THE WIRE

Compiled by Pam Zubeck

City Aud Plan At A Standstill

An ambitious plan to overhaul 100-year-old City Auditorium fell apart after “institutional funders” failed to deliver donations toward the project, the cost of which skyrocketed from $53 million to $86 million in the last two years.

Those donors refused to give substantial sums until and unless the city put “skin in the game,” Linda Weise, leader of the Colorado Springs Community Cultural Collective, tells the Indy. The CSCCC, which had an agreement with the city to revamp the building, gave notice in recent days that it was bowing out.

Mayor Yemi Mobolade, who took office in June, said in a statement that the city gave the CSCCC $2.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act and another $250,000 from the 2022 city budget for 2023 operating expenses.

“In a meeting on Aug. 17, the CSCCC asked me for an additional $20 million-$40 million,” he said. “However, my first priority is to our residents and the continued pursuit of providing excellent city services in the areas of our public safety, parks and infrastructure.”

Inflation is largely responsible for the growing price tag, Weise says, though discovery of additional required work also played a role. The CSCCC raised $4 million, including the $2.5 million from ARPA, and has $100,000 left.

One limiting factor was a fire marshal’s report that limited the number of people who could attend events at the facility, recognized by the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Absent major donors, Weise set up workforce programs for culinary arts, child care workers and arts technical training to raise money, but it wasn’t enough to advance the renovation.

Weise says the ball is now in the city’s court, and Deputy Chief of Staff Ryan Trujillo said the city will assess “next steps.” Weise says she looks at the situation as “a pause” and hopes CSCCC can serve as part of the solution.

For a more in-depth version of this story, go to csindy.com.

WHO’S LISTENING?

Criticism has arisen over Mayor Yemi Mobolade’s “listening tour,” which seeks to gather input from residents about four areas of concern identified by the mayor: infrastructure, economic vitality, housing and public safety.

The tour includes sessions in each of the six council districts and a final session to be held online.

There have been complaints about the format — breaking into small groups to discuss issues and then providing a oneto two-minute report to the mayor. Mobolade has been arriving well into the sessions.

“I felt like a sheep corralled by city and volunteer workers who were there to keep us under close control, not really listen to the bleating of the herd,” Neil Talbott wrote on Facebook. “In summary, it was so controlled and limited that I wondered why I bothered to attend at all.”

Another reader called the meetings “scripted,” and yet another called them “excellent.”

City Councilor Dave Donelson wrote in a letter to the editor, which appeared in The Gazette and the Indy, that the mayor, not City Council, is sponsoring the tour.

Donelson said the format appears to be “designed to control citizen comments and questions” and called the sessions “a safe space” for the mayor to interact with citizens.

The Indy attended the first listening session on Aug. 4, held at Sand Creek High School. Eighty to 100 people showed up, were assigned seating at various tables of eight to 10 people, and were instructed to address four focus areas of civic life: economic vitality, infrastructure, housing and public safety.

Asked about the criticism, Mobolade issued a written statement that said, in part: “The benefit of this format is that residents are engaging with one another, they are engaging with me, with staff members, with community leaders and councilmembers.... [P]articipants have a seat at the table to discuss pressing issues and opportunities. The overwhelming feedback from residents has been positive.”

The feedback will be used to draft the city’s strategic plan.

Get A Shot

UCHealth, which operates city-owned Memorial Hospital, is warning the public that infectious disease experts forecast a “concerning” virus season this fall and winter.

COVID, which has already seen a resurgence recently, and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) are expected to circulate at the same time.

In addition, UCHealth urges people to get vaccinated against the flu as soon as possible, because health providers expect an early start to the season. It typically peaks in December going into the holidays and lasts until about April. This year, Coloradans can expect to see flu start circulating in October and possibly peaking in November, a UCHealth news release said.

Predictions for this year’s respiratory virus season are based on modeling and trends seen in the Southern Hemisphere. In Australia, the combination of viruses was of serious concern; cases of all three viruses increased at the same time, reaching higher-than-average levels, according to the release.

“It was a rough couple of months seeing all three of those viruses at the same time, and children seem to have been affected by the flu and RSV combination more this year in Australia than in previous years,” Dr. Michelle Barron, senior medical director of infection prevention and control at UCHealth, said in the release. “This is why we’re encouraging everyone, and especially kids, parents and grandparents, to get their vaccinations early.”

As COVID cases and hospitalizations rise due to waning immunity and a new strain, a new monovalent COVID vaccine is to be available by late September. While it’s safe to get the flu and new COVID vaccine together, UCHealth suggests getting each as soon as possible.

Matter of Record

The IRS has ruled the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds as taxable, prompting Gov. Jared Polis to call the decision “absurd” and urge the Biden administration to rethink the rule.

Ent Credit Union is rallying its 500,000plus owner-members and the community to raise funds for Colorado food banks for Hunger Action Month. Visit secure.qgiv.com/for/ecuhamf

Academy School District 20 custodial worker Jose Garcia was arrested recently on suspicion of sexual assault of a child by one in a position of trust, prompting the district to notify parents of Mountain Ridge Middle School. If anyone has additional information about Garcia, they’re urged to notify richard.payne@asd20.org.

El Paso County combined courts will host a “Second Chances” event on Sept. 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 270 S. Tejon St. Clear your active warrant without being arrested and get back on track for completing probation. Eligible cases are those for class 5 or 6 felonies, class 4 drug felonies, misdemeanors or traffic offenses. Questions? 719-475-1235.

Gov. Jared Polis’ administration has created an Office of School Safety within the Department of Public Safety. The office will provide resources, grants and crisis response in Colorado public schools.