Neighborhood organizer and advocate Bill Wysong is running to represent El Paso County Commission District 3, promising to improve wildfire preparedness and public safety, ensure responsible growth and not to take any developer campaign contributions.

Wysong is a co-founder of Westside Watch, a neighborhood organization that has fought for wildfire safety, including evacuation modeling to determine how much time it could take residents to leave their homes during a disaster.

The organization also opposed the development of the apartments planned for 2424 Garden of the Gods Road near north 30th Street on the grounds it would hurt residents’ ability to evacuate. The Colorado Springs City Council voted down the apartments and its decision was upheld by a court after the developer behind the project sued.

Wysong has also been fighting a bill at the state legislature that would require residents to pay a local government’s attorney fees if they lost a court battle over a local land-use decision. For example, if residents took a city to court in Colorado arguing over an approval to build apartments and lost, the residents would have to pay the city’s legal costs and their own. Developers that appeal similar decisions would not have to cover a city’s fees if they lost the case, under HB24-1107. The bill was approved by Senate on Monday.

“You just shut down the ability of the people to petition the government for redress due to exorbitant requirements,” he said.

The small business owner said he was motivated to run in District 3 to represent the western and central portions of El Paso County after another candidate in District 3 and current state legislator, Don Wilson, supported the bill.

“I could not believe that someone running for county commissioner would vote for something that is unconstitutional,”  Wysong said.

Wilson said he didn’t see the bill as unconstitutional and it would not stop legitimate cases from going forward.

Wysong also expressed frustration with Colorado Springs City Councilman David Leinweber’s decision to run for the County Commission District 3 seat less than a year after winning a position on council.

“If you don’t like it, resign,” he said, of Leinweber. The councilman said he hopes to be a more effective advocate for mental health on the commission.

Wysong is running as a Republican against Wilson, Leinweber and Brandy Williams in the June primary.

During his 3½ years of community advocacy, he has seen a stark disconnect between residents and their elected representatives, he said. If elected as a county commissioner, Wysong said, he would work to improve emergency planning and response at a high level, including evacuation planning, for all kinds of natural disasters. Evacuation planning could help inform additional mitigation measures.

“One of the top reasons for government is protection of the people,” he said.

Westside Watch previously called on the city of Colorado Springs to estimate how long it could take residents to leave their homes in a disaster using free Fast Local Emergency Evacuation Times, or FLEET software. The city declined and instead adopted a method of evacuating the community by zones.

Staffing at the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office would be another priority for Wysong, who said he would like to see far more patrol officers and faster response times to emergencies.

The candidate said he would also prioritize planning for growth and the appropriate infrastructure and follow the appropriate processes and the law for considering development.

Right now, it seems as though developers get a “red carpet” and necessities such as widened roads come later, he said.

During his campaign, Wysong promised not to take any money from any developers, a step he expected would set him apart from the competition. The first campaign spending reports are not due until June 4.

If elected, he would support long-term strategic planning for infrastructure.

“As the population increases and as the needs increase we have got to be very forward thinking and anticipate some of the funding requirements so we don’t get caught flat footed,” he said.

Road construction is ongoing around El Paso County to catch up to growth. For example, Marksheffel Road, a north-south corridor in eastern Colorado Springs, is currently undersized for the heavy traffic load it carries and undergoing major expansion.

When it comes to taxes, Wysong said he supports the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, a state law that requires voters to approve tax increases and restricts the growth of government spending.

But there could be room for targeted increases, such as the city’s voter-approved 2C road taxes. Strong oversight would have to follow any such spending, he said.

The candidate also promised to stop the commercialization of local parks and address a shortage of parkland for residents.

Before Wysong got involved four years ago, he said he never assumed he would be running for office.

“Some people feel like they don’t have the power to make changes and that was me,” he said.

But he’s found other like-minded people willing to stand up and battle for change.