Battle for vacant Colorado Springs city council seat heats up before final vote Monday
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- In less than three days, the battle over who will take District 3 Colorado Springs City Council member Richard Skorman's soon-to-be-vacant seat on the Colorado Springs City Council is far from over.
On Dec. 18th an informal council vote during a work session came down in favor of local political activist Stephannie Fortune, 58. Fortune is a longtime community activist who has worked for several elected leaders at the local, state, and national levels.
However, the official vote happens Monday during a Special Session. Fortune, as well as six other finalists (Sallie Clark, Toby Gannett, Laura Gardner, Art Glynn, Terry Martinez, Brandy Williams), are still in the running for the vacant District 3 seat.
“(City Council members) have every right to change their minds from the Thirteenth until Monday,” Fortune told KRDO NewsChannel 13.
Fortune moved into District 3 just this past November -- but says she is very much invested in the area.
“I want people to know I care about their issues I’ve worked inside District 3 with the zoo, with the colorado springs conservatory, and with small businesses," Fortune said. "Most of my commerce I do as an individual is in District 3, and I am ready to build on that. I am ready to represent the people and have their voices be heard.”
According to Monday's Special Meeting Agenda, the sole agenda item says 'Appointment of Stephannie Fortune to fill the unexpired term for the City Council District 3 Vacancy'.
City Council member Bill Murray tells KRDO the agenda item is misleading to the public.
“(Fortune) is one of several we have considered or will consider on Monday," Murray said. "Her name should’ve never have been in there. It’s the appointment to fill the unexpired term.”
Murray says he has received letters from around three hundred concerned citizens over Fortune being appointed to the position. If Murray were to vote now - he says he'd vote no for Fortune but yes for candidate Sallie Clark.
“It’s problematic when you have so many people that come out of the woodworks," Murray said. "I’m talking D3 leaders who have come out and said listen this is really not the right person.”
According to a poll conducted by the group E-Sys DATA Review -- out of 467 District 3 voters, 103 would vote for the final-seven candidate Toby Gannett, while the least number of votes (39) for all the finalists went to Fortune, as of 1 p.m. on Friday.
E-Sys DATA Review says since 2006, in 22 various polls, they have proven 82% accurate on 'elected' office polls and 86% accurate on 'issues'. The Colorado Springs polling group says 400 is the absolute minimum number to be considered statistically significant for a town the size of Colorado Springs.
Fortune doesn't discredit the people that participated in the poll, but fears this doesn't accurately represent the will of all 80,000 voters in District 3.
“I’ve been in politics for a very long time and this is what I know about polls," Fortune said. "They can be manipulated to fit the narrative that somebody wants to portray.”
Fortune says she has strong support in the form of four current council members: Wayne Williams, Tom Strand, Randy Helms, and Mike O'Malley.
"Stephannie Finley Fortune has helped build our community and local businesses for many years," Wayne Williams said in a statement to KRDO. "In addition to her work for the Chamber and UCCS, Stephannie was a leading advocate for City for Champions and its three transformative projects in District 3 -- Widener Field, Robson Arena, and the Olympic and Paralympic Museum. Like Richard, she has experience at multiple levels of government, including serving as the Chief of Staff for Congressman McInnis."
The vote is scheduled for Monday morning at City Hall. Public Comment will start before the vote at 8:30 am.
