City Council comes away 3-2 on its own ballot issues

Colorado Springs officials got mixed results Tuesday from five questions the City Council put on the ballot.

Issue 2A: Passed 70 percent to 30 percent.

Voters allowed the council to keep $1.9 million in excess revenues to repair and refill Prospect Lake.

The 51-acre swimming and fishing hole had leaked water for about 50 years before the council decided last year to drain and fix it. This required use of the potential tax refund or raiding of its parktion budget.

A contractor began pumping the last of the water in the mud hole out this week and will begin putting in a synthetic liner later this month. It should be lined by July 4 and filled by Labor Day.

Issue 2B: Passed 71 percent to 29 percent.

This adds to the charter a requirement for the city to incorporate comprehensive and capitalprovement plans to its strategic plan, then update citizens yearly on the progress of meeting those goals.

The measure was suggested by a City Charter Review Committee. Officials have said they're unsure exactly how they'll implement it.

Issue 2C: Passed 64 percent to 36 percent.

This amendment, written by Mayor Lionel Rivera, requires Memorial Hospital to contribute to the annual budget for the council, including stipends, staff and supplies. The general city fund and Colorado Springs Utilities already pay for this.

Issue 2D: Failed 57 percent to 43 percent.

The charter review committee and council had wanted to eliminate the 30-word limit on ballot titles for tax and bonded-debt questions.

Residents, however, are protective of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, which contains this provision. TABOR author Douglas Bruce said: "They want government to get to the point."

Issue 2E: Failed 56 percent to 44 percent.

Voters did not go for the council's first request for a pay raise since its $6,250 stipends began in 1995. The charter review committee recommended that council members get $12,000 and the mayor $18,000.

There were no real campaigns either for or against the measure, and even many council members refused to endorse it. Charter review committee members took the loss harder Tuesday than the men and women who would have received the raises.

"After spending months and months to really understand those issues, I think the charter review committee came forward with some very wise recommendations," member Heath Herber said.

Gazette reporter Perry Swanson contributed to this article.

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