Here’s to smoother driving

I’m far from being an expert on repairing streets, but I’m quickly becoming an expert at dodging potholes on Union Boulevard. I’m also getting good at watching other cars weaving in and out as they maneuver around potholes and I try not to get hit. Union, South of Academy Boulevard, was paved, resurfaced or seal coated about three years ago and was very much appreciated because we finally had a nice smooth street. However, it didn’t last long and soon potholes started appearing. The communities around Union asked, “How could this start happening in such a short time?” and “Was it worth the money spent to repair it?”

At least the potholes are being filled in as soon as they can get to them. It looks strange to drive on Union and see these filled-in potholes all over the road as new holes are appearing. It must be very hard on tires that take a beating as they hit potholes one after another, especially if you have low profile tires.

I think the city can do better than this when planning what kind of street repairs need to be made (paving, resurfacing, or seal coating) and which material is best to use (blacktop or asphalt). Here’s to smoother driving in the future.

Vern Swim

Colorado Springs

Insurance cancellations and prices

Last week on Facebook there was a long list of reports of insurance cancellations, or renewals at very large price increases. About 10 insurance companies have either left the Colorado Springs market or have limited their renewals. Given the concern about affordable housing, the mayor’s office and the City Council should investigate whether these cancellations and insurance price increases are fair and based on valid data. Our insurance broker provided a “2025 State of the Insurance Marketplace” that lists wildfire score/risk and hail exposure as Colorado-specific factors impacting insurance costs and availability. According to Corelogic, Colorado Springs is the No. 10 census-based statistical cities for wildfire risk. Austin, Texas, is No. 7 and Denver is No. 8, and all of the other top 13 cities are in California. Not surprisingly, Los Angeles with its horrific wildfires late last year is No. 1.

If the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange database used by the insurance companies only keeps your record of losses for seven years, the mayor and City Council should be asking to see the database that justifies properties in Colorado Springs losing insurance or having such large premium increases, specifically in 2025. Colorado Springs is not Los Angeles, and if the wildfire database does not justify these cancellations and premium increases, the pressure needs to be put on the insurance companies to revise the risk calculations and reduce the 2025 premiums to improve housing affordability.

If the insurance cancellations and price increases are not due to widespread wildfires (I do not include homeless campfires as wildfires), are hail damage events a significant contributing factor? While it might not seem to be a citywide item of concern for the mayor and the council, the experience of the owners in a patio home development in eastern Colorado Springs after the hail event on August 5, 2023, should be investigated.

First, the community manager did not contact the owners to have roof inspections done and to file claims with their HO-6 patio home insurance, which insurance companies recommend to confirm that the roof damage is severe enough to justify filing a claim. Two patio home owners had their common roof inspected by a local roofing company who certified no hail damage, and inspections for other owners all indicated minor damage that could be repaired for less than the $1,000 deductible. Second, the community manager contracted with her affiliated construction and maintenance company for some inspections, and that company stated all 126 patio home roofs had to be completely replaced along with associated repairs at a highly inflated cost of $2.6 million ($20,472 each patio home).

It is hard to believe that a professional community manager would make such a mistake, but she submitted a claim for $2.6 million when the 5% deductible for the master insurance policy was $3.2 million, and of course the insurance company paid nothing. Because even claims with no payments are reported to CLUE, that claim stays on the records of all of the 126 patio home owners for up to 7 years, and will impact their future insurance premiums and even their insurability.

The mayor and council cannot reverse that impact on the 126 patio home owners. However, they should investigate whether that false claim of $2.6 million for complete roof replacements has also contributed to the 2025 insurance cancellations and higher premiums in surrounding neighborhood homes.

Russell L Elsberry

Colorado Springs

Securing election integrity

I want to express my gratitude to Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk, for her diligent efforts in adhering to the law by creating backup copies of election data and submitting the backups for evaluation by qualified experts. The analysis of her backups led to the creation of three reports, which highlighted numerous issues with Colorado’s elections (see Reports at TinaPeters.us). Her dedication caught the attention of President Donald Trump and contributed to the issuance of a significant executive order.

On March 25, Trump signed an executive order titled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.” It’s crucial to recognize that this order reinforces existing laws, including requirements for proof of citizenship, maintenance of voter rolls, certification of equipment, and the security of voting systems. This order sets the stage for future actions to strengthen election integrity.

I believe everyone can agree that only citizens should have the right to vote. With this new order, states will be mandated to verify citizenship for each new registration. Colorado’s practice of using “self-attestation” by the voter no longer will be permissible.

States are also required to clean their voter rolls by removing noncitizens. DOGE will assist states by comparing state voter rolls with immigration databases. Other federal databases will be available to states to verify citizenship.

A critical aspect of the executive order is the directive for the Election Assistance Commission to amend the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0 and other guidelines to establish standards for voting systems that protect election integrity. This amendment must be completed within 180 days, leading to the review and, if necessary, recertification of voting systems under the new standards, while rescinding previous certifications based on outdated standards. The current standards, last updated in 2005 — before the iPhone was introduced — have not been revised since election equipment was classified as critical infrastructure in 2017.

Given the noncompliance with “critical infrastructure” standards, it is likely that the Election Assistance Commission will decertify current election systems and equipment. This could lead to significant changes to our elections.

It’s important to note that Colorado has joined other states in challenging the executive order. However, if the order merely enforces existing laws, it suggests that these states are not complying with current legal standards—a situation that warrants serious reflection.

Thank you, Tina Peters, for your commitment to election integrity, and thank you, President Trump, for taking action to uphold the sanctity of our elections.

Nancy Murray

Colorado Springs