Colorado Springs board vacancies top a dozen
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Editor's note: The headline and story have been corrected to reflect that the city says it has a large number of vacancies but is not struggling to fill them. It has also been updated to add a comment from the city's communications representative.
Colorado Springs says it has a dozen vacancies across city boards and commissions and nearly 60 applicants in total waiting to fill them.
Why it matters: The Springs has 24 community boards, with even more regional and county opportunities.
What they're saying: The number of vacancies is unusually high, but that is largely due to a key city hall staff change, according to Alex Ryden, the city's comms person.
- Typically, only a handful of positions are open at any given time, but after the boards and commissions program administrator resigned unexpectedly, "a couple openings … built up," Ryden told Axios.
The big picture: Board vacancies span multiple committees across the city.
- They include the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments, the city's historic preservation board, civil service commission and the powerful planning commission.
- The Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority also has three open spots.
Zoom in: Among the city boards with empty seats was the Law Enforcement Transparency and Advisory Committee (LETAC), which the city council voted unanimously on April 14 to disband.
Flashback: LETAC had more than 800 potential applicants for its 11 seats at its creation in 2020, but the committee was plagued by vacancies and what the eight remaining members called a general ineffectiveness, Deb Walker, LETAC's chairperson and a member since its founding, told Axios.
Zoom out: Civic engagement in Colorado Springs has been active and visible in other public arenas.
- Thousands of protesters lined Nevada Avenue on March 28 for a No Kings demonstration, and more than 1,700 people recently signed the recall petition for District 2 Councilmember Tom Bailey.
How it works: Some board positions, like the planning commission, demand expertise and must be nominated by the city council.
- Others are open to most residents with interest and the ability to regularly attend meetings, but still require council approval.
Friction point: Time, access and awareness can be barriers to participation.
- The city previously ran a civic engagement program, but interest from city hall and the public has declined, according to organizer and former planning commissioner Eric Phillips.
- "People need that experience, to see how the system works," he said.
The bottom line: "People care deeply about their neighborhoods, but they're not always sure how to plug in or whether they're 'qualified' to do so," Hey Neighbor executive director Kelly Bull told Axios.
More information about each board and application links are available here.