Last Sunday, conservative talk radio host Tron Simpson of KVOR’s Weekend Talk with Tron, interviewed Colorado Springs City Council candidate for District 5, Lynette Crow-Iverson, to discuss her position on issues related to the city, and to address the issue of a criminal complaint filed with the El Paso District Attorney against her campaign by her opponent, incumbent city council member, Jill Gaebler.
Gaebler, who also serves as an Executive Board Member of the Colorado Municipal League, maintains that the Crow-Iverson campaign misrepresented Gaebler’s voting record at CML, falsely stating in a campaign mailer to constituents that Gaebler had voted with other CML board members to oppose a controversial bill introduced in the legislature by State Representative Dave Williams (R-Colorado Springs), which would create criminal and civil penalties for politicians and government workers who are deemed uncooperative with strict policy guidelines proposed by the bill for identifying, detaining, and turning over undocumented residents to federal immigration authorities.
Crow-Iverson supported Rep. Williams’ bill.
Gaebler has documented that she was not present for the CML board vote on Rep. Williams’ bill. Crow-Iverson cited a CML source which had reported the vote was unanimous, while neglecting to report that Gaebler was not in attendance for that vote.
In her KVOR (740am) interview, Crow-Iverson said:
We had some mail go out, basically [bringing attention] to the unanimous vote [by] CML […] that would really keep our city safe from sanctuary cities. And you know, we just put it out there, that, ‘Is this the type of city you want in the future, or do you want some people that are going to protect it?’ And I was endorsed by the police association, as well. So, yeah, I think that the suit itself [referring to Gaebler’s complaint] is really unconstitutional. The DA is not going to be able to do much with it. I think it was just a way to get some attention.
Mr. Simpson appears to endorse Crow-Iverson in the city council race, and cited a letter written by Rep. Williams insinuating that “perhaps Jill Gaebler did support sanctuary cities, or does support.”
He continued, quoting a March 22 editorial from the Colorado Springs Gazette:
I mean other things, too. She’s a big Sierra Club fan, and all this. She’s a real liberal in conservative clothing. […] And I just want to make sure that everyone understands this. This is from The Gazette: ‘Hoping to stack the Colorado Springs City Council with those who support their cause, The Sierra Club has endorsed Councilman Richard Skorman in District 3 […].’ Also, there’s this Yolanda Avila in District 4 and Jill Gaebler in District 5. Three Libs! The three amigos! The three leftists. That’s what we’re dealing with. [Continuing to quote The Gazette editorial]. ‘The local Sierra Club fights global warming and defends the planet by suing our community at every opportunity, imposing extraordinary costs on taxpayers.’ First of all, global warming – it’s a fraud. It has been proven. The science says – there is no consensual science.
For context, the Sierra Club has a long, contentious, and well-documented history of debate within the national organization about its official stance on immigration policy as it relates to their defining cause of protecting the environment. The culmination of that internal debate has led the Sierra Club to officially take no position on immigration policy.
Further, countering Ms. Crow-Iverson’s contention that “sanctuary” policies would make her city less safe, recent analysis published by the Center for American Progress and the National Immigration Law Center show that local policies which limit the use of ICE detainers (whereby the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency requests that local law enforcement hold suspected undocumented individuals while awaiting ICE investigation and transfer of custody) correlate to lower crime rates and better economic well-being. To wit:
The data support arguments made by law enforcement executives that communities are safer when law enforcement agencies do not become entangled in federal immigration enforcement efforts. The data also make clear that, when counties protect all of their residents, they see significant economic gains. By keeping out of federal immigration enforcement, sanctuary counties are keeping families together – and when households remain intact and individuals can continue contributing, this strengthens local economies.
As to Mr. Simpson’s declarative statement that “global warming” is a proven fraud, multiple studies and 97% of actively publishing climate scientists — as well as at least 18 American scientific societies – agree that climate change is occurring.
The interview also touched on the debate around designating Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax revenues for the continued construction of the U.S. Olympic Museum in Colorado Springs, economic development ideas for the city and El Paso County, and the contentious use of funds from the 2C ballot initiative approved by voters in 2015 for developing bicycle lanes on Research Parkway.
