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Springs ‘bowing to unions and special interest groups,’ Collins says

April 19th, 2011, 9:39 pm by

Helen Collins, who was part of a slate of at-large City Council candidates recruited by anti-tax activist Douglas Bruce, says Colorado Springs may pay dearly because a 527 political organization with union ties was involved in the April 5 municipal election.

The political organization, registered under the name Save Colorado Springs Now, was funded primarily by the Housing and Building Association of Colorado Springs and the political arm of the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce. Other donors included the Colorado Springs Police Protective Association.

The group campaigned against Bruce and two other members of the slate, Ed Bircham and Richard Bruce.

“Debbie Wamsley, the registered agent for the 527, used to be the head of the AFL-CIO in Denver,” Collins said in an email.

“The new City Council members will now feel they are obligated to their donors who want to do nothing but spend, spend, spend, just like the Federal government,” she wrote. “I hope the new City Council proves me wrong.”

Springs citizens “need to wake up and ask for transparency,” Collins said.

“Your article points to how much Colorado Springs citizens and city government are bowing to unions and special interest groups,” she said.

Posted in: City Council • Elections • • • • • • • • | 13 Comments »

Anti-Bruce political organization funded primarily by HBA, chamber

April 19th, 2011, 6:47 am by

The self-proclaimed Reform Team

The Housing and Building Association of Colorado Springs and the political arm of the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce were the major donors of a 527 political organization that worked to prevent Douglas Bruce and two allies from ending up on the City Council.

The political organization, which calls itself Save Colorado Springs Now, received $35,000 from the HBA and $20,000 from the chamber’s political action committee, according to a campaign finance report filed with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

The group campaigned against Bruce, Ed Bircham and Richard Bruce, who ran as a slate of at-large council candidates along with Helen Collins and Gretchen Kasameyer.

The self-proclaimed Reform Team promised to, among other things, derail the Southern Delivery System, a 62-mile pipeline that Colorado Springs Utilities is building to pump water from Pueblo Reservoir to Colorado Springs.

“With Bruce, Bircham & Bruce, we’re pretty much sunk,” the group said in one of its campaign flyers.

While campaigning against Bruce and Co., the group threw its support behind incumbent Jan Martin, Merv Bennett and Tim Leigh. All three won election.

The group, whose registered agent used to be the chief of staff at the union-friendly Colorado AFL-CIO, raised nearly $94,000 total.

Other big contributors included:

Core Services, Inc., $10,000

Hill Development Corp.,  $7,500

GE Johnson Construction Co., $5,000

Chuck Murphy of Murphy Construction,  $2,500

Phillip Lane,  $2,500

M.L. Lane,  $2,500

Katherine Loo,  $2,500

Colorado Springs Police Protective Association, $1,000

The group spent nearly $77,000.

Expenses included:

Denver-based Rocky Mountain Voter Outreach received more than $48,000 for canvassing

Ikon Public Affairs, also based in Denver, received $28,000 for mailing, phone calls and printing.

Posted in: Elections • • • • • • • • • | 9 Comments »

Accusations leveled by Bruce against Hente were unfounded

April 1st, 2011, 11:15 am by

Douglas Bruce

Councilman Scott Hente was telling the truth.

On Wednesday, Douglas Bruce accused Hente of violating the law by sending a political email to city employees are work.

The email, which Hente sent from his private email address, encouraged voters not to vote for Bruce or any other member of the self-proclaimed Reform Team.

“There are some excellent choices for Mayor and for the open positions on Council. Unfortunately, there is a group of Council candidates –  a self-proclaimed slate — that if elected, will devastate the City,” Hente wrote.

“This group consists of Douglas Bruce, Ed Bircham, Richard Bruce, Helen Collins, and Gretchen Kasameyer.  In the actual words of their organizer, their real intent is to Destroy Colorado Springs.”

Bruce didn’t have any proof that Hente violated the law but challenged the news media to look into the allegations, which Hente denied.

Despite some criticism — one elected official called me “a patsy for Doug Bruce” — The Gazette took up the challenge.

The Gazette asked the public communications departments of the city government, Memorial Health System and Colorado Springs Utilities to search their computer databases for emails that were sent to city employees from Hente’s private email account on March 16.

The review revealed that Hente didn’t send the March 16 email to city employees at work.

“Here’s the exact quote from the IS colleague who coordinated the search: ‘According to our email filter server (Iron Port), we did not receive anything from that address on that date,’” Memorial spokeswoman Cari Davis said.

John Leavitt, a spokesman for the city, and Steve Berry, a spokesman for Utilities, gave similar responses.

Davis, Leavitt and Berry all provided reports to prove that there had been a search.

Posted in: City Council • City employees • Elections • • • • • • • | 7 Comments »

Councilman denies sending political e-mail to city employees at work

March 30th, 2011, 4:08 pm by

Douglas Bruce at today's press conference

Councilman Scott Hente rebuffed accusations lodged today by at-large City Council candidate Douglas Bruce that he sent an e-mail to city employees at work encouraging them not to vote for Bruce and other members of the self-proclaimed Reform Team.

“I used my private e-mail to send an e-mail to other private e-mails,” Hente said. “I went back – I wanted to be sure – so I went back and checked twice. I did not send them to any city or utility or Memorial e-mail address.”

However, Hente said his e-mail list included private e-mail addresses of city employees who work for the city, Colorado Springs Utilities and Memorial Health System.

“All I did was exercise my First Amendment rights,” he said. “It seems to me that (Bruce is) upset that somebody else has the audacity to exercise their First Amendment right.”

But Hente, who has refused to release his work e-mails in the past, said he wouldn’t share the list of e-mail addresses with the news media to prove he’s telling the truth.

“Absolutely not,” he said.

So, Councilman Hente, we’re all just supposed to believe you?

“I’ve never lied to you guys yet,” he responded. “I’m not going to start now.”

Bruce accused Hente of breaking the law by sending out a political e-mail to city employees. Bruce called a press conference to level the accusations.

“If it’s going out on city computers, if he’s using his city computer to send it, if it’s received on city computers, if it’s going to city employee official e-mail addresses, that’s all illegal,” Bruce said before the press conference.

In the e-mail, Hente said he was trying to reach as many city employees as possible, which Bruce took as proof that Hente had sent the e-mail to city e-mail addressess.

“The voters this year have to not only decide on a new Mayor, but seven of the nine Council positions,” Hente wrote in the March 16 e-mail.

“There are some excellent choices for Mayor and for the open positions on Council.  Unfortunately, there is a group of Council candidates – a self-proclaimed slate – that if elected, will devastate the City. This group consists of Douglas Bruce, Ed Bircham, Richard Bruce, Helen Collins, and Gretchen Kasameyer.  In the actual words of their organizer, their real intent is to Destroy Colorado Springs,” he wrote.

Bruce called the e-mail an abuse of power.

But when pressed by a reporter to provide proof that Hente had sent it to city employees at work, Bruce said it wasn’t his responsibility.

“It isn’t up to me to prove beyond a reasonable doubt something that (Hente) has actively concealed,” he said. “I’m trying to get the media to cooperate to get the information so this is your chance to be Woodward and Bernstein, so why don’t you take it?”

Fair enough, Mr. Bruce, an open-records request will be filed with the city shortly.

Posted in: City Council • Elections • • • • • • • • | 11 Comments »

Douglas Bruce is no stranger to ‘indecent’ campaign attacks

March 23rd, 2011, 10:58 am by

Joel Crank, Jeff Crank's son

UPDATE: This blog post has been updated with a new photo, which is the photo that Jeff Crank sent to Douglas Bruce in a recent e-mail.

When Douglas Bruce said he was the victim of “a classic hit piece,” some people said it was a classic example of the pot calling the kettle black.

Take, for example, Bruce’s involvement in the race for Colorado’s 5th Congressional District in 2006.

Using his own money, Bruce sent out a mailer to district delegates and alternates blasting, among others, candidate Jeff Crank.

The mailer came back to bite Bruce in this election, but more on that later.

In the mailer, Bruce labeled Crank a has-been, calling him a “Former congressional staff aide. Former vice-president of the city Chamber of Commerce. Former registered lobbyist. Former talk show host. Currently unemployed ‘consultant.’”

Wait, it gets better.

“Jeff named his son Joel,” Bruce wrote in the mailer. “Congressman JOEL Hefley reciprocated, naming Jeff as his heir.”

For Crank, the allegation about his son, who is now 13 years old, was “despicable and indefensible,” according to an e-mail obtained today by The Gazette.

By now, everybody knows that Bruce recruited four candidates to run as a slate in the April election.

But before Ed Bircham, Richard Bruce, Helen Collins and Gretchen Kasameyer signed on to the so-called Reform Team, Douglas Bruce turned to Crank for help in finding candidates who would run with him, according to the e-mail.

Crank flatly rejected the request and reminded Bruce about the 2006 mailer attacking Crank.

“I want to refer you to the attached document – a mail piece that you sent out in 2006 attacking me for not being a fiscal conservative,” Crank wrote in the e-mail to Bruce.

“Despite the obvious lies about me personally- too many lies and falsehoods to mention- there is one particular claim that is, frankly, despicable and indefensible.  Your indecent attack on my son and his name,” Crank wrote.

“Doug, my son, Joel, was 8 years old at the time.  How insensitive and unfortunate that you would think it is alright to bring my 8-year-old son into a political campaign,” Crank wrote.

“I’ve attached a picture of him during that campaign so that, perhaps, you can look into his eyes and understand how wrong it was for you to do that.  I had the pleasure of meeting your mother once and, although you don’t have a son, a political attack on your mom would have been just as disgraceful and would have drawn an immediate rebuke from me.  If there is any decency at all in you, perhaps you will understand.

“If there isn’t that decency, then I will continue to have no desire to work with you on any project in the future.”

Posted in: Elections • • • • • • • | 8 Comments »

Douglas Bruce and ‘his cronies’ targeted by new political committee

March 22nd, 2011, 10:43 am by

A newly formed 527 political committee is going after Douglas Bruce and two other City Council candidates that Bruce recruited to run for office as a slate.

The Save Colorado Springs Now political committee, based in Arvada, is being led by Debbie Wamsley, who used to be the chief of staff at the Colorado AFL-CIO.

“At this point in time, I cannot say anything more, but thanks for the call,” Wamsley, the political committee’s registered agent, said in a brief telephone interview Monday before hanging up.

Read more about Wamsley by clicking here.

Save Colorado Springs Now has a website that features only a homepage.

“Save Colorado Springs Now is a group of concerned Colorado Springs citizens who believe that the City of Colorado Springs deserves policies and programs that serve to create economic opportunity, preserve the financial integrity of the city and improve the national and statewide reputation of the City,” the website state. “Save Colorado Springs Now was organized to advance a business oriented, prosperity-driven agenda in the City and educate the general public about the issues relevant to City governance.”

The group is behind a flyer that portrays Bruce and “his cronies” Ed Bircham and Richard Bruce as a curse on Colorado Springs. The three are part of a slate of candidates calling themselves the Reform Team. The two other members are Helen Collins and Gretchen Kasameyer.

“Don’t let Doug Bruce, Ed Bricham and R. Bruce drag us down again,” according to the flyer, which includes pictures of the three men in a sinking ship.

“With Bruce, Bircham & Bruce … we’re pretty much sunk.”

The flyer, which one of Bircham’s employees received at home last week, promotes three other council candidates: incumbent Jan Martin and Merv Bennett and Tim Leigh.

All three have received campaign contributions from two powerful employee groups: the Colorado Springs Police Protective Association and the Colorado Springs Professional Firefighters.

“Preserve our jobs, our economic growth and our city’s reputation with Jan Martin, Merv Bennett and Tim Leigh,” the flyer states.

“With Martin, Bennett & Leigh, Colorado Springs will steam ahead.”

Martin said she didn’t know anything about the group.

“Oh my goodness gracious,” Martin said after she saw the flyer.

“I guess it’s just open season for campaigning,” she said.

“I’m glad I’m on the right side of the ship, though,” she added, laughing.

For Douglas Bruce, the flier is no laughing matter.

“That’s a classic hit piece,” he said.

“It’s just another smear job,” he added. “What more do you want in terms of dirty politics?”

Posted in: Elections • • • • • • • • • • • | 24 Comments »

Mayoral, council candidates take on medical marijuana tonight

March 21st, 2011, 9:23 am by

Two mayoral hopefuls and 10 City Council candidates are scheduled to speak tonight at the Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council‘s monthly networking event.

“Candidates will have a chance to speak about their campaign goals, and of course, the hot topic of medical marijuana in Colorado Springs,” Jessica Hogan, the council’s spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

The event, which starts at 6:30 p.m., is at the Warehouse Restaurant and Gallery, 25 W. Cimarron.

It’s free and open to the public.

The two mayoral candidates scheduled to attend are Councilman Tom Gallagher, who spearheaded a medical marijuana task force along with Councilman Sean Paige, and businessman Richard Skorman.

The council candidates scheduled to attend are Paige, David Jensen, Michael Merrifield, Tony Carpenter, Dawn Lloyd and the so-called Reform Team: Ed Bircham, Douglas Bruce, Richard Bruce, Helen Collins and Gretchen Kasameyer.

“We invited everyone, so  hopefully more will attend tonight,” Hogan said.

Posted in: Elections • • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 6 Comments »

Bruce bypasses ‘cutesy gimmicks, rock music and frills’ in first TV ad

March 14th, 2011, 3:55 pm by

The so-called Reform Team is airing its first television commercial starting today.

But don’t expect to see Superman saving a baby or Douglas Bruce shaking hands with actors on the steps of City Hall.

The commercial, which will air during news programs on Channels 5, 11, 13 and Comcast, includes only a voice-over and the names of the five candidates in black and white.

Bruce, who is leading the slate of City Council candidates, said the TV ad was meant to be low-budget.

“We are fiscal conservatives,” Bruce said in an e-mail.

“We will spend much more on air time than production cost,” he wrote. “Voting for us is a simple black-and-white choice of fiscal conservatives versus RINOs and liberals. Cutesy gimmicks, rock music, and frills are inconsistent with our serious and simple adult message. Here, simplicity is creativity.”

The goal of the commercial is to get voters to conclude in 30 seconds that they should vote for the five candidates on the slate, he said.

“That requires mentioning FIVE names and showing those FIVE names on the screen. We can’t just refer people to a website; couch potatoes won’t do that. We explain why voting for all five of us is essential. If we are to change the direction of city council, we need a majority of council seats, and to be a majority, that number is five.

“We are not running to have idle debates or 8-to-1 or 7-to-2 votes. Public policy is set by  a majority. If voters are unhappy with the current majority attitude on council, they need to elect a new majority with a different approach. That’s why our slogan is, ‘Give us five, and we will reform City Hall,’” he wrote.

Posted in: Elections • • • • • • | 10 Comments »

Campaign finance complaint filed against four council candidates

March 10th, 2011, 7:19 am by

Tim Leigh filed a series of new forms this week to try to fix his mistakes.

The Secretary of State’s Office is investigating allegations that four City Council candidates, including incumbent Jan Martin, violated campaign finance reporting requirements.

Merv Bennett, Thomas “Tony” Exum Sr., Tim Leigh and Martin, who are all running for at-large council seats, are named in a complaint filed last month by Springs resident Roger McCarville.

McCarville, by the way, contributed $75 to the so-called Reform Team, a slate of candidates that includes Ed Bircham, Douglas Bruce, Richard Bruce, Gretchen Kasameyer and Helen Collins.

City Clerk Kathryn Young, who recently said it wasn’t her job to scrutinize campaign finance reports, forwarded the complaint to the state.

The complaint “will be going to an administrative hearing,” Deputy City Clerk Cindy Conway said.

The allegations against Bennett stem over his failure to report in his Feb. 7 filing the dates that he received $10,475 in contributions.

Instead of reporting the date he received each contribution in the date column of the form, Bennett repeated the amount of the contribution.

Exum, Leigh and Martin are accused of failing to file the proper forms and filing forms late, which could lead to hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in penalties.

Candidates are required to fill out a report the first day of each month starting six months before the election.

Martin’s first statement of contributions and expenditures in this election cycle was filed Feb. 7.

Martin “is carrying over $6,841, unreported for the past 21 months, presumably her campaign fund balance” from her first campaign, the complaint states. “If the penalty is only for the past four months, at $50 per day, the fine should still be $6,150.”

Exum’s Feb. 7 report states that it covers contributions and expenditures from Jan. 1.

But in the same report, he lists a $2,000 contribution from himself Dec. 23 and expenditures in November and December.

“His first donation was his own, dated 12/23. How did he pay for earlier spending in November and December?” states the complaint. “It is illegal for a candidate committee to spend outside a campaign bank account.”

Leigh, who initially declared candidacy for mayor and then dropped out, failed to transfer his mayoral contributions to his council race and also filed forms late.

But on Tuesday and Wednesday, after being contacted by the Gazette and the City Clerk’s Office, his campaign filed a series of forms to try to fix his mistakes.

“Mr. Leigh has been provided a copy of the Candidate Committee Funds Transfer form pursuant to CRS 1-45-106,” Conway, the deputy city clerk, said.

When asked whether Leigh would be fined, Conway said the city would wait for the state to complete its inquiry.

“The secretary of state will address that before we do,” she said.

In addition to being the subject of a complaint, all four candidates have something else in common: they’ve all received contributions from the Colorado Springs Police Protective Association or the Colorado Springs Professional Firefighters, or both.

Posted in: City Council • Elections • • • • • • • • • • • | 5 Comments »

Bruce and team are a lean, mean fundraising machine

February 24th, 2011, 12:12 am by

Helen Collins is the only member of the so-called Reform Team, a slate of at-large City Council candidates led by Douglas Bruce, who hasn't contributed $10,000 to their election campaign -- not yet anyway.

Call it the $10,000 club.

With the exception of Helen Collins, four of five members of a slate of at-large City Council candidates led by activist Douglas Bruce pitched in $10,000 each this month to push what promises to be a robust campaign leading up to the April election.

The other members of the group are:

Ed Bircham, a retired office supply store owner

Richard A. Bruce, who owns three Waffle House restaurants in the city

Gretchen Kasameyer, a veterinarian at Cheyenne Mountain Animal Hospital who is dating accused killer Bruce Nozolino, a political ally and friend of Douglas Bruce.

Collins, the fifth member, was in the Navy and now works doing security background investigations of government personnel, according to the group’s campaign website.

The five candidates are among 16 vying for five at-large council seats.

If elected, Bruce and his slate would form a majority on the nine-member City Council and a powerful voting bloc that would most certainly shake up City Hall.

They’re running on a pledge to eliminate what they call wasteful government spending.

Stopping the billion-dollar-plus Southern Delivery System is among their top priorities. The 62-mile pipeline, designed to pump water from Pueblo to Colorado Springs by 2016, is a project of Colorado Springs Utilities.

Since the council doubles as the Utilities Board and has the power to approve or deny future water rate increases needed to pay for SDS, the group could affect the future of Colorado Springs.

“The campaign for City Council just got serious,” columnist John Hazlehurst, a former city councilman, wrote in the Indy.

According to campaign filings:

On Feb. 10, the group registered a political committee called the Reform Team. The committee was formed “to elect fiscal conservatives to City Council and oppose any … proposal that interferes with that.”

Douglas Bruce is the committee’s registered agent.

In addition to contributing $10,000, Douglas Bruce, a landlord and former legislator, lent the campaign an additional $10,000.

The group collected $10,000 more from donor Mark Bogosian of Colorado Springs.

Bircham provided $973 worth of paper and photos as in-kind contributions.

The group raised $60,050 total, including $50 from Michael Remington, also of Colorado Springs.

The group spent $16,078, primarily on signs, printing of mailers, postage and ads. Other expenses included $27.50 for a “list,” presumably of registered voters, from the El Paso County clerk and recorder

That means if voters haven’t heard of Douglas Bruce and his slate, they will.

Posted in: City Council • Elections • • • • • • • • | 17 Comments »

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