The Colorado Springs City Council appointed Ken Casey to fill the vacant council seat during a special meeting Monday morning, but only after a round of infighting over the interview questions.

A majority of the council voted for Casey from the five final candidates to fill the seat representing the city’s District 2, which covers the section of the city east of Interstate 25 and north of Woodmen Road, after the March resignation of Tom Bailey. Casey won 5-3 on the first round of votes after the council interviewed the five finalists for the seat.

Councilmembers Dave Donelson, Kimberly Gold and Nancy Henjum each cast a vote for a different applicant, largely citing concerns over Casey’s full-time job outside of council.

The same three councilmembers also sparked debate during the meeting by asking the candidates multiple questions. Council President Lynette Crow-Iverson made a procedural move, warning them that they would be silenced during the interview process if they did not stick to a single prepared question. All three councilmembers complied with the request.

Casey said he first moved to Colorado Springs when he was deployed to Fort Carson in 2007 and has lived in the Flying Horse neighborhood since 2012. He works as chief of staff for the Department of the Interior’s Office of Acquisition and Property Management.

Casey has served on the city’s Planning Commission since July 2024 and recently became the commission chair. That tenure overlapped with multiple controversial land developments in the city, which Casey said prepared him to make council decisions.

“It’s vitally important to understand what the concerns are for the neighborhood and address those concerns. On the Planning Commission, we routinely have the traffic engineer come, the Colorado Springs police and fire departments come to address specific issues,” Casey said.

Casey is the third councilmember to represent the district in roughly a year, following Randy Helms and Bailey. Bailey was elected in April 2025 to represent District 2 and resigned from office in March in the face of a successful recall petition.

Like nearly all candidates for the seat, Casey said he would host town halls and community meetings to better understand the area’s priorities.

“There is a perception, valid or not, that previous representative spent more time on city issues than District 2 issues. A lot of that was about communicating the intent of what you’re trying to do for the district,” Casey said.

Casey said he hadn’t run for the seat during the 2025 election because he briefly had a commute to Denver. With his work now based in downtown Colorado Springs, Casey said he felt confident that he could more fully commit his time to the City Council and would likely run for a full term during the next city elections in 2027.

Donelson and Henjum said the time commitment was the major reason they voted against Casey’s appointment. Both said that some previous councilmembers had racked up excused absences from city business because of their work demands.

Councilmembers Brian Risley and Roland Rainey, both of whom have full-time jobs outside of their council work, defended his ability to make it work.

“I really do think it’s possible to own a company, be a leader outside the council, manage things outside of council, and still be responsive and attentive to the matters of the city,” Risley said.

Anita Miller, Daniel Spohn and Cindy Carter each received one vote in favor of appointment. Miller was the only candidate other than Casey who had public comment supporting her, including a letter from former city councilmember Bill Murray.

Interview questions led to council warnings

The councilmembers had agreed during a lunch meeting in April that each of them would ask the candidates the same single question. The specific questions were not shared with each other or the applicants ahead of time.

Gold went off-script with her questions for Cambron and Miller, following up on specific details from their written applications. Councilmember Brandy Williams immediately lodged a complaint, saying the council needed to stick to the set questions and the format used for previous appointments.

“That way, the community saw how each candidate answered the same question in the same context,” Williams said. “It’s important to be as fair as possible.”

“In this process, we’re unable to talk to the candidates. We are only able to review applications. We have 3 minutes per councilmember to ask hard questions, not just on behalf of District 2 but the entire city,” Gold said. “I will gladly accept another letter of reprimand for breaking decorum.”

After the rest of the council voted to officially set a single-question rule, Donelson and Henjum each asked Miller multiple questions. This quickly drew a warning message from Crow-Iverson, council staff and the city attorney’s office, calling them to maintain order and warning that any more changes to their pre-set questions would result in them being silenced.

Casey’s takeaway after the meeting was that the council had a good discussion about the rules and eventually figured out the format.

Casey will officially be sworn in at the beginning of the next City Council work session on April 13. The next open election for the District 2 council seat will take place in April 2027.

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to include Daniel Spohn as one of the candidates for the District 2 council appointment who received a vote and to clarify process while the council voted.