Few places on earth caricature themselves as well as Colorado Springs. Tuesday’s mayoral candidate forum at the Fine Arts Center only reinforced that image.
About two-dozen grade school aged children were dutifully trotted out to open the event with a rousing rendition of God Bless America. Clad in frumpy red sweaters, frumpy navy slacks and a strange cross between an ascot and a bowtie, the children’s choir set the tone for what would be an authentic foray into the world of local politics.
Just like those kids, all nine candidates made up for a lack of polish with a genuine candor not often seen in the political world. Yes they dodged questions, but one more got the sense they weren’t quite sure what was going on rather than reflecting any sort of insidious nature.
The exception may have been Stephen Bach, whose impressive mane would make “The Donald” shake in his boots. Bach, clearly one of the front-runners, said little of substance throughout the evening but certainly drilled away at his signature issues. A successful real estate developer involved with multiple economic development groups, Bach preached continuing greatness, an ability to listen and communicate, hard work, leadership and togetherness.
The forum was hosted by prominent business interests within the community and each candidate pandered to that audience. The economy ruled the day, so to say, and each candidate talked jobs and growth. Each brought a different spin to the issues.
Whoever wins the race will be Colorado Springs’s first “Strong Mayor.” Almost 60% of voters said yes to “Question 300- Strong Mayor” on last year’s ballot, essentially giving more power to the mayor and doing away with the old system in which most day to day duties in Colorado Springs were performed by the City Manager. Higher stakes attracted more, and more serious, candidates.
The CC consensus candidate is Richard Skorman, a CC grad and owner of Poor Richard’s. He was indeed the most impressive and the most sincere and held his own on economic issues amongst his largely conservative opposition. He’s had extensive experience having served on city council and most recently as Vice Mayor. He promised to change Colorado Springs’s image of intolerance and cheapness and to get everyone on the same team. He was strongest in his ideas on how to better coordinate the city’s interests and entities with the county’s and he stood out the least corporate of those with a chance to win.
The other two serious candidates were Brian Bahr and Buddy Gilmore, each of which has put at least $100k into his own campaign.
Bahr, talked mainly about managed competition, the idea of having government entities compete against the private sector. He argued that this would improve services and lower costs and proposed applying managed competition to all departments and enterprises. He seemed to put just a little too much faith in this plan to entirely convince the audience but it was a concept that stood out in the forum. His three main promises were cutting bureaucracy, ensuring public safety and serving as an ambassador to businesses.
Gilmore too talked about his vision of a more business friendly Colorado Springs. A long-time defense contractor, Gilmore attempted to brand himself as the “how” candidate and pushed heavier police spending. He was constantly adorned with an annoying looking grin; however, by the end it seemed oddly endearing. If elections were solely decided who one might rather have a beer with, Buddy Gilmore might not win but he’d be right up there.
The cast of characters running for mayors was filled out by an incredibly motley crew. Local politics always attracts some interesting people but this was the most impressive bunch I’ve ever seen.
Tom Gallagher, a sitting city councilman, had a brilliantly ridiculous persona. Sort of a poor man’s Sean Hannity, Gallagher told the audience, “This is the greatest community on the planet.” A big man, Gallagher swaggered on stage and, at times, looked as if he was about to punch something. He looked like an overgrown frat boy dressed for casino night twenty years too late. His policies didn’t go much further than “we are awesome, we are the best, rah, rah, rable, rable” but you had to admire his enthusiasm.
The most surprising of the candidates was Kenneth Paul Duncan. He presented himself as a lower middle class man dedicated to an exceptionally strong belief in Christianity. Unlike most “Christian” candidates of our day he spoke sincerely about tolerance and an obligation to those less fortunate. He came off as principled and almost school masterly in both his response to economic and social issues. The CC kids in the audience gasped when he answered a question about tolerance and diversity by calling it out as one focused on diversity vs. Christians. However, his response was simply that we must love and include everybody. He went out of his way to mention his support for +1 benefits for city employees, a nod to gay couples. That was clearly the most we were going to get from this crop of candidates.
Also running are Mitch Christiansen, Dave Munger and Phil McDonald. Christiansen was a bit bumbly with a low gravely voice and would be cast instantly in a low budget movie for the part of small-scale fat cat #3. After getting past his often poor sentence structure, he made about as much sense as the rest of the fringe candidates. He got some national attention via The Huffington Post via The Gazette for having a medical marijuana card. He too was endearingly sincere.
Munger is the alternative liberal candidate and is the President of the Council of Neighbors and Organizations.
McDonald is a former ambulance worker with the CSPD and is now a small business owner.
Alex Kronman 