The people of Colorado Springs have a “greater voice” on issues involving Colorado Springs Utilities since Mayor Steve Bach came into office.

That’s the gist of an email that a Colorado Springs landlord sent to the city’s Communications Office Tuesday morning.

“We live in Georgia for now, and I wish I was there to review the CSU budget and speak up about CSU budgets in front of Council.  When I lived there, we made an effort, but CSU was always stronger than the public comments and typically got what they wanted,” Marge McCarthy said in the email.

“From what I have read about the Strong Mayor, and the new transparencies, I think the public has a greater voice,” she said.

The Communications Office shared the email with The Gazette and other print media.

“I know that there are some print folks writing about Utilities issues right now, so I just wanted to pass (it) along,” city spokesman Jarred Rego said in a telephone interview.

Here is the full text of the email:

Bravo!

Even though I don’t live in CS right now, we own a home there that we rent.  We wrote into our lease that we will pay 30% of water during the summer months in an effort to keep the tenants watering the lawn.

We live in Georgia for now, and I wish I was there to review the CSU budget and speak up about CSU budgets in front of Council.  When I lived there, we made an effort, but CSU was always stronger than the public comments and typically got what they wanted.

From what I have read about the Strong Mayor, and the new transparencies, I think the public has a greater voice.

In August, I came back to get our home ready for new tenants.  For about 3 weeks in August, we placed utilities in our name and the bill for 3 weeks was just under $400.  It was quite a shock, but somewhat expected.  The September portion of WATER ONLY from the tenants’ utilities bill is $170, that is water only. (I wish we could xeriscape more, but the appeal is to have a yard that is user friendly, so that is what we have…bluegrass.)

Anyway, CS always used to boast about low utility costs, but somewhere along the line that went out the window.  I would love to have the opportunity to review the CSU budget and find savings, but I don’t live there right now and doubt anyone would listen to me from Georgia, even though we plan to move back someday.

I am grateful to Mayor Bach for being a Strong Mayor. The moniker fits and I like the changes that I have read about.

Carry on,

Marge McCarthy