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Archive for the 'City Clerk Kathryn Young' Tag

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Report says city lacks ‘regard for ethics rules’

December 28th, 2011, 12:57 pm by

Former City Clerk Kathryn Young

The city of Colorado Springs has landed on a list of “Top Ethical Failures” in Colorado in 2011 because of its embarrassing confusion about campaign finance laws.

“Colorado Springs’ first municipal election under its new “strong mayor” system revealed a city incapable of enforcing, or sometimes even understanding, its own election laws,” Colorado Ethics Watch wrote in its fourth annual report of what it describes as ethical blunders.

“In fact, Colorado Springs government actively fought against transparency when it refused to enforce its own newly adopted rules,” the group said.

The group’s report, called Ethics Roundup: Top Ethical Failures of 2011, highlights “Colorado’s public officials, agencies and municipalities who have either committed ethics violations or shown significant lack of judgment that places their behavior in the top tier of ethical failures in the state in the past year,” the group said.

“Only by paying attention to the actions of our government agencies and officials, identifying ethical lapses, and shining a light on them will we be assured to have what Colorado voters have demanded – transparent and accountable public leaders,” said Luis Toro, director of Colorado Ethics Watch, said in a news release.

Ethics Watch said it “honed in on the largest controversies” to come up with the report.

“The most egregious of ethical failures took place in Adams County, in the Secretary of State’s Office, and in Colorado Springs, where multiple examples demonstrate a consistent lack of regard for ethics rules, laws and values,” the group said.

The read the full report, click here.

 

Posted in: City Administration • Elections • Etc. • • • • | 8 Comments »

Add a caption to photo of Steve Bach hugging Kathryn Young

June 7th, 2011, 2:42 pm by

OK, Colorado Springs, let’s have a little fun.

Today, Steve Bach took the oath of office as the city’s first strong mayor.

He was sworn in by none other than City Clerk Kathryn Young, who some say will — or should — be among the first to go under the Bach administration.

After the swearing-in ceremony, Bach and Young hugged.

My colleague, photographer Mark Reis, captured the moment.

So, now it’s up to you to add a caption in the comment section of this blog post.

Posted in: City Administration • City Council • City employees • • | 13 Comments »

Are voters waiting until the last minute to turn in their ballots?

May 11th, 2011, 9:35 am by

City Clerk Kathryn Young sent election workers home for the night last month without completing the count.

City Clerk Kathryn Young said Colorado Springs voters started off “gung-ho,” returning 10,300 ballots after the first weekend that they had been mailed out.

The next two days generated big numbers, too, including a high of 16,553 returned ballots May 3.

But since then, voters have gone from gung-ho to ho-hum.

While voter turnout has climbed to 43 percent with 65,042 ballots returned so far, the number of returned ballots has decreased in recent days.

“Mondays have never been slow for us. Today was very slow,” Young said Monday.

It’s not unusual for there to be a spike in returned ballots at the beginning of an all-mail election and then at the very end.

But for Young, the slower pace is a concern because of what happened in the April 5 election.

Last month, voters flooded her office with an estimated 27,000 ballots on Election Day, which delayed the final count until the next day after Young sent all her election workers home for the night.

Young is encouraging voters not to wait until the last minute to return their ballots as part of a bigger plan to get all the ballots in the race between Steve Bach and Richard Skorman completed on May 17.

Here’s a breakdown of returned ballots:

May 2:   10,300

May 3:   16,553

May 4:   15,478

May 5:     6,279

May 6:     4,930

May 9:     6,217

May 10:   5,285

Posted in: City Administration • Elections • • • • | Post a Comment »

Skorman has raised $100,000 more than Bach, reports show

May 10th, 2011, 7:58 am by

Mayoral candidate Richard Skorman has collected nearly a half-million dollars in campaign contributions, out raising opponent Steve Bach by more than $100,000, according to reports filed Monday with the City Clerk’s Office.

Skorman raised $472,406 through May 5 while Bach raised $368,261 through May 8.

Bach raised $83,948 in this last reporting period.

Skorman wasn’t too far behind with $78,832 in contributions.

Skorman has spent $369,000 total, including $75,600 in the last reporting period. TV ads, polling and staffing were among Skorman’s biggest expenses.

Bach has spent about $332,000 total, including nearly $73,000 in the last reporting period. The bulk of Bach’s expenses were TV ads and consulting services.

It’s difficult to do an apples-to-apples comparison of the two candidates’ contributions and expenditures because they’ve been following different reporting deadlines.

In April, The Gazette asked Deputy City Clerk Cindy Conway whether the candidates had to file their reports five days before the deadline as Skorman has been doing or on the date stated under the city clerk’s election calendar, which is what the Bach campaign has been doing.

“The five days prior to filing deadline is appropriate,” Conway said in an email.

Conway provided the following citation from the Campaign Finance Act:

CRS 1-45-108 (IV)(e) – Campaign Finance Act
(e) The reporting period for all reports required to be filed with the municipal clerk and such reports required to be filed pursuant to section 1-45-109 (1) (a) (II) and (1) (c) shall close five calendar days prior to the effective date of filing.

Posted in: Elections • • • • • | 12 Comments »

Turnout lower among voters in southeast Colorado Springs

May 9th, 2011, 10:02 am by

Turnout in the city’s all-mail runoff election between Steve Bach and Richard Skorman, who are battling it out to become Colorado Springs’ first strong mayor, has climbed to 35.45 percent.

Of the 154,778 ballots that were mailed out to voters, 53,540 have been returned and scanned as of Friday, the City Clerk’s Office reported today.

In the April 5 election — when eight candidates were in the race for mayor — 88,960 ballots were cast.

The most ballots — 17,899 — have come from City Council District 1, the northwest quadrant of the city.

The least number of ballots — 9,519 — have come from District 4, the southeast quadrant of the city.

Voters in District 2, the northeast quadrant of the city, and in District3, the southwest part of Colorado Springs, have both turned in 13,108 ballots and 13,014 ballots, respectively.

Posted in: Elections • • • • | Post a Comment »

How many voters have returned their ballots so far?

May 6th, 2011, 7:39 am by

With less than two weeks before the May 17 mayoral runoff election, voter turnout so far is about 32 percent, according to the City Clerk’s Office.

Of the 154,778 ballots mailed to voters, the city clerk reported today that 48,610 have been returned and scanned.

In the April 5 election — when eight candidates were in the race — 88,960 ballots were cast.

Posted in: Elections • • • • | 1 Comment »

Voter turnout in mayoral runoff reaches nearly 18 percent

May 4th, 2011, 8:07 am by

Nearly one in five voters have returned their ballots in the May 17 mayoral runoff.

The City Clerk’s Office reported Wednesday that 26,853 ballots of the 154,778 mailed have been returned and scanned so far.

That puts turnout so far 17.72 percent.

On Tuesday, the city clerk reported that turnout was nearly 7 percent.

In the April 5 election, 88,960 ballots were cast in the mayor’s race when eight candidates were competing for the post.

Now we’re at 26,853 ballots cast, a little less than one-third of the total cast in April.

Posted in: Elections • • | Post a Comment »

Bach gets top billing on May 17 mayoral ballot

April 7th, 2011, 10:09 am by

Steve Bach will have top billing on the May 17 mayoral ballot.

During a drawing of ballot positions at the City Clerk’s Office this morning, Bach’s name was pulled first.

“We’re happy to have drawn the top ballot position,” said Laura Carno, Bach’s chief of staff.

Still, both Carno and Bach’s competitor, Richard Skorman, said the ballot order probably won’t give either candidate much of an advantage since only two names are on the ballot.

“In a two-person race, I’m not sure that it helps,” Carno said.

“I think the distinction between these two candidates and their visions for the city is different enough that ballot order is not going to be the most important thing in this election,” she added.

Skorman agreed.

“Everybody who is voting is going to really pay attention to the candidates and not the order,” he said. “I think in an election where there’s lot of candidates to choose from, maybe that has an effect. But we’ll both get out there and be known in ways that people will be clear about their decision.”

Skorman also said he’s used to being at the end because of his last name.

“It’ll be fine,” he said. “It’s a simple ballot.”

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Voters who didn’t cast ballots Tuesday can vote in runoff

April 6th, 2011, 2:21 pm by

Voters who sat out of Tuesday’s election can still vote in the May 17 runoff.

City spokeswoman Sue Skiffington-Blumberg said Colorado Springs will use the same active voter list to mail out ballots.

“Anyone not registered will have until April 18 to get registered.  They must do this at the El Paso County Clerk & Recorder’s Office on or before April 18,” she said in an email.

“All active voters will be sent a ballot, including those that reactivate prior to the election.  Same as April election,” she added.

The runoff will cost an estimated $480,000.

City Clerk Kathryn Young has between April 22 and May 2 to mail the ballots, according to her election calendar.

Posted in: Elections • • • | 1 Comment »

Voter turnout in historic election climbs to 32 percent

April 1st, 2011, 10:30 am by

More than 100,000 voters who received a ballot in the mail still haven’t returned them.

The City Clerk’s Office reported today that turnout is now at 32 percent.

The city mailed an estimated 151,000 ballots to “active” registered voters.

Of those, 47,250 had been returned as of yesterday, according to the city clerk.

Ballots must be returned, not just postmarked, by 7 p.m. Tuesday in order to be counted.

Posted in: Elections • • | Post a Comment »

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