it is a seriously cold ass snowy day in Colorado Springs (like 5 or so degrees) but i’d really like to go see Ms. Makepeace announce her 2015 candidacy for mayor so i bet myself if i found a spot within a block of where i need to be i’ll go. i did. so i’m here. there are fewer people than i thought even given the horrible weather. a third of the room are local reporters and photographers, business journal, independent, gazette, a couple of TV news people, even an anchor.. a big deal yo.
mary lou makepeace running for mayor in colorado springs is a big deal
as i get in, a community volunteer colleague calls over to me and we chat about her nerves relative to the speech she is to give in a few minutes. i grab some coffee, partially to warm my hands, and sit down.
a council person introduces her and then ms makepeace gets after it. she’s a laid back, honest person. you don’t get a lot of the photogenic style personality, but she has an honesty to her–to her cadence; she’s not rehearsed. she’s confident. she’s capable. she has loads of public service experience, loads of non-profit leadership experience. i mean she’s in the colorado women’s hall of fame! shit! so she doesnt have to posture, she doesn’t have anything to prove. she expresses things like “people in colorado springs always talk about ‘someone needs to do something’ and i thought, well, i’m someone.” she expresses wanting to encourage and facilitate communication between citizens and government. government works for the people and that her administration wouldn’t be about telling people what to do, but listening and collaborating on solutions. she mentions that COS needs to finish all its unfinished projects, because until those come to fruition we can’t understand what is truly missing, and that, overall, government could do more to help citizens and businesses help the city.
it was refreshing to hear a mayoral candidate speaking so… inward regarding the city. solutions to local problems need to be solved here, by people here. creativity needs to be cultivated here, that innovation can happen from COS for COS. all of those people/organizations/businesses working toward their vision, their pieces, need to be connected and encouraged by local government.
i’m glad shes running. i really can’t wait to vote for her. there are already a slew of candidates i dont want to vote for but that, for this region, will be tough competition. this town has a way of surprising me, but usually only in small details. there are never good, big surprises in COS. idk, we’ll see.
-oskar
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