Three challengers took their best shot but missed the target as the Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition endorsed a trio of incumbents for county commissioner. The PPFC announced its support for Dennis Hisey, Sallie Clark and Amy Lathen on its Facebook page this morning.
Bernie Herpin, treasurer for PPFC, and also a Colorado Springs city councilman, posted the info on Facebook. Here’s a sampling of the post: “The endorsement was based on their previous support for our right to keep and bear arms, their performance at the PPFC candidate forum, results from a candidate survey on firearms issues, and a straw poll of the PPFC members.
“The candidates’ survey answers are available on the PPFC website: www.ppfc.org. The PPFC PAC will be making further endorsements prior to the November general election.
“A candidate survey has been sent to all local candidates for the Colorado legislature. The candidates responses will be posted on the PPFC later this month.”
Clark is opposed in District 3 by Karen Magistrelli. Hisey is opposed in District 4 by Auddie Cox. And Lathen is opposed in District 2 by Phil McDonald.
It’s notable that the county commissioners approved a new firing range in a joint agreement with Fort Carson.
The Republican Assembly is March 24.

Amy Lathen, chairwoman of the El  Paso County board of commissioners, sent an apology via email Sunday night “for what appears to be a significant security breach in my hotmail account.”

“It looks like my account has been hacked in some way and terribly inappropriate emails have gone out,” she wrote. “Please ignore and delete these emails. I will be closing the account and opening a new one as soon as possible.”

The emails sent earlier Sunday from Lathen’s personal hotmail account referenced a website from Canadian Health&Care Mall, which advertises erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra and Cialis.

“Get some pleasure from your lover tonight!” the email from Lathen’s account said, giving the website address.

A small procedural change at county commission meetings may turn out to be one of those “small step,” “giant leap” kind of things. Or not.

County employees have always presented an applicant’s request for a land use change or a liquor license issue or any case in which staff has worked with an applicant who is seeking some approval from the county commission. The applicant gets to speak after county staff and answer any questions from the commissioners. Then the public is invited to weigh in.

At Thursday’s biweekly meeting, the applicant for a zoning request to expand the capacity of a retreat center in Black Forest made his case first, and then a county employee followed up with his presentation.

The switcheroo came at the request of county Administrator Jeff Greene, who said some staff believe that having the applicant give a presentation about the request first is more “objective” and “transparent.”

With staff presenting first, he said, some think that gives the impression that staff are supportive of the applicant and nonobjective.

Max Rothschild, director of the county’s development services department, said the change is intended to “make the applicant and a project the focus of the meetings.”

When there’s opposition to a request, such as one neighbor not wanting another neighbor to operate a home business, the impression is that county staff members are giving advice to the applicant.

“We’re not necessarily; we’re supporting that the applicant meets all the requirements,” Rothschild said.

The new procedure could result in excess duplication, he admits.

Commission Chair Amy Lathen said she thought the new order “went well,” the first time around, and wants to give Commissioner Dennis Hisey a chance to see how the process works before making a permanent change.

Hisey is on a church mission trip in Mexico for Spring Break.

Greene said it’s the board chair’s discretion, with a consensus of the board, to decide in what order information should be presented.

Will the order of presentation matter to applicants? Will it change their chances of getting approval for their request? Will it make staff seem more objective?

Twenty at-risk, special-needs youth were supposed to attend a three-day computer camp starting today, Feb. 4, and running through Sunday.  But they don’t get to.

With a 3-2 vote, the El Paso County Commission last week rejected a federal grant of $38,520, which would have funded the camp. Participants were local youth, ages 16 through 21, enrolled in the federally funded Workforce Investment Act Youth Program, which the Pikes Peak Workforce Center administers for El Paso and Teller counties.

The camp would have provided an introduction to laptop computers, including the Windows platform, MS Office skills and Internet-based employment assistance. The intent: to provide the youth to become “self-sufficient and independent job searchers, career explorers and entry-level workers.” They also would have received a laptop computer, upon completing the camp.

Commissioners objected to the expense, even though the federal government would have picked up the tab.

“I think this is an outrageous fee for taxpayers — $1,920 per kid,” said Commissioner Peggy Littleton.

Commission Chairwoman Amy Lathen agreed.

“We cannot sustain these kinds of programs. Citizens pay federal income taxes, and at at this point, they’re funny money; they’re not federal dollars,” she said.

Littleton, a former state board of education member, said the youth could get computer training through school or other avenues.

Lathen said the program seems redundant .

Pikes Peak Workforce Center Chief Executive Officer Charlie Whelan said he understood the commissioners’ concerns and that he would try to find another way for the youth to receive laptops and computer training.

El Paso County Commissioners didn’t waste any time with an agenda change, as decided by new Commission Chairwoman Amy Lathen earlier this week.

At the request of newly installed Commissioner Peggy Littleton, every meeting now opens with praying out loud. See my story for details.

Littleton’s appeal came at the Tuesday, Jan. 11 meeting, and two days later, at Thursday’s meeting, Commissioner Sallie Clark led an invocation.

To prevent what happened in previous years — that it became too difficult and time consuming to line up clergy to lead prayer before meetings — commissioners, county staff, community leaders and regular old folks can now give the invocation, Lathen decided, based on Littleton’s suggestion.

Prayer before elected bodies convene is legal, according to a 1980s U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and many groups now pray together or have a moment of silence before they meet.

But not everyone likes the idea. The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a formal letter of complaint on Jan. 13, on behalf of an El Paso County resident.

In the organization’s letter to the commission, Co-President Dan Barker said that government prayer is “unnecessary, inappropriate and divisive.”

“Calling upon commissioners and citizens to rise and pray (even silently) is coercive, embarrassing and beyond the scope of secular county government,” he said. “Commissioners are free to pray  privately or to worship on their own time, in their own way. They do not need to worship on taxpayers’ time.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., is a national association of  freethinkers, otherwise known as atheists and agnostics.

All five commissioners said they supported increasing the frequency of public prayer before meetings. The commission has been incorporating invocations since 2006, but in recent years, it’s occurred only once a month.

Seven elected county officials, five 4th Judicial District Court judges and six El Paso County Court judges, were sworn in Tuesday. Jan. 11, during an oath-of-office ceremony at the Pioneers Museum.

Commissioner Darryl Glenn

Among those taking office are two new commissioners: Darryl Glenn and Peggy Littleton.

Peggy Littleton

At the county commission meeting immediately following the ceremony, Commissioner Dennis Hisey stepped down as chairman of the board. Commissioner Amy Lathen took the gavel and became Commission Chair.

Commissioner Sallie Clark is the new Commission Vice Chair. And Hisey will be the third chair and will run the meetings if Lathen and Clark cannot.

Commissioners also established liaison responsiblities for county departments, offices and agencies, and other commitments.

The list is available at this link.