Karman Line Annexation protesters walk more than three miles across Colorado Springs
'We are out to tell the community and show the community that this annexation of the Karman line is illogical and not good,' said Ann Rush, an organizer with Citizens to Stop Illogical Growth.
The group's journey began at Acacia Park before walking down Platte Avenue with a straight shot to the Citadel Mall. Nick Raven came up with the idea to walk more than three miles, saying it's more than just traveling by foot across town.
'What this symbolizes is people coming together for a common cause,' Raven said. 'This is a grassroots, organized event. I didn't have anyone poking in my shoulder handing me a check to do this.'
The group joined the Vote No on Karman Line March, and together they wanted to express their distaste against the annexation east of the city with this walk. They believe the negative impacts the project will have massive consequences on the city's water supply and also increase traffic. The groups want officials to invest in the city's current infrastructure, like streets, homes, and buildings along Platte Avenue.
'They could actually improve on it and really improve the quality of life for the residents who live around that area,' Rush said.
Meanwhile, Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade has backed the annexation.
I offer my full support to our city council in reaffirming its previous decision to approve the Karman Line Annexation.
Mayor Yemi Mobolade
More recently, the Colorado Secretary of State's Office dismissed a complaint filed by the developers against the petitioners. Ultimately, it will be up to Colorado Springs voters to decide with a special election set for June 17th.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Yahoo
Mayor Mobolade vetoes marijuana sales tax amendment
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — For the first time in his tenure as Mayor, Yemi Mobolade saying no to city council as he announced he is rejecting Ordinance 25-59 which would have given city council the authority to look for and review programs to fund before sending them to the mayor for consideration. Both sides appear to be at odds as to how the city should go about allocating marijuana sales tax dollars. 'It's this is just the beginning of a long series of conversations about where our dollars are going to come from for all the services required in our city,' said Councilmember Nancy Henjum. City Council passed the resolution during their last regular meeting on July 8th. In a 6-3 vote, council members voted to have a say in who can get the money. 'An ordinance like this gives council an opportunity to focus dollars on a specific problem and not have it get lost in the broader, broader picture,' said Councilmember Tom Bailey. Mayor Mobolade disagrees, saying in a statement that the change would undermine the current process of creating the city's budget by 'creating an unnecessary and unauthorized level of bureaucracy.' In a joint statement, city council responded to the mayor's comments, saying, 'any attempt to frame this as City Council 'usurping' authority is political theater.' But not all council members agree, despite passing the resolution. Councilmember Dave Donelson spoke out and said the process should not change for allocating money, but that part of the solution is in enforcing laws to address some issues being brought up in the city. 'I think a big part of this solution is going to have to be simply the willingness to lock people up for breaking our laws,' Donelson said. 'Is that great? Is that ideal? No. But in the world we are in, that's part of the solution. Mayor Mobolade also believes investments should primarily go toward public safety, while the council says funds can also be used for mental health and PTSD programs. Either way, the council and Mayor Mobolade will have more time to talk about allocating money, as Mobolade says there is currently $1.4 million in the city's marijuana sales tax fund. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Yahoo
Longmont City Council reviews LLC campaign contributions
The Longmont City Council on Tuesday gave staff instruction to move forward with drafting an ordinance that would limit campaign contributions from limited liability companies under the Longmont Fair Campaign Practices Act. The intent is to amend the current LFCPA to clarify its language, thereby closing legal loopholes that allow a single individual who owns numerous LLCs to contribute the maximum amount from each of their entities, in addition to their own personal contribution. The proposed changes, if formally adopted later this year, would take effect Jan. 1, 2026. City Clerk Dawn Quintana walked council members through the current campaign finance rules and how they differ from those at the state and federal levels. 'Under the current LFCPA, the contribution limit for 2025 is $310 per person,' Quintana said. ''Person' is important because of the definition of person in our code, which is a natural person, a partnership, a committee, an association, a corporation or a labor organization or other organization or group of persons.' Quintana explained that both the Federal Election Commission and the Colorado Secretary of State's Office require that contributions from LLCs be attributed to individual members according to their ownership share. 'The FEC limits these contributions by having the contribution attributed to members, owners of the LLC, as related to their percent ownership,' she said. Longmont's current code does not include that limitation. Councilmember Sean McCoy raised concerns about the potential for abuse of the current rules. 'We had a candidate that ran for office and had several LLCs — LLC A and LLC B and LLC C, and down the line there,' McCoy said. 'That candidate did not win this time, and so I'm concerned that there'll be a time that that does occur, and I'm concerned that we need to head that off at the pass.' McCoy added the individual had 'deep pockets' and used multiple business entities to legally amplify their contributions. 'I just want to make sure that we're clean and fair and equitable and don't have that kind of image of less than squeaky clean,' he said. Councilmember Matthew Popkin expressed support for increasing transparency but raised questions about how the changes would be implemented. 'If this is a requirement, we just make it required,' Popkin said, referencing the draft language that allowed campaigns to submit LLC ownership disclosures only upon request. 'Let's just make it automatic, as some of the other reporting is.' Popkin also suggested that the proposed fines might not be strong enough to deter violations. 'From a logistics implementation standpoint, if this were to move forward, the fine seems a little bit low,' he said. Under the current LFCPA, civil fines for campaign finance violations are capped at $999 per violation. The proposed ordinance, as currently written, does not include a higher fine. 'If our intent is to discourage that, I wouldn't have a problem with this being enacted for this election cycle,' Popkin added, though he noted it was important that no candidate be given a retroactive advantage or disadvantage. Mayor Joan Peck pushed back against changing campaign finance rules in the middle of an election cycle. 'Changing rules in the middle of the stream is never a good idea,' Peck said. She asked staff to investigate whether previous changes, such as eliminating post office boxes, to address requirements, may have contributed to the recent lack of LLC contributions in city elections. After the discussion, McCoy made a motion to bring back an ordinance that would amend the LFCPA to limit contributions from LLCs in accordance with the proposed language in the July 1 council communication. The motion included a clarification that the new rules would apply starting Jan. 1 and that campaigns would be required to file disclosure affidavits identifying the ownership structure of any contributing LLCs. Councilmember Popkin seconded the motion. Councilmember Diane Crist raised a point of clarification during the vote. 'When you say 'as presented,' I think we still haven't decided whether we're filing the report with the clerk or whether the campaign is keeping the documentation,' she said. Quintana confirmed that the original draft only required campaigns to retain the records. 'If you prefer to make it required to file that report, we would just need that added into the motion,' she said. McCoy amended the motion to include the filing requirement, and Popkin agreed to the change. The amendment was accepted as a friendly clarification. The final motion, to return with a draft ordinance limiting LLC contributions, effective in 2026, and requiring disclosure filings, was passed unanimously. The ordinance itself will come before the council at a later meeting for a formal vote.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Yahoo
City of Colorado Springs faces lawsuit on alleged violations over $40 million bond deal
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A lawsuit has been filed in El Paso County District Court against the City of Colorado Springs and Mayor Yemi Mobolade over alleged TABOR and constitutional violations. The lawsuit by Preserve Pine Creek Village, LLC, alleges that the City violated multiple provisions of the Colorado Constitution, including the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR), which requires voter approval before creating multi-year government debt. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of a $40 million Private Activity Bond (PAB) issuance approved by the City Council on May 27. The resolution declared that the City could issue revenue bonds in connection with financing residential facilities for low and middle-income families. The resolution passed in May on a 9-0 vote. The complaint says the bond issuance allegedly constitutes a multi-year district debt that needs advance voter approval, which the city allegedly did not submit as a ballot question. The lawsuit alleges that the City also passed the ordinance for the benefit of a private developer, DGB Properties LLC. 'The City has bent over backward to subsidize a private developer's for-profit project – without voter approval – in a manner that is the very antithesis of TABOR and the citizen protections enshrined in the Colorado Constitution,' the complaint states. The lawsuit further alleges the City also violated Article XI and due process. The lawsuit states that this risks the City's bond rating and saddles taxpayers with indirect liabilities, directly undermining the fiscal restraints TABOR secures. Due to that, the plaintiff seeks a public accounting of financial arrangements, developer commitments, and all public obligations tied to the bond deal. FOX21 News reached out to the City of Colorado Springs, the City Council, and Mayor Mobolade. All responded that they do not comment on pending litigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.