GUEST COLUMN: Does integrity matter anymore to political groups?
There is a relatively new political group in town called Integrity Matters, that unfortunately seems to have a pretty big list serve and has been given a voice by our public media for April 4th’s local election. Many of us wonder if integrity really does matter to them.
They put yard signs all over the city that read one Mayor candidate’s name with the words “Developer’s Dream.” But then they promote another candidate on their website who has also received large contributions from developers too. Aren’t they both “Developer’s Dreams” or just the one they don’t like?
Many of us were disappointed by the loss of Strawberry Fields to the Broadmoor because we wanted to keep it all as city open space. Although that ship has long since sailed, It seems to still be a really important City issue for Integrity Matters — 6 years later.
If so, then why does Integrity Matters vigorously oppose the TOPS extension on April’s ballot? How were we going to pay maintaining and building trails on Strawberry Fields if it remained in City hands. How would we have purchased the Broadmoor properties we wanted in the swap? TOPs of course. But Integrity Matters say vote no because this extension doesn’t spell out how much money can be spent for open space maintenance and stewardship versus acquisition. But they fail to mention that all the open space advocates and the TOPs originators (I repeat all) enthusiastically support this extension because we (they) went to many meetings and successfully lobbied for those very acquisition versus stewardship guarantees. No one heard from Integrity Matters during our efforts then. Why are they weighing in so strongly now? With the sunset of the current TOPS in 2025, and if this simple extension fails, what are they proposing next?
How about their unsuccessful recall effort against Councilmembers Wayne Williams and Stephannie Fortune? Fortune was too new to the District to be appointed, they said, before they even knew how she felt about issues or how she would vote. And oh my, she was friends with Chief of Staff Jeff Greene. For Williams, he agreed too much with Mayor John Suthers. That’s it. Recall them. But what Integrity Matters didn’t tell you when they were collecting signatures was that their effort, if it had been successful, would have cost taxpayers $400,000 by forcing a special election two months before both Fortune and Williams were going to leave office anyhow. Now that made a lot of sense.
Finally, their anti-Michelle Talarico campaign yard signs say: “Vote No for Michelle Talarico, Be a Good Human.” Or their posts tout “You can’t make this stuff up about Michelle, she’s a liar and a plagiarizer. “ Yes, Michelle did make a few minor communication missteps during her hectic campaign. She took responsibility for them. But Integrity Matters never mentions anything about how Michelle feels about city issues (with one exception) or how she differs from her opponent. Just personal character attacks on someone that has given a huge amount as a volunteer and a generous contributor to her city for over 30 years.
The real reason for IM attacks on Michelle? Even though Michelle opposed the original Broadmoor Land Swap, she mistakingly answered in their questionnaire that she appreciated the trail and fire mitigation work the Broadmoor has done up there. And then to add fuel to the fire; Mayor Suthers endorsed her. Rule number one for Integrity Matters, never, ever compliment the “evil” Broadmoor. If you do, they will watch your every move. Then if they catch you in a minor communication error, they will call you lots of names. Although from their yard signs, I’m not sure if its Michelle they are saying is not a “good human” or just those who vote for her?
If Integrity Matters really cared about our city, they wouldn’t advocate to waste taxpayer monies on an expensive and unnecessary recall election for two councilmembers who were leaving office anyhow. If Integrity Matters really cared about protecting open space like Strawberry Fields, they should absolutely support this TOPS extension — like we all are — because the clock is running out for this really vital program and there is a lot more for TOPs to do.
Most importantly, the media should not give Integrity Matters a voice as a viable political advocacy group. They aren’t a group. They are four or so angry people with personal vendettas who have access to money and have good social media skills. And if Integrity really does matter to the four of you, stop calling good, community-giving local citizens, names.
Just disagree with them on issues.
Richard Skorman is a businessman and former president of the Colorado Springs City Council.