Those of us who are residents of Teller County (and, I suspect, those who are residents of every county in the state of Colorado) are very aware of the power-and-money seekers among us - one of the worst of which appears to be the members of the Housing and Building Association (HBA) and the public officials they give every indication of colluding with. Here in Teller County, two residents recently experienced devastating construction defects apparently at their collective hands.
Given the results of the recent elections in Colorado Springs (see the Gazette story below), perhaps the intelligent and rational voters in that city are finally standing up to be counted. But, as always, as the newly elected begin, and continue, to carry out their official duties of their offices, only time will tell whether or not they can be trusted to logically, reasonably, and responsibly represent the residents of Colorado springs in their leadership roles. Or whether they will end up colluding with whatever powers (and money) that be in Colorado Springs.
All of us concerned residents of El Paso and Teller counties will be watching their official behaviors with a jaundiced eye until they prove themselves to be the responsible-to-city-residents leaders they were elected to be.
Jan
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=20885&template=article.html
Money, power not winners
By PAM ZUBECK, THE GAZETTE
April 6, 2007 - 11:48AM
Tuesday's city election results suggest voters weren't dazzled by money, blinded by power brokers or influenced by attack ads.
Those seem to be the messages sent by 41 percent of Colorado Springs' registered voters - almost three times the nearly 15 percent that participated two years ago.
Lesson No. 1: Money isn't everything.
Business owner Jan Martin swept the field of nine at-large City Council candidates. She did it at a cost of 87 cents per vote, based on the amount she raised.
Dave Martin, who finished next to last, had the highest per-vote cost, at $4.14 based on his contributions.
While most candidates got fewer than 80 donations, Jan Martin snagged 241. The next highest was Bernie Herpin, who got 130 contributions and finished fifth.
Martin bypassed expensive billboards, radio and television ads, campaigning in cyberspace instead.
"We used technology to its fullest," she said, sending e-mail newsletters to a list of 700 people, who in turn forwarded them to others. She also ran a blog about what it's like to run.
"I had many people comment that they really got to know me by reading the blog," she said.
Martin's average contribution was $101, the lowest of anyone, and she got no large gifts, such as the
$6,000 per candidate given to those backed by the Housing and Building Association of Colorado Springs.
Tom Gallagher had 38 donations that averaged $1,894. Most of his money came from brothers Jim and Mark Morley of
Morley Family Development, for whom Gallagher once worked.
The other two winners, Randy Purvis and Larry Small, received 62 and 77 donations, respectively, which averaged about $400 each.
Lesson No. 2: Endorsements don't mean much.
Jan Martin and incumbent Gallagher cruised to victory
without backing from a single heavyweight political action committee.
Better to rely on a finetuned network of connected people as Jan Martin did, or, in Gallagher's case, your record of "asking the hard questions" and being a regular guy.
Jan Martin's push began with a circle of community leaders.
"We encouraged people to contact their spheres of influence," she said. "I was born and raised here, so I've got a strong network of my own."
That Jan Martin is a woman also might have mattered. Her supporters include a long list of influential women, including Marcy Morrison, Mary Lou Makepeace, Lyda Hill, Mary Ellen McNally, Jeri Howells and Judy Noyes.
[Some of the above-mentioned women would, imho, raise some eyebrows, I feel sure. Therefore, Jan Martin may need some fairly careful watching during her first term in office.]
The HBA, one of the biggest funders of local campaigns, saw two of the five candidates it endorsed get elected - Purvis and Small.
[Methinks the HBA is very much alive and kickin'.]
Lesson No. 3: Voters don't like negative ads.
Gallagher was the only success in an effort by the Morleys to install three candidates and oust two incumbents.
Despite the Morley ads lashing out at Purvis and Small, voters returned them to office. [Power and money... It always rules in a den of theives.]
Challengers Bob Null and Dave Martin, who spent a lot of money and were backed by the Morleys, finished well out of the running.
Dave Martin blamed his loss on a lack of name recognition citywide and on the Morleys' anti-Purvis and Small campaign.
"I really do believe that's what took us down," he said. "Honestly
, the minute that whole campaign finance started slinging out there, that had to hurt."
Dave Martin said that he had no hand in the ads but that he thinks he was associated with them because the Morleys backed his campaign.
In the end, though, Dave Martin said,
the results are more about how voters felt about city government.
"Apparently,
it looks like everybody's happy with the way things are going at the city government level," he said.
In the mayor's race,
Lionel Rivera was re-elected at a cost of $1.19 per vote based on what he raised from 93 donations.
Opponent Tony Carpenter spent $1,607 of his own money and snagged 10,959 votes. That amounted to 15 cents per vote.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0238 or pam.zubeck@gazette.com
BY THE NUMBERS
Vote totals and per-vote cost, based on amounts raised, according to campaign-finance
reports filed March 30.
AT-LARGE WINNERS
Jan Martin 27,949 $0.87
Tom Gallagher 27,452 $2.62
Randy Purvis 26,248 $0.96
Larry Small 26,226 $1.24
ALSO-RANS Bernie Herpin 21,272 $1.44
Tom Harold 20,435 $1.27
Bob Null 20,281 $2.57
Dave Martin 16,950 $4.14
Greg Timm 16,060 $0.96
MAYOR
Lionel Rivera 33,748 $1.19
Tony Carpenter 10,959 $0.15
Mike Coletta 8,379 $0.19
Tony Tyler 3,884 $0.00
(no spending)
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE RECORDS