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October 21, 2025 35 mins
In the first hour of today's show, Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade joins Dan Caplis to preview his upcoming campaign to remain mayor of Colorado Springs.
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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Dan Kaplis, and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dan Kaplis Show. Please be sure to
give us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
and to subscribe, download and listen to the show every
single day on your favorite podcast platform. Three eight two
five five the number text D A N five seven
seven three nine. Wish we had four hours today instead

(00:22):
of too. You will not want to miss Jame Mobilai.
He is the mayor of Colorado Springs and a lot
of buzz out there about whether Mayor Mobilarate is going
to run for governor and if he did, he would
be running as an independent and what would that do
to the race as a whole. So of course we'll
start our conversation with the mayor by asking about whether

(00:44):
he is going to run for governor. Now, the latest
I heard today, and I think this came from his
COMPS guy, right Zach, is that no, he does not
intend to run for governor, and that would push back
against all of the prevailing wisdom and chatter out there
right now. So if that turns out to be the case,
well we'll be making news right here. And if he's
not going to run for governor, very anxious to get

(01:06):
his take on a lot of the big issues swirling
around that race and just around Colorado right now in general,
because Wayne Loguson was with us last week from Wayne's word,
and Wayne was telling us, hey, Marra Mobilati has been
an opponent, thank goodness, of the legalized marijuana insanity down
in Colorado Springs. So we'll touch on that and other issues.

(01:28):
Bottom line is, I think you'd find him to be
a very interesting guy and does act behind the glass today.
And I'll open up those phone lines so if you
want to join us by phone, we can do three
oh three seven one three eight two five five the
number or text d A N five seven seven three nine.
We got some super hot stuff going on this afternoon.

(01:48):
Big win for President Trump up in Portland with the
Ninth Circuit saying no that President Trump, can you know
bring in the National Guard at this point to help
protect Ice Age and other federal officers up in Portland.
The reason I mentioned that is because it ties into
a main point I want to lead the show with.

(02:08):
And yesterday we had a lot of callers who had
either gone to the No King's rally. I can remember
one in particular and others who just don't like President Trump,
and they were giving their take on what No Kings
is all about. It said, are turned into a great
show because together we got this insight. It was more
confirmation of what's going on with so many of these

(02:31):
people on the left who are opposed to Trump. And
I think the fair way to sum it up is
when you ask them to back it up, they have
to pack it up because they can't back it up. Now.
That doesn't change the intensity of their anti Trump feelings
or the reason that the one caller went out to
this No King's March, But it's just good insight into

(02:51):
what's out there because of what may come. And here's
my point. I made it yesterday, but it's even more
crystal clear today this question of No Kings. Why did
they do it? Because it obviously didn't move the needle,
had no political impact right now? And why did they
call it something as strange as No Kings? And I've

(03:13):
got the answer to that, and I think it's something
that's very very helpful to know. But it ties into
a piece published today in the Denver Post by CHRISTERA.
K For my friend Christer Cafer we used to do
a radio show together. We agree on plenty, we disagree
on plenty, but I've always liked and respected Krista. Her
piece today, No King's Rally has lost even this sympathetic

(03:37):
critic of President Donald Trump. Now, one of the things,
obviously that I disagree about a lot, is she was
part of this case to try to keep Trump off
the ballot in Colorado. Obviously nothing more undemocratic than that.
But Christa wrote this piece today about why the No

(03:58):
Kings rally lost even her, and there's part of it
that ties into my key point. It said, first, she
acknowledges that, hey, it was his message heard by anyone
other than those making it. Did it change a single mind?
Probably not. But then she gets to the fact that
I had to look up what organizers meant by quote
no kings is one indication. With the dozens of well

(04:21):
funded left leaning organizations listed as partners on the website,
surely one of them could have lent the effort. A
decent comms guy. For all it's catchy repetition, the website's
declaration no thrones, no crowns, no kings makes no sense.
And then she goes on from there and I understand
her point because it doesn't make any sense when you

(04:43):
just look at it in kind of normal context. But
here's the point. Here's the point, the point that it
makes no sense when you look at it in normal context.
I believe proves my theory, and it's just a theory.
I can't prove it as a matter of fact, but
I believe it to be true. And that is the

(05:03):
people behind this, the organizers who put the millions in
all the hours into organizing this No King's rally, they
knew it wasn't going to move the political needle right now.
What I believe they were doing my theory is that
they were refining the mechanism. They were refining the mechanism

(05:24):
for civil disobedience on demand for the future. And the
reason they call it No Kings is you tell me
what is the one event in American history, the one
justification in American history for violent revolution? Kings? A king

(05:45):
singular As you look at American history, right, that's what
the American Revolution was over, you know, the very violent,
very legitimate, very necessary, very world changing in a very
positive way. American Revolution was over a king, the existence
of a king. So is that a coincidence that the

(06:11):
people behind this would decide to name this, going back
to its origin, no Kings a really silly name on
the surface, right, But if I'm right about their true
ultimate motivation of having this mechanism in place for mass
civil disobedience, if and when they decide to employ it,

(06:32):
then it makes perfect sense they would call it no
Kings because the not so subtle message is, well, if
he's a king, then violence is justified. If it's a king,
then violent revolution is justified. If you think I'm wrong,
what other explanation is there for a this weird no

(06:55):
king's name, and b for spending all the time and
all the money to pull all of this together this
weekend when it's not aimed at any particular political issue,
there's no election right now, et cetera. And then as
you think about it further, how might this be employed
in the future? Well, wait, there's more. You don't have

(07:17):
to wait for the future. It's being employed right now.
Because if you're sitting there thinking, wait a second, Dan,
are you really trying to tell me that that the
group behind this, under your theory, plans a violent overthrow
of the United States government in the future. No I'm
not telling you that. What I'm telling you is these people,

(07:39):
these radicals, far left, secular radicals, who have all of
this big money, and they also are smart. They do
a lot of dumb things. They do a lot of
things that are bad for this country, but they're smart people.
They've shown that they will spend whatever it takes, and
they have an ability, you know, to organize. And so
no plan, if my theory's correct, is not ultimately to

(08:02):
overthrow the United States government. But they see they see
power slipping away from them, they see where America's headed.
They see that if the GOP doesn't screw this up
royally pun intended, that the left is not going to
hold power in America consistently. So I believe that what

(08:23):
they're doing right now through this No Kings thing and
their overall approach is not to violently overthrow the federal
government of the United States of America. That just wouldn't
be possible, but to carve out their own territories within
the United States of America. And that's what they're in
the process of doing right now. That's what they were

(08:43):
in the process of doing in La until Trump brought
in the Marines as well as the National Guard, and
you remember the big court battle over that. That's what
they're in the process of doing right now in Portland.
That's what they're in the process of doing right now
in Chicago, which is use mobs, sometimes violent, always with

(09:07):
the threat of violence. Use mobs that can overwhelm local
law enforcement, to claim territory, to claim areas and listen,
any areas three square feet in the middle of Iowa
would be an emergency for this nation. But you're talking
here about La you're talking here about Portland, you're talking
here about Chicago. That is their plan, in my opinion,

(09:28):
and they're working it right now. That's what this whole
No King's thing, in my opinion, is all about. Love
your thoughts. Yea May Mobilat coming up. You're on the
Dan Caapla Show.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
And now back to the Dan Kaplas Show podcast afternoon.

Speaker 1 (09:49):
It turns out to Mobilad's four thirty six, So sorry,
I had that timing off. He'll be with us for
two segments at four thirty six, and I hope you're
here for it because first, he's just a very interesting guy.
It's such an interesting story. And also this big buzz
that he's going to be getting into the governor's race now.
I think he's going to say the opposite when he

(10:10):
joins us today, but that would make news as well.
And then we want to talk about some of the
things he's doing down in the Springs. Very happy to
hear that he's against legalized marijuana. We can talk about
the experience, have head down there and more. In the meantime,
taking your calls text thoughts on the follow up to
this quote, no King's business over the weekend. You know,

(10:32):
my theory can't prove it as fact, but I've given
you the reasons I believe it that this is a rehearsal.
This is a rehearsal, put the mechanism in place, refine
it for future mass civil disobedience. The reason for the
name no Kings is, Hey, what was the justification for
the American Revolution was a king? And you're already seeing

(10:53):
it unfold now as the Left tries to take over
certain major cities in America and them beyond the reach
of the federal government, which is exactly what the left
tried to do in la and Trump defeated them with
the Marines and the National Guard. And the left is
doing right now in Portland, though a president just won
a major legal victory yesterday and he can bring National

(11:15):
Guard back in there. And what the president and what
the left is doing in Chicago trying to carve out
these major parts of the country and they won't stop
with those three and take those over and move those
beyond any kind of federal government control. And how does
the left do that. It does it with mobs, because
you can overwhelm local law enforcement. No matter how great
your local law enforcement is, and it's great in many

(11:37):
parts of the country, you can overwhelm it with mobs.
It's not built for that. They don't have enough people.
And so that's why President Trump wisely bringing in national guards.
So that's what I think the left's overall plan is,
because they know they're leaking oil and they're not going
to be able to get and expand and keep and
hold political power in America nationally, losing it locally in

(12:01):
more and more places. Trump went every swing state and
now Trump's delivering in office. So yeah, the left can
see the writing on the wall, and that's what I
believe their overall plan is. What are there? Let me
ask you this, if you disagree or just have questions
on it. What other explanation would there be for this quote,
no king's moniker for this it's so goofy on its face.

(12:25):
Unless I'm right, and unless the whole messaging is well, no,
it's the presence of a king that justifies violent revolution.
Same thing with this threat to democracy thrust that you've
had from the left that hasn't moved the needle at
all politically, but it's the ultimate justification, right for what

(12:47):
violent revolution? If that person's a threat to democracy, then
you're justified and engaging in violent revolution. I think that,
my opinion, is the left's whole play. I'm not talking
about each person who goes to a no King march.
I would bet the vast, vast, vast majority of those
people have no intent to commit violence, to violate the law, etc.

(13:10):
But as I told a caller yesterday, you'd ben at
the rally. You know, they're just the dry firewood and
this mechanisms in place. You get the large crowds out there,
you get a few flamethrowers in there. It doesn't take much,
all of a sudden to turn a large, fired up,
angry group into something the Left can then use to
shut down local law enforcement and just take over individual areas,

(13:34):
which is again what you're seeing them do in Chicago,
in Portland, tried to do it in La. Let's go
out to Wetmore. Talk to David. You're on the Dan
Caplis Show. How you doing, David. I'm great, Dan, I'm
living the dream. What are you thinking?

Speaker 3 (13:50):
Well, I'm a little disappointed. So the No Teams I
gotta spin for you, and you're not gonna like it,
but I'm.

Speaker 4 (13:56):
Gonna share it with you, please.

Speaker 3 (13:58):
All right, went up to Denver this week and went
to the weekend with the mask.

Speaker 4 (14:02):
If my daughter to man Catholic wonderful?

Speaker 1 (14:05):
Where'd they go?

Speaker 3 (14:06):
A different version of No Team showed up. The priests
had a good homily, all I said, and he was
very relevant if any put it in the end or
towards in the mask. Due to the current administration, the
funds have been cut off from them and they need
more donations to do their work in that Catholic church.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
Yes, sir boy, I've well, but but I've heard nothing
like it. So if you want to tell me off air,
that's fine, but I can tell you, David, I've heard
nothing like that. And I get to different Catholic churches
because my flight paths and trying cases and things like that,
I've heard nothing remotely like that anywhere, nor read anything
like that. So happy to talk with you about it

(14:52):
off air, because yeah, I have not heard that and
that would surprise me.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
That's very disappointing, Dan, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
Yeah, Hey, why don't you hold on and let's let's
talk off air.

Speaker 3 (15:05):
Okay, yeah, but I thought I thought i'd let you know.
You know, it's yeah, it's not good for lose.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
No, no, no, But but David, I'm asking you, will you
be kind enough to hold because I want to hear
where this happened because I've never heard of anything like
it and it would shock me. Okay, thank you, grateful
for that. Yeah, well, thank you. I'll be with you
in just two and a half minutes. Thank you for that. Yeah,
at that is not at all typical. Stella Here on

(15:34):
the dan Kaplas, you'll welcome, my Dan.

Speaker 5 (15:38):
I just had a comment on the No Kings movements.
Ever since Trump won, my Democrat friends have called him
King Trump, and I believe it is a movement who
gathered supporters it like Trump. And yes, there may be

(16:05):
what a national movement involved that. I do believe they're
gathering their people and have them since.

Speaker 1 (16:12):
Trump was suggested. Well, Stella, thank you for that call.
It's so interesting in the obvious point, right, low hanging fruit,
that the true kings are on the left right, And
we expose that yesterday with callers from the left who
I drilled down with. But you know it's Jared Poulis
is the epitome of royalty right in his own mind
and the way he rules, and you go back to

(16:33):
all of the stuff during COVID is exhibit A. But
there's much more than that. But the fact that Stella
would know some friends who refer to Trump as a king,
that wouldn't concern me at all because that's common political
banter right where we talk about this president wants to
be royal, that president wants to be royal. I don't
read much into that myself. What I read as significant

(16:54):
is when you get then all of these sophisticated organizations
on the left, very well funded, very well organized, that
decide to launch this big movement that they're going to
pour many millions into in many, many, many men and
woman hours, and they decide to label it no kings.
I think at that point that choice of a name,

(17:17):
you know, is very very significant, particularly when you look
at what they're matching it to, which is organizing. You know,
these mass numbers of people that turn out at a
coordinated time all over the country for no apparent immediate benefit.
So what's the ultimate place? So that's where I think
the No King's title becomes very significant in terms of

(17:38):
what I believe their long term play is. Excuse me
not getting emotional as peanut butter, maryamme mobilatate from Colorado Springs.
After the break, lots of chatter and buzz and talk
around the state that he's about to get in the
governor's race. Is that true? That'll be our first question
to him when we talk after the break, and then
we'll take it from there. One way or the other.

(17:59):
I think you'll find to be fascinating his story unique,
I think in all the political world. The mayor Next
on the Dan Caplas Show.

Speaker 2 (18:15):
You're listening to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.

Speaker 1 (18:18):
One of my favorite people to interview. Let's go to
the VIP line. Welcome Mayor, Yeah me mobilatte Back to
the Dan Capla Show. Mister mayor, how you doing, Dan?

Speaker 4 (18:27):
It's so good to be on your show. Man. I
miss you.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
Well, and we'll be seeing a lot more of each other.
If you're running for governor, you are kind of the
it thing right now. It's all the buzz. Everybody's chattering
about it. So can we make some news here? Are
you in? Are you out well? Dan?

Speaker 4 (18:43):
I appreciate you starting off go big or go home? Right,
that's right. I appreciate the sentiment from many of our
state leaders who have said your governor material When are
you running for governor? I was just telling a team
member of mine, also from my Colorado Springs Police Department leaders,

(19:04):
But I will you know my heart's not there, to
be honest, I love Colorda Springs. I still have work
to do, so I'm zero focused on the flourishing of
Colorado Springs. But I understand why people are planting the
seat because you know, as a political independent, that is
about my city and the state without allow politics to

(19:26):
come in the way of what's doing the rights. And
I can see why people are encouraging me to do so.

Speaker 1 (19:33):
Doesn't sound like a no to me. Well, so you're
saying there's a chance.

Speaker 4 (19:41):
The chance right now is I have gone on record
to say I will be running again for mayor, so
that is that is what I will be doing.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
Okay, okay, Well, we've made some news here and jeez,
I don't know what we do with the rest of
the time. I'm joking because if you if you were
running for governor, then obviously there's this whole series of
questions right where you had on all the big issues, abortion,
et cetera, et cetera. And I want to talk to
you at length about you know, your ten years mayor,

(20:11):
because whether you're running for governor now or in the future, whatever,
I would expect everybody's going to see you on the
statewide stage. But allow me one more follow up on
the governor's race, if you don't mind, because my spider
sense is tingling. I still feel as if there's some
kind of opening here. And let me put it this way.

(20:33):
If you perceive that there was overwhelming demand from the
people that you run for governor, would you reconsider.

Speaker 4 (20:43):
Oh man, that's a that's a good one. That's a
tough one. I you have me a little bit more somber.
I got into this race and became mayor because I
wanted to start TI. I'm driven by impact. I'm driven.
I'm very objective. My wife says I'm the most objective

(21:05):
objective person. She knows I want to do the right
thing as as my city, and I do have concerns
like you about the direction of our state, and if
the majority of the states said help us, I may
reconsider because I this is home, like you, Dan, the
city is home for me, the state is home, and

(21:26):
I want it to be better. And so, you know,
I guess you never say never, Never say no. I
used to scoff at the idea of even being in politics.
It's not this is not in the plans at all.
This was not one of my I feel like I
stumbled into it, and I used to say no. And
here I am now serving in the realm of politics

(21:49):
and the world of government and governance. And so I
guess you never say never. But I do want to
be clear that I've been mayor now of course, to
two and a half years, and I still have work
to do and I'd love the opportunity to really serve
my city. But if the stars aligned and God worked
America and said no, this is where you need to be,

(22:10):
who am I to say no to God?

Speaker 1 (22:12):
Well, and that's where I was going with this, right,
because it seems to me pretty obvious. I meane, your
parents are both pastors in Nigeria. You're a pastor, and
so your life then as a Christian pastor is about
maximum impact. And if you're sitting there and you believe
that you have the opportunity to have a bigger impact

(22:34):
for good, it seems to me you would take it.

Speaker 5 (22:37):
Now.

Speaker 1 (22:37):
You and I have never even met, We've never had lunch,
we've never had dinner. I don't claim to know you,
but my understanding of you and your history and everything
I just laid out is that, yeah, if you feel
called and you think you have this chance to do
more good, that you'd probably take it.

Speaker 4 (22:54):
Still, absolutely God, you know what's that parafise of that Bible?
Are you known? Man plans the journey and God left
the scripture as just as a man plans his life,
the Lord determines his steps. So ultimately God will determine

(23:15):
our steps, which is why he probably laughed at out plans.
And he's called Moses, he's called Joseph. He's called a
lot of people who felt they were not worthy or
qualified to do great things. Then I'm so humbled to
be in this role to serve my city and thereby

(23:35):
serving the states. I feel like my story is a
reminder of the American dream and a lot of my leadership.
As you said, it comes from my growing up in
a household of faith. It comes from being raised by
parents who said education is really important, hard work is
really important, honor is really important. And seeing what I

(23:57):
didn't have in my country of origin now come into
this land of opportunity, I have nothing but gratitude. I
see opportunities all around me, and I don't want us
to lose these opportunities as a city, of the state,
and of the nation.

Speaker 1 (24:13):
See I think Mobila. I guess I think the first
sign of a great leader is somebody who feels they're
unworthy to lead, right, because we have so many people
out there who just think they're God's gift and they're
the opposite. But I happen to be a Catholic, and
there's a great leader in our church named Father Mike
Schmidtz And what he says is that the person you

(24:38):
need to be to fulfill God's will will be born
at the time you need that person to be borieved.
And his message, he says it better than I do,
but his message is that if this is what God
wants you to do, you may feel that you don't
have that ability right now, but at the time you
need it, you will have it. And so it sounds

(24:59):
like that's your life philosophy as well.

Speaker 4 (25:02):
Absolutely, absolutely, I did have some experience coming to office
as a business leader and pastor nonprofit leader in three
years in city government, but not enough, you know, to say, Okay,
I know this exactly how this job is going to be,
and I feel like I do feel God has equipped

(25:23):
me to do this job and equip me with the
incredible talent around me to help do this job. So well,
well said man, you have me, You have me so
sobern in a good way.

Speaker 1 (25:33):
Well yeah, and again, Mayor m. Mombila. If you don't
know his story, it's fascinating and obviously you've already defied
kind of all of the odds, you know, coming to
America from Nigeria through Indiana, I think, ending up in
Colorado Springs and then ending up as mayor after serving
as a pastor and then in city government. The other

(25:54):
thing you just referred to is you know, the level
of experience in government to say, then become governor or
a US senator. I think that in part thanks to
President Trump, I think that old template has been shattered,
and I think right now it's probably as much of
a negative in the minds of most swing voters for

(26:14):
somebody who've been kind of a lifer in government, right,
because what happens is when somebody is a lifeer in government.

Speaker 4 (26:23):
No, that's actually well said. In fact, if you look
at what's happening in the American politics across the nation,
you would see that many Americans are willing to give
political newcomers a chance. You've well said. With President Trump,
I mean he's a great example of that. Actually, even

(26:43):
before let's skip an over Biden into Obama, if he
was a newcomer, the country said, let's let's give him
a chance. So you can see that the kind of them,
the appetite of many Americans are just tired with the
political stronghold. They see it's not leading to any meaningful solutions.
So you're you're right in saying my story, in many ways,

(27:08):
my story is special and not that special because that's
happening across the country.

Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah, but how many folks are actually becoming mayor of
a significant city like Colorado Springs. So I think you've
already proven and accomplished a lot there, mister Marraor, you
still good for a second segment because when we come back,
I'd like to dive into some of the issue stuff.
You know, one of the things I like Downe in

(27:32):
Colorado Springs is you've taken some strong positions on some
issues not everybody agrees on. I think that's part of
what leadership requires, right, So like to come back and
talk about some of that.

Speaker 4 (27:44):
That sounds good.

Speaker 1 (27:45):
Thank you, sir, Mayor Mobilati kind enough to be with us.
You're on the Dan Caplas Show.

Speaker 2 (27:57):
And now back to the Dan Taplass Show podcast.

Speaker 1 (28:00):
Figures kind of rising stars in politics nationally right now.
And we talked about the mayor's very interesting journey in
the first segment you can pick it off the podcast.
Now we're moving into some policy issues and so, mister
Mayor Colorado Springs, Colorado, My understanding is, and we had
Wayne loguson on the other day and we were talking

(28:21):
about that. I know you interviewed with Wayne recently. Is
that you know there's been this debate in Colorado Springs
over legalized marijuana. Please tell folks where you come down
on that.

Speaker 4 (28:33):
Yeah, it's the same message that I've said before. It's
personal and it's professional professional. I want to be clear
that I am not I was not in support of
it in my city because I don't I think to
cost outweigh any kind of benefit from any kind of
arguments that I have heard. When you look at a

(28:55):
lot of the challenges I have with homelessness and with
criminal behavior, this is one of those elements that is
consistent in each of those challenges and societal challenges. And
it's personal. I've talked to other parents in my in
my kids school. We're all concerned when we think about

(29:16):
our kids, the next generation of leaders, how accessible it is.
The potency today is different than what it used to
be back in the days. There's so much more bad
than good, than any kind of good that would come
from this. So I still maintain my stands even though

(29:38):
now it has been legalized in in the city.

Speaker 1 (29:42):
And how do you respond? I agree with your position,
but how do you respond to the freedom argument? Hey,
mister Mara, this is about freedom.

Speaker 4 (29:50):
Yeah, that's a great question. We are we're a proud
libertarian community. You know. I often tell people that one
of the things I learned about Colorado Spring is that
the Libertarian Party was incorporated in Colorado's Maybe I don't
know if it was founded, but it was incorporated. So
I mean, we have strong libertarian roots. So I've heard
that argument from some people from people at the end

(30:13):
of the day, and this is where the work of
government and policies and politics come because we have to
balance individual freedom with the common good. If I just
allowed individual freedom for everything, will have a lawless society.
And when you have history and data that show that
something is a potential harm to our residents, for example,

(30:36):
not fastening your seat belts, I mean it's against the law.
You could argue that people should just do whatever they
want to, whether or not they want to fasten the feet
belt on that that's one argument, But well, we have
data that tells you that the the cost and the
risk of non fastening your feet belt is devastated. And

(30:58):
so that is one area that we've had to step
in the world of government to say no, because we
value lives. So therefore you need a facinosito because we
still value life as lives as a nation. I'm not
quite sure that rec racial manjuana is in the best
interest of a flourishing community and flourishing American families.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
Well, I like your starting point, which is the harms
outweigh any benefit. If you're going to accept the freedom argument,
then you'd have to legalize cocaine. Right. But let me
ask you, sir, about homelessness. Obviously, every mayor in the
country wrestling with that. I think mayor's in Colorado more
so because of other state wide policies. But what's your
approach to homelessness in Colorado Springs.

Speaker 4 (31:39):
Yeah, it's clear. I said it. In the my set
of the city, I highlighted one of my team members
who's about to retire, Sergeant Olaf Cheney for thirty five years,
his kids, three of them are in law enforcement, and
Olof Cheney leads to my homeless Outreach team effort. And

(32:00):
these are the group of police. It's a specialized unit
of police officers who work with our homeless community. I
once asked his team he wasn't there. I just I
saw them at one of our trails and I said, hey,
describe your job to me. You know what they said
is that with fifty percent law enforcement officers fifty percent social.

Speaker 1 (32:21):
Workers, how does he feel about that?

Speaker 4 (32:25):
Oh, that's where I am. The pastor in me recognizes
that our homeless residence, even the most vulnerable residents that
make my wife unsafe when she's trying to go to
the gym downtown in the morning, that person is still
made in the image of God. The leader in me
that has been tasked with protecting my community. That is

(32:49):
one of the most important and my number one responsibility
as a government leader is the safety of our community.
So the leader in me, the government leader in me, says,
I draw the line when it comes to the safety
of our community. And so that's where it start. But
we in terms of how that flashes out, its pursuing

(33:10):
policies that are in the best interests of the common
good and the residents. We are trying to help the
homeless resident we're trying to help We take all the
politics away from homeless solutions because sometimes the well mean
decisions or ideas that really don't have been that successful
of move the needle in the right direction. So that

(33:31):
gives you a little window into my decision making process
when it comes to homeworkness.

Speaker 1 (33:35):
And are you making progress in the Springs?

Speaker 4 (33:38):
We are? You know, we have new challenges. Yeah, Dan,
it's both. You know, Colorado Springs has been a national example.
So many communities have come to learn from us. How
are you doing this? The Milk and Institute was we
were named the fifth the best performing city and the
United States. They wanted to know how we're doing it

(33:59):
because we're still limited in our government resources. We are
radical collaborators and we partner with the faith community and
nonprofits and anyone who would come to the table. And
it's about pragmatic solutions. So we've seen a lot of
examples in that, but we're also seeing new challenges as
some of the economic challenges and now to do some

(34:20):
new homeless families and people that we haven't seen before.
And so we're trying to evolve, and I want to
make sure that we're staying ahead of it because I
don't like to be in a constant place of responding.
I also want to be proactive.

Speaker 1 (34:35):
Well grateful for the time today and would love to
continue the conversation. I think Colorado Springs faces some unique
challenges and so I think it's probably one of the
toughest mayor's jobs around and part of those challenges brought
on by how uniquely beautiful it is and how much
it has to offer and where it's located, and so

(34:55):
you're going to attract more homeless along with you, folks
who don't want to go there and work and do
great work. So, mister Mayor, grateful for the time today
and hope we can do this often.

Speaker 4 (35:06):
Man, it's a joy to be with you, and you're
my favorite radio quote though, thank you, sir, that that
means a lot to me.

Speaker 1 (35:13):
Thank you. We'll look forward to the next one. Mary
Pavlade from Colorado Springs, you're reacting much more ahead. You're
on the Dancapital Show.
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