Revisit the mayor’s vision

As Colorado Springs continues to grapple with rising homelessness and policies focused on moving people from camps and public spaces, we should revisit Mayor Yemi Mobolade’s stated vision to “take a holistic approach to address the needs of our residents” and create a pathway to safe, stable, and affordable housing.

Homelessness rarely happens overnight. More often, it follows a predictable chain of setbacks: a divorce, a car repair that can’t be afforded, a lost job, an eviction, and then a medical crisis that becomes far more difficult—and expensive—to address. Ryan Dowd, a longtime homeless shelter director and educator, recently described how a few hundred dollars to fix a car can prevent a lifetime of homelessness and public expense.

The value of every person should be reason enough to invest in prevention. But even for those focused on budgets and efficiency, the case is compelling. It costs far less to help someone remain housed than to cycle them through shelters, emergency rooms, law enforcement encounters, and chronic homelessness.

As Dowd writes, “We need to stop treating homelessness like a random collection of bad choices.” Research increasingly shows that homelessness follows identifiable patterns, and those patterns can be interrupted.

Speaking from experience, people who receive support during difficult times often return to strengthen the community that helped them. Prevention not only saves money—it preserves dignity, restores stability, and creates opportunities for people to contribute.

If we truly want a stronger Colorado Springs, let’s work together to invest in resources that prevent homelessness and interrupt the chain of events that can transform a temporary hardship into chronic homelessness. Thanks to all who are already working hard in the prevention department!

Donna Wintz

Colorado Springs

Primary Election voting is underway

The 2026 Primary Election is underway, and ballots for all eligible El Paso County voters will be mailed beginning Monday, June 8.

Registered Democratic voters will receive a Democratic Primary ballot, registered Republican voters will receive a Republican Primary ballot, and registered Unaffiliated voters will receive both a Democratic and a Republican ballot.  Unaffiliated voters may choose which party’s primary to participate in; however, only one ballot may be voted and returned.  If both ballots are voted and cast, neither ballot can be counted.

To serve our voters, El Paso County will open eight Voter Service and Polling Centers (VSPCs) and now offers 44 secure 24/7 ballot drop boxes conveniently located throughout the county.  Ballot drop box and VSPC locations can be found in your ballot instructions, or by visiting:  https://clerkandrecorder.elpasoco.com/elections/election-information/

VSPCs provide a variety of services, including voter registration, address updates, ballot replacement, accessible voting equipment, in-person voting, and assistance from trained election staff.

I encourage our voters to vote early.  Voting early provides time to address any questions, update registration information, replace a lost or damaged ballot, and avoid the last-minute rush on Election Day.

If you do not receive your ballot by June 15, please contact our Elections Department at 719-575-VOTE (8683), or email elections@elpasoco.com, and our team will be happy to assist you.

Election Day is Tuesday, June 30.  Ballots must be received by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.  Postmarks do not count.

Steve Schleiker

El Paso County Clerk & Recorder

Decision deserves scrutiny

The recent announcement that the CEO of Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) will now receive $700,000 in annual compensation—including an increase of $150,000 after yet another utility rate hike for every household in our city—demands serious scrutiny. At a time when families are tightening budgets, seniors are rationing energy use, and small businesses are absorbing higher operating costs, this decision feels profoundly out of step with the lived reality of the community CSU is meant to serve.

Colorado Springs residents are repeatedly told that rising rates are unavoidable, necessary, and fiscally responsible. But how are we expected to reconcile that message with an executive salary that now rivals compensation packages in major metropolitan markets with far larger populations and revenue bases? Where is the alignment between public hardship and executive reward?

This is not about whether leaders should be paid fairly. It is about whether leadership compensation should grow faster than the wages, stability, and well‑being of the people footing the bill. It is about whether a publicly owned utility—one that exists because of the trust and contributions of its residents—should be insulated from the economic pressures affecting every household in Colorado Springs.

Ratepayers deserve transparency. We deserve a clear explanation of how this increase was justified, what performance metrics it is tied to, and why this decision was prioritized over easing the financial burden on the community. We deserve to know whether the City Council believes this compensation reflects responsible stewardship of public resources.

I urge the City Council to reconsider this decision, or at a minimum, to provide a full and public justification for it. Trust is earned through alignment, transparency, and shared sacrifice – not through decisions that are disconnected from the realities facing the people you serve.

Garry Butcher

Colorado Springs

What a heinous legacy

Despite blatantly obvious and inevitable risks to elementary school children, the Planning Commission recently and overwhelmingly approved an insidious plan to build a massive 300-unit apartment complex immediately abutting The Classical Academy Elementary School.

Repeated and intense opposition from parents of affected students and alarmed teachers fell on deaf ears. The developer’s claims of zero traffic impact in an already heavily congested area and the ability to fully protect the adjacent small children from their prospective tenants via vetting processes that are fatally flawed are laughably false and inept, but the Commission bought the snake oil pitch hook, line and sinker.

The project now goes before the City Council, many of whom are on record as having received campaign contributions from developers, yet the concept of showing integrity and recusing themselves from proposals from those same developers is hypocritically lambasted as an abhorrent affront to their faux impartiality. If this project gets approved by the City Council and is signed by Mayor Yemi Mobolade, it further proves beyond any doubt that developer interests are more important to our elected and appointed officials than is the safety of our small children. What a heinous legacy those officials will leave for themselves when a clearly avoidable tragedy occurs.

Brian Fasterling

Colorado Springs