COLORADO SPRINGS — 43 days after being elected, Mayor Mobolade met with officials and reporters to give an update on his first 100 days in office. The mayor has proposed a blueprint detailing 42 items his administration hopes to tackle within the 100-day time period.
"After the first two or three weeks, it feels like I've been doing this for a year," said Mayor Mobolade.
These goals are focused on public safety, housing and infrastructure, and economic vitality.
"We're prioritizing these issues and we believe they will make a difference," said Mayor Mobolade.
Recently, Mayor Mobolade made a trip to Washington D.C. to meet with congressional leaders and made the case for keeping Space Command in Colorado Springs. "Every one of the congresspeople, even the ones who don't oversee our area of the state are in," he said.
As our Andy Koen reported last week, another focus Mayor Mobolade and Police Chief Adrian Vasquez proposed is an effort to increase the number of police officers in Colorado Springs.
"We are still about 80 officers short. I have a big, hairy, ambitious goal that we will be fully staffed by the end of my administration," said Mayor Mobolade.
They hope to accomplish this through a November ballot initiative asking voters if the city could keep money that would otherwise be refunded to them through the "Taxpayer Bill of Rights". That money would be used to either build or retrofit a building as a new police training academy.
Once the ballot language is complete, Mayor Mobolade believes convincing voters to approve the question will not be difficult.
"I hope this is not as hard as it should be because, the campaign I ran where we knocked on thousands of doors as I attended over 100 meet and greets, public safety remains a number one concern and number one need. So I hope this won't be a hard sell," said Mayor Mobolade.
The mayor believes he has made the most progress through city administration reorganization, including the formation of a Mayor's Office of Community Affairs, as well as the appointing of the first Chief Housing Officer.
So far, there have been no updates for the "missing middle housing fund" promised during his campaign season. This would be made up of non-profits and businesses.
"We have to keep the cost of homes down, but at the end of the day we just need to pay people more money," said Mayor Mobolade.
You can view a list of these blueprint items through a new website on the city's website.
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