Mayor names four for Urban Renewal board
Mayor Steve Bach on Wednesday named his selections to fill four open positions on the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority Board.
His selections, according to a press release, are:
• David Neville, a Colorado Springs real estate attorney with Kraemer Kendall Benson Rupp Deen, LLC. Neville is a member of the Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs.
• Jim Raughton, who has been involved in urban planning in Aurora, Lakewood, Boulder and Lyons. Raughton owns Golden Square LLC, a real estate development company in Colorado Springs.
• Robert Shonkwiler, who spent 40 years in Boulder involved with planning and developing urban infill projects, including the Pearl Street Mall. He is a member of the Colorado Springs Planning Commission and the chairman of Mayor Bach’s Transit Solutions Team.
• Wynne Palermo, a Colorado Springs real estate agent since 1982 and CEO and president of her own firm.
“The four people we have selected bring tremendous expertise, fresh ideas and proven community leadership which will be invaluable in moving Urban Renewal Authority forward,” Bach said in a press release.
The City Council will decide whether to confirm the mayor’s selections. The five-year terms on the board begin April 1.
The mayor’s office on Wednesday also released the names of 32 others who applied to serve on the board. The city last week refused to release the applicants’ names and resumes, citing a “work product” exemption in the Colorado Open Records Act.
Click here to see a list of the applicants.
The Gazette last week disputed the exemption. In a letter to the city from Steve Zansberg, a Denver attorney who specializes in Colorado open records issues and who represents The Gazette, Zansberg wrote that the city had taken what he called “the unprecedented position that application materials submitted by individuals seeking a position on the city board…constitute work product prepared for elected officials. This position in not well founded.”
The city did not respond to Zansberg’s letter.
When asked why the mayor released the applicants’ names Wednesday, Cindy Aubrey, chief communications officer, said in an email, “The Mayor’s Office released the information once all applications were submitted and after Mayor Bach made his selection.”
Mark Engelsman, left, and Sandra Lee of the Wounded Warrior Project prepare a recipe during culinary bootcamp at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012.The veterans learned some kitchen tips, but seemed to enjoy even more the chance to spend four intense days with people who have faced similar hurdles. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS