Mayor Mobolade sets 2025 goals for Colorado Springs
Christian Murdock
Colorado Springs has roughly half a million residents with problems for Mayor Yemi Mobolade to work on next year.
Mobolade said the biggest problems for people varied between neighborhoods and districts. Up north were vocal complaints about Ford Amphitheater. Downtown had worries about small business closures and a 27-story skyscraper. Peterson and Schriever Space Force Bases drove growth to the east.
As Mobolade rolled out his priorities for the city in 2025, he said the overriding goal was gathering data to make decisions and make his process for taking action available to the public.
“There’s a lot of competing needs, competing priorities, competing interests. How do I know what I need to focus on? It’s surveys, polling, data. And how do I know that what we’re working on is working? It’s data, data, data,” Mobolade said.
The mayor’s office announced a strategic priority list at the beginning of 2024 to track 20 major goals for the city throughout the year. The strategic plan for next year keeps the same five broad categories: public safety, economic vitality, infrastructure, housing solutions and community activation.
The strategic goal list contains 28 sub-points within the main five areas. Some of the goals are carried over from this year as ongoing problems. Others have emerged over the past few months as new concerns.
When pressed, Mobolade said public safety is his top priority for the year.
The topic of priorities now includes the chance that President-elect Donald Trump may move U.S. Space Command headquarters out of state.
Early Monday morning, Mobolade met with former Mayor John Suthers and Republican lawmakers Lauren Boebert and Jeff Crank, both coming off November congression election wins. Crank in January will begin representing Congressional District 5, while Boebert was elected to the CD4 position after serving in District 3. The Monday meeting was one of several Mobolade has held with Colorado leaders to organize their pitch for keeping Space Command at its current base.
Mobolade said his best arguments for retaining Space Command in Colorado Springs were continuity and the area’s high quality of life. The city’s appeal included factors outside of the mayor’s control, such as the mountain views and widespread public support for the military, as well as the housing options for enlisted residents and city resources.
“If soldiers, airmen and guardians are worried about their quality of life or worried about their family affairs, then they are taking their eye off the mission. So we want to make sure they stay on mission,” Mobolade said.
Several of the public safety goals continue previous efforts by the mayor.
Mobolade plans to make a second run at moving the ambulance service into the fire department. The city extended the current ambulance contract with American Medical Response for a year after the Colorado Springs City Council rejected a plan to have the city take over the service.
“It’s the one last piece of our public safety program that we don’t have control over. I believe we can do it better and believe we can do it in a way that not only improves our response time but integrates it with the whole 911 system,” Mobolade said.
Mobolade continues to work on the next steps for the Colorado Springs Police Department’s new training center. Following the unsuccessful attempt to have voters approve nearly $5 million in TABOR funding for the project in 2023, Mobolade ordered two different need assessments for the project. The newest plan by the city would expand the building into a training area for several types of first responders.
Mobolade said the city will secure the location for the new center by the end of the year and begin the design and development work. He had set the same goal for the city at the beginning of 2024.
The infrastructure goals include several long-term projects for road improvements and the Fountain Creek watershed. A strategic plan for how the city manages annexations will be released partway through 2025.
On the housing front, the focus will be on making construction and permitting easier.
Mobolade said the city’s main role in housing is ensuring that new approaches like 3D printing homes and varied accessory dwelling units can be built. For some major projects, the mayor can invoke a rapid response system that speeds up the permitting timeline.
“When it comes to housing and these types of housing, my intent would be to ensure we can move these processes as quickly as possible,” Mobolade said.
The wave of local business closures near the end of the year was a red flag for Mobolade around the economic vitality of small businesses. Colorado Springs’ sales tax revenue through October 31 is 1.8% higher than this time last year, according to the most recent city filings.
Mobolade said he wanted the city to provide more support for small business owners next year. The mayor will also push to secure more economic development agreements for large companies that are considering Colorado Springs for expansion.
A full list of the strategic goals Mobolade is setting will be posted on the city’s website early in the year. The online page for the 2024 goals lists 11 of the 20 as being completed by the end of December.
Mayor Mobolade sets 2025 goals for Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs has roughly half a million residents with problems for Mayor Yemi Mobolade to work on next year.
Mobolade said the biggest problems for people varied between neighborhoods and districts. Up north were vocal complaints about Ford Amphitheater. Downtown had worries about small business closures and a 27-story skyscraper. Peterson and Schriever Space Force Bases drove growth to the east.
As Mobolade rolled out his priorities for the city in 2025, he said the overriding goal was gathering data to make decisions and make his process for taking action available to the public.
“There’s a lot of competing needs, competing priorities, competing interests. How do I know what I need to focus on? It’s surveys, polling, data. And how do I know that what we’re working on is working? It’s data, data, data,” Mobolade said.
The mayor’s office announced a strategic priority list at the beginning of 2024 to track 20 major goals for the city throughout the year. The strategic plan for next year keeps the same five broad categories: public safety, economic vitality, infrastructure, housing solutions and community activation.
The strategic goal list contains 28 sub-points within the main five areas. Some of the goals are carried over from this year as ongoing problems. Others have emerged over the past few months as new concerns.
When pressed, Mobolade said public safety is his top priority for the year.
The topic of priorities now includes the chance that President-elect Donald Trump may move U.S. Space Command headquarters out of state.
Early Monday morning, Mobolade met with former Mayor John Suthers and Republican lawmakers Lauren Boebert and Jeff Crank, both coming off November congression election wins. Crank in January will begin representing Congressional District 5, while Boebert was elected to the CD4 position after serving in District 3. The Monday meeting was one of several Mobolade has held with Colorado leaders to organize their pitch for keeping Space Command at its current base.
Mobolade said his best arguments for retaining Space Command in Colorado Springs were continuity and the area’s high quality of life. The city’s appeal included factors outside of the mayor’s control, such as the mountain views and widespread public support for the military, as well as the housing options for enlisted residents and city resources.
“If soldiers, airmen and guardians are worried about their quality of life or worried about their family affairs, then they are taking their eye off the mission. So we want to make sure they stay on mission,” Mobolade said.
Several of the public safety goals continue previous efforts by the mayor.
Mobolade plans to make a second run at moving the ambulance service into the fire department. The city extended the current ambulance contract with American Medical Response for a year after the Colorado Springs City Council rejected a plan to have the city take over the service.
“It’s the one last piece of our public safety program that we don’t have control over. I believe we can do it better and believe we can do it in a way that not only improves our response time but integrates it with the whole 911 system,” Mobolade said.
Mobolade continues to work on the next steps for the Colorado Springs Police Department’s new training center. Following the unsuccessful attempt to have voters approve nearly $5 million in TABOR funding for the project in 2023, Mobolade ordered two different need assessments for the project. The newest plan by the city would expand the building into a training area for several types of first responders.
Mobolade said the city will secure the location for the new center by the end of the year and begin the design and development work. He had set the same goal for the city at the beginning of 2024.
The infrastructure goals include several long-term projects for road improvements and the Fountain Creek watershed. A strategic plan for how the city manages annexations will be released partway through 2025.
On the housing front, the focus will be on making construction and permitting easier.
Mobolade said the city’s main role in housing is ensuring that new approaches like 3D printing homes and varied accessory dwelling units can be built. For some major projects, the mayor can invoke a rapid response system that speeds up the permitting timeline.
“When it comes to housing and these types of housing, my intent would be to ensure we can move these processes as quickly as possible,” Mobolade said.
The wave of local business closures near the end of the year was a red flag for Mobolade around the economic vitality of small businesses. Colorado Springs’ sales tax revenue through October 31 is 1.8% higher than this time last year, according to the most recent city filings.
Mobolade said he wanted the city to provide more support for small business owners next year. The mayor will also push to secure more economic development agreements for large companies that are considering Colorado Springs for expansion.
A full list of the strategic goals Mobolade is setting will be posted on the city’s website early in the year. The online page for the 2024 goals lists 11 of the 20 as being completed by the end of December.