Sean Paige says he doesn’t have a “chance in hell” to be appointed to a soon-to-be-vacant seat on the City Council, but he’s planning to throw his name into the race anyway on Monday.
Paige, the former editorial page editor of The Gazette who now edits and blogs at LocalLibertyOnline.org, said he’s putting a platform together before applying for the District 3 City Council seat.
“I really think it’s important to not just run,” he said this morning. “I mean, everybody in this town just runs and says, ‘Well, I’m doing it to give back to the community.’ I think that’s one of the problems. They’re all well-meaning people, but they don’t have an agenda. They don’t have a plan. They don’t have a vision.”
Paige faces stiff competition.
At least 14 other people are vying for the District 3 City Council seat being vacated by Councilman Jerry Heimlicher, whose resignation is effective Sept. 30. Heimlicher and his wife, Mary Margaret, are moving back to their home state of Tennessee in November.
Paige, who recently blogged about a “faux candidacy,” said he doesn’t see himself as a politician.
“But I have been a critic for a long time (about) the way the city is run,” he said.
“As a critic, I get challenged, ‘Well, why don’t you do something?’ Well, this is an opportunity to take some people up on that challenge and say, ‘OK, here are some ideas. Do you like them? Or do you not like them?’ We’ll see what happens,” he said.
Paige said his candidacy is “sort of tongue-in-cheek.”
“I don’t think there’s going to be a chance in hell that they’re going to put me on, but I will be filing on Monday,” he said.
The deadline to apply for the seat is 5 p.m. Monday. The City Council will appoint Heimlicher’s replacement.
The seat must be filled by Oct. 30, but Mayor Lionel Rivera wants a candidate to be selected and sworn in by Oct. 12, the council’s first informal meeting in October.
A group of Colorado Springs firefighters is putting their barbecuing skills to work tomorrow to garner support for 2C, a