El Paso County Public Trustee Tom Mowle will announce his candidacy for clerk and recorder on Thursday, assuring competition for the seat being vacated by Bob Balink, who is barred from running again by term limits.

Mowle, a Democrat, said he wants to offer voters a choice, noting Republicans have held all of El Paso County’s elective offices for years.

County Treasurer Sandra Damron, who can’t seek a third term due to term limits, has filed as a Republican candidate for clerk and recorder.

“I will bring to El Paso County the same core values I lived by in the Air Force – integrity, service, and excellence,” Mowle said. “We deserve better in the county.  You deserve better.”

Mowle said he will file his candidate affidavit after appearing before the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners on Thursday. There, he’ll present the second quarter report on foreclosures and also defend his decision to reduce mailing charges from flat fees to actual charges. The change will reduce the amount of revenue collected by his office and given to the county’s general fund by $150,000 to $200,000. Commissioners have said they didn’t appreciate Mowle making the decision without telling them first.

Mowle has said the charges were unfair, because often mailing charges are significantly less than the flat fees the county charged.

Mowle was appointed public trustee by Gov. Bill Ritter in early 2008. A 20-year Air Force veteran, he served a tour in Iraq in 2004. He serves on the Colorado Mountain Club project, a conservation group, and is vice chair of the Community Advisory Committee to the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments. He also has served on an Academy School District 20 transportation task force.

The Metal Shakespeare Company has a lot of the great Bard’s material to draw from. Photo by COURTESTY OF LEAH LUBMAN