COLORADO SPRINGS — The Colorado Springs City Council plans to test a new meeting time to accommodate longer meetings.
In a pilot program to run from September through December, the meetings will begin at 10 a.m., still held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. Recent meetings have ran long, causing city staff to stay past normal hours.
The announcement came as council's Aug. 27 meeting was moved ahead from 1 p.m. to 8 a.m., while Council President Richard Skorman closed off public comment. Those changes first seemed to slight supporters of De'Von Bailey's family, who planned to speak in favor of an independent investigation into the 19-year-old's death in the August 3rd officer-involved shooting with Colorado Springs Police. The 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office is handling a review of the case investigated by the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, as called for under state law.
The change was announced during council's July 23 meeting, as a handful of council members will head to Pueblo for an annual legislative barbecue Tuesday at the Colorado State Fair, Skorman said.
"We decided to have the meeting early and have it be a short meeting. So, unfortunately, we aren't going to be able to have citizens' discussion for the first time since I've been back on council again," Skorman said.
Skorman has been in touch with the Bailey family and their supporters to confirm the meeting change was not an attempt to silence their voice. Understanding of the optics, he advised them to attend the next meeting.
"We apologize. We know people were wanting to come and talk about De'Von Bailey, and we're hoping they can come on the tenth of September, that Tuesday," Skorman said.
