Two mayoral candidates say they were ignored in latest debate

Another debate, another chance for Colorado Springs mayoral candidates to prove they should be the city’s next leader.

Mary Lou Makepeace, Amy Lathen, John Suthers and Joel Miller are four of the six candidates running for mayor.

“We had a divisive political environment at City Hall,” Suthers said.

“My platform is that of limited government,” Lathen said.

“I’m the only candidate running for mayor that has any municipal experience,” Makepeace said.

“We can move this economy forward,” Lathen said.

So what about the other two candidates?

Turns out, they were not invited to tonight’s debate.

In fact, they didn’t even know it was happening until they heard about it from supporters.

“I contacted UCCS and asked them, is there some kind of mistake?,” asked candidate Tony Carpenter. “They said the group that put it together had decided there would just be four candidates.”

“I didn’t quite understand it. You need to have your word heard, by voting people listening to you,” said candidate Lawrence Martinez. “Nobody wants to listen to us. If you’re not up there to speak of the community, how do we believe we’re going to be heard after the race.”

The debates could prove crucial because of money.

With nearly $300,000 raised, former Colorado Attorney General John Suthers can spend more than his competitors combined on advertising.

That means debates are the biggest venue to make their message heard.

“You’re representing the people, that’s what you should do 100 percent of the time,” said Carpenter said.

“We’re all citizens of Colorado Springs, we all need to be heard to move forward,” Martinez said.

UCCS said the debate policy was set by the organizations that sponsored it, but those organizations told KRDO NewsChannel 13 to contact UCCS for questions on the debate policy.