Thanks to KRDO's coverage of the ties between John Suthers, Wayne Williams and many of our elected leaders, the public is beginning to see what those of us who have been watching closely have watched for the last 8 years under the Strong Mayor with wealth sycophant John Suthers who has repeatedly sold out the people who elected him to office for his land-baron masters who funded him into office.  He performed like a well trained poodle for 8 years and, we believe, has been the most destructive force this City has ever experienced.  We should consider undoing the Strong Mayor which a developer poured money into getting passed.  Many of us foolishly voted for that because we didn't envision any human being would sell out his constituents, friends and neighbors to serve the corporate agenda of the wealthy elite.  It has been one for the ages to watch.  Below are just a few of the gifts King Suthers has given us in his Reign of Developer Pander (For further explanation on some of these, see below):
 

• Irresponsible Development:

  • Trading away Strawberry Fields - biggest land heist in Colorado Springs' history

  • Broadmoor Convention Center Expansion - exacerbating dangerous evacuation times at a critical chokepoint for residents and visitors 

  • Amphitheater in a residential area - ignored the City's noise ordinance, liquor code near schools, etc.

  • Unbridled, dangerous growth risking the public safety & lives of citizens

  • Ignoring the Clearance Evacuation Time & Public Safety Ordinance refusing to implement widely used evacuation modeling, reporting of maps and times to residents and implementing development standards to avoid further worsening already life-threatening evacuation conditions.

• Limiting Citizens' rights and involvement:​

  • Muzzling of the people's ability to appeal development in RetoolCOS by imposing a 3 mile restriction and "privileged standing" to participate in an appeal.

  • Limiting who can have input into PlanCOS by creating a board that only graduates of the "CONO University" participate.

• Risking our neighborhoods, lifestyle & property rights:

  • Flex-zoning in RetoolCOS jeopardizing citizens' property rights and values as well as making it easier for development threating the character of neighborhoods

• Risking our public safety:

  • Record crime and refusal to rescind liquor licenses where establishments demonstrate a pattern of dangerous activity to nearby neighborhoods.

  • Graffiti charaded as "urban art" which violates our own City code and encourage gang tagging and turf wars.  The Tarot Card Water Ordinance quickly passed, without scientific studies, effectively creating a monopoly for one developer.

  • Record homelessness which his "Sit & Lie Ordinance" pushed into residential negihbhorhoods on the westside of the city.

• Incompetent economic policy & irresponsible fiscal management:

  • Minimum Wage Mecca:  A tax base largely reliant on tourism with burger joint after burger joint, a failed Olympic museum the taxpayers continue to bail-out, horrible retail deals like Scheels where the $16 million of taxpayer dollars were given when Scheels said they would have come without that incentive.

    • Under Suthers' reign, Boulder and Denver have gotten a $10 million Google campus, Apple, Facebook, Twitter and a host of robotics start-ups where we get burger joints and warehouses.

    • Narrow tax bases are not only more vulnerable to economic downturns, but taxpayers have to pay more to reach tax revenue goals.

  • Excessive spending:  $400,000 on 3 stall, self-cleaning restrooms, Concreting our municipal parks turning them into plazas which requires ongoing maintenance of the concrete like our roads, corporate trash for park deals like the Pike View Quarry which will ultimately cost the taxpayers' enormous sums to reclaim that unreclaimable land for a bike park.

  • Lost the Space Symposium - Incompetent with a capital I.

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So, good-riddance, to King Suthers who delivered for his donors at the expense of the peasants who put him on the developer-created throne.  As long as the new mayor isn't Wayne Williams, we fully expect to see that some of these claims about our economic vitality, growth, etc will change as King Suthers' PR-spin is dismantled and transparency in governance is restored. 

 

Worst King of COS in COS history. 

Great epoch for the Wood of Nor.

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Further explanation of some of these points:

1. Strawberry Fields:  By far, Suthers' biggest betrayal of his constituents was the Broadmoor Land Swap where he traded away iconic, historic parkland, Strawberry Fields, which was added to North Cheyenne Canon Park by a vote of the people, for corporate trash (a piece of the Incline that could not be developed and was a liability for the Broadmoor, swamp land adjacent to Bear Creek the Broadmoor overpaid for which neighbors fondly now call Suthers Park, and 200 acres of land above 7 Falls that could not be developed and is not easily accessible to many).  In this landgrab, there was local outrage, state and national outrage and Restricted Appraisals which were sanctioned by the state. Suthers served his developer master.

2. Broadmoor Convention Center Expansion:  Amidst outcries of evacuation concerns over putting, essentially, the Pepsi Center, residents who worked with world renowned evacuation modeling and dire fire experts, presented facts and research showing this would worsen already life-threatening evacuation times at a critical chokepoint.  The utility lines were being dug before the appeal was even heard.  Suthers served his developer master.

3. 2424 GOTG:  Suthers continued to lobby for the developer against the public interests and public safety of the residents.  He publicly claimed property rights trump public safety rights going so far as to say that denying a development was unconstitutional, violating the property rights' of the land baron.  As a Hail Mary to try and prevent City Council from denying the development on the second vote, he proposed 2D, the Tabor refund $20 million mitigation tax, which was an attempt to give the council something to point to so they could pass the development.  By the way, that mitigation tax has yet to be implemented and will do nothing to address the life-threatening evacuation problems we have. Suthers served his developer master.

4. Clearance Evacuation Time - Public & Life Safety Ordinance:  For over a year, the Westside Watch & The Maverick Observer board presented the Clearance Evacuation Time - Public & Life Safety Ordinance brining in experts, thanks to the generosity of Mr. Tim Hoiles, former owner of The Gazette and current owner of The Maverick Observer.  That oridinance was based in science, evacuation modeling, which has been around since the 1970s and is used ubiquitously throughout the world, in fact, is federally mandated for all the nuclearly power plants.  Not only was the Ordinance not adopted, it was completely ignored.  Juxtaposed to the 128 Water Ordinance (see below) which was rammed through pretty much as it was written purportedly by the most powerful developer in town and was passed in 3 months flat, more evidence of who Suthers worked for - and it isn't the people. Suthers served his developer master.​

5. The Tarot Card Water Ordinance - In mid-October 22, what is now reported by The Gazette and KRDO as a water ordinance written by Norwood Development, was presented to City Council.  There were no scientific studies, no stakeholder meetings, no public input, it was one developer pushing this ordinance.  Suthers flipped his position on the Amara Development suddenly claiming we had a water shortage and water had to be limited immediately.  Many believe this ordinance, effectively, blocked all annexations to the City and many believe gave Norwood a monopoly.  Suthers served his developer master.

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