Citizens Project

Who is simply Divine? You tell us.

21st September, 2011

Nominate someone deserving for the 2012 Divine Award!

Citizens Project invites you to submit nominations for this prestigious award that recognizes a person in the Pikes Peak region who has worked tirelessly to create a vibrant democracy in which equal rights are protected, individual freedoms are secure, differences are respected and people fully participate in civic life.

Tell us in 300 words or fewer why your nominee should be recognized. Please provide specific information about your nominee’s roles in the community – both officially and informally – and how you believe your nominee has made a lasting impact on the community. Please include your name and daytime phone number with your nomination. Email nominations to info@CitizensProject.org by November 1.

The event will take place on February 2, 2012 at Stargazers Theater.

Previous recipients include: Mary Lou Makepeace, Dr. Jim White, Pam Jones and Juliet Draper (shared award), Lorne Kramer, Richard Skorman, John Weiss and Mary Ellen McNally.

Make a difference! Get Out The Vote!

18th September, 2011

GOTV Phone banking, food, and fun!!

Our Postcard writing night was a great success thanks to all of our wonderful volunteers! Join Citizens Project at our next GOTV event!

Make sure your neighbors get involved in the upcoming general election, and make your voice heard!

Thursday, October 13 and 20, 2011, 5-9pm
Location TBD

Volunteers asked to stay for at least 2 hour shifts and are welcome to stay for the entire night. We need a minimum of ten volunteers to make it happen!

There will be games, music, refreshments, and fun throughout the night, also prizes for the person who brings the most friends.

RSVP to kristy@citizensproject.org

To learn more about the upcoming election, visit our election page here.

The Colorado Springs Human Relations Commission —- 2011 — A New Page

15th June, 2011

by Tom Strand, Interim HRC Chair

The Human Relations Commission in Colorado Springs is back after an absence of almost 17 years.   In June of 2010 the Colorado Springs City Council passed Ordinance 10-48.  In early 2011, over 35 volunteer candidates were interviewed and on March 8th nine commissioners were selected for 2-4 year service terms along with three alternate Commissioners.  This Commission met for the first time in City Hall on April 28th. After a brief orientation, the 12 person Commission selected an Interim Chair, Tom Strand, Interim Vice Chair, Ernest House and Interim Secretary, Teressa Hill. The interim officers are designated to serve until September 2011 when a slate of permanent officers are elected. Since the initial April 28th meeting the Colorado Springs HRC has met on the third Wednesday of each month, as well as on May 21st for a general team building and organizational half -day session.

The mission statement and objectives of the HRC are still under development but are generally set out in the ordinance. The draft mission statement is:  ”To promote understanding and respect for all Colorado Springs residents by facilitating constructive communications through referrals, conflict resolution and proactive outreach.” The purpose of the HRC is to help guard against mal-treatment and discrimination in all parts of life for our residents, including housing, transportation, employment and day-to-day activities.

The HRC has created two sub-committees, Education and Structure, in order to accomplish the background work to properly launch the HRC later this fall. These committees have met 2 to 3 times to establish educational and training requirements (such as mediation skills) and to ensure the Commission is fully prepared to assist residents with a myriad of potential issues/problems. The Structure Subcommittee has drafted by-laws and other operating documents which are currently being reviewed and are pending Commission adoption.

The committees are working with members of City Council and other city offices, such as Legal and HR, to start up a program, a website, and public contact information for the HRC.

Stand by for the official announcement of the activation of your new HRC later this year!

The Equal Rights Amendment: the time is now!

16th May, 2011

by Cynthia Nimerichter

Several weeks ago, the Denver Post ran an article about the Equal Rights Amendment and the fact that it has never been ratified. In the 1970s, I marched in the streets in support of this measure but to date only 35 states ratified the proposed constitutional amendment. To become part of the U.S. Constitution, three more states would need to vote in favor of it.

I mentioned to a young friend that I had not given much thought to the ERA in many years. My 30-something friend’s response? “What is the ERA?” My friend is very politically savvy and more up-to-date than I am on legislation dealing with discrimination. But her response brought home to me that if the ERA is to ever pass, members of the old guard, including me, need to educate a new generation.

The ERA is fairly simple. Here is the proposal in full:
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

This language would guarantee that the rights affirmed by the U.S. Constitution are held equally by all citizens without regard to sex. Sex would be considered a suspect classification, as race currently is.

The Equal Rights Amendment was written in 1923 by Alice Paul, a leader of the woman suffrage movement and a lawyer. It was introduced in Congress in the same year and subsequently reintroduced in every Congressional session for half a century. In 1972 it was finally sent to the states. The deadline for ratification has long passed but a bill is in Congress now, introduced in March of 2011, which would remove the deadline and allow the amendment to be accepted when three more states pass it.

Women have made great strides in recent decades. Yet women earned just 75 percent of men’s earnings in 2009. As stated in the article in the Denver Post, “In 1920, the 19th Amendment finally gave women the vote. Ninety years later, women still have to fight to prove we deserve the basic rights men simply inherit at birth.”

This was reinforced when U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said in September, 2010 in a speech at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law that the Constitution does not guarantee equal rights for women.

Colorado has a state ERA and we are one of the states to have ratified the national ERA.  An Opinion Research Corporation poll commissioned in 2001 by the ERA Campaign Network shows that nearly all U.S. adults – 96% – believe that male and female citizens should have equal rights. The vast majority – 88% – also believe that the U.S. Constitution should make it clear that these rights are supposed to be equal. However, nearly three-quarters of the respondents – 72% – mistakenly assume that the Constitution already includes such a guarantee.

It is clear that the citizens of the United States overwhelmingly support a constitutional guarantee of equal rights on the basis of sex, and ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment will achieve that goal.

After all, this is 2011. Can any reasonable person be against full equal rights for women? It does not seem possible but consider this:  recently the Virginia Senate voted to become the 36th state to ratify the ERA. Days later, the bill died in the House of Delegates-in a subcommittee of seven men.

Cynthia Nimerichter is a motivational speaker, author and recovering attorney. She lives in Colorado Springs.

States which have not ratified the Equal Rights Amendment include:

Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Louisiana
Mississippi
Missouri
Nevada
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Utah
Virginia

Have you seen us?

21st April, 2011

Maybe you’ve seen them around town on bus shelters and benches or spied them online, on tv, or in the local newspapers–they are Citizens Project ads that ask four provocative questions:

-Should hate speech be protected speech?

-Think civil rights are a black and white issue?

-Is the religious right right, or do they have it all wrong?

-Is tolerance the new intolerance (or is it vice-versa)?

These ads are part of a multi-media campaign Citizens Project launched to help elevate awareness of and advance dialogue around our issues in the Pikes Peak region. The ads were developed by our stellar all-volunteer creative team and made possible through generous donations and YOUR support!

Want to do more to help spread the word? First, visit our website at: jointheconversationcs.com and make your voice heard in support of our shared values. Next, share the campaign with your friends! Invite them to join the conversation! There are no right or wrong responses and all opinions are valuable.

Thank you for making this awareness campaign possible! We look forward to seeing you around town!

Election Season Rolls On…

20th April, 2011

In 2010, Colorado Springs voters made history by approving a ballot measure that creates a “strong mayor.” Seven candidates campaigned for your vote in the April 5, 2011 municipal election. As the results were announced, it became obvious that Colorado Springs was headed for a runoff election.

The City Charter requires a runoff election for the top two vote-getters in the event no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote. These candidates are Richard Skorman and Steve Bach, who received 35.85% and 33.41%, respectively.

Steve Bach

Richard Skorman

Thus the battle begins. So far, the candidates have squared off at one debate, and there are more in the works before the May 17 election deadline.

So what will make the difference in the runoff election? YOU!

VOTE!

Voters who received a mail ballot for the April 5 election will also receive a mail ballot for the May 17 runoff. If you did not vote in the November 2010 election and have not updated your registration status with the City Clerk’s office, you are considered inactive and will not receive a mail ballot for the runoff election, unless you follow these simple steps:  

• Voters with no recent changes of name or address can go to the City Clerk’s Office, 30 S. Nevada Avenue, Suite 101, with identification, to request a mail ballot. An inactive voter ballot request document is also available for download at the City of Colorado Springs website. You may mail  or hand-deliver this request  at least a week prior to the election (if you’re mailing it, please allow adequate time for processing and mailing).
• Voters who have a name or address change must first get an updated Voter Registration form from one of the three El Paso County Election Offices. The downtown office is Centennial Hall, 200 S Cascade Avenue, open M-F 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. You may then go to the City Clerk’s Office to request a mail ballot.

More information on the election process can be found on the City of Colorado Springs website.

YOUR OPTIONS:

If you haven’t yet decided who you will support for Colorado Springs Strong Mayor, here’s all the information you could want, and more:

Candidate websites:

http://www.stevebachmayor.com/

http://skorman4mayor.com/

Voter Guides (some include content for other candidates):

Citizens Project’s Freedom Watch Voter Guide

Colorado Springs Independent Voter Guide (includes endorsements)

Downtown Partnership Candidate Survey

The Gazette Voter Guide and Endorsements

Greater CS Chamber of Commerce Endorsements

Focus on the Family Candidate Survey

KRCC Voter Guide

Election Roundup

7th April, 2011

Congratulations, Colorado Springs, on standing up and making your voice heard in the April 5 Municipal Election: more than 91,000  individuals cast their vote before or on election day for an impressive 62.5% turnout. Whether your favorite candidate won or lost, turnout of this magnitude is a definite victory for Colorado Springs!

Despite an overnight vote-counting hiatus, unofficial results are now available at the City Clerk’s website, and we have the skinny right here.

Citizens Project congratulates all the candidates on successful campaigns! Your newly elected City Council members include (in descending order of votes, then by district):
Jan Martin
Merv Bennett
Val Snider
Brandy Williams
Tim Leigh

Angela Dougan – District 2
Lisa Czelatdko – District 3

Ballot issues 1A and 1B also passed, creating new districts in 2013 and allowing the strong mayor to attend Council meetings.

However, one seat is still up for grabs. Who will be Colorado Springs’ first Strong Mayor in over 80 years? Regulations require a runoff election between the top two candidates in the event neither candidate secures more than 50% of the vote. That means that Colorado Springs will get to choose between candidates Steve Bach and Richard Skorman in another all-mail election on May 17, 2011.

So what’s next? Citizens Project is working on a supplemental voter guide for the runoff election, and we will hold an election forum for the two candidates on April 26, 2011. Details are below.

Decision 2011: Strong Mayor Debate

Presented by Citizens Project, the Colorado Springs Independent, and KRDO
Tuesday, April 26
6:30-8:00pm
Stargazers Theatre, 10 Parkside Dr, 80910
Free and open to the public, simulcast on krdo.com

Didn’t vote in the municipal election? You can still vote in the runoff! Don’t miss this opportunity to make your voice heard!

Do you know who you’re voting for?

29th March, 2011

Citizens Project supports youth efforts to engage voters! Fransiska, a Colorado College student, developed the following application to match voters up with Colorado Springs Mayoral candidates. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Colorado Springs Municipal Election ballots must be postmarked by THIS FRIDAY, April 1, or delivered in person by Tuesday, April 5.

Do you know who you are voting for??

Use this survey to help narrow down the 7 Mayoral Candidates!!

Citizens Project Election Forum Recap

24th March, 2011

Citizens Project, along with the Colorado Springs Independent and KRDO, hosted two election forums this week for Colorado Springs Mayoral and City Council candidates. More than 250 community members attended these free events to meet and learn about the candidates before casting their ballots. If you missed the forums, it’s not too late to get the scoop!

• Check out KRCC’s Voting Guide, including audio of the debates
• Read John Hazlehurst’s recap of the Mayoral debate
• Watch a video about ”Reform Team’s” boycott of the City Council debate
• Check out Citizens Project’s Voter Guide

Citizens Project thanks our community sponsors and media panel: 9to5, National Association of Working Women – Colorado Chapter; Artemis Women; Colorado Springs Branch NAACP; Colorado Springs Independent; KRCC; League of Women Voters – Pikes Peak Region; Pikes Peak Equality Coalition; Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains; the Pride Center; The Gazette; and the Women’s Resource Agency