would appeal to Tea Party types, so that one could run on KVOR or KCMN.”

— Steve Beach, a volunteer working on Buddy Gilmore‘s mayoral campaign, wrote today in an e-mail about radio ads that the Gilmore campaign plans to air. Beach sent the e-mail to Gilmore and campaign manager Kay Rendleman. Beach also sent it, inadvertently, to someone who wasn’t supposed to get it. That recipient, who forwarded it to the City Desk blog, asked to remain anonymous.

Separated at Birth: Buddy Gilmore and William Shatner

February 1st, 2011, 2:35 pm by

Buddy Gilmore

Today marks the beginning of a new item on the City Desk blog called “Separated at Birth.”

The item, similar to the Quote of the Day, will feature city officials, mayoral and City Council candidates and other movers and shakers in Colorado Springs and celebrities they resemble.

I’m open to suggestions, so e-mail your ideas, along with photos of the local person and the celebrity they resemble, to daniel.chacon@gazette.com.

Buddy Gilmore, a mayoral candidate who has a great sense of humor, will be the first target … I mean, the first person featured.

William Shatner

Gilmore is an easy choice, not only because he bears a striking resemblance to William Shatner but because someone recently told him he looked like “the guy that does the Priceline commercials.”

Up next: mayoral candidate Richard Skorman.

Mayor calls no-tax pledge ‘vague,’ says he wouldn’t sign it

January 28th, 2011, 1:23 pm by

He didn’t call it silly.

But Mayor Lionel Rivera said a pledge to “oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes” wouldn’t bear his signature if he was seeking public office.

“If that pledge means that I cannot refer a measure to the ballot and let citizens decide for themselves like the TABOR charter amendment allows, then no, I would not sign it. Of course not,” he said.

“Why would I deny the citizens even a choice of voting by not referring something?”

The no-tax pledge is the brainchild of conservative radio host Jeff Crank and Americans for Prosperity Colorado, a group that Crank oversees.

It has been signed by at least 10 mayoral and City Council candidates.

The mayoral candidates are Steve Bach, Brian Bahr, Mitch Christiansen, Tom Gallagher, Buddy Gilmore and Phil McDonald. The council candidates are Tony Carpenter, Angela Dougan, Sean Paige, and Daniel Reifschneider.

The pledge asks candidates to promise “to the taxpayers of Colorado Springs that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.”

Rivera called the pledge “vague.”

“I can’t raise taxes. Only the citizens can,” he said. “That’s what TABOR allows. That’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s what TABOR tells you to do.”

Rivera stressed that voters should have a choice and pointed to the public safety sales tax and the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority as examples of tax increases that voters have been willing to support.

“The citizens always should have a choice, and they tell us what they want,” he said.

Candidates pledge not to raise taxes even though they can’t

January 11th, 2011, 12:05 pm by

Jeff Crank

Never mind that TABOR requires voters to approve all tax increases, but eight of 22 mayoral and City Council candidates have signed a pledge not to raise taxes if elected.

“This pledge represents a new era in Colorado Springs,” Jeff Crank, a local radio talk show host and state director of the Republican advocacy group Americans for Prosperity Colorado, which put out the pledge, said today in a statement.

“For too long candidates have claimed to be fiscal conservatives only to get elected and support tax increases,” Crank said in the statement.  “While candidates may claim that they are fiscal conservatives, this pledge gives them the opportunity to show the citizens of Colorado Springs that they will act like fiscal conservatives when they get elected.”

Five of nine mayoral candidates have signed the pledge. They are Stephen Bach, Brian Bahr, Mitch Christiansen, Buddy Gilmore and Phil McDonald.

Three of 13 council candidates have signed the pledge. They are Tony Carpenter, Angela Dougan and Sean Paige.

According to Crank’s statement, the pledge has been sent “to all candidates” over the last several weeks.

“As additional candidates for mayor and city council of Colorado Springs file their candidacy papers, they will be asked to sign the AFP Taxpayer Protection Pledge,” according to the statement. “AFP will work diligently to get an updated list of pledge signers to the media and to our 6,000 AFP activists in the city of Colorado Springs.”

Granted, elected officials can raise money by repealing tax credits and tax exemptions, which Republicans characterize as a tax increase.

But they can’t vote to raise taxes.

Gilmore challenges mayoral candidates to swear off sleazy campaigns

January 7th, 2011, 10:58 am by

Mayoral candidate Buddy Gilmore today pledged to run an “honorable campaign” and challenged his opponents to do the same.

“I spoke with the staff last night, and we decided to take the lead on this, not only pledging to run a positive campaign, but also to define the boundaries of a clean, positive campaign,” Gilmore said.

The pledge calls for candidates to steer clear of personally attacking “the spouse or children of a candidate” and denouncing so-called 527s that spew sleazy messages, among other promises.

Here is the full text of the pledge:

As a candidate for Mayor of Colorado Springs, I pledge to campaign on issues that matter to the citizens and people of our fine city. I will put forth a positive vision for the future of our city, and highlight good government concerns including wise, ethical and fiscally responsible approaches to providing for community prosperity, protection of citizen rights, public safety, transportation, utilities, health, parks, and the environment.

In the centuries-old great American tradition, I hope this campaign will involve spirited debate on how these important objectives should be accomplished. My opponents and I may agree or disagree on different issues. Honorable people can disagree, should debate the issues, and offer their honest views. Through the crucible of debate and elections, we find the leaders that can help take us to the best solutions for our city. I will campaign hard for the votes of my fellow citizens and I will also seek honorable debate and discussion during this campaign.

An honest debate of the issues demands we not attempt to deceive the public. Quotes from a candidate should not be used out of context. Positions or actions of political opponents should not be described or depicted in such a way that it deceives the public as to their actual position or what actually happened. My campaign will always seek to accurately describe our positions and, where necessary, accurately describe the positions and actions of our opponents.

An honorable campaign does not need to scorn or personally attack the spouse or children of a candidate. We should compliment and encourage families that give up their husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters to the great service of our community. My campaign will always honor family contributions to our city.

Finally, some independent groups such as independent political action committees forget these basic rules of honorable and civil debate. I do not seek support from these kinds of organizations and will condemn advertising by those that disregard these rules, even when it is intended to be done on my behalf.

I challenge all the other candidates in the race for Mayor to join me in this pledge.