Letters

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Oct 8, 2006

DEBATING THE DEBATE

Voters deserve to hear Jones defend his record

The Gazette's Oct. 5 article, "House District 18 debate may be quiet," regarding proposals for a debate with Kyle Fisk needs some clarification. The Gazette's Oct. 6 Our View, on the other hand, is just a typical partisan diatribe ("The artful dodger"). Anyone who has followed my political career knows I don't back down from a fight -- much less a debate. In fact, as the only Democrat elected to any office in El Paso County, it seems to be part of the job description.

Sen. Ed Jones, on the other hand, has not attended any candidate forums and, unlike me, has refused to debate his opponent, John Morse. Any leverage I can use to force Jones onto the stage is good for my constituents and good for the political process. Apparently, The Gazette and Fisk believe it wouldn't be so good for Jones.

The fact is that my campaign and the Fisk campaign simply had not agreed on the terms for a debate; we were in the process of negotiating when the Fisk campaign sent out a news release. Contrary to The Gazette's claim, I have not declined Fisk's request to debate. I look forward to it. I have only asked for inclusion of House District 18's state senator and Morse, his challenger.

The Fisk campaign refused to include the Senate District 11 candidates. To me, it seemed entirely reasonable to give voters an introduction to their Senate candidates as well as the House District candidates. Senate District 11 almost entirely encompasses my House District, and voters have more to do with their time than attend isolated debates by their legislators. I think that the four candidates would certainly draw a larger audience.

I look forward to debating Fisk; and as a fellow resident of Senate District 11, it would make sense that my opponent include Jones and Morse, one of whom will face some tough issues next January.

In the meantime, I will be attending a candidate forum scheduled for the same date and time, Oct. 10 at 6:30 p.m., sponsored by the Alliance for Kids. We can reschedule a debate without a conflict with another candidate forum and include the candidates who have a profound impact on my district.

I find it interesting that I am the only incumbent to accept my opponent's challenge to debate, while not one of the Republican incumbents has agreed to debate their Democratic opponents. The Gazette failed to mention that.

Michael Merrifield

Representative, House District 18

Colorado Springs

Candidate's cancellation unfair to district's voters

Michael Merrifield is running from his record and the people of House District 18 deserve better. My opponent is unwilling to discuss the issues one-on-one with me as he originally agreed to do Aug. 31. The citizens deserve a dedicated public forum to ask my opponent why he votes against our children, against our businesses and against our community.

After weeks of planning a one-on-one debate, agreed to by his campaign, and accommodating his every request -- including modifications of the date, location, format and moderator -- he publicly announced he would not attend just six days before the event. He says it's because John Morse and Sen. Ed Jones weren't invited (per his last-minute request) when, in fact, our statement to the Merrifield campaign was as follows:

"We have been extremely accommodating to your requests and want to continue in that spirit of cooperation. We have not received official requests to participate from either Sen. Jones or Mr. Morse. If we were to receive requests from both candidates for Senate District 11 we would certainly include them in the evening events."

Merrifield's last minute excuses and cancellation are unfair to the people of this district, who deserve to see the significant differences in this race and be informed voters.

I'm running to be the next state representative in House District 18 and I'm out earning your votes by walking neighborhoods, attending candidate forums and making people my priority. I believe people deserve an open forum and I call on Merrifield to debate me one-on-one, anytime, anywhere, anyplace.

We deserve better.

Kyle Fisk

Colorado Springs

CITY LIMITS

Incorporation a bad idea for idyllic Black Forest

In February, Keep Black Forest FREE mailed a ballot to every resident of Black Forest, requesting their opinion on incorporation. Nearly 19 percent responded, and of these, 93 percent opposed incorporation, 6 percent were in favor and 1 percent were undecided.

That vast majority who opposed incorporation may have been influenced by the bottom line of what it takes to run a city. Here are some of the numbers: $1.9 million per year for basic services. Major crimes must be handled by Colorado Springs investigators, and the city of Black Forest would be billed accordingly. A major lawsuit could bankrupt the city. Our county taxes now cover all these expenses. These figures are based on projections based on 2005 and 2006, not 2008.

Proponents are proposing a 12-mill property tax that they say will cost each homeowner about $1 a day, although one spokesman has said it may be as high as $2 a day. This does not include state and county taxes. But in addition to the property tax, proponents plan to impose other taxes and fees. These include a 3 percent tax, which they call a franchise fee, on all utility bills, electricity, gas and telephone; a 2 percent sales tax; a $4,000-per-house fee on new home construction; and a use and business occupational "privilege" tax. Proponents have listed more than 50 other types of taxes and fees as other sources of revenue.