Hazlehurst’s Blog
Insight and commentary from John Hazlehurst

Bruce rings bell, media salivates

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(Editor’s note: This posting has been revised and corrected. See below)

At 10 a.m. on Monday, we, in common with other local media, got a phone call from the ol’ taxcutter himself, Doug Bruce. 

He invited us to attend a press conference in an hour’s time, to be held on the steps of city hall.

Since city hall is less than two blocks from our offices, and since Monday promised to be a slow news day, I thought wotthehell (as Archie said to Mehitabel), and ambled on over to the press conference.

The Dougster, brimming over with fake indignation, breathlessly recounted how the city’s finest, acting upon orders from those tax-lovin’ city council members, had prevented him from circulating petitions in front of Costco, thereby violating not only his rights, but the rights of all citizens.  What about freedom of assembly?  What about the right to collect signatures for a citizen initiative? 

After a few minutes, I left. It seemed clear that this was a manufactured event. Long experience with the Dougster, a superbly accomplished spinmeister, had taught me to be wary. I figured that there was more to this story than met the eye, and that we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be used by him, or by anyone for that matter, to advance a personal agenda.

So we ignored the story.

But as the Dougster anticipated, the rest of the media jumped on it like dogs on a dropped slice of pepperoni pizza. 

The Gazette’s coverage was particularly egregious, featuring a largely unquestioning front page story and a lengthy editorial which upheld the poor, persecuted Dougster’s right to petition.

Remember Pavlov’s dogs?  The great Russian physician and Nobel laureate Ivan Pavlov discovered that by first ringing a bell and then giving food to the animals, he established what he called a “conditioned reflex.”  After a certain number of repetitions, the animals would salivate whenever the bell was rung, regardless of reward.

Local media have been conditioned by the Dougster to believe that whatever he does/says/alleges is ipso facto newsworthy.  He rings, we salivate.  It’s called random reinforcement-and he produces just enough newsworthy stuff to keep us slobbering.

I’m proud that, for once, we controlled ourselves.  But I know that the next time he calls, we’ll be there.

You never know - maybe he’ll bring pizza.

 

Correction (8/31/2009)

Some information in this blog posting by John Hazlehurst was incorrect and has been deleted.

The blog originally stated that, “It turned out that Mr. Bruce had been tossed off Costco’s property a year before, for the same reason.” Mr. Bruce was not removed from the property during that prior incident.

The blog also stated that, “It turned out that private property owners have a right to expel trespassers …” At the time, the city’s General Order 701 – First Amendment Rights stated that “Individuals may engage in First Amendment related activities on privately owned property which offers routine public access, whether or not it is property posted and whether or not the owner/manager has granted permission, so long as the individuals do not violate a law such as blocking ingress or egress, harassing or assaulting other persons etc.” General order 701 was revised on Feb. 16 of this year and that language was removed.

The blog also stated that “Mr. Bruce was charged with that offense.” Mr. Bruce was not charged or cited by law enforcement during that prior incident.

 

Posted by John Hazlehurst on August 19th, 2009 :: Filed under Blog
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The Dougster’s baaaaack!

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Just when you might have thought that Douglas Bruce had retreated quietly from politics, perhaps happily ensconced in some palatial, Mandarin era residence along the Bund in Shanghai, he’s baaaaack!!!

Here’s the scoop, such as it is, on the latest Bruce/city kerfuffle.

The ol’ tax cutter took out petitions during May of this year, intent upon collecting enough signatures from “qualified electors” of Colorado Springs to force council to either approve his latest initiative as written, or let the voters decide its fate.

By Monday afternoon at 5:00 PM, Bruce had not turned in his petitions, thereby missing the deadline for placing the matter on the November coordinated election.

City clerk Kathryn Young released a statement confirming his “failure to perform”, which we included in a brief story. We didn’t hear from the often-irascible Mr. Bruce until after our deadline.

He was not pleased.

According to Bruce, the charter specifically grants him 180 days to collect signatures (true). Ms. Young was/is entirely in error, he claimed.

“I know the law,” Bruce said, “she just made it up.”

And, he continued, he will continue to collect signatures for the proposed initiative which, if passed, would phase out the city’s “payment in lieu of taxes” that it receives every year from Colorado Springs Utilities. It’s a nice little chunk of change-about $30 million annually. The initiative also requires that utilities pass along the savings to its customers.

For those of us who have known Douglas Bruce for the last twenty years, whether as uneasy ally or bitter foe, it’s pretty clear that he does nothing by accident. Had he so desired, he could have had more than enough signatures at the Clerk’s office well before last Monday. His failure to do so may be because of any number of factors, e.g.

-He wants to force a little confrontation with the city, during which he can portray himself as the hapless victim of a scheming bureaucracy, the noble crusader against taxes, and the grand old man of the anti-tax movement, and make Young and/or the city back down, and put the initiative on the November ballot.

-He may want to force the city to hold a special, post November election, as he believes the charter mandates if Young refuses to put the matter on the ballot during November.

-And why would he do that, given that the city would have to shell out $480,000 (Young’s figure, according to Bruce) or $220,000 (Bruce’s estimate) to fund such election? Just maybe, some of his allies (or even the ol’ taxcutter himself) are thinking about putting another initiative on the ballot-maybe one that calls for overturning the USOC deal…

But I dunno. I’m only certain of one thing-politics in our fair city is far more interesting when the ol’ Dougster is on the prowl.

Welcome back from Shanghai, big guy!!

<-Back to CSBJ.com

Posted by John Hazlehurst on August 5th, 2009 :: Filed under Blog
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Livin’ the Dream (City), part 2

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Bettina, Warren, Amanda - of course, you’re all correct…except for a couple of points.

Like it or not, Dream City was conceived, organized publicized and pushed by the Gazette.  It is thought of, correctly or incorrectly, as a Gazette promotion. 

And, it might be fair to assume that Dream City might share some of the characteristics of its parent’s Multiple Personality Disorder. 

Given the G’s longtime editorial slant, I’d guess that the paper would oppose most of the initiatives likely to emerge from Dream City. 

Those of us who were around in the 90’s well remember the Gazette’s fierce opposition to TOPS, not to mention the reams of favorable coverage given to Douglas Bruce and the charter amendments and statewide constitutional amendments that he wrote.

But that’s neither here nor there -just a reminder that an apparently friendly old pit bull behind a chain link fence will still bite, given the opportunity.

The larger issue is that of change itself and of the myopia that afflicts those who push for it at any time in the history of a community.

I remember the beautiful Victorian downtown of my childhood, and how it was swept away in a few years-not destroyed by fire, or allowed to crumble from neglect, but torn down by well-meaning, civic-minded folks who wanted to rebuild downtown, to make it modern, shiny, and up-to-date.

What they succeeded in doing was to transform much of downtown into a wilderness of parking lots, conveniently located close to the clubs where the eager youth of our city get drunk, spill out in the streets when the bars close, and fight merrily among themselves-such an improvement!

The businessmen who, with the enthusiastic cooperation of the city (which created its very own ‘urban renewal’ program to fund the destruction of the city’s core), didn’t raze these noble old buildings out of spite - they thought they’d make money and improve downtown.

Careful, modest preservation initiative work (e.g., Dave Hughes’ brilliantly conceived plan that rescued Old Colorado City from the wrecking ball).  Grandiose schemes (southwest downtown?) often die of their own weight, and when revived, transmogrify, becoming the antithesis of what was originally planned and imagined. 

Your eyes, and your ideas change over time.  Decades ago, I thought neon signs were tawdry and tasteless. Today I think we ought to gather up and preserve the remaining historic neon signs, put ‘em all up in one of downtown’s desolate parking lots, and have a Vegas-style Neon Museum. 

So forgive my skepticism - I earned it fairly, and have the scars to show for it.  Doing good things - I’m all for it.  Going to meetings - no mas! Expect maybe only in bad weather, after work, and close to one of my many favorite downtown watering holes.

Especially one that’s close to a parking lot.

 

Posted by John Hazlehurst on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under Blog
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