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Council will hear 32 for job
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Mar 23, 2006 by ED SEALOVER THE GAZETTE
Thirty-two candidates for the open Colorado Springs City Council seat will try to sell themselves tonight, but slow-growth activist Dave Gardner won't be among them.
The council denied Gardner's request Wednesday to make his pitch at tonight's meeting because he is out of town on a business trip. Instead, the council offered to let Gardner have someone speak for him, but Gardner declined.
Council members will hold a public meeting at which the 34 applicants for the seat vacated by at-large Councilman Richard Skorman can pitch their qualifications for three minutes each. Skorman resigned last month to work for U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D- Colo.
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If no clear replacement emerges, the council will choose as many as a halfdozen finalists and interview them Friday.
Thirty-two of the 34 candidates -- there were 36, but Jeffrey Nance and Joseph Pritchard withdrew this week -- will attend. Transportation activist Chuck Erwin will be on vacation and Gardner will be working in Seattle.
Gardner, who has been one of the council's harshest critics on development issues, had been told by a city employee Tuesday it would be OK to send a video but learned Wednesday the council had rejected it.
Allowing Gardner, a professional filmmaker, to send in a video would give him an unfair advantage, said Councilman Jerry Heimlicher, who polled his fellow members. Gardner could take days and several takes to perfect his message, while the other applicants must speak without editing in front of the elected body, he said.
"Part of this, in addition to what they say... is how they say it," Heimlicher said. "The other part is I've got to look this person in the eye.... This is a job interview."
Gardner charged that the council is trying to exclude him from the process because it does not want to hear his dissenting views. He said if the council were so concerned about feeling chemistry with the candidates, members would not have said he could send a proxy, instead.
"It's obviously just a way to silence me," Gardner said.
Council members will rank their top three applicants on a paper ballot immediately after the interviews, Heimlicher said. If one person is the top choice of five of the eight council members, that person will get the job; if not, the top vote-getters will come in Friday for follow-up interviews.
The replacement will be sworn in at Tuesday's formal council meeting and serve through April 2007.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0184 or ed.sealover@gazette.com
DETAILS
What: Colorado Springs City Council meeting
When: 6 to 8 p.m. tonight
Where: Council chambers at City Hall, 107 N. Nevada Ave.
On the agenda: 32 applicants for the vacant council seat will tell the council why they should be chosen for the job
On the air: Will be broadcast live on SpringsTV, Adelphia Channel 18
Copyright 2006
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