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Quote of the Day

December 10th, 2012, 4:26 pm by

The City Attorney’s Office gave the City Council an update Monday on Amendment 64, which legalized small amounts of marijuana in Colorado.

By coincidence, the presentation happened the same day that Gov. John Hickenlooper declared the voter-approved change part of the state constitution.

At City Hall, Kyle Sauer, an attorney in the corporate division, gave the council a presentation with a lot of information.

Among the facts: Amendment 64 allows individuals to grow up to six marijuana plants in an enclosed, non-public, locked space.

But the amendment raises other questions, including what happens in a group living situation, Sauer said.

“The example that came up as well in a college town like we have here: You have a lot of people living under the same roof. A fraternity house that has 50 people living in it. Can they have 300 plants in their house? These are things that are up in the air.”

 

Posted in: City Council • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

Hickenlooper wishes he could make it rain

June 27th, 2012, 11:16 am by

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper landed at Coronado High School on Tuesday night to show his support for Colorado Springs.

Hickenlooper, who was greeted by a throng of fans, said Colorado has had one of the worst fire seasons “we’ve ever seen.”

But he was optimistic and also commended Mayor Steve Bach for how he has handled things during the Waldo Canyon wildfire.

“He has done a great job coordinating local efforts,” he said.

The governor was also his quirky self.

“If I could make an executive order for rain, I would do it tomorrow,” he said. “I’d do it right now. I’d do it in a minute.”

 

Posted in: People • • • | 3 Comments »

Quote of the Day — Waldo Canyon Fire

June 26th, 2012, 11:15 pm by

Photo by Daniel Chacon

“It was like looking at a military invasion,” Gov. John Hickenlooper, who flew over the Waldo Canyon fire by helicopter on Tuesday night, said during a press conference at Coronado High School.

“It was almost like looking at the worst movie set you could imagine,” Hickenlooper said.

“You could see exactly where the fire came down. All the bright spots, as you got closer, you saw they were people’s homes. They weren’t trees. They were people’s homes, burned to the ground, block after block.”

Posted in: People • • • | 4 Comments »

Hickenlooper coming to Colorado Springs this week

May 14th, 2012, 8:44 am by

Gov. John Hickenlooper is traveling to Colorado Springs this week.

The governor is scheduled to meet with Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach and other members of the Pikes Peak Region Mayors Caucus on Friday.

The group will discuss issues affecting the region.

The meeting will be at 2 p.m. at the Penrose House Conference Center.

“This meeting is a direct result of a meeting that the Caucus held with Governor Hickenlooper in March,” according to the mayor’s office.

During the meeting, Hickenlooper will also sign HB12-1108, a transportation-related bill.

According to the mayor’s website:

“The Pikes Peak Region Mayors Caucus is patterned after Denver Mayor Hancock’s Mayors Conference. Mayor Bach attended the conference and found it to be a very effective way to bring community leaders together to get things done. He stressed they are not a committee – they are an action group who have come together to get things done.”

In addition to Bach, other members of the caucus include El Paso County Commissioner Amy Lathen, Teller County Commissioner Jim Ignatius, Manitou Springs Mayor Marc Snyder, Palmer Lake Mayor Nicki McDonald, Fountain Mayor Jeri Howells, among others.

 

Posted in: City Administration • Meetings • Politics • • • | 1 Comment »

Quote of the Day

March 20th, 2012, 11:47 am by

Laura Benjamin

The Pikes Peak Region Mayors Caucus, a new group started by Mayor Steve Bach to tackle regional issues, jumped on Interstate 25 on Monday to meet with Gov. John Hickenlooper to talk about transportation issues.

The meeting was at 10:30 a.m. in the governor’s office.

But the city’s Communications Office, which just axed two communications specialists, didn’t send out a press release until 6:44 p.m.

Why was there a delay?

“I overlooked it. In the hustle and bustle, it got by me,” Laura Benjamin, who was hired in November, said Tuesday.

Benjamin, who gets paid $56,000 a year, volunteered on Bach’s mayoral campaign.

Posted in: Uncategorized • • • • | 7 Comments »

Bach hits the road to talk transportation with Hick

March 20th, 2012, 11:26 am by

Members of a new group formed by Mayor Steve Bach met with Gov. John Hickenlooper in Denver on Monday to talk about transportation issues in the Pikes Peak region.

The discussion between the governor and the Pikes Peak Region Mayors Caucus focused on the level of state funding to the region and representation on the State Transportation Commission,” city spokeswoman Laura Benjamin said in a press release.

“The Pikes Peak Region Mayors Caucus believes this lack of funding is partially the result of our low level of representation on the Commission. They also believe a new appropriation of commissioners should be considered to better represent the second largest city and most populous county in the state,” Benjamin wrote in the press release.

Colorado Springs businessman Les Gruen, president of Urban Strategies, Inc., a real estate development and advisory services company, currently represents the region on the transportation commission. He has served on the commission since 2007.

Benjamin said the press release didn’t imply that Gruen wasn’t representing the region well but that the region should have more representation on the commission.

“That we’re not represented enough, not that he’s not doing a good job,” she said.

Gruen was a big supporter of Richard Skorman, Bach’s opponent in the mayoral race.

In addition to Bach, other members of the caucus that met with Hickenlooper in Denver were Fountain Mayor Jeri Howells, Green Mountain Falls Mayor Tyler Stephens, Manitou Springs Mayor Marc Snyder, Monument Mayor Travis Easton and El Paso County Commission Chairwoman Amy Lathen, according to Benjamin’s press release.

The governor was quoted as saying that he was supportive of the caucus.

“I believe it’s the right thing to do,” Hickenlooper said.

Even though Monday’s meeting was at 10:30 a.m., Benjamin didn’t issue a press release until 6:44 p.m.

“I overlooked it. In the hustle and bustle, it got by me,” Benjamin said Tuesday.

“I did not get it out sooner, so that rests on my shoulders if you’re looking for the person who is responsible for that,” she added.

Posted in: City Administration • Meetings • Politics • Transportation • • • • • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

Bach and other regional leaders want to meet with Hickenlooper

February 2nd, 2012, 1:54 pm by

Mayor Steve Bach and El Paso County Commission Chair Amy Lathen

On the campaign trail, Mayor Steve Bach pledged to build regional collaboration.

On Thursday, the mayor made a big step toward achieving his promise by organizing what is being called the first Pikes Peak Region Mayors Caucus.

The group, which met for the first time this morning, plans to request a meeting with Gov. John Hickenlooper in the near future to talk about issues facing the Pikes Peak region.

Bach’s Communications Office announced this afternoon that Bach had met behind closed doors with other regional officials and that they planned to request a meeting with the governor.

Despite the name — Pikes Peak Region Mayors Caucus — El Paso County Commission Chair Amy Lathen an Teller County Commission Chair Jim Ignatius also attended the meeting.

“Mayor Bach decided to organize this group as a direct result of attending the Denver Metro Mayors Caucus,” the Communications Office said. “The Mayors will come together to build consensus and collaborate on regional issues.”

Thursday’s meeting, in the City Administration Building downtown, was a “get acquainted meeting.”

The new group plans to meet again next month to talk about the Colorado Department of Transportation and funding for the entire region.

“We will in turn, as a group, ask for a meeting with Governor Hickenlooper,” Bach is quoted as saying. “Our hope is that this group of Mayors and Commissioners will be able to effectively address the larger issues facing the region.”

City spokeswoman Mary Scott said she didn’t know when the group would request a meeting with the governor.

“I don’t know if that has been determined yet,” she said in an email. “I am copying (Chief Communications Officer Cindy Aubrey) to see if she can find this out for you.”

Other attendees include Calhan Mayor Blair Bartling, Cripple Creek Mayor Bruce Brown, Monument Mayor Travis Easton, Fountain Mayor Jeri Howells and Manitou Springs Mayor Marc Snyder.

Bach, who pledged transparency in his administration, didn’t make the news media aware of the meeting.

When asked why not,  Scott responded: “This was not a public meeting.”

 

Posted in: City Administration • Meetings • Politics • • • • • • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

Hickenlooper, Bach to attend solar garden groundbreaking

November 28th, 2011, 2:24 pm by

Gov. John Hickenlooper and Mayor Steve Bach are both scheduled to attend tomorrow’s groundbreaking for SunShare’s Community Solar Garden.

The ceremony will be at Venetucci Farm, 5210 South U.S. Highway 85.

The governor and other community leaders will place the first panels in the solar garden at 10:15 a.m., the city said in a press release.

SunShare’s community solar garden was started by David Amster-Olszewski, a Colorado College graduate.

“The program is the first partnership like it in the country that creates free competition in building large solar projects that the community can participate in,” the city said.

“The program opens up solar ownership to all citizens, not just those willing or able to put solar panels on their roof. Instead, Colorado Spring Utilities’ customers lease solar panels in the community solar garden at Venetucci Farm for a period of 20 years for $550 per solar panel (minimum two panels), instead of having the blue panels on their roof.”

Posted in: Uncategorized • • • | 3 Comments »

Quote of the Day

October 27th, 2011, 4:11 pm by

When Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper stopped by The Gazette on Thursday, he was asked whether he and Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach are working together.

Bach talked as recently as Wednesday about the importance of building alliances with others, including Hickenlooper.

Hickenlooper said Bach sometimes asks him for advice on being a mayor and sometimes he asks Bach for advice on business.

Hickenlooper also said that he and Bach have a “great relationship” and that from everything he can tell, Bach, who is the city’s first strong mayor, has gotten off to a great start.

Their relationship is the subject of today’s Quote of the Day.

“When a city like Colorado Springs changes the structure of their government to a strong mayor, it is hugely important who that first mayor is and their success is going to be important not just to Colorado Springs but to the state. As I’ve told him, he has a blank check. If he needs me for something, I am wherever he wants me.”

 

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

Quote of the Day

October 26th, 2011, 11:56 am by

Given recent developments involving a plan to expand Interstate 25 north to Interquest Parkway, Helen Thorpe won’t have to get a room ready in the Governor’s Mansion.

During the Downtown Partnership’s 14th Annual Mayor’s Breakfast this morning, Mayor Steve Bach recalled a recent conversation in Denver with Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Bach, who was talking about the importance of building alliances outside of Colorado Springs, said he attended the Denver Metro Mayor Caucus and ran into Hickenlooper, who was surprised to see the mayor of Colorado Springs in attendance.

Their conversation is the subject of today’s Quote of the Day.

“He looked at me a little bit stunned. I said, ‘Gov. Hickenlooper. Good morning. Steve Bach, Colorado Springs.’ He said, ‘Well, nice to see you.’ I said, ‘Governor, here’s the deal. Either you widen I-25 or I’m moving in with you. I can’t take it anymore.’”

The story generated big laughs.

Helen Thorpe, by the way, is Hickenlooper’s wife.

 

Posted in: City Administration • Etc. • • • • | 1 Comment »

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