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Mayor’s Cup golf tournament expected to net $50,000

May 10th, 2012, 3:41 pm by

The inaugural Mayor’s Cup golf tournament at The Broadmoor next week is expected to generate $50,000, about $10,000 more than the original goal.

“We filled the tournament last month. That’s pretty tough for any tournament to pull off, as there are so many local tournaments to choose from,” defense contractor Buddy Gilmore, a former mayoral candidate and tournament chairman, said Thursday.

“We have a great tournament committee, and the help we have received from the Broadmoor staff has been tremendous,” he said.

Proceeds from the fundraiser on Thursday will benefit Mayor Steve Bach’s Spirit of the Springs initiatives, which are designed to, among other things, celebrate the good things about Colorado Springs.

El Pomar, which donated $10,000, is the lone platinum sponsor. There are four gold sponsors that donated $5,000 each, including Comcast, TechWise, Security Service Federal Credit Union and Shape Technologies LLC., which is owned by Gilmore.

The money raised from the event will be held by the Pikes Peak Community Foundation, and a citizen panel will “direct fund appropriations,” according to the mayor’s website.

The event has 132 registered golfers, city spokeswoman Mary Scott said.

Posted in: Budget • Civic Participation • • • • • | 6 Comments »

City sends two communications workers packing

March 19th, 2012, 4:28 pm by

Cindy Aubrey

Two employees in the city’s Communications Department were shown the door Friday.

John Leavitt, a well-respected city spokesman who routinely handled open-records requests, and Bill Beagle, the go-to guy for all things SpringsTV, were let go “as part of the organization-wide efforts to pursue efficiencies wherever possible,” Chief Communications Officer Cindy Aubrey said Monday in an email.

“I want to stress that these were budgetary, not performance, decisions,” she said.

Aubrey’s explanation raises more questions since the city budget was approved in December and she hired Laura Benjamin, who volunteered on Mayor Steve Bach’s mayoral campaign, at the end of November.

“Laura has a different skill set and knowledge which she brings to the department,” Aubrey wrote in a follow-up email.

Aubrey also said some programming on SpringsTV Channel 18 will be eliminated.

“Springs TV will continue on – with additional replays of City Council and Planning meetings.  We will however, no longer be producing City vignettes about parks, streets etc.” she wrote.

“We will help City Council upon request for any needs they may have,” Aubrey added.

So, who’s left in the Communications Department and what do they do?

Here are the names and titles of who works there now:

Cindy Aubrey – Chief Communications Officer

Mary Scott – Public Communications Specialist I

Julie Smith – Public Communications Specialist II

Laura Benjamin – Public Communications Specialist II

Dee Brown – Public Communications Specialist II

Mary Webb – Communications Admin

Aubrey provided a job description for each employee.

“I am currently rewriting my job description – and will be absorbing some of John’s duties,” she wrote.

Here are their job descriptions:

Laura Benjamin – Communications Specialist

Key Responsibilities:

Produce online communication and news for the City and the Mayor’s Office which includes:

Writing summations for newsfeed, announcements, social media posts, press releases and citizen responses

Act as the primary web content producer as well as web facilities person for communications

Additional Communication Duties:

Daily releases as assigned by CCO

Develop strong, ongoing relationships with media

Respond to media queries with the use of established messaging

Attend events with the Mayor and City personnel, take pictures and update the public with details.

Public speaking on behalf of the City/Mayor

Assist City Council when needed or asked with communication needs

Provide speaker training and media assistance for all staff upon request

Mary Scott – Communications Specialist

Key Responsibilities:

Daily media releases for assigned departments or as assigned by CCO

Assist Donna Nelson with all things Spirit of the Springs

Organize Spirit of the Springs events- including marketing and publicity

Produce employee profiles for Springs TV

Research and present positive media coverage

Oversee E-Town Hall Meetings

Oversee and direct employee communications

Act as liaison between US Pro Cycling Challenge and City

Media Relations

Develop strong, ongoing relationships with media.  This includes quickly responding to journalist requests for stories etc.

Reaching out to beat reporters, assignment editors and news directors to pitch positive City stories

Internal / Employee Communication

Producing content for the Intranet

Answer questions for employees

Determine the best way to proactively communicate information and processes to department and City employees, employee meetings, brown bag lunches.

Julie Smith – Communications Specialist

Key Responsibilities:

Daily releases for assigned departments or as assigned by CCO

Working to find positive stories to tell about City efforts and the community.

Searching the city (media and any outlets available) for Spirit of the Springs’ candidates to celebrate and recognize.

Working with the Sister Cities Board, write all press releases and act as liaison between the City and the SC board.

Greener Corners

Work as a liaison with Nick Kittle to broaden the Greener Corners for the City.

Press Releases

Daily releases for assigned departments or as assigned by CCO

External Marketing

Assist in marketing efforts for the City.

Graphic Design

Assist all in City who request graphic design from Communications

Dee Brown – Communications Specialist

Key Responsibilities:

Operate cameras for all public meeting tapings and broadcasts including, but not limited to all City Council, formal and informal, Planning Commission,

Answer or direct all citizen remarks/complaints that are directed to City Communications

Act as a back- up editor and videographer for Springs TV

Event Planning

Assist in Event Planning & Implementation: Planning and implementing any events, including Spirit of the Springs, Solution Team events, Town Hall meetings or other events managed through the Mayor’s office.

Mary Webb – Administrative Assistant

Key Responsibilities:

Answer phones

Answer phone in department and forward all media calls to appropriate person.

Communications Budget / Contract Manager

Cindy & Dept Scheduler

Event Planning & Implementation: Assist in planning and implementing any events, including Spirit of the Springs, Solution Team events, Town Hall meetings or other events managed through the Mayor’s office.

Media Relations

Writing External & Internal Communication: Writing thank you notes, letters,

e-mails; responding to citizen and employee queries or complaints, etc.; and ensuring all written communication is on message.

Posted in: Budget • City Administration • City employees • Colorado Open Records Act • • • • • | 14 Comments »

Twitter not so tweet after all, city says

February 23rd, 2012, 5:55 pm by

Mayor Steve Bach has made a big deal out of using social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, to communicate with Colorado Springs residents.

When he announced a town hall meeting for Wednesday night, Springs resident Justin Burns went on the mayor’s Facebook page and suggested that Twitter would be “a great Q & A tool” to use for the event.

At least 200 million people actively use Twitter.

“Thank you Justin, that’s a great idea,” was the response.

But the mayor’s Communications Office didn’t chirp a single tweet.

The Gazette asked Chief Communications Officer Cindy Aubrey how many of her employees were at the town hall meeting and why no one — including a recent addition with supposed social media expertise — didn’t tweet from the event.

Here’s her response:

For the Town Hall meeting, we had John Leavitt, Mary Scott, Laura Benjamin, Julie Smith, Bill Beagle and myself.

John – Front door greeter and usher – helped with set up.

Julie  – Videographer – helped with set up.

Bill – Videographer

Laura – Collected questions, took pictures and co-emceed with Steve Cox – also helped with set up

Mary – Took notes to write a summary for Q & A – to get something posted today for those who were unable to attend

Cindy – Event producer

Given the hour and the event, was not sure how large of an audience we would have on Twitter.  I have to think about return on investment.  I have included an article about Twitter time – and listened to panel of three Twitter uber users today – they all concur that 8-5 is prime time.  We will discuss and even post a poll to determine if we should have someone tweeting at all events – or if resources should be allocated differently.  This was our first Town Hall, so we learned from it.  Our goal is to provide excellent customer service always.  If enough of our citizens would like to get tweets, we will provide.   http://pinterest.com/pin/270286415106330645/

Cindy

Posted in: City Administration • City employees • Meetings • • • • • • • | 8 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 »

City employees show they ‘Care and Share’

November 18th, 2011, 10:17 am by

Click on the photos to get a better view.

 

Posted in: City employees • Civic Participation • • • | Post a Comment »

City, Utilities and USOC employees hope to collect 500 turkeys tomorrow

November 17th, 2011, 4:14 pm by

Employees of the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs Utilities and the U.S. Olympic Committee are cooking up some goodwill in the community.

Employees from the three organizations are teaming up tomorrow to collect turkeys for Care and Share.

“We’re hoping we get more turkeys than we know what do with,” city spokeswoman Mary Scott said.

The city has been doing a “Take a Turkey to Work Day” for the last three years, collecting 356 turkeys and $863 in cash.

Tomorrow, the goal is to collect 500 turkeys.

Turkeys will be dropped off between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. at the City Administration Building, which is the main collection point, as well as other locations citywide.

“We have volunteer city employees who will be outside (the City Administration Building) if people want to do curbside drop-offs or walk-by drops offs,” Scott said.

Scott said the “Grinch” will also be on hand to help with donation collections.

“Care and Share has identified the need in the community to be at least 7,000 turkeys,” she said. “They’ve met that goal every year.”

Posted in: City employees • Civic Participation • • • | Post a Comment »

Bach names Donna Nelson economic vitality specialist

August 2nd, 2011, 2:10 pm by

Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach announced today that Donna Nelson is the city’s new economic vitality specialist, a position that stirred up controversy when the mayor lowered the educational qualifications required for the job.

“Donna is an ideal person for this job,” Bach said in a statement. “Her skills range from marketing to mergers to acquisitions to re-engineering operations. Her military service and a business track record that most in corporate America would envy qualify her for this important position.”

The news release doesn’t specify Nelson’s education, and Cindy Aubrey, the city’s chief communications officer, is in a meeting with the mayor and did not immediately return a call for comment.

“I’m sure Cindy has this info and should be able to get it to you shortly,” city spokeswoman Mary Scott said in an email.

The original posting called for a bachelor’s degree with “major course work in economics, public or business administration, urban or regional land use planning, finance, or a related field.”

The second job posting stated that post-secondary education was “preferred.”

The news release also didn’t specify how much Nelson will be paid. However, under the city’s job posting, the salary range was $5,939 to $7,424 a month, or up to $89,000 a year.

Nelson is the former operations manager at Security Service Federal Credit Union, where she worked for nine years.

At the credit union, Nelson “oversaw all Service Center business operations at the North Academy site, including cash operations, member service, sales, personnel management and facility maintenance,” according to a news release.

“Having completely revamped an entire training infrastructure companywide, Nelson’s experience will help her in this key role,” the news release states.

According to the news release:

Nelson has a proven track record developing relationships with stakeholders and establishing a working rapport with customers, both internal and external, which helped her build and serve as one of the leaders of a high performance finance organization. She is also highly skilled in planning, organizing and project management. In addition, Nelson excels at creative branding and communications.

In addition to her service in the United States Army as a Medical NCO (non-commissioned officer), Nelson’s community service in Colorado Springs is impressive. She is the current Board Chair of the Urban League of the Pikes Peak Region. Other board positions include COPPeR (Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region) and past Chair of the Chamber of Commerce Rising Professionals. She was also a loaned executive with The Pikes Peak United Way and is involved on various levels with Junior Achievement.

Nelson is a 2011 Athena Award nominee and was named a Colorado Springs Business Journal Rising Professional in 2008. She is also a graduate of Leadership Pikes Peak.

Mayor Bach added, “Donna is a can-do, enthusiastic person who is dedicated to helping our city.”

Nelson is excited about joining the Mayor’s team and stated, “I am extremely proud to join the administration of Mayor Steve Bach. I am excited about the direction that our city is headed and look forward to our many successes.”

Nelson’s first day will be August 3, 2011. Nelson will lead Mayor Bach’s Spirit of the Springs’ initiative, which will include efforts to unite the community, encourage broader participation and representation in City government, and attract and retain young professionals in Colorado Springs. She will also work with small and emerging businesses as part of the City’s efforts to ensure a business-friendly environment.

Posted in: City Administration • City employees • • • • | 12 Comments »

Attention bicyclists: Sharrows will be discussed tomorrow

May 23rd, 2011, 11:04 am by

Mary Scott at the city’s Public Communications Office just issued the following news release:

The Bicycle Advisory Committee, a sub-committee of the Citizens Transportation Advisory Board, will hold its monthly meeting tomorrow, May 24, at the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services administration building at 1401 Recreation Way.

The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. and is open to the public. The draft guidelines for Shared Lane Markings will be discussed as part of the agenda.

Go to www.springsgov.com/sharrows for more information and to view the draft guidelines.

According to that website:

Shared Lane Markings (sometimes called sharrows) are street markings that are installed in some locations on streets as an awareness tool to serve two main purposes:

Provide guidance to bicyclists as to where they should ride on a shared roadway as in away from the open door area of parked cars; not weaving in and out of traffic; riding with traffic, not against it; not riding on sidewalks, etc.

Alert motorists to the possible presence of bicyclists, set expectations as to where the bicyclists will be riding, and as a reminder to share the road.

Posted in: Meetings • • | 1 Comment »