Welcome to the CC City Election Reporting Project
A newsletter tracking the April 4 municipal election by CC senior Amelia Allen
Hello there. I want to welcome you to this new initiative, the CC City Election Reporting Project, the latest student-run newsletter in partnership with the Colorado College Journalism Institute.
What to expect
Each week, I plan to publish original reporting and analysis in the run-up to the April 4 city election when voters will elect a new mayor, four city council members, and decide on an important ballot measure. As Sixty35 Media’s Pam Zubeck recently put it, this election could “reshape the city.” I want to report on it in a way that is most useful to you. I know you’re busy. We all are. So I’ll seek to make this a one-stop shop for election coverage. I plan to satisfy my own curiosity about this election through reporting and invite you along for the ride. You can always email me at ameliasallen8 [at] gmail [dot] com.
Who am I?
I’m Amelia Allen, a senior at Colorado College majoring in political science and minoring in journalism. This project is for my spring journalism capstone. I’m riveted by local politics. Over the summer, when I interned at the since-renamed Indy alt-weekly (now Sixty35 Media), I wrote a cover story about the Mill Street neighborhood and gentrification. I learned a lot about the Springs from that internship and that reporting in particular, and I learned a lot about how people and power intersect in this city. Now, I want to report deeper.
Why the city election?
City elections fascinate me largely because people my age — I’m 23 — might not pay attention to them as much as they should (👋 waving at some of my friends here) and voting data backs this up. Actually, there’s a whole lawsuit in the Springs that seeks to boost voter participation by moving our city elections from April to November. I hope to break down that court action for you in a future newsletter.
There’s a lot at stake in just a few short months.
Our city council is in charge of the Colorado Springs budget – this year totaling more than $420 million in this city of around 485,000 people — so about $866 per individual, according to data collected from our city’s finance department and the U.S. Census Bureau. Council has a lot of impact. And more than just about what they decide to fund or not.
Since I’ve lived here, my peers in and outside school and I have puzzled over our city’s identity, and it’s left me with a lot of questions. I hope to chip away at them through my coverage of this election. Who’s moving here, and why? Who’s leaving, or getting pushed out? What does this city prioritize and what does it marginalize? Our leaders are responsible for paying attention to these inquiries and responding to them through actions, hopefully making life easier and more enjoyable for our city.
I plan on doing a little “city soul-searching” these next few months, seeking answers to simple questions like “who are we?” and seeing how people wanting to represent us answer the same questions we’re asking each other.
I hope you’ll stick with me throughout this journey.
Get up to speed
If you’re just beginning to pay attention to our upcoming city election, or haven’t yet spent time looking into it, here are some quick reads to catch you up.
🏁 We recently passed the filing deadline for candidates and issues to make the ballot. So that means we know who will be on our ballots for mayor and city council when those ballots arrive in our mailboxes sometime in March. (Spoiler: there are 12 people running for mayor and 13 running for a seat on city council– 11 running for three at-large council positions (representing the whole city), and two running for a seat in council district three, covering Southwest Colorado Springs and parts of downtown. There is one ballot measure.)
🗳 The city has a list of all the candidates and issues here. (I hope to be interviewing these folks soon for future editions of this newsletter and breaking down that ballot measure for you.)
📆 This could be our city’s last April municipal election. The Citizens Project, Colorado Latinos Vote, League of Women Voters of the Pikes Peak Region, and the Black/Latino Leadership Coalition have brought a lawsuit contesting the spring date on the grounds that springtime elections disadvantage voters of color.
🔢 Fun fact: Ever wonder about the order in which the candidates appear on the ballot? It’s not alphabetical. City Clerk Sarah Johnson actually conducted a “random drawing” of names to decide what order they’ll appear. (You can watch a video of her doing it here.)
📰 The new and re-branded Sixty35 Media weekly newspaper had a recent cover story setting the table for why this election is so important. A “supermajority is up for grabs” on city council, one consultant said, meaning that depending on how it goes, progressives or conservatives could have a lock on the council’s agenda for the next few years.
💰The Gazette has already decided on the “likely frontrunners” in the mayor’s race based on “stuffed war chests and lengthy resumes.”
📡 KRCC is asking listeners what they want to know from the candidates. (So am I, so send me your questions!)
👀 Last thing: was “Militia founder” and “running for Colorado Springs mayor” on your daily newspaper headline BINGO card? (Don’t all yell out at once.)
Thanks for reading, and keep an eye out for the next edition of this newsletter in your inbox soon. Feel free to forward this to anyone else you think might be interested. If you want me to remove you from this email list, just ask.
The CC City Election Reporting Project is a student-faculty collaboration by Colorado College senior Amelia Allen. Corey Hutchins, co-director of the Colorado College Journalism Institute, is advising the project. This newsletter seeks to provide reporting about the April 4, 2023 city election in a way that is relevant to the campus and broader Springs community.
📬 Enter your email address to subscribe and get the newsletter in your inbox each time it comes out. You can reach me with questions, feedback, or news tips by email at ameliasallen8 [at] gmail [dot] com.