From The Gazette (Colorado Springs):  Most local voters have received El Paso County’s informational pamphlet on the Nov. 3 election, but some are baffled by arguments against a proposed Colorado Springs sales tax increase.

Statements in the official booklet must be accurate, right? Wrong.

The City Charter directs the city clerk to summarize comments received. If only one person submits comments and does so in fewer than 500 words, those arguments are presented verbatim.

Mayor John Suthers said he was “shocked” to learn that, because statewide ballot issue comments distributed in the “blue book” are vetted by a bipartisan legislative committee for veracity.

“They are,” confirmed Lynn Bartels, spokeswoman for the Secretary of State’s Office. “They have blue book hearings in which I can remember Douglas Bruce coming and arguing point after point after point, even noting that something is grammatically incorrect.”

For the city and county, though, “It’s a very different process,” said City Clerk Sarah Johnson.

“I find that a very bad system,” Suthers said of the charter mandate to publish comments without a truth test.

Ballot Issue 2C seeks to increase the city’s 2.5 percent sales tax by 0.62 percent – 6.2 cents per $10 – to raise $50 million a year for five years to rebuild or repair the city’s crumbling roads.

Only anti-tax activist Bruce submitted arguments against both city ballot issues, and he did so in fewer than 500 words, ensuring that they would be published verbatim.

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