Colorado Springs group upset about cost to attend State of the City address
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Mayor Yemi Mobolade celebrated his 100th day in office at the State of the City address on Thursday. According to the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, 930 people attended the event.
For decades the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce has hosted the State of the City address and this year is no different.
Every year, it costs money to go see the mayor of Colorado Springs lay out their plan for the city in person. The Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce said they hosted the event to take the burden away from city government.
This year, the event was held at the 5-Star Broadmoor Hotel and was priced at $100/per person for non-Chamber members and $85 per person for Chamber members.
Integrity matters, a non-partisan and independent group believes it's not inclusive to price the event at such a high cost.
The CEO of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer said they give a free and paid option. The city live streams the video for free on their Facebook and it's located on the city website.
Kleymeyer said the ticket price does not fully cover everything and only covers a portion of the food. She said their sponsors helped cover the other expenses and there were over a dozen sponsors.
"As a private, nonprofit organization we can create a quality event but ensure that all of the costs are covered when you can't just cover it with a ticket price," said Kleymeyer.
However, one of the founders of Integrity Matters, Dana Duggan said other neighboring cities like Denver, Fort Collins, and Aurora have held free State of the City addresses. They believe we should mirror other cities that make it cheaper or free.
"Clearly it's excluding people, no doubt," said Duggan.
However, Kleymeyer said professional events like this one don't come cheap.
"It's a luncheon. So there's food involved, there's setup involved, there's a cost. It's a very professional event," said Kleymeyer.
Kleymeyer also claims the Broadmoor is the only venue in town that holds over 900 people and serves food.
"Our mayor has put us on a world stage and we want to be sure that we're seen as a classy, cosmopolitan city. And we showed that today that this is a place where anyone should want to live, work or play. And I won't apologize for making sure we have a high quality event," said Kleymeyer.
KRDO reached out to the mayor's office about this issue. They declined an interview but offered the following statement:
"The Chamber of Commerce has been a strong partner with the City of Colorado Springs to host the The State of the City. The ticketed event helps offset the cost of the event and saves taxpayer dollars to be used for essential city services. The City streams the event live and posts it online for residents along with rebroadcasting it on SpringsTV, so it is accessible for residents.
"The planning for this year’s State of the City started before Mayor Yemi was elected. We will work with the Chamber to see if any changes should be included in the future."
Max D'Onofrio, Lead Public Communications Specialist
