Campaign group accuses councilwoman of false, illegal ad
Douglas Bruce, the author of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, announced to members of the media Thursday that he was disgusted by a cease and desist letter delivered to several southern Colorado radio stations, demanding they stop airing a radio ad purchased by City Council member Helen Collins.
In the ad, Collins claims that if passed, money generated by Issue 2C would be used to pay for a downtown stadium. The cease and desist letter calls Collins’ claims “knowingly and recklessly false electoral statements” that violate state law.
Specifically, the letter points to this line from Collins’ ad:
“Issue 2C is a $250 MILLION tax hike. It is NOT for ROADS. It is for the DOWNTOWN ARENA, to be built WITHOUT VOTER APPROVAL.”
The cease and desist letter calls that statement definitively false and points to the ballot language of 2C as proof. Issue 2C reads as follows:
SHALL CITY TAXES BE INCREASED $50,000,000 ANNUALLY BY LEVYING A TEMPORARY 0.62% SALES/USE TAX FOR ROAD REPAIRS/IMPROVEMENTS TO TERMINATE 12/31/2020, CONSTITUTING A VOTER-APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE EXEMPT FROM SPENDING/REVENUE LIMITATIONS?
Backers say money generated by 2C would go to road repairs and improvements and nothing else.
The letter, which was prepared by a law firm called Holland & Hart, was delivered to three of the six radio stations airing the ad. KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM/1240 AM is airing the ad but did not receive the letter.
William Mutch, with the campaign committee for 2C, says his group, Springs Citizens Building the Future, is behind the letter. Mutch said though the group sometimes talks with Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, he was not involved in the decision to send the letter.
Mutch also said that he believes the letter was only sent to three radio stations, because the group didn’t know the ad was running on any other stations.
Suthers told KRDO NewsChannel 13 Thursday that Collins’ advertisement is false.
“There’s not a dime that will go to a nonexistent downtown arena. There is no downtown arena,” Suthers said. “By the language of the ballot measure itself, people can read it, it says it goes to road improvements and repairs. She’s absolutely wrong in any assertion that the money is going to go toward anything but road improvements.”
But Collins refuted that, telling KRDO NewsChannel 13 that funds could be diverted in the future without voter approval.
“What I said was right on, and it’s basically a violation of First Amendment rights to send a threatening letter like that,” Collins said. “I think government should be open and the citizens who pay taxes should know what’s being done with their money.”
KRDO NewsChannel 13’s Rana Novini conducted interviews with both Collins and Suthers Thursday.
To view the full interviews, exclusive to KRDO.com:
