COLORADO SPRINGS — KOAA News5 and the Gazette are speaking with the candidates in the Colorado Springs Mayoral race this spring. Ballots will be mailed out for this election beginning March 10 and are due by 7:00 pm on April 4.
Lawrence Joseph Martinez did not meet with KOAA News5 for an opportunity to talk about his campaign. Below you will find contact information and answers to a candidate questionnaire from The Gazette.
Candidate name: Lawrence Joseph Martinez
Campaign phone number: 719-415-6224
Campaign email: rockymountainknightcsco@gmail.com
Campaign website: Not available.
Campaign mailing address: 2032 Kodiak Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80910
What are your top 3 priorities for this office?
Housing, transportation, the future of our next generation.
What do you think the city's largest challenge is and how do you plan to address it?
Housing. We can longer allow the developers to direct our housing market. In the last 10 years, developers did not build any apartments to increase demand so they could eventually increase rent amounts. The city must put into effect a rent cap for the lowest income residents. We can no longer ignore the rental needs for the lower and middle income people. The city will create ghettos if it waits for developers — often from out of state — to build places people can call home. Where will your children live? In a nice apartment or in a crime-filled ghetto? We must work together to vote for a person who will direct the developers where we will build and for whom.
What makes you the most qualified candidate for this position?
How do you find out what people’s needs are? You walk in their neighborhood, visit their event centers and food banks or stop by the local church.
For 17 years I’ve worked with the El Pomar Foundation’s Elevating Leadership Development program, which convenes local leaders who research the needs of the community through the nonprofits who serve it.
Additionally, my education through the El Pomar Foundation and Leadership Pikes Peak 2006. The community curriculum includes education, human services, government (state and local), criminal justice, area history, economic development, and the environment.
I'm a graduate of the Center for Creative Leadership and the United Way Leaders Engaged in Accelerated Development (LEAD) program. I volunteer at the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.
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Learn more about all the candidates with our Election Watch page. You can also find information on this election, the candidates for Mayor and City Council, plus the lone ballot issue and where to return your ballot with Everything you need to know about the Colorado Springs April Election
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