Petitioners gather enough signatures to force recall election for Springs City Council member
The Colorado Springs City Clerk’s Office says a recall election for Helen Collins will happen April 7 if she does not resign within five days. It’s the first recall effort of a Springs council member in at least 30 years, according to the city clerk.
Collins told KRDO NewsChannel 13 Wednesday that she has no plans to resign.
“I will not resign,” Collins said. “I’ve done nothing wrong. I believe I’ve represented my constituents to the best of my ability.”
Recall organizers on the southeast side of Colorado Springs needed to gather more than 1,400 signatures to bring the recall to the ballot. The city clerk verified 1,715 valid signatures out of 3,007 that were turned in.
The people behind the recall effort believes Collins doesn’t engage in conversation with members of her district.
“Communication, communication, communication,” recall organizer Woody Longmire said in an interview with KRDO last month. “Talk to us. You asked us to put you in office. We did that. Regardless if we’re Democrats or Republicans, it doesn’t matter, you’re supposed to represent everybody. So come and talk to everybody.”
The petitioners also said they were disappointed that Collins voted against a stormwater fee. Collins argues that the majority of her constituents did not want the fee.
“The No. 1 reason that was given for my recall was I did not support the stormwater fee. And only one precinct out of 17 voted for the stormwater fee,” Collins said. “So I don’t know exactly what the petitioners were telling people.”
City Council President Keith King said though it’s up to the voters to decide Collins’ fate on the council, he believes she’s done well representing her district.
“I think she’s done a very good job trying to represent the constituents of her district and I think she’s worked hard to do that,” King said.
Collins launched a website, collinsforcouncil.com, to promote her re-election. She said she believes the petitioners paid people to sign the petition.
“They would get the signatures because they were being paid $1.75 to $5 per signature and the people that are paying for the signatures will not say who they are. They’re hiding behind a front,” Collins said.
If Collins does not resign within five days, the recall question will be placed on the April ballot along with the 200-word statement from the petitioner’s committee on reasons for demanding the recall. Collins may also submit a 300-word statement for the ballot.
If Collins chooses not to resign, the city clerk will open a candidate filing period for City Council District 4 candidates to coincide with the current regular filing period for mayor and city council candidates, closing on Feb. 11.
