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Michelle Talarico - D3 City Council Candidate
Candidate Survey Answers
Extreme Danger
Alert
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Endorsed Candidate
Plagiarism?
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Swanky Developer Backing
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Not a Graduate of Colorado College
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Misrepresentation
Misrepresentation she is a Colorado College Graduate & No Enrollment at Metro State
After Ms. Talarico struggled with both the mechanics as well as her own answers to our survey, we began to wonder about her claim to be a graduate of Colorado College with a degree in English Language, Literature/Letters in 1985 as stated on her LinkedIn and ubiquitously reported across the web at places like Radaris, Truthfinders, Spokeo, etc. Numerous local media outlets like KRCC and the Gazette have reported she is a college graduate which is persuasive and misleading to voters. So, we asked Colorado College for verification of her degree. As it turns out, our hunch was correct. She attended the school for two years, and it appears from her statements to the Gazette, she claims she never told anyone she graduated from Colorado College and explained she dropped out and attended community college in Denver from where, according to her statements, she also did not graduate. Of course, her LinkedIn clearly states "Bachelor's degree".
We requested Colorado College's President, Song Richardson, that she require Ms. Talarico correct her LinkedIn, ask the media to issue retractions where-ever they have reported Ms. Talarico as a graduate of Colorado College as well as issue a statement against plagiarism. We will let you know if we hear from President Richardson.
Though it's a minor point in the larger picture, we have reached out to Metro State University for verification of enrollment and will report back. Update: Metropolitan State Reports No Enrollment of Ms. Talarico. She told numerous media outlets when she was called on her LinkedIn claims she earned a Bachelor's degree in English Language, Literature/Letters in 1985 (which is also all over the web meaning it's been misrepresented for awhile), her attempt to recover from this deception was to tell them she dropped out (after two years) and went to Metro State in Denver where she also dropped out just 1 hour shy of getting her degree. That appears to also be inaccurate. The email from Metro State is included in the PDF Viewer to the left or below on mobile devices.
Plagiarism?
We have been informed that Ms. Talarico's answers to candidate survey questions appear to not be her own thoughts (see below) in this example and others. A friend of Integrity Matters expressed concern over Ms. Talarico's ability to think independently based upon communications with Richard Skorman and Ms. Talarico regarding her statements in our survey in support of the Broadmoor Land Swap which you can read here. We share these concerns. We will update this as we learn more information. Ms. Pam Zubeck with Sixty35 Media asked Ms. Talarico about this and her response was, "So we asked her. Via email, she writes, “I did copy parts but because it was well written and I said in my reply I copied and googled as why create the wheel. Happy to retract if better.” YIKES! There is no mention of Google or any attribution whatsoever. That's either a flat-out lie or total lack of awareness of what one has submitted with a side of lack of concern. People are kicked out of school, flunk classes and sometimes sued for this. Seriously?
UPDATE: Even after being called out for this, Ms. Talarico continued to lift others' words with no attribution.
Question from Springstaxpayers Survey Question #3
Do you support “road-dieting” traffic lanes in favor of bike lanes and bus lanes in Colorado Springs? Please explain. (200 words maximum)
Michelle Talarico's Answer on 3/3/23:
Today, there is planning for more livable cities. While many in cities may want to, and even need to drive, citizens also want breathable air, streets that are safe enough to cross, a city that’s quiet at night, transportation options, and vibrant, lively communities. And a simple, inconvenient fact remains — having a livable city is incompatible with having a car-centric city. Cars simply take up too much space and move too few people in the space they occupy. In addition, they cause all sorts of issues, from traffic violence to poor air quality to increased fatalities. https://springstaxpayersunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Talarico-City-Council-Candidate-Survey-Final-003.pdf
Michael Schneider's original writing on 6/27/21:
Today, there is a renaissance of planning for more livable cities. While many in cities may want to, and even need to drive, citizens also want breathable air, streets that are safe enough to cross, a city that’s quiet at night, transportation options, and vibrant, lively communities. And a simple, inconvenient fact remains — having a livable city is incompatible with having a car-centric city. Cars simply take up too much space and move too few people in the space they occupy. In addition, they cause all sorts of issues, from traffic violence to poor air quality to raising the cost of rent. https://michaelschneider.medium.com/bike-and-bus-lanes-are-good-for-people-that-drive-d7780b1945b9
Broadmoor Land Swap & Water Survey Answers:
After D3 residents expressed outrage over Ms. Talarico's support of the Broadmoor Land Swap and was the only candidate across the mayoral and city council race who did, she reached out to Integrity Matters first blaming us for our questions, then claiming confusion and then claiming being rushed. We struggled with how to handle this as it isn't fair to let candidates change their answers in this manner and found it especially offensive to be accused of being the problem here. So, what we decided to do was to publish what she initially answered and, below this, you can see email correspondence on the changes she wanted to make which ended up being 3 questions. More to come including a summary grid across all candidates and percent answers for all questions.
Conflicts-of-Interest
As part of this process, several D3 residents asked questions about the answer to the Broadmoor Land Swap and her numerous business conflicts-of-interests ($100k contract with Norwood and others like the Broadmoor, Classic Homes, etc you can and should read by clicking here) which she admits will cause her to recuse herself. In spite of her handler, Richard Skorman, saying she will fully disclose all her clients, she has refused to do so. These conflicts-of-interest are giant red flags that have earned her the extreme danger alert. Wayne Williams is the only other candidate to earn this distinction. You can read more here. For those who care about English, we issue a warning. It's pretty bad (see her emails with Integrity Matters presented below for further proof), and she claims to be an English major from Colorado College.
Integrity Matters Presidents Day
Survey Answers